Well the new year has come bringing with it all sorts of opportunities for change and growth. It seems like New Years Day just happened, and yet it's already the end of the month. Crazy! I guess I better get on the ball with stuff or my life will fly past me. Looking back on this past year has helped me to realize that amazing people that I have in my life as well as all the great adventures that have presented themselves. I truly want to thank our family and friends for the wonderful support and love you have always given us. I know that I'm horrible at keeping in touch, which I think also means that I don't give thanks enough to the people in my life. I'm sorry for that, I'll try and get better, although I feel like I always say that. Here they tell us behavior change is slow, so please bear with me.
We've been here in Ghana for about 8 months and I feel like I don't have much to report on the "saving the world" aspect of this job I think people are expecting. Projects here are sometimes hard to pin point, usually it's between what people want, what people probably really need, and what's actually possible to combine those two things. So it takes a lot of talking and observing to get a feel for things. There are small things that happen everyday, whether it's JB teaching his classes or me going to do assessments, things are happening. However both of us want to get in one of those "big" things during our stay here in Zabzugu and that'll hopefully (it better!) happen this upcoming year. We're at a slight disadvantage I feel like with other volunteers in that we don't have other PCV neighbors close by that we can work on a project with. To do the big camps for kids many volunteers are needed and many communities with active volunteers need to have plenty of prep time. The 5-day soccer camp I helped out at had 12 volunteers helping and that was only for about 60-70 kids. So with JB and I....sadly it's just us. But we'll think of some good things!
We just got back from a few days in Tamale. It was nice to spend some time with our friends, eating good food and just relaxing. It's funny how some days in Zabzugu I feel like I've accomplished nothing, yet I'm definitely not totally relaxed. Here, I truly am on the job 24/7, whereas in Tamale I don't know anyone besides other PCVs so it's way easier to just let my guard down. We got our flu shots, so while I might get malaria and dysentery, I'm safe from the flu! Whoo-hoo! We were able to get our monthly stock up on some American-ish stuff such as ketchup, soy sauce, and laughing cow cheese. I have made good enough friends with a veggie lady there, so I now am dashed (given extra) and came away with probably more veggies than we can eat before they go bad. So we'll be very healthy these upcoming days!
Well I wanted to do an update...sorry if it's a bit rambly. I'll make a more organized post soon! Another one of my new years resolutions is to update more frequently, so keep your eyes open, I'll try not to disappoint!
