Pictures!!!!!

Hey everyone! This will be my last post on this blog. Thank you all for all of your support on this journey. Here is the link to the pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/sherikoller/Ghana201002?authkey=Gv1sRgCKW7-tWr68H-bw#

ENJOY!!!!!!

Last day in Ghana...definitely will not miss the poltergeist toilet! :(

I awoke early as Jennifer had to be up by 5:30am to leave for her flight. There was a knock at the door @ 5:30 and lo-and-behold, Ashley couldnt sleep so she came lounged around with me while Jen got ready. the hotel had promised that they would have breakfast ready but... they lied. :( Jennifer and Karen were on the same shuttle to the airport and it was sad to see both my roommates leaving! Ashley and I tried to go back to sleep after they left but at 8am there was another knock on the door... I had fallen asleep for maybe 30 minutes and had the weirdest dreams!!! I dreamt that there was a tsunami heading for Accra and we were all trying to outrun it. In the second dream, I was in the plane flying home and the plane turned upside down and was flying out of control... the pilots couldn't figure out how to get it back in control. Damn anti-malarial pills!!! :)

Since the final 6 of us were not leaving until 11pm tonight, everyone moved their things into my/Ashley's room. The biggest attraction though was the toilet! When not in use, it would whistle! I swear it! And then when you would flush it, it would start off with this low rumble and crescendo to this REALLY loud, REALLY aggressive sounding growl! I swear, the exorcist is living in our bathroom! Probably doesn't help that all of our tummies are feel a bit raw this morning and we are using Senor toilet more frequently... maybe he's pissed off about the overuse?


After breakfast we all loaded into two taxi's with Nii and drove through downtown Accra to a Craft market by the sea. The business people in the market were fairly assertive and would call out to you "my sister, come over here, my sister, I have exactly what you want." And if you didn't listen to them, they would try to grab your arm and pull you into the stalls! I didn't mind though... it's all good! :) I ended up buying a purse, a drum, and a doll. On the way back from the market, there was some confusion about the leftover team funds and finding a money exchange... it all worked out in the end and was good practice for when I am a team leader!

Back at the hotel we ate lunch and then lounged around the pool. I had left my bathing suit back in KTK... my teammates convinced me to wear some undies and a tank top... it actually DID look like a tankini bathing suit! The weather was gorgeous outside and we all laid by the pool talking about the trip and processing all the things that happened. It was a beautiful moment and I felt really connected to everyone there.
(Ashley, Andrea and Hailey while waiting for the shuttle to the airport)
We left for the airport @ 7:45pm and got there a little after 8pm. What a madhouse!!! First you had to stand in a line to get your luggage inspected, then you had to wait in line to get your passport put in the computer, then you had to wait in line to get your plane tickets, then you had to wait in line to get your passport checked again, then you had to wait in line at immigration, then you had to wait in line at the gate!!! While waiting in the first line, this woman came up and said "who is your leader?" We were really confused and she said "every group has a leader, who is it?" We said that our leader had gone home but that I could be the leader. She apparently was tired of dealing with us and said "I am only trying to help you" in this annoyed tone and moved onto the next group of white people. Turns out she works for customs and randomly picks people and she briefly screens their luggage and then they can skip the line! We were greatly regretting not understanding her :( Right before we got to the customs guy, this woman was yelling/arguing with the customs agent because a white man and an asian man had cut to the front of the line. She was indignant and enraged that these men were allowed to "cut." I guess this must happen often because there is a sign behind the officer that states "no verbal abuse or harrassment to customs agent or you will be denied boarding." NIIIIICEEE!!!! :)

Our flight left on time and although we tried to switch seats, it didn't work out. I took a Tyelenol PM though and slept for about 7 of the 11 hours!!! Upon landing in D.C. we were supposed to go through immigration, get our luggage, go through customs and then make it to our next flight in 1 1/2 hours. My luggage wasn't there! I swear, this is why I HATE checking luggage... I must have terrible luggage Karma because I never check luggage but when I do, it gets lost almost half the time!!! The guy at the desk was SERIOUSLY unhelpful and couldn't even tell me if it made it to D.C.. Good lord... if my luggage is still back in that crazy airport in Accra, I am NEVER going to get it! I barely made it out will all my limbs intact!!! BEcause it took so long waiting in line with Customer Service, I was nervous about missing my next flight... and I still had to go through customs AND security!!! Luckily I made it through and began the trek through the airport. It was nice though... the other 5 teammates had to get to their flights which were all boarding as well but Andrea, Betty AND Hailey all waited for me! First I saw Andrea and she ran up and said "My flight is boarding but I wanted to say good-bye to you" and she gave me a big hug! 3 gates down I hear someone call my name... Betty had waited to board so she could say good-bye. Hailey was waiting to say good-bye and give me a hug as well. I felt like a celebrity in the D.C. airport! :)

Ashley and I were on the same flight to Los Angeles and when we arrived I was elated to see my mom waiting there for me!! If nothing else, this trip really reminded me how grateful I am everyday that my loved ones are safe! Speaking of safe... my luggage decided to take a scenic route and was not @ LAX either. They had located it though and it was coming to LAX 5 hours later. United agreed to have it delivered within 6 hours... but that ended up being about 10 hours! I was NOT impressed!

First stop at home... shower!!! My mom went and got some In-n-Out for lunch and we sat around looking at my pictures and watching the videos. It was really nice to be home and I was feeling good!!! I was exhausted though and fell asleep @ 8:30pm.. luckily my mom stayed to wait up for my luggage. Love you mom!!! :) I slept 13 hours and awoke the next morning refreshed!

I have uploaded my pictures to picasa but am waiting on one teammember to upload hers because I know that she has some great pics as well (I will post the link here hopefully within the week). I hope you all have enjoyed my trip to Ghana and please come join me on my next adventure to India... if you are interested in donating to my India build... please check out my India blog at sheriinindia.blogspot.com I will also be posting there about all of my adventures so stay tuned!!! :)

4am is WAY to early to wake up!

We awoke at 4am to finish packing up and loading the bus. I had gone through my belongings yesterday while packing and had left almost an entire trashbag of clothes, medicines, bug sprays, shoes, etc. Most of the team left bags of things as well. These items will be distributed amongst the village and other Habitat affiliates in Ghana. When I was packing, I just couldn't bring myself to throw my stuff back into my suitcase after seeing what little the villagers had. My favorite shirt seemed like it would have a better home with one of the children we see who only own one pair of underwear and a t-shirt. There are going to be a lot of stylish KTK villagers! :)

We had breakfast and NaNa stopped by @ about 5:00am to say good-bye to us. He is such an amazing man! We were in the bus by 6am...I was feeling a bit nervous because my stomach had been upset since waking up and I had run to the outhouse 5 or 6 times... nothing like getting on a 10 hour busride with an upset tummy... lucky for me, it calmed down pretty quickly! Most of us were exhausted and tried to sleep on the way to Kumasi... there were so many things to look at though!!!It tooks us about 3 hours to get to Kumasi and we stopped at a market there. It was bustling and Jennifer and I stuck with the cooks Regina and Jacqueline to help show us around. At one point someone slapped me hard in the middle of my back... I though maybe it was Jennifer playing around but when I turned around, this African woman with a basket on her head was walking away chuckling... uh, ok? :) A bit random if I do say so! In the market I bought some bracelets and I got 2 CD's with Ghanaian music (it's called Hiplife or Highlife). After the market, we drove to the hotel that we stayed at the second night. We ate lunch there but it couldn't even compare to Regina and Jacqueline's cooking! Out in KTK, all the food was pure, nothing was processed...straight from the source... whereas here, it just wasn't the same :( But it was a good way to ease back into mass produced food :)

On the way back to Accra... I learned that the word for the day was romance... turns out that a few romances had developed during our time in KTK... some of the teammates were sitting next to their new "significant others."

We stopped again at the "rockin rest stop" that we had stopped at on the first day... how different everything felt in just 10 days! Jennifer, Karen and I went to the bar at the rest stop and got a shot of Almond bitters... I don't know what the alcohol proof is but holy crap! That stuff is strong!! We stopped at a few other places on the way but the worst was this one gas station... it was a concrete wall on three sides and had an inside of about 6 by 6 feet. Along the outside wall there was a little ditch where people had gone to the restroom... I guess when it rains, it just clears out the ditch out a drain in the back... nice! Here is a picture of me pretending to us the restroom... yuck!



When we had originally left KTK at 6am this morning, we had all taken bets at what time we would get to the hotel in Accra... I had guessed 6:20pm, Angela guessed closer to 7pm, Jennifer guessed 6:39pm. Wouldn't you know it... we pulled into our hotel at exactly 6:39pm!!!! We are staying at a different hotel tonight... it's called the Miklin and is MUCH nicer than the first hotel. They have free internet and there are no trees poking through the ceiling of the shower! I must say though...I was REALLY looking forward to the shower here.... what a letdown! the water would come on with a good pressure and about 10 seconds later would decrease to about a drizzle, then it would surge back on. Sometimes it would surge on warm and sometimes it would surge on cool. I have to say though... it was the best worst shower of my life :)

After dinner, Crispin did his reflection. He had us all write down one thing were were grateful for during our time in KTK and then one thing we were grateful for overall. Here are the lists:
1. While in KTK: The ability to stay in the village and connect on a very personal level with the villagers-Quiet moments- Dancing!!!- KTK friendly villagers that treated us with so much respect and appreciation- One lovely people- Helped define my future life goals- Nana- The children- Overcoming or conquering the intense situations along the way- NANA!- Salamin (Smiley's) smile- Adassa (cooks daughter)- unbelievable gifts from the village
2. Overall:- Family- Freedom- Supportive friends and family- The freedom to be who I am,authentically : )- My parents- Supportive/amazing friends- Education- Tickets
- Still happy- Education / Life opportunities- Freedom to travel
You'll notice that nowhere on there does it mention a Gucci purse or the brand new bigscreen T.V.. That was really poignant to see... the things we are most grateful for are the things that we, as an American culture, take for granted. The moments that we appreciated the most were the times when we were interacting with the villagers... free from our blackberry or IPOD... it was the moments when we were free from the confinement of technology and were simply present and enjoying people and places around us. And those experiences reminded us of what is truly important back home. For the last part of Crispin's relfection, he had us each pick out a small stone that he had chosen on the jobsite. He had NaNa bless them all and he wanted us to have them as a reminder to be grateful for the things we have and the experiences of this trip... I love my stone and have already made it into a necklace that I can wear to remind me to be more grateful for all I have! Here is NaNa's blessing:
"MAY THE GOOD BLESSINGS OF OUR SPIRITUAL ANCESTORS, THE ALMIGHTY GOD, THE GOD OF OUR SEVEN RIVERS, MOTHER EARTH AND THE ENTIRE SPIRITUAL WORLD OF KATAKYIEKROM COME UPON THE LITTLE STONES PICKED FROM OUR MOTHER LAND. AND MAY THE SOULS OF OUR GREAT GRANDFATHERS RICHLY BLESS YOU IN ALL YOUR ENDEAVOURS. AND MAY THE BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP, LOVE AND FRATERNITY GROW NOW AND FOREVER. AMEN."

I love it!!! Soon after the reflection, we went outside because it was time for the first round of people to leave for the airport. Tim, Beatrice and Angela were on a 1am flight so they left the hotel at 9:30pm. It was sad to see them leave but I didn't feel NEARLY as overcome with emotion as I did in Thailand when we had to say good-bye. I was exhausted and I think I went to bed at 10pm. One more day left... I will try to write tomorrow and then that will be the end of this blog :(

Murder, Kidnapping threats and fancy flip flops? Mom- you might want to skip this entry! :)

It's hard to believe that Tuesday is already here!!! We awoke this morning to the continued sound of rain and the storm brewing outside. We got up but Nii said that we would not be going to work our final 1/2 day because of the storm. Angela came into our room and shared a bit of gossip... turns out that one of the workers came by this morning to share with us that they were not heading into work as well. Eventhough the storm had slowed a bit... the villagers were taking the day off because there had been a murder in the village last night. A MURDER?!?!?! Did I hear that correctly?! They must be mistaken... the chief told us that there has never been a murder in the village before! Was he telling the truth or is their concept of the word 'murder' different or was he just trying to make us feel safe? And how would the villagers cope with this? If it's true and that they never have had a murder, will they think that we, the white man, have brought this? (Thie is Regina... my absolute FAVORITE little girl from the village... if she didn't have parents... that girl would be moving into my house TOMORROW!) :)

Breakfast was less subdued than last night but still quieter than usual as we are all still trying to respect Crispin's process. The only seat left for me to take was a dark green chair in the "cursed corner" where all the chairs break on us! I made a joke like "well, looks like I get to live on the edge this morning." Boom... not even 5 minutes into it I am on the floor with my broken chair while laughing! Do you think it could be all the extra rice I've eaten these past 2 weeks? After breakfast, I decided to start packing up as our bus would be arriving this evening and we are planning on packing up tonight as we will be leaving EARLY tomorrow morning.

We walked into town @ 3pm for our closing ceremonies but the chief was not yet ready for us. We hung out at a "bar" instead. Some of us needed to use the restroom before the ceremonies and Kolfi took us to us the Chief's outhouse. Imagine that... a "royal throne". I crack myself up! And what a throne it was... you had to step up onto a step and then the toilet seat was cemented into another step!

The closing ceremonies were CRAZY! The chief had hired a brass band to come and play. All the villagers had turned out. We entered and made our rounds, shaking hands with everyone and then they came by and shook ours. It was so different from our opening ceremonies just a week ago, this time it was infused with familiar faces, smiles from people we have worked with and spent time with. The chief wanted to give us each gifts and I was the first one they called up! He had gotten us all Kente cloth sashes with our names embroidered into them. He also had special "chief" flip flops made that are seriously bling'd out... AND seriously uncomfortable (since they are handmade, there are nails that poke out... I think they are more like acupuncture flip flops!) During the ceremonies people/villagers, most we'd never seen before, came up and would stand only a few feet away from us and take pictures of us individually. It felt really uncomfortable and just reinforced how I don't feel it is appropriate to take someone's picture with asking their permission... it is precisely the reason why I was so frustrated this week with a couple of people that would get in these children's faces to take their pictures. Just another insight to store away and discuss with teammembers when I lead a team... to be mindful that people might not want their pictures taken. WEll, after all the speeches were made and the keys were handed over to the homeowners, all hell broke loose! We got up to dance and the villagers swarmed in to dance with us. They were dancing much closer than they had and it all started to feel a bit claustrophobic. Some of the team had already left and I kept looking for another teammember to leave with but everyone was preoccupied... I was really uncomfortable with how forward and pushy the villagers became and was REALLY glad when we left for home. The rest of the evening was a bit of a blur and we went to bed exhausted... it would be a short night's sleep as we were set to load up the bus tomorrow... only 2 more days left in Ghana :(

I digress...

It's late and I am too tired to write about Tuesday (our last full day in KTK) so I will save it for tomorrow. I will tell you a short story though... this morning, I must have looked a bit sleepy in the elevator and one of my colleagues asked about the jetlag. I said that it hadn't been bad except for one thing... I LOVE that snooze button but I've been using it a lot more than usual the past week... and she said "yeah, you can't really shut the rooster off." I started cracking up! Goodness knows we tried to get rid of that stupid rooster! Ah... the mental image of hitting a snooze button on the rooster... good times! :) More to come tomorrow...

Manic Monday? I've got words for you Mr. Monday... go away!

Today was the day to end all days! We arrived on site at 8am and the sun was already shining. We've been REALLY blessed all week that the sun has been hiding behind the clouds... thus keeping the temperature tolerable... but "here comes the sun do do do do"... UG! This morning we mixed a lot of concrete and mortar and did a lot of shoveling. All of us were really sore (I don't know if it was the cumulation of many days of shoveling, the one day of rest or sleeping on thin moldy mats) and that made the work feel a lot harder. Even the bricks feel heavier (is that possible? They already weight 40,000 tons! Even my super Sheri muscular arms were seriously dragging!). For lunch we ate Foo Foo... how do I describe Foo Foo? Foo foo roo! Foo Foo moo! Foo Foo goo! Ah, I like that last one... it's a goopy, globular paste that we ate with a peanut sauce. Not exactly my favorite lunch.

After lunch... the heat melted us... there is no other way to say it. I was up on the scaffolding for a little while but between the sun beating down, the lack of a breeze and the humidity... I ended up sitting in the shade for a LONG time trying to recuperate for the short amount of time up on the scaffolding.
I went over to grab some water, and a small group of preteen girls had come out to check us out. They had beautiful pink flowers in their hair and they began to tuck them into my headscarf. One of the girls took a flower and began to rub it on my lips. Her gentle touch brought me to tears. We quit @ 3pm because... let's be honest, we just couldn't go on.

At home I took my first shower since Saturday! I hadn't washed my hair since Friday and it had been in the same braids since Saturday evening (once I put them up, I didn't even want to touch them!!!) That was the BEST bucket shower EVER!!! Pure bliss if I do say so myself (I am currently scratching my head while writing this just remembering how itchy my scalp was!).

A little while later, Karen, Jennifer and I were sitting in the room looking at each other's photos and writing in journals when Nii came in asking for Crispin. Nii went in to town to find Crispin at the bar. When they returned, Nii was crying,Crispin was in his room and Ashley came in and told us what happened. Crispin's best friend since childhood had been killed in a motorcycle car crash this morning. He left behind a wife and two small children. The entire mood shifted. Jennifer went to go check on Crispin and Karen and I just laid on our beds... completely silent for a really long time. I was imagining what I would be thinking and feeling if it had been me that got that call. I was sending out loving vibes of safety and protection to all my loved ones back home and praying that they were all safe. I was feeling scared, sad and very, very far from home. I have always been afraid that something would happen to someone I love when I travel, but for the first time ever, I felt unreachable. I felt completely out of touch with people back home. And God forbid something had happened to one of them... it was a TEN HOUR DRIVE back to Accra, and even then, it's not like there are any number of flights I could hop on immediately to get myself back home. I felt further away than ever before... and at that moment I realized... hmmmmm... too far. We all know that I am quite the adventurer... and I always manage to go to places off the beaten path... but never before did I feel that it was too far. Until now. It was a moment of realization when I realized "I don't like being this far away from the people I love." I will continue to travel but I don't know if I will ever choose a location like this again.

At dinner everyone was VERY quiet and most people came and went. We were all thinking, feeling, grieving. At one point, Jennifer was trying to get Marc's attention and he totally snapped at her and was seriously disrespectful. Even calm, cool Karen raised her eyebrows and let out a sigh! At this point, the team went off in different directions. Crispin went for a walk with Ashley, Beatrice and Nii went out back to talk, Angela and Andrea and BEtty went out front, Marc went into his room and the final 4 of us stayed in the main room. A storm was coming and thunder and lightning had started up off in the distance.

We went to bed around 10pm and were completely exhausted. I awoke at 3am and Jennifer was also awake. We whispered about Crispin and how he must be feeling. We also talked about the division of the team that evening. It had started to rain and when the rain got so loud we couldn't talk, Jennifer handed me one of her earbuds and put the Toto-Africa song on (I blessed the rains down in Africa... gonna take some time to do the things we never had). The music was cranked up, the storm was wailing around us, the events of the past 24 hours and the words of the song moved me so much that I began to cry. Not really tears of sadness but tears of pure, raw and simple emotion. I don't even have the words to express what I was feeling (maybe I should quit my job as a social worker now... I can't even figure out how to label emotions?!?!?!) other than to say that it was a mixture of fear, worry, exhaustion, empathy for Crispin, pure unadulterated joy, bliss, safety, the power of being in Africa, and simply being present in the moment. Jennifer grabbed my hand and just held it... I didn't have to talk, just be present. At the conclusion of the song, Jennifer played it again. Same effect... tear city! She then said "ok, one more time?" I was calming down mid-song when suddenly something CRAWLED ACROSS MY LEGS! I don't know what it was, but it was big enough that I felt it through my mosquito netting AND my sleep sac!!! I said "something just crawled across my legs... fan-freaking-tastic!" And at the same time, the rooster crowed!!! We immediately began to laugh... one of those belly laughs with a good friend where when one of you stops, the other can't contain their laughter and you end up joining back in. Those are precious moments in life... when you can go from crying one moment to laughing uncontrollably the next. It was the perfect!! Unfortunately our perfect moment woke Karen up and we couldn't even talk to tell her what we were laughing about... what would we have said anyway?

Moments like that remind me not only of why I travel, but also of why I come home. There is nothing like the presence of good music and a good friend. There is something awe inspiring about a storm raging outside and being dry and safe inside. In moments like that, it doesn't matter when your last shower was, or how much money you have in your travel sack... what matters most is being present, being open to new experiences, loving even at the risk of losing and continuing to look for the joy in life.

And on the 7th day... we rested!

Man, oh man, how great would it have been to sleep in on a day that we didn't have to go to the worksite? Unfortunately someone forgot to share the memo with Senor Rooster! He woke us up a little before 5am (getting later each day... maybe he's getting a bit lazy!) but we went back to sleep. A few people awoke early enough to go to church but seeing as church STARTED @ 7:30am, I was ALL set. NaNa showed up at about 10 to take us on an adventure. When he saw me he said "man, you must be sore!" I chuckled and said "nope, it was amazing, thank you for organizing such a great experience." WE loaded up into Nana's van and we were off. We had learned earlier in the week that The Ivory Coast (Cote-d'Ivoire) border was only about 7km from our village. We all wanted to go!!! Nana agreed to take us there just in case there were any problems, he could use his chiefly powers to rescue us :) It's a good thing we had him... one of the border guards was one of his former students and Nana was able to sneak us across the border! :)
There is about 3 miles of "no man's land" between the two countries but there is a line (well, let's be honest here... it is a crack in the earth that they told us was the border!) that we were able to cross. While walking up to the "line" Nana and Jennifer and I were walking together. Nana said "you see these goats, we do not know if they are Ghanaian goats or Ivory Coast goats because they roam freely between the countries." Jennifer said "Maybe we should ask them for their passports!" And the chief (in all his regal chief-ly-ness) said (well, he commanded really) "Hey you... goats... show me your passports" while wagging his finger at them. Jennifer and I just about died laughing! Nana cracks me up! HE has such a GREAT sense of humor!! So now I can say that I've also been to the Ivory Coast! :) (these pics are of us straddling the border!)


On the way back to the house, 7kn felt like 40km! The road was really rutted and washed out in some areas.

Once back at the house, a wood carving vendor came and we were able to do some shopping... I love how the shops come to us! :) After that, Jennifer, Hailey, Karen and I played Uno in our room. It was nice to just relax and enjoy each others company! Once everyone was home we ate dinner and then Nana came back over. He partook in some of the box wine I was drinking and a handful of us sat around just talking with him about his experiences as Chief and different places he has traveled to. I think we went to bed around 9:30pm.

I think I burned about 5,000 calories today!

On Saturday, we were going to try to work an entire day to make up for us arriving a day late to KTK. Nana wanted to take us out to his Cocoa farm first though so we left @ 6am, we didn't even eat breakfast first! One thing I have noticed in Ghana is that when someone tells you that something is going to take an hour... you double it. If they say it is 5km, it's probably about 10km. If someone is coming @ 2pm, it's probably more like 2:15 or later. The chief however, operates on normal time and was waiting eagerly for us bright and early. He lied about the distance we would have to walk though! The walk was beautiful and lush and we crossed streams and saw lots of ants and termite mounds. We walked solid (and at a pretty good pace) for about an hour before reaching the "house" of his foreman. I'd say we probably walked about 3-4 miles.
The walk was peaceful and serene and most of us were quiet (could be the early morning start, could be the lack of breakfast, could be we were all processing all that had happened in the past week).

Once at the farm, Nana talked about the different types of Cocoa and he even cracked one open so we could suck on the seed (you don't bite the seed, all the Cocoa comes from the sweet gooey slimy coating around the seed). He even found some yams to dig up. There we were... in this quiet peaceful area, nothing around for miles, and the chief's cell phone rang!!!! No joke! do do do do..do do do do... do do do do do! :) On the hike back home, I had to pee REALLY bad! I even though about using natures toilet but on the way back, all the villagers were heading out towards the farms and it was non-stop traffic. I couldn't figure out how to duck out of site with 20 people walking towards me non-stop. It was so interesting seeing them all walking with stuff on their heads, we saw baskets, jugs of water and even machetes! There is something about those machetes... I know we've used them on the site and they are a great tool... but everytime I see them, I can't help but have the graphic image of what they were used to do in Rwanda back during the genocide. They freak me out.


We got home @ about 10am, ate breakfast and had an hour to rest before heading to the jobsite. Once on the site, Jennifer and Tim switched to my team and Betty and Crispin went to the other team. It was a really different team with Jennifer there to help keep Ashley and Marc on task (don't get me wrong, there was still a little Sikawa Taaban happening at first)... and even Ashley and Marc were more self directed today... thank God! At one point though, Tim looked at me after standing around waiting for work to do and said (with a tone of frustration and boredom) "is it like this everyday?". Sorry buddy but yes it is... and today is actually a pretty good day :)

We went back to the house @ 2pm for lunch. In the middle of eating... CRACK... Karen broke a chair! We are 5 for 5 now! :) After lunch, Jennifer, Ashley, Marc, Nii and I left for Drobo (the town with the market). Some of the team had clothes made and they were ready for pickup. Jennifer and Nii left to get some incense and the three of us were standing around waiting. All of the sudden, it felt a bit claustrophobic and people started coming from different places, asking us where we were from, begging us for our phone numbers and the men telling Ashley and I that they want to date us and marry us. I was never so happy to see Nii walk up because they all dissipated then. Back at the house we had a mini-party in our room. JEnnifer, Ashley, Karen and I sat around drinking shots of local brewed gin (which I think is about 40,000 proof!).

That evening, the chief had asked us over for an evening of touring his palace/house and talking with the chief. He surprised us with a drum circle in front of his house... complete with the entire village in attendance and a group of dancers that were asked to dance for us. We sat in the plastic lawn chairs after shaking everyone's hands and the children were pressing up against our chairs. They had even managed to squeeze in between the chairs and were so many and so close that you felt like you were touching people on all three sides! We got up to dance and one of the girls from the dance troupe was nearby and I started to mirror her dance moves. They were traditional African dance moves and were really cool. Pretty soon, I felt like we were in a trance... I would follow her moves almost exactly after she would switch to the next move. I'd never done these dance moves before but they were magical and felt natural. They also made me REALLY sweaty!!! :) Next thing I know, I look around and my whole team has sat down so it is just this little girl and I. The villagers and my team were all cheering us on and laughing. It was one of my favorite moments in Ghana and I relished in the ability to dance with this little girl in Africa. I have no concept of time but it felt like we were up there for a long time. Eventually the drums slowed and I went to sit down. Commence heatstroke. After sitting down, I was incredibly sweaty and my skin felt like it was on fire (could it be the heat? the 4,000 kids pressing against my arms? the cardio workout? The 100% DEET bug spray eating through my skin?... who knows). I was SO thirsty but didn't have any water. It took me the rest of the evening to cool down and even once I got to the house, I bathed with wetwipes and STILL felt hot! We went to bed @ 11:30 but I awoke @ 12:45 with serious stomach cramps and a serious thirst... I drank a whole bunch of water and the cramps subsided. Tomorrow is our day of rest! YIPEE! :)

Someone please 5150 me, I am about to harm a teammate!

Friday morning I awoke dreading working with the same team... well specifically Marc and a little bit with Ashley. On the way down to the site, about 10-15 kids had shown up and were swarming around Marc changing "Sikawa Taaban, Sikawa Taaban, Sikawa Taaban" over and over and over and over... well, you get the picture! I was about ready to poke my eyes out! Sikawa Taaban means money has wings and somehow Marc had learned that yesterday and taught it to the children and would goof around flapping his wings and acting like a drunk bird! It was quite annoying yesterday but today it was kicked up a few notches! After 45 minutes of not having enough work to do, and hearing non-stop sikawa Taaban, Hailey and I decided to jump ship and go work on the other house with the other team. It was amazing up there! It was quiet, all the teammembers worked at a solid pace, the work was steady, they all worked TOGETHER as a team and we didn't have 40 kids hanging around (tripping over them as we carried 4,000lb bricks or having the workers yell at them to go away and then 5 minutes later Ashley or MArc calling them back over). The morning passed really quickly!

At lunch, Nana came to join us and Beatrice was asking him all sorts of questions but she was doing it in a know-it-all way. I was getting super annoyed... I think my patience quotient had worn down and everyone was annoying me a bit this day. I ended up walking back to the worksite by myself as I wanted some time to chill out a bit. Back at the site, Hailey and I begrudgingly made the decision to head down to our original site. On the way there, kids started running from everywhere saying... well, I am sure you can guess what they were chanting. I said aloud "ooooh, that is so annoying." Betty and Hailey both said "no kidding, I am so annoyed with that stupid expression." and Ashley said "get over it Sheri, they are just playing." Lord give me patience!!!!!!!Put me in a straight jacket because I am about to knock a teammate out... pick a teammate, any teammate for I am about ready to go postal on anyone! But I digress...

Nii ended up coming to our site and helping us find work, but we closed up shop early (2:45pm) and you could tell that something was up. We walked back to the house and Jennifer called a team meeting where she normalized having difficulty finding work and that the workers aren't used to working at the pace we do. And that we should be mindful of the fact that they are trying to adjust as well... they don't normally let women do this kind of work, and here we are... a team of 9women and 3 men... and 11 of the 12 of us are white which adds another dimension as well. I was still feeling a bit edgy and after the brief meeting I decided to go chill out and go take a "shower." BEfore that, I decided to use the outhouse. I am sitting there and I here something flopping around down below in the muck... Are you serious?! I immediately sat up and yep... there were still noises moving around down there... fan-freaking-tastic! :) I told Nii and let him figure out what had gotten down in there! My shower was pretty good... I've got it down to 1 1/2 buckets now! During the shower, Andrea was sitting outside doing some of her laundry... we were talking and it REALLY helped me calm down a lot. She's definitely grown on me and doesn't get on my nerves like she did the first 2 days. I talked with Jen about the teams and she finally agreed to make the executive decision to switch up the teams even if people didn't want to.

Jen and Betty taught Andrea and I to play Euchre while we were waiting for dinner. It was hilarious and Andrea and I kept pretending to cheat :) During our reflections tonight, Ashley had us draw an "aha moment" that we've had on this trip or recently. I drew the moment yesterday in the rain. BEatrice was sharing hers and was starting to cry... right then, WHACK, Crispin's chair broke!!! He got a new chair and 5 minutes after that, WHACK... his NEW chair broke!!! :)

We went to bed @9:30 but were awoken by some of the other teammates who had gone to a bar and got home @ 11:30 and were REALLY loud. It was also pouring rain outside. I think I fell back asleep @ midnight. I was awoken at 3:30am to a loud buzzing in the room. What the heck is that? I grabbed my headlamp and decided to investigate the situation...dun, dun, dun... I had left a plastic bag next to my bed and a moth, the size of my fist had gotten into it and was stuck. I was surprised with the ease/boredom with which I picked up the bag and threw it outside our room. Just another day in KTK :) I went back to sleep but... yep, you guessed it..,. the rooster started crowing @ 4:15am and the mosque started up @ about 4:30am. We got out of bed @ 5:45am to get ready for the next day...

Mutiny! And Beck Beck moments in Ghana!

Thursday morning, we awoke and Sheri's Beauty shop was open for business... none of us were able to shower last night because of the storm so I ended up braiding 4 people's hair! :) Back at the worksite, Jennifer offered to have people switch teams. I was the only one willing to commit treason... everyone else stuck with the original teams. I would have liked to get to know some of the people on the other team better, and would have liked to get a different experience... but alas, I was outvoted.

This morning I had a huge epiphany about my relationships back home. I was lying in bed (after that stupid rooster stopped crowing) and I was watching Karen get up and get ready. She's in her mid 50's, has two daughters in their early 20's, is a librarian in Canada, an adoring husband AND she was here in Africa with us! She has managed to find a mate that supports her in traveling, a job that allows her to take the time off, and she is still following her passion eventhough she is in her 50's. I want a life like that when I am her age! :)

At the site, we were laying the 5th and 6th rows of blocks already. We would lay out a row of concrete and then the skilled workers would lay the bricks and then we would come afterwards and fill in the cracks with concrete. It worked pretty well, we mostly moved bricks around (Have I mentioned that they weigh like 40 pounds!! And are even HEAVIER after a good rain has soaked into them?!) and we continued to make concrete. After awhile, I took a break and began to hang out with some of the kids. I taught a few of them how to play "Cinderella dressed in yella"
and then I had a great time letting them try on my work gloves... they are SO darn cute!!! Hailey and I got the opportunity to talk more today and we were discussing what her plans are after law school and how she wants to make partner. We also talked a lot about relationships... I shared my epiphany with her and it turns out that she and I think A LOT alike with regards to relationships.

For lunch we ate Banku which is cornmeal and Cassava ground together using a "mortar and pestle". It is goey and you eat it with your fingers. I was not super impressed and it has a slight vinegar aftertaste.

On the way back to the site, I shared some of my thoughts with Jennifer about why I thought we should split up the teams. She said that she was going to stick with what the team had voted for. Sigh. Back at the site, the Chief (NaNa stopped by to supervise :) I was allowed to get up on the scaffolding with one of the skilled workers and at first I was getting really frustrated that he wouldn't let me do anything. I kept trying to help but then he would stop me. Suddenly, it started to rain. The other 5 people on my team ran to the otherside of a house nearby and were out of sight. I was up on the scaffolding and looked at the skilled worker, I pantomimed the question if he was going to get down or keep working. He shrugged his shoulders, I shrugged my shoulders and then grabbed the trowel and started slopping mortar onto the top of a layer of bricks. At first he just watched me, then he motioned over to his friend on the other scaffolding and they were both smiling. It rained REALLY hard and I was soaked in a matter of seconds... no matter to me though, I had proved myself to them. I was the one man (well woman actually) left standing from the team and I didn't run when it got wet. IT rained hard for maybe 10 minutes, and when the rain stopped, the skilled worker motioned for me to grab a brick and put it on the wall. It was the first time EVER that one of them allowed one of us to lay a brick. TRIUMPHANT! I was ELATED!!! :) (this pic was taken when the rain was starting to slow down).

After work I was able to take my first bucket shower in days... HALLELUJAH!!!! That night we all sat around on the front porch drinking wine/beer, journaling and talking. Nana came over and we had a "cultural night" where we were able to ask him questions about the village and their culture. It was really cool!!! He told us that he's been chief for 33 years and didn't want to be chief initially. There is hardly ANY crime in the village and there has never been a murder in the history of the village. He talked about the prevalence of Aids/HIV in the village and how they try to educate villagers to be safe. Right in the middle of the discussion, we heard this loud crack and Andrea ends up on the floor. About 5 seconds later there is another crack and Angela is on the floor! Both of their plastic chairs broke at almost exactly the same time!!!!! We couldn't stop laughing!!!

Before going to sleep, Jennifer and I were talking in our room with Angela and all of the sudden, we see a shadow swoop by and we were like "was that a bat?!" YEP! There was a bat flying around our room!!! It flew out into the living area and Kolfi threw a shoe at it and killed it :( Just another quiet day in KTK :)

What do you do when the outhouse overflows and the chief cheats at UNO?!

Wednesday was a bit of a rough day... I awoke with a killer headache due to sleeping on a pillow that was too big. For the rest of the trip, I ended up using a sweatshirt as my pillow... talk about keeping it simple! :) Jennifer asked this morning if anyone would like to switch teams and work on the other house but everyone verbalized wanting to stick with their own team. I on the other hand, thought it would be good to mix up the teams for lots of different reasons (to create equal investment in both houses, to enhance the experience by working with different people and to get to know the native workers on the other site). The final vote... 11 to 1... boo for me :(

We were all sore and the work today was hard. We continued to dig to China for the dirt to use to fill in the foundation and create the ground floor. We found more snake eggs and plenty of delicious HUGE ants for Goo-ga-la the chicken to eat! :) The chief told us today that the chickens are all free range... when we asked him how they get the eggs to eat then and he responded that the children have to go out and look for them every day. Sounds like Easter morning comes to KTK EVERY morning! :) I wonder if someone walks around wearing a bunny suit? :) Just kidding!


On the site today Ashley and Marc started talking lots of pictures of the kids that had gathered on the site. I was getting really frustrated with how little they actually worked... the other 4 people on the team were drenched in sweat, filthy dirty, exhausted and annoyed by them taking such long breaks. Seriously... they would work for 5-10 minutes and then play with the kids for 45 minutes! I must admit, the children are super adorable... but there is also a part of me that felt it was rude or culturally insensitive to get up in the kids faces to take a picture of them. We don't know these kids, and they don't know us. They've never seen a camera before and there you are sticking a Canon zoom lens less than a foot away from their face? To me that just seemed really insensitive.

After work, we decided to forgo heading back to shower and decided to walk into town. I walked along with Tim and he and I talked about his work, his family and comparing this build to the one he went on in India. SUPER cool guy! About 45 minutes into our walk, Nii started to grab separate taxi cabs to take us the rest of the way in to Drobo (a nearby town and the only town with a market). 4 of us piled into the back seat and two in the front of one taxi. Nii had already sent the rest of the team in two different taxi's. Our taxi's windshield looked as if it had been used as batting practice for the Padres! It was completely shattered in about 5 different places and the entire thing looked like a big spiderweb! Not to mention the 12 month old child sitting on the driver's lap! Good times! In Drobo some people went to buy fabric to have sewn into outfits. The seamstresses used the COOLEST turn of the century sewing machines that they had to spin by hand (no electricity). Their iron was cast iron and opened up to put hot coals in! Makes me think twice about complaining about how I don't like to iron! :) On the way home it started to POUR rain!!! We ran for a trow trow (a taxi-like van).
Once back home, we learned that the rain had flooded our showers and the outhouse had overflowed. There were a few men from the village there trying to clean up the mess for us. The electricity was out and so we all sat on the porch with our headlamps journaling and drinking. We ate dinner inside by putting our headlamps on the table and pointing them at the ceiling.

The chief showed up @ about 7:30 and I suggested we play a game of UNO. The chief had never played before and so he sat between Crispin and I and tried to learn how to play. He got really into it and would tap Crispin or I on the arm whenever it was our turn and we were dawdling. At one point, I leaned to the chief and said "ok, what card do you think I should play?" He looked very serious for the moment and then picked the card that would best set Crispin up for a good play!!! I couldn't believe it!!! He totally cheated!!! I ended up going outside to sit with Jennifer who was journaling alone and I gave the chief my cards... he gladly took them over :)

After the chief left, Betty pulled out the drum that she had recently gotten in Ghana. Nii had started to play it and then quite, reserved Regina (the cook) stepped in and began to play that drum like no one's business! They even taught some of the team how to do some of the traditional dances! Right before heading to bed... we were still sitting outside with our headlamps on when someone came walking up. It was Kolfi (the chief's cousin) and he was soaking wet. He said "God brought you to KTK and now, because we came, God has given us rain." VERY cool! Good night all!

The chief drinks Michelob?!?!

The rest of the workday on Tuesday passed easily as one of the workers had brought out a radio. The station played a mix of "Hilife" (basically Ghanaian rap/hip hop) and old school jams like Milli Vanilli. After work, NaNa asked us to come straight from the worksite to the funeral that was happening in the village. We were filthy, grimy, sweaty and gross but we went anyway. Our famous plastic chairs from the house had appeared and we made the rounds shaking hands and then sat in the chairs. Jennifer had to get up again and make a speech. There was music blasting over some loud speakers and everyone got up to dance. They have a very specific style of dance for funerals and it was really cool to see how grief here is such a public affair.


When we got home from the funeral, I was sitting out on the back steps and some of the girls from the village came up and stood around. I pantomimed writing in my journal and showed it to them. The girls were probably between 10 and 13 and two of them started to read my words. It is obvious that they don't speak much english, and they labored over each word (probably at the rate a 2nd grader would read) but I was SOO touched by hearing my thoughts read aloud to me in English!

Later that night NaNa stopped by @ about 8pm. We offered him some of the local gin/moonshine but it turns out that he prefers Michelob!!! Luckily we had one on hand and served him up. Well, truth be told, we had a few... and we served him all of them... by the time he left, I think he was completely wasted and one of his poor wives had to help him home :) Can you imagine if all diplomatic meetings ended with the president getting drunk and having Michelle Obama carry him home? :) The chief also shared tonight that he has been chief for 33 years and that when they offered for him to be chief (it is passed on the mother's side of the family), he turned it down! I look at him now, and can't imagine a better chief for this village. He is regal, wise, thoughtful, happy and approachable... what more could you want in a chief?

Tonight was Andrea's turn to do a reflection. She asked each one of us to go around and say one thing we are grateful for. I said "I am glad that Jennifer didn't give up on me when I told her I didn't want to go to Ghana!" Ashley became emotional when discussing what she was grateful for... she said "The children's smiles and how, eventhough the are wearing the same thing as yesterday, they seem so happy with the smallest things." AMEN!

I hate that rooster!

Aside from sleeping on a moldy mat that is only 1 1/2 inches thick... I slept really well the first night in KTK... that is UNTIL the rooster started to crow outside our window @ 4am! Jennifer even got up and shushed the rooster! It worked for a little bit but then we started to hear the nearby mosque blaring their service and songs over a loudspeaker @ 4:30am! Looks like this night owl is going to have to start being a morning bird! :(

At 8am we were summoned by Nana (the chief) and walked up to the opening ceremonies. We again made the rounds as ALL the villagers had come out and shook all of their hands. They then made the rounds and shook our hands. There was this little girl, probably not more than 3 or 4 years old and she was dancing in the middle of the large circle. Our entire team got up to dance and soon some of the villagers jumped up as well.

Next, we gave the chief our gift of Schnapps and the Shaman poured libations on the ground while chanting to the ancestors. He then poured some schnapps into the glass and our team each took a sip and then passed it down the line. The stuff was like straight up gasoline!! Jennifer was at the end of the line and finished up the schnapps with one big gulp. The villagers all cheered!!!

JEnnifer then gave another speech about our "mission" in the village and then Nana spoke to us, thanking us for coming to the village. They then asked us to introduce ourselves and share one interesting or fun fact about us. I wasn't sure what to share... do I tell them my job? How do I explain therapy to a community that is barely living at a subsistence level? How do I tell them about helping parents understand their children better when the parenting here in this village seems to work (although... I did find it rough a few times to see adults hitting children with sticks to get them to back away from us). I ended up saying "my name is sheri and I love to dance and do silly things, so if you see me dancing, feel free to join me." IT was the PERFECT thing to say and for the next week, everytime I would pass some kids or women, they would yell out my name and then start to dance. Even just that afternoon, while walking to the house for lunch, we passed two women in mourning (I'll tell you more about that in a minute) and I smiled at them and they started to dance. It was a MAGICAL moment... dancing in the middle of the street with two women in mourning. It didn't matter that we don't speak the same language, all that mattered was that exact moment. But I digress... now back to the opening ceremonies :)


After the ceremony concluded, we began the walk to our site. We were completely surrounded by children from the village. They were excited and would link their arms around us and reach to hold our hands. It was really cool!!

On site, we got to meet the two homeowners. We didn't spend much time with them the rest of the build as they were off working their fields. We divided into two teams as there were two homes to be built. I picked the 2nd team and we walked a bit down to our site. My team consisted of Betty, Ashley, Crispin, Hailey, Marc and I. We met the workers Benjamin and Seth that would be helping us build. Crispin and I began to help this guy make bricks. We would shovel in a dry mix of concrete and sand and then he would grab the top lever of the box and slam it down 5 or 6 times to make it all bind together. The bricks in Ghana were MUCH heavier than the ones in Thailand... I'd say that they are about 40 pounds (even more when wet!) and oftentimes when we would carry them, they would break in half (I have the bruises on my thighs to prove it!) or crumble in our hands. DEFINITELY not earthquake proof!!!! There was only one row of blocks set and we began to mix mortar. Can I just say... UG!!! I was REALLY yearning for our concrete mixer in Thailand! We had to mix together the dirt/sand and rocks along with water and concrete mix. It was EXHAUSTING!!!

We walked back to the house where Regina and Jacqueline had made lunch for us. It was white rice with the most delicious red sauce you have ever eaten! It's like tomato sauce but with hints of curry and other delicious flavors! After lunch we began to dig/shovel dirt into wheelbarrows to be carried into the (now) 2 rows of bricks that would be our foundation. We needed to fill the entire house (the house consists of two bedrooms, an outhouse, a shower room and a kitchen... all in all, it is probably 600 square feet total). The children had taught us to say "Habitat Oye" (it is good) and then you throw your arms up in the air.

The chief stopped by the site and he had changed from his robes into jeans, a tshirt and black mud boots. What a hoot! He walked up to me and said something I couldn't understand (it was in Bono). Nii had taught us a few phrases in Bono (for every expression... you are supposed to respond with a specific phrase... for example, if I say MaChe (good morning), the other person responds (yamoo). To complicate matters further... if you are currently working at a job, you don't say MaChe, you say something different... and we all know how good I am at languages!). After the chief said whatever he said, I looked at Marc and said "I don't know how to respond to that" so I threw both arms up in the air and said "Habitat Oye!" The chief laughed and said "Habitat Oye.'

While digging in the dirt, we found two snakes... one black one and one white one. The workers killed them but it smelled pretty funk for quite awhile! :( We also found snake eggs and ants the size of small cochroaches! Luckily there were chickens roaming around that would eat the black ants. BEtty was hilarious and named one of the chickens "goo-gala." She said "I'd always wanted a chicken that I could name Goo-gala." LOL!

Well, this has become quite the post and there is still so much more to share for that day... looks like I will have to come back to it at a later time! After these messages.... we'll be right back... oh yea! :)