Ah, country life!

Generator
Originally uploaded by lynnikins.

For the past two days, in the middle of major heat wave, we've been without electricity because of destructive storms on Monday that knocked out power all over Washington County. Fortunately Jim wired up an inverter to keep our bedroom fan running. Then our friend Dale drove his tractor down to our house, hauling this fine generator to keep our refrigerator going. I missed the computer, and internet access, more than anything else. Well, and music, too!

Update on Rachel's health

On Sunday Rachel called to tell us that she was sick with a fever and had to go to the hospital in Accra. She said she was feverish, sweating profusely, and had a severe headache as well as pain in her joints. For some perspective, ten of the other 29 students have been to the hospital with similar symptoms. The doctor gave her lots of pills, including the antibiotic ciprofloxin, which is specific for typhoid fever. She is also being treated as if she has malaria as a precaution, even though they don’t know whether or not she has it. Unfortunately, the doctor said her blood work didn’t indicate any antibodies for typhoid fever, even though she took the oral vaccine course here weeks before she left, which is a bit concerning. I guess she must have gotten bad vaccine. Rachel was a little freaked out because she said the nurse didn't wear gloves when she took Rachel's blood. Welcome to third world health care, darling!

I spoke to her again on Monday after she had been on medication for 24 hours, and she sounded much better. She said she felt much better, was just weak. She was staying home for the day with her host family (who are very nice, by the way), and planned to return to work at the orphanage on Tuesday. I haven't heard from her since then, so I'm sure she's on the mend. On Sunday the AFS group will start their travels along the coast, visiting the old slave headquarters and possibly doing a canopy walk in the rainforest.

Rachel rarely posts to her own blog any more. Reviewing my recent posts, I think it's not really necessary for her to do so, since all the posts on my blog these days are about her! One of these days I'll have to get a life of my own!!

Rob and Ben at Mary's

Rob and Ben
Originally uploaded by lynnikins.

Celebrating Ben's 11th birthday at Mary's in Virginia Beach. The birthday dinner included Black Bean soup, homemade chips using Ben's special recipe, carrot and celery sticks, and the piece de resistance, chocolate angel food cake. Rob and Lygie gave Ben a Rachel Ray cookbook and Granny bought him a nifty waterproof watch. Good times!

Greetings from Ghana

hey mom

so we're in an internet cafe in accra, and it's pretty
sweet. the computers are slow, but contacting family
is worth it. accra is amazing. the people are so kind
and friendly. everywhere i go, there are always so
many cool and differnt things to see. there is a girl
in the hospital right now, but she's okay and we're
going to start working at the orphanage soon. we meet
our host parents tomorrow. i live near most of my
friends, well in the same district of accra. i hope
everything at home is going well. say hello to the
kitties, and be sure to tell jim i said hello.

our flights were long and grueling. i am so tired, and
im sorry if this note doesn't make much sense. i'm
truly running on an empty tank. we've had long
lectures all day concerning the ecomomy, family
issues, history and everything else about ghana you
would EVER want to know. i found out some stuff about
funerals that is interesting. im learning twi, OOOOH
and they use xylaphones in traditional ghanain
funerals, like the one ofmatts natalie has. i love you
both very much, and i hope tihs email finds you well.

love
Rachee :)

Parting is such sweet sorrow!

Rachel at the airport
Originally uploaded by lynnikins.

For the first time I lost a post via Flickr! I posted this photo plus an entry yesterday, and could never get it to come up on Blogger. Oh well, must be some July 4th weekend thing. Anyway, this is Rachel at the Akron Canton airport on Friday July 1, about to board a flight to LaGuardia. She called us from NYC that evening after her AFS orientation at St. John's University to hear our voices one more time before her big African adventure. She was excited and happy. Her 28 intrepid fellow travellers are also outgoing and friendly like Rachel, but then it takes a certain kind of person to do this kind of thing. Rachel says they will all be good friends by the time they get to Accra, Ghana on Sunday evening. They took a crash course in Ghanaian culture on Friday, and will have more orientation when they get there. Rachel said the AFS presenters said Ghana is their most "extreme" trip--extreme both in terms of health dangers and cultural differences. AFS seems to go to a lot of trouble to ensure their safety; they had a major lecture on malaria (since Jim told Rachel that her antimalarial doxycycline is also used to treat acne, Rachel seems a lot more committed to taking the pills!), and have strict guidelines about food and drinks. They also keep all the students' money locked up in a safe, and give them allowances, so they don't have to worry about getting it stolen. The AFS people said to be prepared for men asking the girls to marry them, and children asking them to adopt them.

Rachel said that reading Brian Hough's African Adventures blog really helped to prepare her for what to expect in the way of culture shock. Bryan is a Peace Corps volunteer in a remote part of Ghana. He's been there over a year, working to monitor and eradicate some parasite endemic to the region. He is VERY FUNNY. His descriptions--complete with accompanying photos--of various experimental barricades to keep the local goats (and their droppings) off of his porch during heavy rains had Rachel and me practically falling on the floor laughing. A good sense of humor can get you through some pretty squirrelly situations. Bryan doesn't post often; his dad in Michigan posts for him infrequently. His latest post, A Day in the Life, is a real hoot.

Rachel's host family, the Agyankwas, are a family with 6 grown children--5 boys, 1 girl, the reverse of my family. The youngest, Reuben, is a university student studying accounting. The father is a librarian, the mother is a caterer, and the children are all professionals, just three living at home. The AFS students will have free time after their work at the orphanage, but they have a strict buddy system for doing things together. Rachel said she hoped her local buddies would be up for some exploring. There are only four boys in the group, which surprised me. I hope those adventurous girls are prepared to look out for themselves.

On digital photography

Drew and Natalie, July 2, 2005
Originally uploaded by lynnikins.

While going through old photos to find pictures of Matt I realized that there were long periods of his life during which I didn't take any pictures. With the ease and economy of digital photography, there is really no excuse to not take photos regularly and post the best ones to the web via blogs and photo-posting accounts. An archivist would insist that we also have hard copies in the form of paper prints, in the event of a catastrophic failure of technology. But if that ever happens, there will be a lot more to worry about than preserving family photos! I should probably investigate printing some of my favorites, but I'd like to see that technology get more dependable and inexpensive first.