Puppy and Site Visit

My host family gave me a puppy! The puppy was just hanging around the house and no one was taking care of it, so I started to. I think it will be alright, and there are other people to help me take care of her at homestay, and I think I can work it out at site. The other thing is that she doesn't need as much care as you'd expect. This is Ghana after all, and people here don't treat their animals the same. During the day, she mostly sleeps or entertains herself, playing with whatever or whoever is around. I feed her when I eat, and she eats what I eat. She sleeps outside under a bench or on a piece of cloth or plastic or nothing. I think because she was taken away from the mother at such a young age, she has learned to survive by herself earlier than is usual for an American dog.

I wasn't neccessarily planning on getting a dog here, but I knew that it was a possibility. I'll worry about what do to with the dog at the end of my service when it comes. For now I am excited and hesitant. I know I have seen the best dog trainer at work, my dad, but I still worry that I won't have enough time or won't do a good job training her of raising her. I guess that's a parent/pet owner thing to feel. anyway, I call her Akramine-baa, which means little dog in twi. I'll give her more names as we go. She's really small- i'd guess about 6 weeks old now, but I don't know. She is very independent, and sleeps outside and takes care of her self most of the time. I feed her and play with her when I can, and she mostly tries to play-fight with my hand. Also, she has fleas like crazy. I gave her a bath, but I can't compete with them. There are very limited veteranary services here, people don't really keep animals as pets, just as farm animals, even dogs and cats. I'm asking my parents to send some frontline dog stuff to me.

Right now i'm in the Kumasi Sub Office. It's a really nice spot where PCV's can rest and regroup, or hang out. It's just a rest stop while I travel to Sirigu for my site visit. It will be the first time that I'll get to really see what my site will be like. I'll get to visit my school, see the house I'll be living in, and what good stuff the previous volunteer, Jason, left for me. I'll get to find out about my community, talk to the people in Gurune, and get a look at the land. The North is totally different than the South, they say. I already met the Headmaster of my school, James, and another teacher there who will be my contact person, Bismark. They are both very nice and laid back. We had a 2 day workshop where we got to know one another and talked about what it would be like at site. Now Bismark and I are traveling back up to Sirigu, and I'll spend about 5 days there before I have to go back for the last two weeks of training in Kukurantumi.

Tomorrow, we are meeting at 5am to try to get the early bus to Bolgatanga. There will be a line, and the bus will leave around 6, as soon as it's full. If we miss it, we'll have to take the second bus, but it could leave anywhere from 7 to 10, depending on when it fills. The ride is around 9 hours, so we want as early a start as possible. We are taking a bigger bus, not a trotro, so it will be more comfortable, and I'll get some reading (and hopefully some sleeping) done.

I'll let you know all about my site very soon.

love,
Toby