I'm still here! - part 1

I realize it has been an extraordinarily long time since I have updated this blog. I apologize. If it helps, I do have a valid excuse - actually three valid excuses: 1.) things got crazy busy towards the end of training and the start of my time at site, 2.) since leaving Techiman and coming to Volta, this is the first time I have had decent access to internet fast enough to do anything other than read emails (which I do love to read, and respond to when I get a chance - keep sending them) 3.) my site is fairly remote, and I only am occasionally in a city that has internet access at all.
But, these excuses having been given, let me at least reassert my hope that I will be able in the future to keep up with these updates more often than I have in the past two months. In the meantime, my mom was good enough to write update emails and send them to many of you. Because I want to make sure everyone is on the same page in knowing what is going on with me (and hopefully to add a few new juicy details), I will use this post to do a quick update using excerpts from my mom's email. I apologize for the repeat of information for those of you who have already seen this material, but hopefully even you will be satisfied with the personal comments I will add to my mom's very good account of what has taken place.
Mom's email will be in indentation and my additions will be in normal type to cut down on confusion.
Ok, here goes:
Yes, our Dara the Explorer, Peace Corps Trainee, will, as of this week, become Dara, Peace Corps Volunteer. After having passed her language test on Monday, where she had to show some proficiency in the Ewe (pronounced Eh-vey) language, and also a few more tests this week on technical training having to do with the job she will be doing at her site, she will participate in a swearing in ceremony where she will be officially a Peace Corps Volunteer. YAAAAY!!!
It is true - I have been sworn in as a Volunteer. What a relief - I think all of the trainees were quite ready to be finished with the training phase. Language test was daunting, but I was happy that it went a lot more smoothly than I expected. I went to a designated location and sat down with two of the Ewe speaking trainers, and we basically carried on a conversation in Ewe. We started with greetings and introductions, and I told about my family in the States (I promise I said nice things, mom), I role-played a market transaction and answered a few other questions on topics I can't remember too well now.
The swearing in ceremony was long and consisted of a lot of speeches and a few performances by trainees from the various language groups. Also, several of my fellow trainees performed traditional drumming and dancing performances that they had been preparing for a while. They did really well. I can't say that the swear in ceremony was any more interesting than any other graduation ceremony, but the key point was that we are now officially Volunteers.
She is at this moment (as of November 29th) still in Techiman in a hotel with the other volunteers, finishing up the last of their training. She has left her homestay which was outside of Techiman.
She did tell me that she had a wonderful Thanksgiving. She praised the ingenuity of the PCV's, though, as she described the menu: Turkey, stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, and several other thing she listed that I can't remember. Of course, after some of the items, she would add, "of sorts". I don't know where her Cheetoes played into the menu, but after I had sent her a box of assorted items she requested,she told me she was saving the cheetoes for Thanksgiving Day.
I can't tell you how amazing that thanksgiving meal was. The things that were made may sound normal to you, but some of them were made using ingredients or cooking techniques that I at that point was not even aware was possible in Ghana... I have since learned how to find ways of making many of the before unheard of American foods, though some may seem like cheap substitutes to all of you, it is absolute HEAVEN to my home-starved palate. Recent ingenious culinary accomplishments: devilled eggs, mashed potatoes using yams (so I guess that is really mashed yams), an imitation of mom's baked beans, and the crowning of all achievements; last night my friend and I made an AMAZING pizza. We actually found mozerella cheese at a store here in Ho. Granted, the cheese itself was half of a day's wage, but sometimes you just have to splurge for a taste of home.
She is very excited about her new living arrangements in Bethel, and her new name there in Bethel will not be Afia Dola, but Dzifa Dara (pronounced Jee FAH Dara) The meaning of Dzifa in Ewe is 'My heart is at rest'. If you look at the map of Ghana, the Volta Region is east of the large Lake Volta. There is a town named Ho which is about a 30 minute ride from her little community. She will ride her bike from Bethel to Tsibu to catch the Tro(the bus service--really they are over crowded vans) which will take her to Ho. Ho is a bit larger town with more conveniences, and maybe even better internet availability, but, as it is a bit further and harder to get to, she may have less opportunity to be at the computer.
Not to mention that the last several times I have come to Ho in hopes of writing updates, the two fast internet cafes were down - but time and perseverance will overcome all obstacles... at least cyber-related ones.
My community truly fits me in more ways than I can describe. Some of you may have read about how my home situation is really unexpectedly nice (yes, I get to watch t.v. at home - an almost unheard of luxury for a volunteer), but that is not what makes Bethel such a perfect fit. It is a very small and remote village containing about 600 people, and it is very quiet. It is a Christian faith-based community, and the people are very wonderful and loving. I can not imagine a place where I would feel more safe or welcomed. Because it is so small a community, I have had good opportunity to at least meet the majority of the people who live there, and though I have been there only a month, I would say that almost all of them know who I am now (not hard, being the only Yevu around).
I live with Patience, a young woman who is the headmistress of the local school, and her mother Margaret, who is a teacher at the school. I know I am prone to over using superlatives in my descriptions, and I apologize for that weakness in my writing, but I truly have not met any women in Ghana who would be more perfect as housemates for me. They are amazing women - very widely traveled, and wonderfully gracious.
Moving in to a new place and trying to establish a new home for yourself is a stressful event in anyone's life. Doing it in a foreign culture adds to that stress greatly. I would venture to say that trying to find your place in an already established home brings with it even new stresses and uncertainties, and I can't say that this past month since I have been at site has not been an adjustment, at times very difficult. But I am blessed that the people in my community, and especially the ladies I live with, have done everything possible to make me feel at home, and it has greatly eased the anxieties and loneliness that I have at times felt.
And I can not express all of the ways that I have been encouraged by the prayers I feel from home, and the messages that I have been receiving. Keep it up! It keeps me going.