Long-ish update
Well, work's going well enough that Evelyn decided to take today as a sick day so I figured I might as well come into town. The plan remains to work a fair amount for the next week and a half or so till it's all done, then Evelyn will go with Bright to Kumasi to start getting export permit stuff (Aug 17). Not sure if I will go along, doesn't seem to be any need for me to be there. Probably I will stay here, hang out a bit more, do a couple day trips to nearby things. Then I'll leave, to travel by myself for a couple weeks... check out Bui national park in the west, go to Wa in the northwest, maybe go to Bolgatanga in the north, then head down to Kumasi and see some stuff around there, then down to Cape Coast for slave forts, then head to Accra to meet Evelyn and Geoff August 4 when Geoff arrives. I will then travel with them for two weeks before leaving here, heading to Mole national park in the central-north, then down the east side of Lake Volta. Then I'm outta Ghana, for a week in United Arab Emirates, then on home. Of course, all these plans are not fixed in stone.
Several weeks left... still seems a little overwhelming at times.
Weather here has been kindof cool... a thermometer says it's been reaching 30 but I think it may be calibrated wrongly. Or maybe I'm just more used to it. The insects didn't bother me for a long time, but now I have lots of bites and stuff on my feet and hands, they are pretty itchy. I will have to take more caution about them.
Two weeks have past and I haven't been sick. I'm quite surprised. We'll see if things keep up this way, though that seems over-optimistic.
Wish I was a little bit shorter. I'm around 6 feet, and most beds are about 6 feet. Generally, my feet hang off the bottom of the bed. But when sleeping under a mosquito net which needs to be tucked in around the mattress, it means I can't stretch out at all. So sleep hasn't been that great.
My glasses broke a week or so ago. No impact or anything, they just spontaneously fell apart. They look easy to fix, just a bit of glue, but I'll probably wait till I'm back home to do it. Meanwhile, I will wear my spare glasses that I was smart enough to bring. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite smart enough to bring my older glasses which don't look as good but at least have clip-on sunglasses.
The bike I have to ride to the work sites is horrendous! The seat is a total ass tenderizer. The chain often slips or changes gear. The right pedal is a bit bent. The seat is too low. The brake (not plural) barely works. Oh well that's life.
A few assorted things of interest here:
- Cell phones seem far more common than ground lines. Kindof neat to see, like they skipped a step of technological development. But it makes sense, since the infrastructure isn't here, it's easier to start with cell phones.
- Lots of litter everywhere, pretty sad to see.
- For our research, have to chop a lot of paths, and damage a lot of trees, also saddens me.
- There are some kittens at the guest house, they are the cutest things ever! So fun to watch them playfighting!
- Lots of very Christian names of things. eg. "Christ Is The Answer Fashion Store."
- No daylight savings time, and we work according to the light, so we generally are up around 6 am and preparing for bed around 9 pm.
Not sure when my next post will be, but this is long enough.
posted by ninjashowdown @ 10:15 a.m.
4 Comments:
Ahhh, the two greatest words ever combined: "Ass Tenderizer". Magnificent! I suppose good bicycles are just as rare as land lines. I'm glad to hear you're not sick, but you're not really a 'primate researcher' until you have a couple of internal parasites. Don't forget your side mission to introduce as many Africans as possible to "Ill Mitch". Africa with out Ill Mitch is like shoobey to the wooby without the woobey dang.
As for the cell phones, it's true that cell phones are much more prominent in Africa! In fact, I remember one cell phone that I wanted to buy, and I had to wait for it to come to Canada. Which was OK, except that it was already selling in Europe, Asia, and Africa. So they actually get cell phones before we do in North America!
Of course, one reason why cell phones are a big thing in Africa is because when they lay the infrastructure for land lines, the local people actually dig up the copper wire and sell it! Using cell phones eliminates the need to protect the phone lines.
I've always found that with technology and fashion - Europe and the rest of the world come before North America.
Was amusing to see that last year's fashions in Europe (all bright colors) just magically showed up this summer. So when I go to Denmark I'm a year behind, but when I come back I'm a year ahead!
Oh ya and ha! I found your blog!
How fair is it that the only person new to BFMS and with no immunity to African illnesses hasn't gotten sick yet. Just wait... your turn is coming. hehe j/k
I think we should start the "Bring Speedy and Artemis to Canada" fund. We don't want Chicken though, he's not cool enough to bring to Canada. You, Julie, and Yehudi can share custody of Speedy and I'll take Artemis. Deal? (these are the kitten btw)
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