FOOD
I start this blog entry with last Sunday the 18th April and the best breakfast I have yet been fortunate to have in Ghana! This was thanks to Anna who went to Germany for two weeks and returned with many, many goodies for us. Her offerings included nutella (three jars of!), homemade jam from her garden, white chocolate cappuchino, salami, REAL coffee and tons of gummy bears and Haribo that aren’t available in Ghana! It has been a most enjoyable week of coffee and sweets! On Tuesday Kattie and I asked for pancakes from Gladys our food lady and we both, including Anna, enjoyed them with LOTS of nutella! 
WORK
Last week I spent more time in house 3 than in the school, as I quickly realized after a Monday and Tuesday of no lessons that something was afoot and after asking Auntie E. whether the school was on holiday (most Ghana school children have a month off but the school has stayed open) I received the reply that they were “resting the children’s minds” to start up again school after a week of this mind resting. Of course this is utter rubbish; it’s not as if the children’s minds are really stretched as it is but I let it go and instead had some really enjoyable afternoons in house 3 with the kiddies! Thankfully, this week the school is back to a normal-ish routine, although for some absurd reason they have been practicing songs and a dance for their graduation that isn’t until July? It’s quite cute, but a little boring to just watch, although it does mean spending time playing with the little ones!
This boy is Joy. When I take my flipflops off to sit on the mat he totally loves to play with them!
I truly, truly love the children. Now I know them so much better and I know their little personalities! When Anna and I are walking to the house the children see us through the mosquito net and start chanting “ANNA, ANNA” and then suddenly last week there started up “SALLY SALLY SALLY” and it was great because after endless repetition of “no, my name is not obruni it is SALLY” they finally get it! I actually heard one child correcting another telling him that I was Sally, not obruni! Success! Mostly I spend my time at the house being shadowed by Felicia who is the most adorable thing with her little bug eyes although it is dangerous to pick her up because putting her down again causes screaming and she has the most ear splitting scream ever. Sometimes, however, I can’t resist giving her a cuddle and playing with her even if it means getting completely hot and sweaty from carrying her around.
After this play time it is time for the children to eat and I help Anna feed the two disabled girls, normally feeding Ezuma, and then after the other children finish eating it is a game of trying to avoid their sticky fingers (they get the fish after eating and love to show me and then try to hug me or pat my lap/shoulder) and endless repetition of “go wash your hands!”. Try as I might I still sometimes come home with two yellow hand-shaped patches on my back or legs! Thankfully, food is followed by bath time and suddenly the little compound is full of naked children running around dry or otherwise soaked! It is my job then to grab as many as possible with towels and attempt to dress them again. Easier said than done…
I love them!
THE WEEKEND 24th-25th : Motorbikes, monkeys and mud!
On Saturday Anna, Kattie and I decided to head to a village called Tafi Atome around 3.5hours tro tro ride from Accra where they have a monkey sanctuary. After an uneventful tro tro ride we got off at a junction called Logba Alekpeti which was 5km from the village… this distance we covered by motorbikes! The road was relatively smooth dirt track with only the occasional tricky patch, but still it was a crazy experience of fear and excitement and trying to lean with my driver! Once we arrived at the village we got our room and then decided to visit the neighbouring Kente weaving village. I had heard that it was possible to hire bikes to visit but after asking at the office we were told that the “rain would catch us”. We were unimpressed by this (envisioning one of the short downpours we had experienced) and after discovering that the village was 15km away opted for the motorbikes again.
It was only after we set off that I thought about the rain, but even then I was concentrating on the road! After a few minutes it did, however, come to my attention that the sky was getting very black! Suddenly our drivers really kicked into gear and we went A LO T faster! I have no idea how the drivers managed to negotiate the road and avoid things like potholes and stones when the wind was coming so fast at our faces making my eyes stream behind my sunglasses! The wind started to go crazy and I have this image of Anna’s back on the motorbike in front of me with the grass blowing and trees leaning with the force of the wind and leaves flying everywhere and the dust just swirling above the road! We were right behind Anna’s bike and the dust was coming at our faces and I did fear for my safety as I could hardly see a thing and I wasn’t trying to drive a motorbike! Eventually the rain came, not h eavy at first but very, very hard on my skin. Thankfully, it was shortly after this that we arrived at Tafi Abuife the weaving village and after climbing off and looking at Anna and Ka ttie I discovered that we were all brown with dust! The rain really started to pour then and we took shelter inside the store room next to the village shop. 
And waited. 
(above) the village after the rain!
The rain didn’t let up for 35 minutes or so and we just sat and wondered if it would ever end! Eventually we went outside and discovered that the ground was waterlogged and the dirt was now a thick, sticky mud that was almost impossible to w
alk in without losing a flip-flop! 
Eventually, we met the guide of the village and were shown around to where two large shed type buildings was the working space of many weavers, although many more work in their homes. It was very noisy and they were extremely quick and skilled workers. Our guide told us that the “ke” of kente means to open and the “te” to tighten. Everyone in the village weaves, male or female, and it is only recently that the village has started adapting to the tourist trade with help from Tafi Atome and some Peace Corps volunteers.
After the tour there was more waiting for the rain to slow during this time our guide asked lots of questions about our countries such as “where do you buy food?” and “can you go outside when it rains?”. I did try to explain about supermarkets but how could he possibly conceive of a place as big as his village?!
The way back was scarier than the way there, although we did go slower, because the track was now mud which was very deep in some places and there were many holes that had to be avoided. I felt the back of the bike slip many, many times and the more I looked at my driver the younger he looked! However, he did promise not to kill me which was reassuring, and we got back safely! On our return, however, we discovered that the storm had been extremely destructive and that trees had actually been blown over in the storm (which we had been riding around on motorbikes in…). Fences and houses had also been seriously damaged! Mad.
The next morning at 6
am we went to see the monkeys! They were sooooooooo cute and peeled the bananas in our hands to get the fruit so nicely. Apparently there are four groups in the forest of around eighty in each and it was nice to see that the villagers really liked the monkeys too and were pointing and laughing at them with us. Afterwards we went for a walk in the forest and saw more of the cute little monkeys as well 
as more storm damage.
After breakfast we had the bright idea to walk back to the road (5km remember!) and although it was only 9am it was extremely hot hot hot and we were so glad to see the road when we finally got there. It was, however, lovely to walk past all the mud houses and the little communities with everyone on their bicycles and if we all have silly tan lines on our shoulders then it was worth it!
Tafi Atome
Shocked at the storm damage and me in the forest
And so that concludes this week’s blog! I hear England is getting some good weather so I hope everyone is enjoying it! It is, of course, boiling here and we have been experiencing some annoying power failures but joyful running water which makes me more and more everyday into such a simple creature! Food, power and water are my main preoccupations. The food thing isn’t much different from in England, however!
Lots of love, Sal xxxxxxxxxxxxx
