3 weeks

I will be back in the US 3 weeks from today...and...I can't wait!  I love Ghana and everyone here...but...I miss Audrey and I want to get to work that makes money!  I now know that I can live here with ease...in fact it can b a lot of fun!

My host family, Fifi's family, left Friday for a week in Takoradi so Fifi and I have the house to ourselves.  Friday we cooked for ourselves with Emmanuel and Prince.  It was fun, but not that good!  Saturday I went to Cape Coast with some medical students from NYU who are doing research and our laboratory team to do CD4 counts (white blood cell count for people with HIV) and conduct a survey for the medical students.  We had about 75 people!  I did the survey and it had 71 questions!!!  Most of the people didn't speak English so it was very long and tedious to have every question translated and then the answer translated back.  I interviewed 16 people in 4 hours!

Yesterday I went to Champs Sports Bar again to enjoy the EuroCup 2008 final match.  Spain beat Germany 1-0!!!  We were cheering for Spain!  The place was packed!  There wasn't a single inch of floor space available!  After the match we played pool.

Life in Ghana is not easy for most people.  For instance one of my friends is 28 and has a Bachelors Degree from the University of Ghana in Computer Science.  He lives with his parents and makes only $200 per month working full time at WAAF!!!  By comparison, recently we had a volunteer from Britain who was here for about 9 months.  She is also 28 and has been a medical doctor for 5 years (medical school is much shorter in the UK) and obviously has a lot of money to be able to volunteer for 9 months.  $200 is less than 1/4th the rent I pay in Baltimore for my apartment!  People spend $200 on dinner for 3 or 4 at Cafe de Paris (the restaurant I work at in Maryland).  And $200 doesn't buy much in Ghana...we saw some 2 bedroom apartments, new but not all that nice, for $150/month.  A loaf of bread is between $1 -$1.50.  Plantains are 4 for $1...petrol is around $5/gallon...etc etc.

I've seen and experienced a lot on this trip that I hadn't experienced in past trips...it helps to not stay at the in-law's mansion!  What I've seen and experienced makes me know that my goals are right for me and are definitely needed in Ghana.  That is one reason I can't wait to get home so I can get started on fulfilling my goals and dreams.  It's not going to be easy but it will be worthwhile!