hey guys...
okay, so i have access to internet more often than i thought i would here in bolga-tanga while i'm training...so feel free to email me back now. i'm not sure yet if things will keep on like this after i go to my site in sankpala, but for now i've got an internet cafe close by...
so i'm spending my days here living between the catholic mission centre with the other trainees when we're in our sector training, and when i'm focusing on language i'm living with a host family. they're alright, i don't think they know what to think of me quite yet. my dagbani isn't so hot yet, but i can speak it better already than i could spanish after two years of it in high school, odd as that may sound. so yeah, the family's pretty nice. they're all muslim, so there's some differences there. and the mom has a tendency of breast-feeding in front of me whenever she wants to. seeing a lot of skin around these parts....
its still hot here, just in case any of you guys were curious. the humidity is still pretty bad 'cause we're coming out of the rainy season still. usually the northern regions and the upper east and west regions are pretty dry, but they get a lot hotter. the winds come in from the sahara starting in another month or so, and that's when its the coldest (70's) until february when the winds stop and the hot dry season set in. then it can reach 120's/130's. that lasts until june or so, then the rains come back. so if you guys ever wanna get out of the snow and get nice and black with me, feel free. we've got more than enough heat to go around. one of my pasttimes here, whether i like it or not, is to sit around and sweat. that's a lot of fun. and its not like you can go to a 7-11 and get a slurpee either (i would kill a man for a slurpee and not feel bad about it). for that matter, i'd settle for juice or COLD water. i've never consumed so much warm water in my life. we have to filter and boil the water before we can drink it, so that's my way of cooling down when i'm hot.....drinking hot water. fun stuff....
so you guys need to start sending me food. seriously, let's get motivated here. i haven't eaten dairy products since i left amsterdam....no milk, no cheese, nothing. don't send that, though, food like that is risky. i've been eating lots of guinea fowl (a lot like chicken, but very tough....annoying little birds), and rice and grains and native dishes like fufu and bente (goop you eat with your hands and dip in sauce....everything here is made from corn or rice somehow, and usually disgusting...). we like to sit around over here and talk about all the food we miss. then we get very, very depressed and half to go out to a local pub and sweat some more. the closest place that sells american food is frankie's in accra....14 hours away. i think some of us might make the trek, though, pretty soon anyway. after awhile, you start dreaming about eating pizza and slurpees (God, slurpees...), burgers...and crazy as that sounds. i hate each and every one of you, just know that.
so i got my bike today, a brand new raliegh. its pretty nice - has saddle bags and a light on it and a really loud bell. our helmets haven't come yet so we're using temporary ones that don't fit all that well. and for all you "extreme bikers" (maven, toni...), you haven't seen anything like extreme biking here. they don't have sidewalks, and you're constantly riding in and out of trenches and ravines, swerving in order to miss people, pigs, donkeys, chickens, goats, cars, other bikers, carts....its dastardly peril.
alright, well i just thought i'd drop another line out - sorry if i didn't send the first two to some of you: the first couple of times i was at an internet cafe i didn't have my address book on me. you'll all be updated from now on, don't worry. let me know how things are going back in the states, and feel free to start sending me american things and letters and stuff
remember to write air mail on it or it'll take forever to get here. i'll talk to you guys later, stay outta trouble....
col. brian hough
9th royal northern region donkey cavalry regiment
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