Love, from Ghana

Hey guys,

let's see, what has happened since last week? first the tragedy....

my best friend Sapisco, his cousin was walking to a friends house on Easter Sunday during a storm, and a tree branch fell down and killed her! she was 23 years old! It was very sad ( this key board is funky so forgive the typos please) It was a bad storm and the tree branch was very high, even with the make up on you could still see where the tree crushed her skull....oh my......she was all set to go to university next term and that's even a bigger accomplishment that in the states, cuz it's really difficult to get indoor university and then be able to pay for it here......so that's what i did on Saturday, I went to a funeral from 7am to 4pm and it wasn't finished yet :) man, but since she was young and had many young friends, the teenage boys were rainmaking and smoking (basically, no one smokes in Ghana so it was really strange smelling that) and causing some trouble.....why do people have to do things like that at a funeral when people are mourning? anyway, that was that....

OH my gosh! Friday night, I had the carpenter make a shelf for me, it has 4 drawers in the middle and a section of shelf on both sides, I’ll have to take a pic of it, anyway, Sapi carried it on his head from the carpenter, which is at the complete other side of the village, completely downhill, all the way to my house in the dark!!!!! he said it was the heaviest thing he's carried, i can’t believe it made it! wow....i wanted to take a pic but i didn't have my camera....it was a sight, wish you all coulda seen it :)

oh and that reminds me, Shaza asked me about prices in Ghana.....she didn't understand when i said i got something for 40,000 cedis and that's cheap so here's a small list

the approx exchange rate is 1 usd to 9,000 cedis

one 300ml coke (about 10 oz) is 3,000

one loaf of bread is 5,000

one orange is 500

one apple is 3,000

8 small onions for 1,000

one package of spaghetti is 3,000

internet is 6,000 per hour

to get from Foase to Kumasi costs 2,800 (one way)

a soft toothbrush in Accra costs 18,000

an extra hard toothbrush (the only one in Foase) costs 2,000

a medium toothbrush in Kumasi costs 5,000

my hair gel is 14,000

a tin of powdered milk is 25,000

one roll of toilet paper is 3,000

energizer batteries are 15,000 for 2

batteries in Foase are 2,500 for 2 (but my camera and speakers dad sent need energizer strength)

i bought the iron for 130,000

a calculator, scientific, for 95,000

nice STC bus ride from Kumasi to Accra 65,000 (one way)

so that's that......i could give you many more prices but i'm sure you’re bored already

ohh and i started drawing the map on my guest bedroom wall, so when all you wonderful people come to visit me, you'll have the world to look at :-D

pics of wood carvings are coming.....give me one month.....

ok, I’ve run out of things.......oh James and Lexie came to visit me~! they live in the upper west, near way....in Kulkpong and Kaleo respectively....i love them!

miss ya'll....but i'm healthy and happy, i'll stick around :)

krisi