Christmas is coming....

Well I've heard that there's snow on the ground in Jersey and more to come. All I can say is, at least it's always beach season here! Ahh, but I do like the thought of snow, the serenity in waking up and seeing everything covered in white and the sky that beautiful pink. The smell of wood burning and cookies baking, Christmas carols on the radio. Makes me smile. Currently I'm sleeping with blankets in an air conditioned room, so I can almost imagine feeling cold. I'm in Accra on medical leave for at least a week. I had a bug bite on my leg that went wild, and got a staph infection within 2 days, to the point that I could barely walk. So I called the Doctor and they rushed me in and sent me to a specialist. I went to bed after a dose of some VERY strong antibiotics and woke up feeling almost as good as new! They just want to keep me here to see if I'll be able to keep my leg. Hahahaha, just Kidding! It's healing nicely and I'm feeling better. PC takes GREAT care of us. So, no need to worry. I just have stupid skin. Always something goin wrong with it.

Last weekend I was able to go to a concert! It was real cheap, only like $2, and there were 6 performers. The headliner was Samini- he's currently the most popular African artist, and a winner of all kinds of awards. So for $2, I got to spend the night dancing to reggae and hip-life. Can't beat that!

I was planning on sending Christmas gifts or at least cards home, but it seems it's not gonna happen til next year. So sorry, I am still tryin to figure out how things work here.

I saw pictures from Nathan's birthday party, looked like a lot of fun. I can't believe he's 3!!! Wish I could've been there for him.

Thanks for the birthday packages! Ash I got yours, and I love you it was amazing. And Mom and Dad I got yours, also amazing! If you sent something to the address for Takoradi, it will probably be awhile before I get it, so I suggest just sending all mails to the Accra address.

That's it for now. I'm planning to go to Nkwanta for Christmas to hang out with some people up there. Should be a good one. Ok, love you.

Thanksgiving

Late Happy Thanksgiving to all!

So the US Ambassador to Ghana invited all PCV's in Ghana to his house for Thanksgiving. I and about 60 others went to Accra where he lives by the Embassy to eat his food and drink his wine. It was great! I was able to see all my friends that I haven't seen in about 3 months. We swapped stories and caught up, and noted on everyone's weight loss/weight gains. We swam in the pool, drank sangria, and ate plenty of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, SALAD, and finished off a great meal with pecan pie and pumpkin pie. It was really nice to relax and take our minds off missing home and family. After the Ambassador kicked us out, (he literally had to, because no one wanted to leave!) we went out for some football and margaritas at Champs. Surprisingly, the football game we were watching was actually 2 weeks old, but we didn't care. It was the Pats/Colts game. We were all able to stay for free that night, thanks to American families living near the embassy offering us their houses. The woman who hosted me was the Director of Voice of America for West Africa, and she was very sweet. I took a hot shower, and then cranked the air conditioner down to 70 degrees and cuddled up with blankets. Wow. It felt great. Air conditioning is really a cool thing. The next day I went home and decided to move my mattress outside to my porch to sleep. I set up my mosquito net so I have a little camp site goin on. It is by far the best idea I've had since coming to Ghana. I sleep so well now. :)

I've been heading down to the beach a lot, hangin out with friends, and overall just really been enjoying myself. It's hard to believe I've been here 6 months already. 2 years is gonna fly right on by.

I got a tattoo on my right leg just above my ankle. I'd post pics of it but I can't find the USB cord for my camera, so I'll just paste the link to what I got. It's a traditional African Adinkra symbol called Funtunfunefu Denkyemfunefu, which literally means 'Siamese Crocodiles'. It represents unity in diversity. It hurt, but I really like it. http://www.adinkra.org/htmls/adinkra/funt.htm

OK, that's all for now. I'm gonna go eat some fufu for lunch. Love you and miss you all.