patience is a virtue (or so i have been told)...

hey everyone! i would have written sooner, but internet is not the EASIEST of things to come by (as you may imagine). so, since the last post, i went to the university of ghana at legon to meet the cousin of a childhood soccer teammate and spent an ENTIRE day trying to get connected to the internet....

thursday i went to the university, which is about 14km outside the city and i managed quite well on the informal system of tro-tros (or run-down mini vans which substitute for the pretty much non-existent public transport). when i got there amma's cousin (who i was supposed to meet) was in a meeting so i hung about at security until a few guards took pity on me. they were kind enough to give me the grand tour in their 4x4...robert seemed rather taken aback that they had done this, but they got me where i needed to be...i also learned that there are 45,000 people who use the campus (i am assuming a combo of teachers, students, families) and the reason for my "special" tour was that campus is ridden with "tricksters" hanging around and i would apparently be an easy target. i never really got an explanation as to what "tricksters" are, but it was nice to be shown around especially because the campus was pretty vacant as students are on break.

dr. robert specializes in economics of development and works for an institute of social and economic statistics. his building is right next to the University of the United Nations and i look forward to finding out more about what exactly he and they all do...he introduced me to a couple PhD students from NYU and Cornell, one who has been here since January and the other who is just visiting...they seemed like really friendly, interesting chaps and i hope to befriend them pronto...jaja.

other than a nice afternoon at the university, the past few days have been really rainy, which has made the commute in and out of the city EXTREMELY interesting and a bit scary...it is technically winter (rainy season), which is great because it is not AS HOT as usual, but makes getting around a lot more difficult.

there has been a lot of drama at the house where i am staying. first, between the company that sets up the housing for volunteers and the volunteers themselves (seems like a clash of cultures to be totally honest) and then of course a little bit of love drama as well, but i don't have television or the the hills so it has been a nice replacement.

today, i am at the local paper looking through archived newspaper articles for my research and getting my own personal internet connection, which is a great rainy day activity (although definitely not the preferred one for a saturday)...i have been dying to get out and do the full day comprehensive walking tour of accra, but between the heat, rain and other random tasks, i have not gotten to it just yet...as much as i am trying to love accra -- there really seems to be very little to do here (besides the research i came to do) so i am anxious to take care of what i need to and travel about the country a bit...

i have been kind of a crank the past few days...maybe it is tiredness from being poked, prodded and grabbed by every man on the street and in every internet cafe. i finally broke down yesterday and flat out told a man not to touch me and another that "no, he could not just have my watch, because i actually need it to tell the time." i am tired of random strangers telling me they love me and me trying to explain that for me, love is something that takes much more than 5 minutes to feel...i find myself frequently treading a fine line between being an ambassador of good will from the west and also letting folks know when they have crossed too far into my personal boundaries...most of you know, patience is not my best attribute, but i am thinking ghana is going to test it in ways that buenos aires never quite did...