Miscellaneous

Week 7
Anne Christien said we have been in Ghana for 8 weeks now. This means we have been at the home for 7 weeks. Really? That seems like a really long time but it feels like we arrived yesterday. I have lost any and all sense of time so I am turning into a Ghanaian. There is the present and the past and the future will take care of itself when it arrives.

Sleepless Nights
What do you do when you wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep? Read? No books? Watch TV? No way, you'll wake up Mother Sylvia who works way too hard in the day to be awakened in the middle of the night! So you stare at the walls. It was while doing this I realized one reason why I feel so comfortable here. The rooms are just like in Old Bisbee. The floor is bare; nothing is square; the wiring is on the outside of the wall; and there are no closets. Just like my old house! Bisbee was one of my past experiences training me for Ghana. By the way don't feel too sorry for my sleepless night. I had slept too much for two nights running so on the third night I couldn't stay asleep. Oh poor me!

TV watching Family
The other night night I was watching everyone watching TV (Myrte and Anne-Christien excluded, they were in Accra to pick up Theo and Sanders. So, this stuff was written on paper just didn't make it to the internet until today). The show was in Twi so I wasn't distracted from watching the family. There were children in chairs, on the sofa, lying on the floor and each other. When someone on a chair left to get a drink, another person nabbed the chair. The older children could understand the jokes and would laugh followed by the younger kids laughing a few beats behind. There were also times when everyone was talking and no one could posssibly hear the television. Tis continued until Mother Sylvia sent the children to bed. It was a repeat of TV watchin in my house as a child just with different children in Ghana.

Water Filter
As you saw in a picture the ceramic water filter has been purchased. The box says the ceramic part is a 0.2 micron filter. There is also a second filter made up of carbon, sand and stones. The brand name is Safia and it is made in Korea. The salesman said you need to replace both filters every 7 months. The box itself does not specify length of time or number of litres of water that can be filtered. The ceramic filter box says it can be cleaned if it is clogged. Mother Sylvia is cleaning it once a week to keep it from clogging. Pamala or Kevin will you see if you can find out anything on the internet about this water filter and how often the filters need replacing? There is no part number on the box. It has a 12 litre capacity and that's everything I know. If you can't find anythng, I'll just ask Sister Sylvia to replace both filters every 3 months for me.

Funnies
*) The other day I say a chicken sitting in the yard that looked so peaceful and relaxed. I thought to myself, "Oh, I wonder if she is laying an egg". The fowl stood up and lo and behold she was a he. I knew it was a rooster because of his bad leg. When he was sitting and had the rooster's crown I thought it was a chicken.
*) While walking back from the internet near the Liberian Camp I got a little lost. There was a man sitting on his porch who called out, "Hello my wife, when will you come and visit me?" I answered "Hello, I'll visit when my first husband gives me permission." Mark gave me permission but as long as husband number two doesn't see this he'll never know.
*) I am always a walking sweat machine. I had lost my hat so the hankie I use was tied around my head to prevent sunburn. When I was loking for a tro-tro a man was following me wiping his forehead with his arms teasing me. But, I looked back in time to catch him. So, I took my hankie off and wiped my face with it instead of my sleeves. His friends totally enjoyed the show and the fact that he was caught and we all laughed.
*) At the same place one of the guys insisted he would help me get a ride to where I needed to go. He walked me to where the taxi to Camp was. I thanked him and then he asked, "Don't you want to help me." I was tired so I just told the truth, "No, I don't not at all." He was shocked at such a straight forward answer and so I told him that I'm already giving all my money to the orphanage. He then laughed and said, "Oh so you are already helping many Africans. Good, good." He then gave me a small hug and went on his way. The look on his face when I said no, not at all was priceless. People in Ghana do not talk like that. The proper response is to take their address, or say oh I'm sorry I really have no money today maybe tomorrow. But I was just too tired to be proper and he really didn't even care. He was very nice about the whole thing.

Kakum National Park
Rico and Alice from SYTO came for a visit. Like everyone they love our placement. We 3 went to Kakum National Park (Myrte and Anne Christien had already been). First we stayed the night at a hotel. I was in heaven. I had my own FLUSH toilet and RUNNING WATER shower. I was in a room by myself so I could also wake up and walk to the bathroom in the nude. It was incredible. On top of all this there was a swimming pool with shade. I took a shower in my clothes and sat in the pool for a couple of hours. When the sun went down I got COLD!!!
The next day we went to the park. It is a tropical rain forest with a canopy walkway. Don't tell Mark but I was walking on the top of the trees. It was amazing and beautiful and scary all at the same time. It is the only canopy walk way in all of Africa and one of only 4 in the world. It is right outside Cape Coast so we did the whole thing in two days. The travel time was about 3 1/2 hours by tro-tro. It was absolutely spectacular!

Myrte's Gone
We came back from the Park on Friday night. When I was in bed Myrte came and we had the following conversation:
M: "I'm leaving tomorrow."
F: "I know and you'll be back on Wednesday."
M: "No, I won't I'm not coming back."
F: "Oh yes you are!"
Myrte then laughed and explained that she really isn't coming back. Last I knew she was going to check out her two options on her next placement, come back and think it over. Instead, she decided to take her things, go to the one that interests her most and only if that doesn't work out go check on the second. So, instead of 3 more weeks she was leaving the next morning at 6:00 am. I said ok well then you have to wake me up so I can cry with everybody else when you leave. I then was wide awake thinking about where will she be?, will she be ok?, what if something should happen? I then thanked God that I am not a real mother or I would be a wreck. I was able to calm down by deciding what motherly advice and instructions I would give to her before she left. When I woke up the next morning, I couldn't help myself I kept following her around. I told her she had to memorize Evans phone number. If she needs any help or has any problems she must call Evans immediately. He has a motorcycle and will come to wherever she is to rescue her. (I'll be a few hours or days behind on buses). She laughed and said she would. I also told her to send Brother Evans, JoAnna's and my phone numbers to her parents so they can call us if they don't hear from her. So, Myrte's real mom be sure to ask for the phone numbers and if she has memorized Brother Evans number yet.
This morning when it was time for her to go there was not a dry eye in the house. I will see Myrte again before she leaves when she is traveling and relaxing on the beach. The children won't though, so we all cried and were sad. I then went back to bed. The children are better now and so am I.

Refrigerator
Mark, what is in your refrigerator? Ask Mari to clean it out and buy some food to eat! Also, my phone died in the middle of my talk with my mom so that's why you couldn't reach me on Thursday. It should be fixed and ready for me to pick up today so I'll be able to be reached again.

End
This is the longest post and has been possible because Anne Christien and I are in Accra at a place called Busy Internet. It is the busies place in town because it has the fastest speeds. Using the intenet here is the same as the DSL line at my house. I can read my email, type and actually get things done. It is nice. Best fo all, when we leave here we are going to an Obruni restaurant that is a salad bar! We don't eat anything that is not cooked but this salad bar has Obruni belly fresh vegetables. So, I'll leave now and write more after lunch if we get back here. Thanks for all your support, thoughts and prayers.