Pieces of the Puzzle

Hi folks,

The posts below are more stories from the village, but to bring you up to speed on current events:

We just came back from a day at the beach, where the waves were huge and the water warm and salty. We spent a few great hours there with our friend Henry and some interesting Nigerian characters who we later saw involved in a near fight - they were a little '10-foot-tall-drunk-and-bullet-proof' and our association with them started when the younger of the two brothers tried to pick up Miia while I went to meet Henry.

Miia seems quite popular with the boys here (even more than at home) so I am suddenly feeling all protective, which is strange because frankly she can take good care of herself and always has. But, us being a team, she being the most important thing to me in life, I don't like it when people mistreat her or assume because she is sitting by herself they should make her their business.

That aside, I think we are adjusting to the culture somewhat and to the reality that privacy is concept that many peoples of our planet do not share - it is just not part of the cultural vocabulary, especially in the village. We went back to the village this weekend to make a small donation to a community centre, along with David. There was an insane amount of attention paid us and multiple requests for money or to start an NGO there, something we don't really have the capacity to do. It is difficult because we want to help, we want to be open, and we want to establish real relationships with people, but it is hard because the expectation of money is ever-lurking.

On the upside, we are happy to be back in the city, and I am really enjoying working at the Statesman. My boss, the editor, is a genius with more conservative politics than my own, which is a good learning experience. He puts a lot of faith in me but not so much that it is impossible to live up to. Miia is poised to become involved in the project with the slums and possible a couple of other things too, like the CofA project for example. We have some very good local friends already, and will hopefully make more expat friends through basketball - it's good to have a mix because expats understand the culture shock and adjustments one makes.

Life is good and the best thing, for me, is that I learn more here each day than I could in months at home. I, not knowing this place, am like an infant absorbing new pieces of the Ghanaian puzzle by the second.

Chris