“I’ve been around a long time, and life still has a whole lot of surprises for me.”
Today is another ugly day, dark, chilly and cloudy. I have nowhere I have to be. It is a stay at home day. It is a wash the kitchen floor day.
My house is dark. The TV is on pause. Everything is quiet except for the occasional blast of heat. The dogs have finally settled down on the couch. I’m ready for another cup of coffee.
The dogs are loving his weather. On sunny days, Nala lies on the grass soaking in the warmth. Henry wanders. On the chilly days they run all over the yard. Nala comes inside panting. Henry comes inside hoping for a snack. They both take a morning nap. They have tough lives.
Yesterday I watched a video about Ghana. It was filmed at Yeji, on the shore of the Volta Lake. A ferry leaves from Yeji, crosses the lake and takes the road again on the other side, in the Northern Region on the road to Tamale. I rode that ferry many times. Sometimes I had to wait for it to come from the other side. I bought food and water while I waited. I bought plantain chips cooked over a charcoal fire. The grills were large white enamel bowls filled with burning charcoal. A metal grid was across the top. The aunties also sold dried fish which never tempted me. I think it was the eyes looking at me. The water was sold in green beer bottles. I used to hold the bottle up to the sun to see how many floaties there were. I bought the bottle with the fewest floaties.
I know how lucky I have been to see a good part of the world. Even now, so many years later, I am amazed that I actually lived in Africa. When I was a kid, the only glimpse of it I had were pictures in my geography book. Usually there were giraffes. I never saw giraffes. I remember on the way to Ghana we flew over the Sahara. Later I would ride a camel in the desert, but on the plane I was thrilled to see it. I will never forget stepping off the plane. I felt the blast of heat and saw palm trees. I was in Africa.
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November 12, 2023 at 8:07 pm
Hi Kat,
Today was cloudy with a high of 65°.
I adore your stories about your adventures in Africa. Most Americans don’t think much about Africa. If we think about it at all, we think of the continent as it was portrayed in Tarzan movies. We don’t realize that it’s a huge diverse place with huge deposits of natural resources. The Russians and the Chinese have been setting up relationships with many equatorial African dictatorships. Unfortunately, public schools don’t teach the history, culture, and current events of the continent. Of course we don’t teach kids about civics either and let them vote. 😦
November 12, 2023 at 9:01 pm
Hi Bob,
It stayed cloudy all day, but it wasn’t all that chilly in the afternoon. I did wash and wax the kitchen floor. Now I get to rest!!
I didn’t know much about Africa. Peace Corps sent us a lot of information before we left and some of it was cultural, but all of it still seemed to be pictures from a geography book. Seeing it was extraordinary.
Kwame Nkrumah, the first president o Ghana, cozied up to Russia. He was deposed and the new government, the army, swung back to the US. Right now the Chinese are getting a foothold in Ghana by financing factories and gold mining.
Civics used to be a required course for the ninth graders. It is no longer.