June 2...lame title I know..

So once again as I'm writing this we're having problems with the computers in the office. Recommendations for the JF program next year, a labtop should be mandatory, even a crappy one, and you should not be told not to bring a pair of jeans. The labtop would help since every computer here is riddled with viruses, I've now had my mp3 player killed and my usb stick wiped out. Gotta love that one, spent a week or so picking the files, applications, etc.. to put on
it and in less than a month it's all for not. But ce la vie, aye? Definately wish I'd brought a labtop, even just for the sake of not having to deal with the general shittiness of the computers here. Jeans should not be disparaged against, I wish I had a pair right now, I even brought some to pre-dep but everyone was so adamantly against them that I ended up leaving them behind. Yet when I got overseas, all the LTOV's say they'll come in handy, and go figure they sure would have. Hoping Robin, another volunteer whose back in Canada right now might be able to pick
mine up from the house and bring them back, but that's a fair bit to ask.
Had my meeting with my coach, Cat, last Thursday and Friday, good times, except for when she got sick from the food in Pag! Helped to give me a bit of direction as well, we did this excercise, took like four hours, where I organized my goals in terms of impact overseas, impact back home, and personal development. Know it doesn't sound that complicated, but if you work them through to activities and indicators of success it can take a bit. One of the impacts for back home that I've been considering is the connection between my chapter and the shea association. I feel like there is a strong correlation between the two organizations, so I've been analyzing both and taking some of the recommendations I've arrived at for the association and projected them onto the chapter. Been coming up with some proposals for increased member involvement, alternative outreach and recruitment, as well as some best organizational practices. Didn't feel like burdening the rest of the audience with my thoughts, so I gonna throw it together into a file and send it on back to the chapter. Tell me what you think, I don't have much in the way of a
sounding board over here so some of the ideas could be a little off.Another big conclusion I came out of the meeting with was that I can't leave things undone on this trip if I'm going to come away with a positive experience. By which I mean, no justifying not trying something, whether it makes me uncomfortable or not, actually more so if it does. Otherwise I think I'll leave feeling unsatisfied, and that's no good. Along these lines, dove into the market with Mustapha on Saturday, was a great time. While I love getting lost in the vastness/insanity of the markets, it is nice to have a quasi guide to point you in the right direction if your looking for something in particular. Picked up some cool fabric, a hat, and a kifir, which is a muslim scarf,
went for red and white just to be patriotic. Didn't get to go the the central mosque or Mustapha's tailor for the smock, but the intergration never happened in a day!
Talked to a few people back home in the last few days, seems like the love is free and flowing. Was a load off my mind to hear things are going well for everyone and got me thinking of a great line I stole from George back at the conference (George being one of the co-founders of EWB). He was talking about why the organization was so successful
and he said, " when we thought about it, everything we did came down to love, and that's why it's so successful." Hallaluha brother! Amen!
Heading down to Accra for an indefinate amount of time starting on Thursday, great part about the business world when it comes to stress, not so much in terms of packing! Got to meet the head of the association and see the head office, but apparently I'm also likely to have 3-4 days of waiting to get to do those tasks. Guess I'm just going to have to check out the markets...and the beach! I know I deserve your sympathy..HAHA!
Keep the elbows up, and death to the penguins