A month

I have been here a month today... it seems both longer and shorter looking back... it feels as though we only just arrived but also as though we have been here forever... One thing is true without a doubt, I have grown very comfortable being here. I remember the first week being nervous about everything, and now I am quite confident.

This week especially seems to have disappeared. I suppose it is only Thursday, but we leave at 9 tomorrow morning to go to Kumasi a city in the central region. It is the capital of African crafts and home of the biggest market in West Africa. It is also the capital of the Ashanti empire in its day. I think it promises to be a very good weekend.

This week was taken up with classes and volunteering... Like I said, I started at the orphanage and hope to go again this afternoon(and need to leave soon so this entry will be pretty short...). I hope to volunteer one or two afternoons a week as I am able. Yesterday I went and checked out Cencosad a local NGO that does community empowerment and development work. I hope to as I am able again to volunteer there. We met with the lady in charge, and this morning I met with the man in charge of one program(he is a graduate student here on campus, and hopefully I will be able to catch rides with him when I go down...). I am not sure exactly what I will be doing, or how well my schedule will fit, but I am excited about that prospect as well.

We drove to check out Cencosad yesterday, and if I haven't already mentioned it, let me digress on the phenomena of driving in Accra. While stopped at lights, vehicles are hoarded by sellers carryin there wares often on their heads or in their hands, anything from food to odd commodities like a bathroom scale, screwdrivers or even yesterday I saw a puppy. Some young men will wash your windows hoping to get paid(we were warned that if the windows are open, they are also prone to snatch one's purse and run away). And along so many roads people have their wares set up along the road... everything from food again to racks and racks of suit coats, purses, shoes, really anything one can imagine... and then you will drive by a place where there are people lined up on the ground in rows taking an afternoon siesta. It is not uncommon to come accross people napping wherever you go because often the same person will be at a store or market all day for near on 12 plus hours, so it makes sense that at some point they would rest...

p.s. this didn't post last Thursday when I wanted it to, so here is a second try.... a bit late...