Matt's Father's Day E-mail (written June 21, 2009)

well we got a break from work this afternoon and some of us went to town to make some contact. we have now split up into our smaller groups and are all living in different towns. the env group is in a remote Ghanan village. I'm not sure of the spelling because they spell everything phonetically in twi unless it is a formal paper. everything else is in English. it is not a good system but it is good for beginners. the env group is definitely the best group to train in because we get to go on so many field trips and get to plant gardens, tree nurseries, along with money making ventures. o yea... i have my placement!!!! it is the best one out of all of Peace Corps... i am in the tropical rain forest!!!! i will be working with a Care International working to preserve the forest and all of the wildlife. this section of Africa has the most biodiversity out of all of the rain forests in the world!!! it is huge and spreads west all the way to the Atlantic. i don't know much about care international but the description seems cool! i do have electricity and will be living in a compound with another family of 4. it rains a lot. i forgot the name of the town but if you look on a map the rain forest section is labeled as a national park. so a normal work day is usually wake up at 5:30 and for every hour of work there is probably an hour of sitting around waiting for something. the day is usually over around 7:00 then once the sun goes down there is not much to do so i read my 75 books and go to sleep. i will be getting a phone soon and i will call when i get it. it might be a few days. sorry if what i wrote doesn't make any sense i have a short window to write this before the Internet goes down. love to everyone!

Africa is awesome! (E-mail text dated June 11, 2009)

This place is a crazy house :) sorry that this took so long to get to you but we have been in a pretty remote region north of Accra in training. I am now on alone on my "vision quest" in a town in the eastern region north west of Accra. the food is good... if you like rice and red sauce... everyday... i also got to pound some fufu yesterday night and had a real traditional meal with the peace corps volunteer i am staying with for the next 5 days. so to make it you pound casava and plantains together with an 8 foot pole that weighs about 20 lb. for about 45 minuites until it turns into this goey ball of starch. then you use your fingers like sizzors to cut off a piece and stick it in your mouth. this is a communal thing so everyones hands are in the pot. then once its in your mouth you suck it down like a clam. its...i dont want to say good but its not bad :) i have not gotten sick yet and i feel great! there is so much stuff to do i cant wait to hear which site i will be stationed in. i will find out in about a week. i am going to get a cell phone so communication wont be bad. i will be calling sometime today but im not sure when. well time is almost up. tell everyone i said hi.