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! :)

A 3 hour tour!?

Here goes... let's rewind and begin with Monday August 9th, 2010


(L-R, Back to front) Tim, Crispin, Hailey, Karen, Betty, Me, Jennifer, Marc, Angela, Ashley, Beatrice, Angela



Ok, so our 8 hour bus ride turned into 5 1/2 hours on the first day and 5 hours on the second day. Our stay at the hotel in Kumasi was brief and seriously uncomfortable! There were 5 of us to a room and only ONE TOWEL!!! No showers for any of us! It got really cold in the room that night because of the air conditioning and I didn't have a comforter. Jennifer was really sweet and took off her pillowcase and gave it to me. I tucked my feet down into it and at least my feet were warm! We awoke @ 5:30am (I'd only gotten one hour of sleep! BOO!) and we were back on the road. At one point we stopped at a rest stop to use the bathroom and Jennifer came over and said "dude, I broke the toilet." We tried to figure out how to flush it but Nii ended up saving the day with a bucket of water! :) We stopped in Suyani to buy some Schnapps for the Chief as an offering and I couldn't get over watching everyone walk by with all sorts of things up on their heads... one guy had a board 5ft by 5ft and it was styrofoam and had different pairs of sunglasses stuck into it! Another woman had an entire bakery up there!!! We couldn't find the village and we kept asking Nii how much longer... he would chuckle slightly and say "15 more minute." I think 15 more minutes took us about an hour and a half and we were so glad to arrive in Katakyiekrom (pronounced Kata-chia-krum). We finally arrived in KTK and were immediately requested to sit in a circle with the Chief (aka Nana). We had to go around and shake hands of all the men and then we sat down and they came by and shook all of our hands. Can we say hand sanitizer please?! Jennifer then had to get up and "speak our mission." It reminded me of all those National Geographic shows you see when the neighboring village comes by to work out a negotiation! We have to speak to Nana through an interpreter when in public eventhough he speaks English and we can speak to him directly when alone with him. It was a very brief interaction as we are having the official opening ceremony tomorrow. We piled back into the bus and drove to our house. The bus got stuck in the driveway and couldn't pull all the way up to the house. The most amazing thing happened then... little kids showed up from EVERYWHERE to carry in our luggage and supplies. There were no parents there bossing the children around or telling them to help... they were SO excited to help and were running to grab boxes! Such a different experience from here where you have to tell the kids to put down their IPOD to help grandma carry in the groceries! We unloaded the bus and once inside the house, we found that the accommodations were pretty basic but clean and simple. We had 4 bedrooms to divide amongst ourselves (3 to each room). The bathroom is an outhouse but the toilet looked similar to one here (well except for the flies that would buzz around under the seat while you were trying to use it... good times! Next to the toilet are two stalls where we take our "showers" I use the quotations because they are not hooked up to any water. There is a spigot in the front of the house, and we filled up a bucket and brought it back. There was then a smaller, hand held bucket that we would use to rinse off. By the end of the trip... I was able to get down to a 1 1/2 bucket shower WITH washing my hair! I learned that if you dip your head into the bucket first, it wets your hair enough to lather up the 2 in 1 shampoo/condit. Then you use the rest of the water to rinse of and to help wet the washcloth.
That night I took a shower and went to journal in my room (I shared a room with Jennifer and Karen). We had electricity but the small light in the room was blue and very dim. Thank goodness for headlamps! At about 8pm the chief showed up in our bedroom!!! I'd been told that we aren't supposed to wear tank tops around the chief and I was wearing a tank top because I hadn't expected him to stop by. I quickly pulled my hair forward to cover my shoulders. Silly me, not expecting the chief to show up in our bedroom @ 8pm!! He came by just to make sure our accommodations were acceptable and to welcome us again to the village. We went to bed at around 9:30pm as I had only gotten 4 hours of sleep in the past 4 nights! :( That's it for now... I will write more tomorrow :)

Home safely!

Just wanted to let you know that I am officially back in HB waiting for my wonderful mom to bring me In-n-Out for my first meal back. My luggage decided to take a detour and is flying in later today... I was hoping to upload some pics but my cable is in my suitcase. I will write more later this evening when I get some free time. Can't wait to catch up with all of you!

Bugs, marriage proposals, scrapes, Ivory Coast, dirt, hanging with the chief and magical moments!

We arrived last night in Accra and what a wild ride it has been! I have so much to share with all of you and not enough time to share it all. I will probably write each day for the next week as if I was still here in Ghana, just so I can get it all out. The biggest thing I am feeling though is a sense of humbleness. The people in the village had nothing and yet the children would run out every morning to hold our hands and walk in a crowd around each of us on our way to the jobsite. Children in tattered underwear and broken flip flops would eagerly sit for hours near the jobsite just to get the slightest glimpse or smile from one of us. The adults would wave to us as we drove by as if we were The Beatles coming into town. We felt like celebrities and were welcomed into the community. People who looked as if they hadn't eaten in days would walk to our home and bring us buckets of yams, corn, plantains and apples (all carried in tubs on their heads... AMAZING!). The warmth we felt was overwhelming and reminded me why I do this. The team is amazing... everyone was SO flexible and we didn't care if it wasn't possible to shower because we had no electricity that night or we had run out of water. Instead of meaningful conversations about the meaning of life... we more often talked about the shape and timing of our bowel movements and how our scalp felt after not showering for 3 days (I tell you this, not to gross you out, but to show you how simply we lived). There were high moments on the trip where I felt feelings of exhiliration and pure bliss. Moments of laughter and joy. And there were really low moments as well. Just this past monday, Crispin (a teammate) got a phone call from his sister that his best friend of the past 30 years was killed in a motorcycle accident. Our entire team went into mourning with him. I couldn't help but have survivors guilt and be grateful that it wasn't me receiving that news about one of my dear friends. We were a 10 hour drive from the nearest airport and there are only a few flights a day... what would I have done if it had been me? It scared me to be so far from my loved ones. That same day, the villagers were also in mourning because something terrible had happened in the village (I will tell you about it in the next few days when I have time to write). In the village, mourning is a time for celebration... we attended one funeral while we were there and there was dancing and hand shaking. Grief is a public affair here and people wear red and black during the period of mourning... and every time you pass someone on the road in mourning, you are supposed to say "yakoo" to them to express your sentiments. I received three marriage proposals and one marriage threat (more about this one later as well :) ). We were able to build two homes from the ground up to where they are ready to put on the roof. Pretty big accomplishment in just a few days!

Another big moment was during a ceremony with the Chief and he said "people have been talking about how strange it is to see white people work. He said that they have seen white people do things like teach in the village but that they have never seen white people do physical work/labor." In his closing speech, he said to the people of his village "we have now seen the white people come to help build the homes of our people in Katachyakrum and now it is time for us to pick up where they left off and continue this forward." I do not even have words to express how I felt hearing that... "They've never seen white people work"... that one statement is going to impact me for awhile. The chief also talked about how some of the villagers expressed sadness that they were unable to communicate with us in English and the chief used it to tell his people that they should continue with their education so that they will be able to communicate with English speakers and move ahead in life. Simply amazing how he can turn us being there into a way to help his village become stronger and evolve.

I should probably start wrapping up now as others are waiting for the computer...

There are now 6 of us left here in Accra waiting for our flight to D.C. at 11pm tonight. It feels weird to only have half the team left... We are heading to a craft fair and will then hang around the hotel until we leave for the airport @ 7:30pm.

Overall, I am doing VERY well and can't wait to share my experiences. I'm grateful to have been reminded of the true meaning of life and can't wait to come home and see how it will evolve in my everyday life.

Abruni= White person

Two posts two days in a row?! Change of plans... we were supposed to head out to the village today but it has been POURING down rain and the 8 hour drive has already taken 6 1/2 hours and we still have 150 kilometers to go. We stopped at a hotel for dinner @ 9:30 and the decision was made that it is too dangerous to continue on tonight. We are going to be staying here tonight but don't have enough team funds to buy enough rooms. There is two double bed in each room and we only got three rooms (there are 12 teammates!). The boys get one room (3 people), one girls room has 4 people in it and the other has 5 people in it. It's going to be a really cozy night as we pushed the two beds together and are going to sleep all 5 of us in the beds!!! All of our luggage is piled on top of the bus so we will be sleeping in the clothes we've worn all day and then wearing them tomorrow as well. It might even resort to sharing toothbrushes!! On the up side... looks like I get another day of a shower! :) We will head out to the village at first light, it's now midnight and we are waking up @ 5:45am to get on the road. I got a whole three hours of sleep last night... looks like I will get 5 hours tonight! :) We will be staying in a 5 room house with a toilet! (No idea what kind of toilet but Ne (our host) said the word toilet!!! We are supposed to meet with the Chief tomorrow morning but we need to stop first and buy a bottle of Gin (turns out you are supposed to bring Gin to the chiefs!). Ne went over some of the customs here (like don't do ANTHING with your left hand and you have to speak to the chief through an interpreter (even if he is speaking english to you!). The bus is actually pretty comfortable and AIR CONDITIONED! Yipee!!!

I am absolutely LOVING it here!!! The teammates are AMAZING and I can't stop laughing! The food is good... takes about 2 hours to get it once you order... no fast food here! :) I am already growing and expanding... this group of people is REALLY friendly and although Andrea annoyed me yesterday, she was much more chill today. It's been a great journey thus far and am REALLY lookign forward to getting out to the village tomorrow! I wish I could write more but the teammates are all waiting for a chance @ the computer. I love and miss you all!!!

Goats, roots in the shower and serious stinkage!

I'm here!!! Yipee!!! After many (MANY) hours of travel, I have officially arrived in Accra! We left LAX @ 10:30 in the morning yesterday and flew to D.C.. I sat next to the CRANKIEST woman!! Not even two minutes after sitting down, she had already turned off my air and confiscated the entire armrest between us :( We landed in D.C. and had three hours to kill before our next flight. Ashley and I had some Wendy's for dinner and hung around. I got a chance to talk to Jennifer and she told me that her flight from JFK was overbooked so she and Crispin (another teammember) volunteered to take another flight. They got a $600 voucher, FIRST CLASS seats to London and then Ghana AND unlimited beverages in the Priority club!!! Plus they have a 5 hour layover in London and are going to do some sightseeing.

While waiting in DC, we met this super cool woman named Allie. Ashley and I talked to her for quite awhile. She's from Dallas and was on her way to Afghanistan! She teaches over there during the school year and comes home for the summer. She was blonde haired, blue eyed and spunky as all getup! She's convinced me to come teach with her in Afghanistan next year (HAHA! Just kidding mom! :) ). At about 8pm Andrea (another teammate from San Fran) came up. I have three words for you all... Amanda from Thailand (UG!) She's super clingy, a bit snooty and nervous. Luckily she clung to Ashley and poor ashley had to sit next to her the entire 10 hour flight! Hailey came up next and she is SUPER cool. She lives in Minneapolis and just took her BAR exam last week. She is mature, thoughtful, funny and cool. BEfore we got on the flight, we had to have our VISA's checked to make sure that they were still current.

On the flight to Accra, I was sitting next to a very kind woman named Nanee. She is originally from Accra but lives in Oklahoma. She was flying back to Accra for the one year anniversary of her father's death. She was REALLY nice! BEfore I sat down she picked up my pillow/blanket and even helped me put by backpack up top. While waiting for the plane to take off, my seat kept getting kicked and I turned around and there was a man standing in the aisle. I smiled at him. Two minutes later he is dragging this little girl (probably no more than 3 or 4 years old) and says "do you see this lady, you are disturbing her, quit being naughty." I completely flushed with embarrassment. On one hand... AWESOME parenting skills!!! On the other hand, would he have done that if I was black? There were only 6 people in the entire coach section that weren't black. The flight was pretty easy... we ate dinner and then I watched the movie "the losers." I dozed on and off but didn't really sleep. In the morning, they fed us breakfast (ham sandwich and yogurt). OH... I almost forgot the fabulousness of the people on the flight. I have never seen people so "done up" for flying. I was practically wearing my pj's and everyone else looked like they were going to a party!!! This one woman had her hair styled in this elaborate style with gold (YES GOLD) streaks in her hair. Nanee had gold eye shadow and two rings on every finger. Even the kids across the aisle were all wearing name brand clothing and looked very tidy!

We landed and stepped out onto the tarmac... AFRICA!!!!!! The earth here is bright red and the foliage is pretty green. We got in line for customs and it took FOREVER!!! Random people kept calling over their family members into our line and there was some guy bring all of his people straight up to the window!!!! Needless to say, we were one of the last few people to get through. Nothing like the smell of B.O. in a crowded room while waiting in line to welcome you to a new country! All of our luggage made it safely (YIPEE!!!!) We went outside and there was a man waiting for us. His name is Isaac and he has already asked us if we would marry him and he could move with us (he also teased us and asked if we would move here and build him a house!). He took us to the money exchange and we got out CD's (CD is the name of the money used here. one dollar equals about 1.4 CD;s). We got back in the car and his phone rang. He answered the phone and turned to Ashley and said "it's for you." LOL! Seriously? We've only been in Africa for a few minutes and she is already getting phone calls? :) It was our host BEtty and she was just letting us know to grab some food at the hotel and charge it to our room. The drive to the hotel took about a half hour and on the way we saw some random goat in the back of a pickup truck, women carrying EVERYTHING IMAGINABLE on their heads, babies is sacks slung around their mom's back and lots and lots of traffic.

The hotel is comfortable but a bit... um... definitely not a 4 star. Our air conditioning in our room doesn't work and there is something growing out of the ceiling down into our shower. I swear... the roots have broken through the ceiling and are starting to hang down!!! :) We went downstairs and met Karen and BEatrice. They both are SUPER cool. Karen is older and lives in Canada (works as a librarian). She has been in Ghana for 2 weeks already. Beatrice lives in Florida but is from Haiti... she is SUPER cool. Betty came in next and she seems a bit shy and reserved. Angela came next (she had already been here for one week volunteering at an orphanage). Last but not least was Tim (carpenter from WI). I've met him before and he is super cool.

So that's the group. We are waiting until Crispin and Jennifer arrive tonight and then Marc comes in tomorrow @ noon. We walked to an internet cafe a ways from the hotel. I am sitting here, sweaty and seriously stinky. No amount of deodorant is going to be able to cure this stink. Luckily for me... everyone else stinks too (hmmm... maybe that makes it UNLUCKY for me because i can SMELL them all?!). Probably wouldn't be able to write again so have a great couple of weeks!

Ghana is awesome! The people are super kind! Can't wait to tell you all about itwhen I get home!

It's here! It's finally here!

One Anti-malaria pill down, only 22 more to go!! :) Take that you stupid 'skeeters! :) On the eve of my trip I am feeling a jumble of emotions! The first being complete and total excitement! The second being complete and utter nervousness! The third being complete and utter (well... you get the picture! :)). It's 6:30pm and I am finishing up some laundry before packing my suitcase. As of right now, my things are all just in a jumble on the floor around the suitcase. I am also chilling in some REALLY old tennis shoes to see if they hurt me feet (I want to bring at least one pair that I will leave there)... so far so good!

My flight leaves tomorrow @ 10:30 in the morning and I head from there to Washinton D.C.. I have arranged for "shuttle a la mom" to take me to the airport and to give me the traditional send off. After that, I head directly from D.C. to Accra!!! There are four other teammates on the same flight to Accra (I have a feeling there are only two flights tpto Ghana every day!) and we are hoping to all meet up in the airport! Upon arriving in Accra on Saturday @ 1pm, myself and my 4 new friends will be picked up (hopefully! Can you tell I have been traumatized before by having someone not pick me up at an airport in a foreign country!!!) by the affiliate host. The host will then take us to the hotel (the Crystal Palm in Accra) where 7 of our teammates will be waiting with baited breath to meet us! That evening we will have an orientation meeting and get to know each other over dinner. The next morning we will pack everything up and head to the airport @ noon to pick up our last teammate. From there we will drive 8-10 hours to our village. After that... I've got nuthing:) I have no idea where the trip will head from there except I know that it will be quite an adventure. There is a possibility that we will head to a town about an hour away sometime during the following weekend, and I've heard a rumor that the town MAY have internet. I am hoping to update this blog at this point so check back. If not, than I will update you all after the 21st when I return! Please keep me and my teammates in your thoughts and prayers and I can't wait to follow up with you all when I get home! Here I come Africa!!! :)