http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/WhereIsErika/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from WhereIsErika en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:11:05 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:11:05 +0000 Happy Canada DayMy I'm home safe and sound entry is long overdue as I've been home since the 16th of June heh.My first thoughts after stepping off the plane were I can't believe this is my home just knowing that so many people spend their whole lives trying to get out of Ghana for the kind of opportunity we take for granted. After an emotional reunion with my parents I have parents I marv http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/blog-409973.html finally got around to do doing the agriculture research portion of my internship I've been busy and I'll begin with what I did the day after my day in the life saturday before last.by the way I'm in a really hitech internet caf in Accra and I'm going to take my time and enjoy this air conditioningI met Richard around 630 am in Kasoa and it's really because of his sweet connections that http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/blog-404641.html Hey so I've decided to do a typicalday type entry because I've realized that whenever I blog I go on about whatever happened on the weekend and don't say a whole lot about what I do during the week. The vague and perhaps clich concept of volunteering in an orphanage has become my life so here's a look at what happened on Friday.before I get to that I should mention that on thursday I DID http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/blog-401215.html It's been 1290379357098374 years since I've written an entry and I'm sorry this one won't have visuals despite the 200 pictures I took since you last heard from me because the other night in Accra my wallet and camera were stolen. I don't even care about the wallet but the fact that I've lost 7 weeks of travel photos and videos from 2 continents just really breaks my heart. I've been in Gha http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/blog-400586.html This entry will be the condensed version of my 11page written journal entry ok hahaEcho the boy with cerebral palsy that I'm working with has shown some real improvements already... he never used to be able to lie on his stomach and push himself up but now he can and he's a lot more lively than he was before. It's really cool and I'm not the only one to notice. Yaw on the other hand took a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/blog-394899.html Hello againThis past weekend I had a ton of fun. Friday night we invited the volunteers who don't live at the hostel some have host families over for a movie night but because the outlets in our rooms haven't been working for a few days that means no fans gah we turned out kitchen into a cozy theatre. We made tea and attempted popcorn on our little gas stove but that was a bit of a disaster http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/blog-392760.html Maadwo good evening in Twijust a note I wrote this entry on friday but am publishing it on Sunday and will make another entry from what I did this weekendweek soon enough.The other day I was at the market getting some food because even though we get fed through the program dinner is often our only real meal. I got stuff to make sandwiches and other snacks and also bought some plantains.. b http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/blog-391663.html Hello everyone Getting to do this entry was quite a feat I have to take a trotro passenger van from Odipong Ofakour where I now live to the nearby city of Kasoa to an internet cafe that has been down for the past couple of days and with a break in the electricity being out me and a few other girls made our way out here. After waiting about an hour for a spot I got on but with a snail's pace http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/blog-388774.html Hiiiiii.This entry is going to cover today and yesterday.. then I have to go pack because in about 5 hours I'm heading back to the airport making my way to Frankfurt and then getting to Accra Ghana around 530 pm tomorrow I am really excited but mostly just relieved that I will be able to speak English again haha. Yesterday was the first day of the trip that I got to sleep in I had my breakf http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-387118.html HalloI've been very busy over the past couple of days and almost too tired to stay up and write an entry... but here goesYesterday my Onkel Reini Tante Christa and greatcousin Stephan wanted to give me a tour of the greener parts of Berlin. We took a short drive to a park that had a big hill and a great view of the city. There was a guy paragliding off the hill and some other people with a rem http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-386551.html This trip to Berlin started out as a spontaneous idea when I was looking at flights going to Ghana. I thought hey they go through Germany why not stop for a week But it is already turning out to be so much more than that. I just got back from my Tante Miechen's where we had about a 5 course meal haha. My greatcousin Andreus was there too and we went to see his apartment afterwards. He is li http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-385900.html Hallo wie geht's Yesterday after a long jetlag inducing flug flight and then a domestic flug flug is just so much cooler to say ok I am now in Berlin I'm getting used to this German keyboard so this entry might take a while haha. I tried to get some sleep on my way to Frankfurt from Ottawa but it's not so easy in economy class.. although I did get a pillow and blanket which I kept http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-385599.html HiIt's been a little crazy the past few days doing lastminute things before the next leg of my journey but now I'm all packed up and ready to go again In a couple of hours I'll head to the Ottawa airport waking up in Frankfurt tomorrow after an overnight flight. Then I'm taking a domestic flight to Berlin where I'm staying until next friday with my Onkel Reini and Tante Christa my mom's http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/blog-385076.html Ok here's an update of the last 3 days as I have been depriving the blogosphere.On Wednesday morning we packed up and made our way to San Pedro a beautiful but very touristy spot on the majestic Lake Atitlan. Along the way we stopped at a displaced village the people had to relocate after their homes were destroyed in the mudslides of hurrican stan in 2005 so Paul could visit his sponsored http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/blog-375418.html Today was a long day but a great one. It was our last day of stovebuilding and Louise Barkley and I met up with our local mason David back at the house we left yesterday. David was there overnight as he usually likes to do. We met the man of the house and he got each of us a bottle of pepsi in the glass bottles and it was just what we needed in the heat and dust. I gave his kids some stick http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/blog-374693.html HolaYesterday we had a free day and it was quite eventful as I had my first experience on Guatemalan public transit. I was on a mission to find contact lens solution because I ran out and couldnt find anything like it at any of the tiendas around downtown. Barkley had told me about how there's a whole different area of Xela that if you hop on a bus you can get to a more ritzy area where there's http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/blog-374361.html Ok so I just realised that when I type a blog it says its for the following day.. therefore yesterday's says feb 14 when actually TODAY is the day of cheesy cards and candy hearts. Today was a busy day for most of us who decided to go to to Tak'Alik'Ab'Aj which is Mam for Standing Rock. Mam and K'iche' by the way are 2 of 26 different Mayan languages and dialects. It is an archeological sit http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/blog-373720.html I'm having trouble trying to begin this entry.. what we experienced today was so moving and I wonder if I can do it justice in my account of it here. Today we went to a very isolated community called Panimaquim which was a long drive along treacherous roads that nonetheless provided postcardworthy landscapes.. the country is so beautiful. We were brought there by Clara Colop and her daughter Is http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/blog-373423.html Im soo happy to report that Im feeling considerably better and went stovebuilding again today The volunteers this year have been amazingly productive with most groups finishing a stove and getting halfway through another in one day. I started out in a group with Barkley Louise Pierre and David and went to a house where they got 34 of a stove done yesterday. I got to work sifting sand pu http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/blog-373124.html I was going on about how I was so happy to be healthy before the trip but now here I am popping pills like its my job nursing a cold that came out of nowhere I think I must have picked something up at some point on the way here as I did get pretty worn down from the day and a half in transit. Id almost prefer a bit of Montezumas Revenge because that at least is moderately predictable. I st http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/blog-372456.html