First Days in Navrongo

This morning, we met with Thompson, the administrative head of the NHRC. He took us around to introduce us to all of the staff here and some of the projects going on. Right now, the biggest projects are clinical trials for a meningitis vaccine and a malaria vaccine (which has been going on for 25 years, and final results will be out while we’re here!). Although not many of the names stuck, and “Melissa” seems like it’s not going to work in Ghana, the staff were all very nice, and the phrase “You are most welcome” characterized our morning. Over the next few weeks, we will be rotating around the different projects, so we’ll actually be able to get to know the people we met today and learn more about the research that they’re conducting.

The internet (including ethernet) was totally out today, so our fingers are crossed for tomorrow. In the meantime, we spent much of the afternoon reading and napping. We did, however, manage to make it into town today! We had two goals in mind: 1) buy bread, because we’re starving and 2) find dinner, for the same reason. After finding bread, we ran into three adorable girls (10, 12, and 13) selling vegetables from baskets. They all spoke a little English, although the youngest mostly giggled, so we asked them if they could help us find the market. At their family’s stand at the market, we picked up some tomatoes and oil, so it looks like we’ll be able to subsist this weekend! On the way home, a little boy named Rudolph offered us a ride on his bike, and then decided to walk with us. He seemed quite taken with Ceci, and stayed with us while we ate dinner. This, as it turns out, was a good thing, because we didn’t know how to eat banku (a big ball of corn dough-- you tear off pieces), or the proper way to eat chicken/guinea fowl/whoreallyknows (hold it with your left and pull off meat with your right). He introduced us to his mother, who sells oranges close by, and then walked us home. Poor little thing, he seemed quite upset when we told him we’d have to leave and see him tomorrow. But we had Bear Beer (disgusting), popcorn, and movie plans.

On Friday, our big excursion was out to see the Navrongo Cathedral, which is pretty much the only thing that comes up if you google Navrongo. While we were walking, a man stopped his motorcycle alongside and offered to lead us to the church. I’m glad he did, because no one is allowed inside without permission from the pastor/priest/guy. We didn’t get much time to poke around the church, or the museum outside, because the afternoon rains were pretty imminent, and we ended up thanking both our new friend and the priest and running all the way home. It’s the end of the rainy season here, which means heavy afternoon showers, cooler weather, and malaria. Though it’s nice to know the mosquitos are going to die down during our time here, it’s only going to get hotter.

Internet update: utter disaster. Also no running water.