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! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment