Harmattan!

Harmattan! It means that everything is dusty and dry. I have some mountains that are about 2 miles away from me that I can't even see now because there is so much dust in the air. The dust reminds me of an overcast day in the US, except its always overcast and foggy. Its dry - a stream next to my village has completely dried up.
Unfortunately, all of my stuff is covered in dust as well - If I go out to my market town, my pants and shirt look like I decided to roll around in a dirt field for an hour. The upside - its pretty cool here at night and the sun is mild (for Ghana), but the sky is just all gray... there is no blue sky to be seen.
Teaching is just starting up again, so I am really excited to try out new teaching techniques and ways of getting students to care about learning. I went to church for the New Years with Ghanaians, and it was really different. Do they stay up until midnight? Yes. Do they celebrate with friends and family? Yes. Do they stay at home or go out to friend's houses? Neither, in fact Ghanaians all cluster in their churches to bring in the new year. Actually NYE is a larger holiday than Christmas (when no one goes to church unless its Sunday) because EVERYONE goes to church and prays for a successful new year. I think the strangest thing was not going to church, or having a 3 hour long church service, but between 11:30 and midnight, everyone is praying (some silently, some barely audible, some talking loud). No talking from the pastor, except to mark the time (15 minutes left!), and then all of a sudden its HAPPY NEW YEAR! and everyone cheers and breaks out into song and dance. An interesting experience... but one I probably won't redo next year - Ill be watching it on tv!
Days since last rain: ~30 days
Money spent for a 2-egg omelet on toasted bread: ~60 cents
Fuel price increase in one day, as determined by gov't: 20%
Extra ICT classes taught at my house: 20