Can you all please turn off your air conditioners...
Last night the price of kerosene, diesel and petrol in Ghana jumped by 10 to 20 percent. While the local media wants to blame the government, the reality is that the price of oil is far beyond the control of anyone in Ghana. Developing countries generally get screwed on energy, but luckily all of Ghana's electric power is generated from hydroelectric dams.
Nonetheless, this will effect me. Once I start teaching, my daily salary will be enough to buy about 1.2 gallons of petro each day. Good thing I don't have a car. But I do cook with kerosene. So that will become more expensive. And I take taxis, buses and tros (imagine a transportation system designed by the criminally insane). So all that will probably become more expensive too. And the cost of energy may generally effect prices, but hopefully you all can try to keep things under control so us Peace Corps volunteers can afford to eat everyday.
In other news, Peace Corps training and homestay continues. Other than language classes, training seems rather useless. Imagine a 40-day seminar by a bunch of bush league management consultants. The information is not always completely garbage, but it just doesn't seem like the best use of anyone's time.
I have gotten into a routine at homestay. It is not as painful as it had been, but I'm looking forward to more independence. Between the Peace Corps schedule of classes and my family doing everything for me around the house (not always a bad thing), my life is fairly controlled. I travel to my permanent site in a week for a visit, so that will be interesting. I have heard very exciting things about my accommodations, but I won't believe it until I see it.