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I’m Ghana sit right down and write myself a letter.

The morning is again lovely, but today there is no breeze. We are eating breakfast with the fan above our heads working its heart out to give us a bit of cool air. The last two days have been hot and so humid rivulets of sweat ran down my cheeks. Yup, it was not a pretty picture.

Thursday was market day. We wandered in the cloth and leather markets, and my bag was filled with beautiful traditional Ghanaian cloth. The market men were eager to entice us to their stalls, but I didn’t mind as I got to sit on benches in the shade.

Later on Thursday we went to see my student Grace’s house, a house in progress. It was quite a distance from Bolga and the laterite road had bumps and grooves. Some traditional huts and many unfinished houses line the road. The houses are concrete and in various stages. Grace’s house is far from being finished.

Friday was a trip to a basket village. The women were all seated under a tree in the shade. They were working on different stages of the baskets from splitting the reeds to finishing the baskets by cutting the threads. They would periodically stop working and clap in unison. When we started to leave, the women encircled us and began to sing. A woman would then enter the circle and dance. One of the women grabbed my hand, and I went to the middle and gave it a go.  They were thrilled.

On Thursday we had guests for dinner, three current Peace Corps  volunteers. I remember how grateful I was back when if someone bought me dinner. We talked about Bolga and Peace Corps in our day and in theirs. We decided we served at a wonderful time when the world was safer.

I wish you were here with me in the mornings. The air is clear and as cool as it will get. Roosters compete with each other. The women clean the compound using small reed hand brooms. All the leaves are swept and cleared. You can hear the swish of their brooms. The air smells of charcoal fires and the lush greenery only found during the rainy season.

The other night we had a spectacular thunder storm. First came the wind and the darkest of skies. When the rain started, it was all we could hear. The thatch roof above us kept the rain off our heads, but the wind blew the sheets of rain, and we got wet, mostly our feet and legs. It was wonderful.

Today is another market day, and I can’t resist the lure so that is our morning plan. Tonight former students are coming to dinner.

Check out this link. It is updated often:

https://goo.gl/photos/3KcWPUGewdXxsvza7

 

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This entry was posted on October 2, 2016 at 4:27 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

35 Comments on “I’m Ghana sit right down and write myself a letter.”

  1. Christer.'s avatar olof1 Says:

    October 2, 2016 at 9:31 am

    I like to look through those photos! Having elephants so close and the markets looks just like something I would lve to walk around in 🙂

    Are there very big differences in being there now and when You were there? The world has changed everywhere but in some places it changes slightly slower.

    Have a great continuing of Your trip!

    Christer.

    • katry's avatar katry Says:

      October 2, 2016 at 1:41 pm

      Christer,
      The market is a wonder. Today it was filled mostly with women selling whatever you need.

      The town of Bolga where I lived and am now visiting. is so much bigger. My market is now the old market, and my Main Street needs paint on the buildings.

      Check the link every day or so.

  2. Birgit's avatar Birgit Says:

    October 2, 2016 at 10:51 am

    Great pictures, very interesting!
    The OMO ad and the goats photo with shoes is funny.
    One of the elephant photos is my current computer desktop picture now, I hope you or Bill don’t mind.
    Have a great time in Ghana and thanks for sharing your adventures!

    • katry's avatar katry Says:

      October 2, 2016 at 2:19 pm

      Birgit,
      Feel free to use any pictures.

      Goats rule. They wander all over town and the market and sleep in the middle of the road at night.

      Look each day for more pictures.

  4. flyboybob's avatar flyboybob Says:

    October 2, 2016 at 12:10 pm

    Thanks for the great pics. Did you take them with your iPad or a digital camera? Your pics of the elephants on the grounds reminded me of the Henri Mancini song, ‘The baby Elephant Walk’.

    Hopefully, that part of Ghana will remain rural and unspoiled by Mac
    Donalds, KFC and Starbucks joints into the near future. I’m sure that they have already invaded Accra. I don’t know how we ever lived without a big Mac and a double latte. 🙂

    Have a great time and keep posting those wonderful pics.

    • katry's avatar katry Says:

      October 2, 2016 at 3:21 pm

      Bob,
      The pictures are from a cell phone. I love that song.

      The place where you see the elephants is at the grounds of a lodge in Mole National Park. It is a preserve which is government protected.

      I have seen a KFC but no other chains. Accra has a wonderful variety of restaurants with food from different cultures.

      Chech the link for updates.

  5. lilydarkl's avatar lilydarkl Says:

    October 2, 2016 at 9:00 pm

    Kat,
    Thanks for bringing us along on your trip.
    I think I was finally able to get into the picture’s file. Are those your feet by the water?
    Continue to have a wonderful time.
    Take Care,
    Lori and the crew

    • katry's avatar katry Says:

      October 3, 2016 at 2:33 am

      Lori,
      Those are Bill’s feet. He went swimming and was sitting by the pool.

      The pictures are updated frequently so do check back.

      Kat, missing my crew

  6. greg washington's avatar greg washington Says:

    October 3, 2016 at 11:29 am

    the photos are wonderful!!!!!

  7. Hedley's avatar Hedley Says:

    October 3, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    Elephants are way cool….just saying

  8. katry's avatar katry Says:

    October 4, 2016 at 2:46 am

    My Dear Hedley,
    I will totally agree. We watched them until they lumbered away.

  9. Birgit's avatar Birgit Says:

    October 4, 2016 at 10:57 am

    Dear Americans,
    what do you think, is the vice president candidates debate tonight worth watching for non-Americans? It’s in the middle of the night on TV here and I’m in doubt whether I should stay up and watch it.

  10. Beto's avatar Beto Says:

    October 4, 2016 at 8:56 pm

    The leaves are turning….

    The Autumn Wind came by today
    And begged the leaves come down and play
    We have to ask our Mother Oak
    They answered in reply

    The Mother Oak loved all her leaves
    And if they played
    Then she’d be pleased
    She let them down into the wind to fly

    Then in the happy wind they gyred
    In colors matching earth and fire
    And Golden beams did join the fun
    As Sunshine split the Sky

    All day they twirled, ‘till evens bell
    The Wind grew quiet as shadows fell
    Her leaves lay down by Mother Oak
    And Sunshine said goodbye

    Sweet Mother Oak bid all sweet dreams
    As Mister Moon smiled down his beams
    And Night did bed them all away
    To dance again another day

    • katry's avatar katry Says:

      October 5, 2016 at 2:23 am

      Beto,
      Here I am so I’ll in Bolga sweating evenwh I am sitting down. I have to peel my wet clothes off to jump in the glorious shower. I forgot that at home the autumn has taken center stage and the world is awash with color.

      Thank you for reminding me how wonderful the autumn is.

  11. Birgit's avatar Birgit Says:

    October 7, 2016 at 4:18 pm

    When you are back home and miss Ghana this music mix might help:
    http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2016/10/05/ghana-45-mix-highlife-and-afro-blues-1969-76/
    I’m just listening, hot music for cold days.


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