settling in

Hello all! Sorry for the lack of blog posts. I have very limited access to internet and when I do have the chance to use it, I like to send personal emails or read up on your lives!
It is crazy to think about how I have already been at site for 3 months and that I have been in the country for almost 6 months. wow. One of my PC friends and I were talking about how interesting to think about how humans are so adaptable. During training, we both hated the food. Now, three months into site, we actually crave some of the local foods. We joke about how we are going to have such a hard time readjusting to life in America after actually enjoying foods that we once hated, getting accustomed to drinking warm beer, and various other social habits that we have taken on. We joke about how we are going to be very socially awkward back in the U.S. Just a warning! ha.
My puppy is doing quite well. I have not seen him in some days since we all went to Accra for Thanksgiving. My 12 year old friend is taking care of him and making him fatter by the day. He will be the fatest dog in all of Tutukpene, which is wonderful since all of the dogs look like they are starving. He is the cutest thing ever and it makes me feel so good to have something to come home to. :D I will try to post pics when I have a good enough internet connection. His name is Opukalo, which means "all is good" in the local dilect. And I have been seeing people from Tutukpene today in my marke town and they greet me with the name of my dog. It is fabulous. People are constantly asking how my baby/husband is doing. He is quite the star in my town. And rightfully so since he is the best looking dog in the whole town. :D
Tommorrow my village is having a naming ceremony for me. The chief apparently bought eggs, which are quite expensive, so it must be a pretty important shindig. They have named me "Tilin" which means "We love or like you." ha. I hope they still feel the same when I do not bring them money, electricity, or bikes after two years, which is what everyone in the town thinks I am there for.
My counterpart (the man who volunteered to work with me on community projects) and I have been doing a census, which includes asking questions about diseases experienced during the last year, number of people in the household, kind of latrine used, when they use soap, whether they practice family planning, etc. During the census, I have also incorporated two questions of my own, which are what the people see as the strengths in Tutukpene (since everyone is only talking about the bad or what they need to me) and what projects they would like us to work on together. Usually the first reponse to what projects we can work on is how I should bring them money, bikes, or electricity. Alot of my work during the next two years will just be educating the people on what I am actually there for and what community development is. The census gives us a good chance to begin that education.
My work has not really begun yet since I just arrived three months ago and I have been working hard to just make sure I am happy and want to be here and that I am somewhat a part of the community. I am glad that the Peace Corps does not want us to really start any projects for the first three months since their approach to community development is from a capacity-building, people-centered, grassroots approach. I do not want to begin projects that the community has no interest in and that I am just starting because it is from what I see needs to be done. So I have been identifying projects that I think the community is interested in and that would be sustainable. so far, this includes bringing another well to the community (which could take a least a year due to bureacracy), starting an HIV/Art club to simultaneously educate about sexual health and teach the teens to be creative, working on bringing latrines to interested community members, working with the farmer's group to promote a protein-rich tree called moringa and rabbit rearing, and learning how to make moringa soap from another volunteer in the Upper West and then teaching the women in my community to increase income. So many things, but living here and accomplishing even small tasks takes so much patience. My list includes so much more, but development and behavior change is a slow process so I always have to keep that in mind. In the meantime, I am surviving the sun and enjoying my community (for the most part) and my pup. :D

Bye! Happy Holiday season.
Lindsey