What’s it like in the tropics?

I know you are all thinking it is, well….HOT! And you would be right…some of the time. It’s funny how living here can change your body’s thermostat. When we came in August 2006, we were warm. But in the northeast/midwest US, it was also warm. August, by the way, was a great time for us to move to Ghana. It's close to the same tempurature that we had in the states.

After you live here a while, you adjust and then 80° F seems cold or at least on the chilly side. With temperatures over 100° F usually, higher in the dry season, you can see why.

Having ceiling fans in almost every room in our house helps a lot. We don’t have air conditioning (which would be atrociously expensive to run here anyway). It’s easier to do without this luxury when you see people who have much less than you and are still happy. It puts everything into perspective when we keep in mind what we’re here for.

Shade…it’s nice to have, nice to be in, and nice to carry around with you…take for example this girl in a village.

They carry everything on their heads. This very large empty basket is no exception. She's merely transporting it from one place to another. Could be two houses away, could be two miles away. It works.

Those blue and white coolers to the right of her in the photo are what you see often wherever cold water satchets are sold (see the plastic bags in bulk, to the left of her in the photo). Satchets are 500 ml size (about 2 cups worth) plastic bags that are sealed full of drinking water. They can be bought individually on the street for the going rate of 5 pesewas (peh-suh-wuz) which is approximately 5 US cents worth. When you are on the street and you are thirsty, this is what you look for. Nice and cold. Just bite a hole in the corner and you are good to go.

Water...it's what keeps everyone cooler and it really "does a body good!"