We didn't disappear!

Sorry for the scarcity of posts recently. I could say the excuse is the heat - which is oppressive to put it mildly. But really it is that we've been busy. So I'll bring you up to date quickly:

• I learned to make fufu. Well, at least my neighbor Husseina attempted to teach me. It's hard work! This particular fufu is made from huge yams. Husseina is from the north and that's how they make it there. In the south it's made of cassava and plantain. I like Husseina's best! We made it with palm nut soup and ate it with our fingers, yum.
• We went to a bead market in Koforidua a couple of hours from here. The beads were amazing, many of them very old trade beads made of either glass or clay. We bought some, but not too many - we don't really have a talented jewelry maker in our house.
• We had our friends Joanna and Gladys and their kids over for an American meal, complete with US flag placemats that the people at the embassy gave us. 
• We took a trip to Axim, very far to the west of Ghana, almost to the Ivory Coast. We experienced: a) the worst road EVER (but our little car did great), b) a shakedown by a cop at a speed trap (T driving, argh), c) the most beautiful beaches yet. 
• Work: Bill is giving mega-assignments (meaning lots of marking for the prof), the library clubs are growing daily and still tons of fun (e.g., stories called "Time Time I Was Scared), and we did a joint training on management for the US embassy.
• Visitors! More on that later, but suffice it to say four friends are here now, family coming on their heels.