Sup? So I'm back and loving my Seattle again! Since we last talked a few things have happened - it's snowed like Alaska here...we moved into our new apartment...I went to Ghana...it's been a while, hasn't it? Hmm...where to start? Apartment first, Ghana second, and the snow's now gone :-(

It's so wonderful to be in our own place! We have more than enough room for all our stuff and for Rachel when she moves in next month. It's already so beautiful we don't have to do much to make the apartment awesome, and phone service connected this morning! All drunken messages should be left at (206) 621-8907, if you would. Gracias! I have yet to run into Dr. Fontana (the physics prof who lives below us, who almost taught my phys class this quarter...), though we hear opera floating up from down there sometimes. The only other wacky thing about the place is the damn shower curtain rod, which is having gravity issues...

Speaking of showers, I am so glad to be back in the land of indoor plumbing. I never realized how fabulous it really is until I took showers with a bucket and a cup for three weeks. No more icy water on sunburns and wondering if it's a tan or just more dirt. Maybe I'm spoiled... But I miss the roosters that wouldn't shut up after 3 am...and the humidity...and falling asleep at 80 degrees...and the kids that would watch us through the window forever, even when we were trying to sleep. And the manual labor was kind of cool too, as always with Habitat. We spent most of the time hauling bricks to the houses we were building, carrying mortar (or mohtah...they had the crazy brits over there...), and mortaring the walls. Now I'm a expert with the stuff, so just let me know what you need done, yeah?

We did some awesome tourist stuff too, and once I get pictures just let me know if you want any. We stayed in Cape Coast for a few days at the end of the trip and walked around in Elmina Castle, including the dungeons. This was one of the places the Portuguese...and Dutch...and Brits kept the men and women they shipped off as slaves to the US and everywhere. We were taken through the large rooms they were packed into and on down to the little doorway they were forced through to be loaded onto the boats that would take them away. After hundreds of years there's still a smell that lingers, and the tour guides use it to...better help our imaginations along. We got to do a canopy walk in Kakum National Park over a section of rain forest too, and that was awesome. It was like one big tree fort with these 7 bridges connected by platforms ringing the trunks of some huge trees. Sadly, we missed the monkeys in the trees since we didn't come in the morning, but we saw a viper on the side of the trail on our hike back. Points for not touching the poisonous wildlife...unlike Nicole.

We built two and a half houses while we were there and I could see myself going back after a while. It's pretty easy to live over there and most everyone is incredibly friendly compared to here. But our group has decided to make our next building trip to New Zealand, so all I need now is money...hmm...