Hot Tamale

Two posts in one day! Sorry, you can read them in chunks, but I needed to give a live update.

I am now in Tamale (pronounced TAH-mah-lay) after traveling 7.5 hours in a tro-tro of increasing heat. We are now in the hottest part of Ghana and it is not a temperature to joke about. Standing in the sun is almost physically impossible.

Most NGOs are based in Tamale, which means there are obrunis up the wazzoo. We don't even get shouted at (a strange change, especially after the villages) and the people barely give us a second glance. It is the poorest part of Ghana - in colonial days, the north was used as a cheap labor force. When the Dutch came in the 1600s they brought education to the south, but it didn't reach the north until the 1900s. It has been a region that has suffered from lack of attention and development.

I feel like I'm vacationing, despite the fact that classes have restarted. I'm in a hostel and there's air conditioning and a fan. I could barely even dream of this two days ago. It's almost the exact opposite of village life, but it was a needed relief.

We head to Mole National Park in a couple days and I am STOKED. It may be the first time I believe I'm in Africa because I'll get to do the safari and see some of the wildlife I've only experienced through Animal Planet and Planet Earth.

Like I said, vacation.

Can we skip the four hours of lecture tomorrow?