Once again, it has been a long time since I posted a blog. It gets harder and harder to think of stuff to say. I have slowly adjusted to where most things don't seem interesting. However, when I was talking to my parents the other day, I wouldn't shut up, so I must have something to say.

I am in shock that it is almost December. I get confused on what time of year it is because there is just not much weather change. Even during the dry season my area still gets some rain. With that said, I am aware that the holidays are coming up because in Accra you can get Christmas candy and decorations at a couple of the stores. They are the stores that cater to ex-pats, the ones that I walk around in but rarely buy anything and seem to have culture shock when I am there.

For Thanksgiving I ate fufu and palm nut soup. During the day I went to farm with Cecilia and Alex, a married couple that I like to hang out with. We cut (okay, they cut) and carried (I did do some carrying, but I feel wimpy compared to them) the palm fruit and the truck came to buy it in the afternoon. That night I went to their house to eat fufu. It was nice. I took some pictures while we were out so I will try to post them. It's hard to describe the palm fruit. On Friday, I left and went to Kumasi to enjoy real Thanksgiving food. At the sub-office in Kumasi, fellow volunteers made food. We had a ton of chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, beans and dessert. It was all wonderful. The best part was that we ran out of plates and bowls so I ate on a tupperware lid, with no silverware, just my right hand - it felt very Ghanaian. Some of the guys tried to watch a football game (a burnt copy), which added to the holiday feel. It was all wonderful.

After Kumasi I moved with another volunteer down to Accra, where I am now, to do my mid-service medical, which is going fine. From Kumasi we begged a ride and it was so weird (like hitchiking). The first person to pick us was a nice SUV, with air conditioner. The man was a driver going to Accra to pick up his boss. I sat in the front of the car having a very surreal experience. It didn't feel like I was a Peace Corps Volunteer. We had to drop at a rest stop and then got a ride from another man who works here for the highways division. He was really nice and said he had just gotten back from a funeral of a man that was 120 years old. I'm not so sure but okay...We got to Accra safely and are now enjoying it, but money goes really fast here. It's hard, I just can't seem to keep track of where it's going.

October and November have been good. We started the world map project and it is almost finished. There has been one student that has been very dedicated. Every day after school he would come to get the paint at my house. The map is painted on the side of one of the school buildings. I love seeing people walk by it and talk about the different countries. They are always so surprised when they see how small Ghana is incomparison to other countries. The men usually pick out good football (soccer) countries. They love seeing how large Brazil is.

To change notes-I had a scorpion in my room one night. I was laying on my mat, reading and I heard a crinkling of a polybag (black plastic bag). I thought maybe it was a frog because I get them in my room from time to time. I got my flashlight and went over to see and it was a big, black scorpion. I grabbed my camera, got one pictures and then it escaped onto the veranda. I jumped over it, went into my other room, grabbed my cutless (machete) and chopped it up. After I was sure it was dead I threw it behind the house in the bushy area. The hole in my wall that the scorpion came in by is now covered by my medical kit from Peace Corps, so no more surprise visitors (except a few mice in my ceiling).

Speaking of mice, my beautiful cat gave birth to three babies about two weeks ago. They are all three little girls. The mother is being wonderful. I will be so sad when I have to seperate the babies but I just can't have four cats. A lot of people have asked me for them so I know I won't have a problem giving them to good homes. The problem is going to decide who gets them.

I am happy to report that I also saw forest elephant tracks. They tell you they are there, and people tell me the elephants go into their farms that are close to the forest, but I was starting to doubt it. I went on a short hike with the Wildlife Division officer and we saw some tracks. So, there are forest elephants after all. That's probably the closest I will ever get to knowing that they are there, but it's proof.

I posted some new pictures no flickr. They are from before the middle of October. If you go to the set of At and around site (July to Oct) you can see them and skip the rest. That way they are in chronological order also. Go to flickr.com, then Explore Flickr, on the upper right go to Search, Flickr members and put in wowokay. Then you'll be at my pics. Enjoy! I will try to write again soon. (I always say that)