cereal would be nice.

antre! (or good afternoon)

just finished up site visit and then an intense 2 week technical training in the Northern Region, and now we are back down in the Eastern Region at our homestays to finish out the last couple weeks of Pre-Service Training (PST). the tech training was great, we learned a lot and fortunately had the chance to do many practical applications; we taught some lessons in primary schools, helped construct/watched a latrine and soak-away pit get dug and built, held an HIV/AIDS meeting with mango farmers, visited clinics and hospitals, assisted in a baby-weighing day....
we stayed in a house without electricity (getting me ready for the next 2 years!), but fortunately it had running water and a cold shower. our WATSAN (health/water and sanitation sector) definitely grew a lot closer due to such close living quarters :) but it was great, our group is amazing and i learned so many interesting facts about each one of them!

one of the interesting days during the technical training was the baby-weighing day in Dipale. so many babies in such a small community, but they were all adorable and most didn't cry when they saw our white skin. it's still hard to get used to them crying when they see us because of our skin, but most of them warm up to us, eventually. =) the pictures on facebook show they come and hang them from a scale (literally) and then mark their progress in a book. there are lines which indicate healthy/underweight/severely underweight. they would get weighed and then go on to get immunizations from the nurse (which are provided by the government of Ghana) and she educated the mothers on malaria and diarrhea.

so everything on my side of the world is great, so i'd love to hear stories from home guys! maybe about all the milk/dairy products you are consuming while i'm consuming almost zero! because this country doesn't do milk or cheese apparently...or maybe about the mornings you wake up and turn on SportsCenter, something i could really go for right about now. also, all you southwest michiganders, i know the Van Buren Youth Fair just happened, so tell me how it was :) or how about all the days you have the option to go to the beach if it's 100 degrees out while i just sit there and sweat like a pig. i'm not complaining because this experience is amazing and i'm so grateful, but i wish pools/lakes were more readily available! so please have a bowl of cereal, drink a cold beer while swimming at the beach, and eat some pizza and burgers for me =)

i continuously miss you all, and a special shoutout to JACKIE and JOSH for bringing baby Brayden into this world :) he's a wonderful addition to a beautiful little family! i can't wait to hear all about him, and see more pictures!

peace, love, and hugs
xoxo