Dear Blog

I think an apology is in order.  We have fallen off the wagon and failed to add a post to you for over a month now.  It's not you, it's us.  We've just been so busy...  I have been on term break from Dec 17 to Jan 10, so no teaching, at least not officially, though I did teach a few extra classes during the break which were voluntary for the form 2s (8th grade).  Tricia and I went to Atimpoku, just below Akosombo dam on the Volta river, for Tricia's birthday.  We also sneaked in a trip to Accra for our flu (H1N1 and seasonal) vaccine and Hep C shots.  Then we went back to Kpassa for Christmas, which was spent in the house the whole day, opening presents (thanks!) and eating a boxed homestyle bake ("turkey stew and stuffing" - delicious), cranberry sauce and brownies.  Even though it was just the two of us, we had plenty of things that made it feel like Christmas at home, and we also talked over the phone with family back home.  After Christmas we hosted 6 other PCVs that were on a marathon trek up through the Volta and Northern regions.  They are all serving in the Eastern region of Ghana, and were surprised with some of the regional differences (dirt roads, naked children).  But we wowed them with chili and mango bread and watermelon, and we were grateful for the company.  In other news, apparently our house is capable of sleeping 8 people.  They left early the next morning, and we started packing for a stay in Nkwanta the next two days with some other PCVs in the area (plus a German volunteer with a British NGO).  We relaxed, talked about our service so far, and, of course, made some awesome food.  Tricia and I contributed cheesy enchilada casserole and homemade fudge (thanks to my mother-in-law for the ingredients!).  Then we came back to site on New Year's Eve, as promised, to experience how people in the area celebrate the new year.  At night on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (and on the 4th a bit too), they played jams (hip hop music) from giant speakers, well into the night.  They also wore their "Christmas clothes," which is an outfit they buy leading up to Christmas so they can wear it and parade around the village looking good.  Everyone from age 1 and up was decked out in new fabric.  Some wore more traditional dress, others went for more of a Westernized look, with blue jeans and bright "Aeropostale" or "gucci" shirts, which are considered just as formal.  Western culture is permeating Ghana, but it sometimes manifests itself differently.  After the series of sleepless nights from the never-ending thumping bass, the New Year was sufficiently celebrated, and everything went back to normal.  And by normal I mean guys walking by on their way to farm (out in the bush) with their machetes, women fetching water from the boreholes and firewood from the bush, and children running around, unsupervised, naked or in underwear. 

So, I guess we were busy, but not busy enough that we couldn't write.  So we'll make it up to you, blog.  Promise.