Ghana, Day 2

Hi Ruth!

I'm still in Ghana. I need to get a calendar so I can mark off the days until I see you, too. I miss you a lot.

Being here in Ghana has turned out to be a lot more like camping than I thought it would be, and I'm going to try to make it less like camping before you and Mommy get here (as much fun as camping sounds at school). The apartment they've given me is clean and pretty big, if a little bit shabby [Melissa: certainly no worse than my apartment in Georgetown, and I'm making a list of cleaning supplies for next trip to the supermarket, so I can keep the place in Melissa-ready order]. They promised me a stove, and I have one, so that's good. But the stove runs on gas - and there's a shortage, so I don't have any gas for it right now. Fortunately, Prof. Helen, my boss, lent me her electric cooker, so I can make myself some food at home (even though, like you, I'd probably be pretty happy just eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all day!). And, there's a water shortage on campus, so my water went out last night. I hope it won't go out when you and Mommy are here, but in case it does I'm going to get some buckets to keep water in from when it's running - you'll probably find taking a bath from a bucket more fun than Mommy will, though! [Melissa: You can probably find the game-theoretic problem with the fact that, when there is water, everyone hoards by filling their buckets rather than just using a little bit...]

But really, none of this is as hard as missing you guys. I can survive for a while eating peanut butter and jelly and rice and beans, but not without talking to you.

Sorry we couldn't video-talk last night. I think my internet in my apartment may be too slow, so how would you feel about talking on the phone most nights for a little bit, and then talking on video once or twice a week when I go to my office? I promise I won't make you skip movie night!

This morning, I got to talk to some people. I had breakfast with Prof. Carl and Prof. Ani, who I'll be working with. And I met Prof. Hudu, who lives in the same building as I do, and teaches about languages - but he'll be moving out in about a week. There are supposed to be two other families living here, one from America and one from Egypt, but they haven't moved in yet. I hope they have some children your age! And I already asked Prof. Helen to introduce me to the man who runs the dance department, so we can go watch them. She said that he might want you to join in!

I also thought I'd show you some pictures, finally (I know, this is the part you've been waiting for). I've only seen one tiny gecko so far, but this is the place where I'm living for a while:

From Where in the World is Dad?

Like I said, it's not bad. But not nearly as nice as home, especially since it has no you in it!

I'll show you some more pictures of what it looks like inside once I clean up a bit - there are still lots of shopping bags from yesterday when I was trying to get things I'd need to live here, like cups and plates. But I'll show you the one little corner I've made a little bit my home for now.

From Where in the World is Dad?

I love you, and I can't wait until you come visit me!