December 28, 2010 After-thoughts

This may well be my last blog entry. Above are pictures from Christmas Eve: My daughter Ivy, son Jeremiah and his wife Liz all at my house in Harrisburg, North Carolina. The second photo is the women in Jeremiah's life, decorating the Christmas tree: Ivy, Liz carrying my future granddaughter Malea, and me decorating my beloved Christmas tree, which Jeremiah had up when we came from the airport last week.

I just reread some of my earlier blog entries, and realized how poorly I described the photos I attached during my stay in Ghana. Too late now. . . . I still have no idea why some were huge and others small. Like so many things in life, by the time we understand what we are doing, the task is over.

Some of my initial adjustments back to “Normal America”:

Going out and truly blending in a crowd.

Realizing the hot water knob at the sink will actually get you warm water.

Travelling on a road without bracing for the holes or sudden swerves.

Not needing to put ant chalk around the legs of my bed.

Turning on a light switch and being able to read anywhere in the room, any time of day.

Street signs and maps (they do exist)

Seeing hamburger and not wondering how many bone chips would be in the “minced meat”.

Washing laundry without first checking the water pressure.

Feeling really, really cold (on the airplane). Before taking off I’d  zipped up my windbreaker, snuggled in the flimsy blanket, and wished I put on three pairs of my baggy slacks before boarding.

Realizing I can buy slacks or jeans that really fit (not hiring the local seamstress to make something out of material I bought with no concept of what the clothes would look like). None of my winter clothes fit me since I dropped three sizes from not eating much. I now have basic khaki and black slacks and one pair of jeans. Hurray!

Going  to a grocery store and having options.

Making beef stew and not needing to cook the meat at least four hours before adding vegetables.

Buying eggs in the store and having the yolks be other than pale, pale yellow (almost white).

Baking cookies on big baking sheets and setting the oven at an actual temperature.  Actually being able to fit a large cake pan in the oven is great.

Watching television shows on my computer that are less than six months old (I don’t have a television yet) and not on a DVD.

Being able to call people without first checking if I have any service available.

Taking a shower and letting the water run continuously.

Seeing a cockroach or spider and knowing it can’t hide in any crack in the floor & walls.

Not being glad to see a little lizard in the bathroom, because you don’t need it to eat mosquitos.

Mailing belated Christmas cards and a post office and expecting it to actually get there.

Having a mailbox to expect mail (haven’t gotten any delivered here yet).

Running a humidifier because it’s dry inside a heated house.

Being able to go someplace without walking a mile, finding an overcrowded tro-tro, or haggling with the taxi driver over a price before you even get in. The decadence of having my own car!

And on that note I will thank God for allowing me the opportunity to experience Ghana and return home safely. I hope I can retain some of what I learned about myself and about God's great love for us.

Happy New Year, my friends and family!

As always,  

Diann

Dec 19 Wli Waterfalls in Volta Region

Saturday, December 18  After visiting the Tafi Monkey Sanctuary we next went to Wli Waterfalls in the Volta Region. Like the Boti Waterfalls, this was a very high natural wonder set back in an area not found easily. The path through the rain forest was dry and wide, and through the trees you could see beautiful views at times, and always lots of lush growth nearby. I chose the easier path to the lower falls. Christy and Brittany wanted to hike the more rugged path up to the upper falls, at least a one hour uphill trip to get there. In about 15 minutes I was enjoying a spectacular view that again could not fit in a single photo. Near the middle of the falls I could see some movement to the left I thought to be small birds in their nesting area; I later learned it was bats.

Some people had chosen to go swimming at the falls, but me who was told to brush my teeth only with filtered or bottled water wasn’t even going to touch the water! At the bottom of the falls there was a pretty rainbow that arched the splash of the water from the falls. It was so serene, and I took lots of photos.

 After I’d been there about half an hour, William came to guide me back and tell me about some of the uses of the plants we passed. It was interesting to learn how some leaves and vines were used to make the roof of a hut or basic home in the country. Of course some plants were used for medicines, and some for cash crops like cola nuts or palm oil (tapped from downed trees; see photo). There were some great views through the undergrowth, but much of it reminded me of a stream in the woods back in Pennsylvania. Of course the “woods” in Ghana aren’t all tall trees fighting with each other to be the tallest; a few trees at least a hundred yards apart may be very tall, and the understory will have medium height trees also not so crowded until you get to the undergrowth. The ground wasn’t all swampy like I assumed, the path was just packed dirt with no weeds. When we got back to the van I was glad to find a place to buy some bottled water and consume about a quart in one gulp.

Brittany got tired before they reached the top, so the two of them were back before 5 p.m. I was glad I hadn’t attempted it; I was tired enough when we reached the hotel where we had reservations. Like the place at the beach, I realized quickly this was no five star lodging when I saw there was no top sheet or air conditioning. When we went to the restaurant for dinner, there was no menu, and they served no beverages (luckily there was a bar not far from the restaurant section of the hotel). William went to stay with his parents, and picked us up the next morning around 7a.m. He was surprising his wife by bringing his mother-in-law and one of her other grandchildren with him, so our van was not so empty on the way back to Accra.

We got back home around 11, and Christy started baking up a storm. She had invited the children in our neighborhood (mostly children whose parents worked for the homeowners in the neighborhood). Every other Tuesday after school Christy has a “Bible study” for little children: they sing action songs, act out a bible story we narrate, and get snacks before Christy allows them to read children’s books her church back in the states has donated. There are usually 30 to 40 children that come (I’ve sent photos in one of my first blog entries). Well, she and Brittany started baking cakes and making popcorn while I began my packing and cleaning, and honestly I hadn’t expected to go out until I heard a LOT of noise outside my window. There were over eighty kids! I did go out to help lead songs and do crowd control while Christy assigned roles for the narration of the Birth of Christ story. William came in the school’s bus to pick me up around 6:30, and it took most of the three hours to get to my gate for a 9:35 departure. It was not a simple reversal of the procedure of getting to Ghana, and the plane was packed.  I froze on the twelve plus hours to Atlanta, and had a well established cold by the time I deplaned in Charlotte.

But I’m home again, and enjoyed several days of Jeremiah and Liz visiting, and Ivy joining us to make Christmas cookies and exchange gifts before the snow accumulated Christmas night. It is a white wonderland now, less than a week since I landed on American soil again. I hope to write one more time to note the adjustments I notice first. But meanwhile, Merry Christmas season lasts through the Epiphany for me, so I wish you Peace and Joy in the simple things of life, in God’s grace.

Until my next entry,

Diann

Dec 19 Monkey Sanctuary & Mt Gemi in Volta Region

Now for the entry I should have typed last Sunday, the 19^th of December, after coming home from the last of my adventures in Ghana.  Early Saturday morning William, the other driver the Crosby’s employ, came to pick us up. Happily when my downstairs housemate, Christy, came home Friday with her visiting friend Brittany, they decided to join me  for  a trip to Volta mountain region of Ghana, about four hours’ drive north of Accra. Again we went in the school van, so had plenty of room to spread out and even lie down if we wanted.

We passed many  towns with colorful market day crowds, and poor villages with mud huts and thatched rooves at best.  As expected the roads mostly rutted with “potholes” that might be three feet deep, so the drivers swerve all over the road to try to spare the vehicles.  Even the best driver (and passengers) will still come home with black & blue marks from banging into the doors or seat edges. I’ve still got a big bruise on my left arm from when I was lying down to spare my back, and I hit the back of the seat in front of me.  But the scenery was worth it, beautiful open areas, with trees of various sizes, with mountains  rising in the distance. We first went to Gemi  Mountain, one of the tallest in the country. Since this was William’s hometown he knew how to get close to the top before we had to hike the last bit.  It was a spectacular view to look down and see different towns, and some fields even, and the lake & rivers connecting. Of course it is Africa, and a hot hike, but when a breeze came by on our way down, Christy took a picture of me with my arms spread enjoying the breeze completely.  Like most tourists, I’d learned to take along lots of water and a few sandwiches for food, so we took a break for lunch before next heading to the monkey sanctuary near HoHoe.

These places I was fortunate enough to see are not like American tourist attractions. No big tourist brochures or signs telling you how to find them (or that they even exist). This was a small village about the size of my church campus, on the edge of a jungle. The “guide” was dressed casually and spoke excellent English, giving us small bananas and telling us about the village history and how they came to consider the small monkeys sacred (now an endangered species) and protected them.  Two large busses of school children had just left, so the monkeys were not as hungry and didn’t care to come out in droves. About fifteen or twenty monkeys of the 300 came out  and got acquainted.  If I held the banana unpeeled as the guide demonstrated, a few came right up to peel part of the banana and grab a piece before scampering off. I made the kissing sound like they make, and eventually they gently climbed up my leg and sat on my forearm to get some of the banana. It was so neat, and I could have stayed there an hour, but the peels did start getting me messy and we had other places to see. I sent one picture with my last blog entry, and I’ll send another now probably.  I have hundreds of pictures, and I have a hard time choosing only four per entry, so I’ll sign off before telling about Wli Waterfall  and the rest of my last trip.

Just looking at the pictures again makes me sad I don’t have anyone close by to remember these things with. It was a remarkable God-given opportunity I cherish, even if I don’t chose to return.

  

December 24 Back Home

Although I'm back home in Harrisburg, North Carolina, this will not be my last post about my African adventure. The days before I flew home, and the flight itself are stories I want to share, but since Jeremiah picked me up at the Charlotte airport Monday, I've immersed myself in unpacking and enjoying the Christmas season. My daughter in law, Liz drove in Tuesday and they will stay until after the Christmas Eve service tonight. Ivy came over Wednesday for dinner and to make Christmas cookies, so it has been a blessed Christmas homecoming!

My travels last weekend into the mountain area of Ghana, and reflections since arriving after a VERY long flight are things I want to share before I close my blog, so stay tuned for my next post after Christmas. My address is again 4158 Center Place Drive, Harrisburg, NC 28075, and my new cell phone (Verizon, off Jeremiah's account) is 704- 818-7998. I don't anticipate getting a landline soon, if at all.

So, my friends, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and restful celebration of our Saviour's birth.

As always,
Diann

December 16 Cape Coast travels

Thursday, December 16 It’s about quarter to six, so it will soon be dark. I woke up  more than twelve hours ago, out of habit not the alarm on my phone.  My first overnight stay in Africa except my home in the “Palace”. Yesterday my second travel out of Accra was to Cape Coast, the most visited place in the southern half of Ghana and about four or five hours trip. Happily I had company, Lynn Tawiah is the fifth grade teacher and has a family here but I think she felt sorry for me when my companions changed their itinerary and couldn’t go as planned. Again the Crosby’s driver, Issac, drove us in the school van and I was able to relax and enjoy the trip. The two sites to visit near Cape Coast are the slave castles and the Kakum National Park which houses one of seven canapé walks in the world.

Elmina Castle is the first known European structure of fortification in Ghana, built by Portuguese in 1482 as a trade center for ivory, gold and later slaves. It’s tragic history reminded me of some scenes at the Holocaust Museum in Washington. Although the castle is in sad disrepair, the sense of the tens of thousands captured and sold into slavery pervades. I was interested to learn it was the Portuguese and Dutch who began and profited in establishing the international slave business. It existed long before America bought any slaves, but we allow ourselves to take most of the blame. Thousands of captives of the Asante tribe were sold by that tribe, hundreds put into a single room with little or no ventilation or sanitation, and fed little. Later the other tribes captured enemy tribes and sold them on a regular basis.  Female slaves were separated from the males, and the foreign “governor” of the castle selected any he chose to use for the night. At least the pregnant slaves were taken to a separate house where they were allowed to give birth and nurse their children; the children were “released “ into the general population and today account for the lighter color of much of the area’s people. “Problem” prisoners were put in a separate room where they were starved to death and dumped into the ocean. There was nothing humane, and the hypocracy of having a Christian church in the midst of the courtyard was never questioned. Eventually the Portuguese were defeated by the Dutch, who continued the lucrative slave business, and eventually the British defeated the Dutch in Ghana and abolished the selling of humans. The English used the castle as a training center for their military presence, and are credited for beginning the basic education of children in southern Ghana. The tribes in central and northern Ghana were able to keep the English from gaining control of their areas, and today those areas remain poorer and significantly less educated.  Seeing it for myself made it a poignant history lesson, so I’m attaching two photos of the castle. One shows a school group beginning a tour, the other shows my smiling face in one of the last days here.

Next we went to lunch; I’ll tell you about the restaurant another time.  We didn’t appreciate our good fortune in having a big meal at the time; we were not so lucky at dinner time; and an interesting rural setting right off the main road to the National Park. The Kakum National Park, more specifically it’s  canopy  rope bridges were not to be missed. I have never had a fear of heights, and it is more inclosed than I expected, perfectly safe and quite an adventure. I’ve had a hard time selecting just a few pictures to put in this blog entry; it was so very high up, and most of the time when I did look down I couldn’t see the ground anyway. Although it is a rain forest,  it was not as humid as I expected, and of course there were no animals to be seen in full daylight.  My friends were very disappointed in the extreme rise in prices in the last few months (eliminating possibly of future class field trips), it was worth it to me. I wore out a set of new batteries taking pictures this week, and will have to get more before my trip Saturday and Sunday to the Volta region.

As  said earlier, we stayed overnight in a hotel. The roads  on the trip there were  all riddled with severe potholes, and driving in the dark can prevent avoiding them. It’s about a four hour drive, and we went to a hotel one of the other teachers recommended. It was not at all like American standards (even a Red Roof Inn), but tried to charge American prices:  another story to tell later.  Food was equally expensive, so I ate little except the cookies I brought from home, and we left shortly after the sun came up. It’s not like you see large clean restaurants along the road, and Issac did not feel it wise to buy much from the local vendors except bottled water. By then I was worried about having enough money to pay for the gas and Issac’s time, so we pretty much drove straight through except for several traffic standstills. We got home safely well before lunch, so all was well.  I’m already making more cookies for Saturday’s trip, and have gone to the bank to get plenty of money since the whole cost of this one will be for me alone to pay. You can’t buy memories like this, and I’m so grateful for the company I’ve enjoyed on my first two trips!

Well, it’s almost time for my internet connection to open, so I’ll just copy this Word document and paste in the selected photos. What a wonderful way to end my time in Ghana: sightseeing I can never repeat!

Enjoy your Christmas activities, and keep me in your prayers as I hold you in mine.

God bless us, every one!

Boti Waterfalls, Dec 13 trip

Dec 13  Boti Falls (yesterday)

Now I have both the time and the story to continue. Monday, December 13 after we went to the Abori gardens we traveled for another hour to go to Boti Falls, further north and very much worth the trip. “Tourist attractions” here are not like our parks and sites in America; you drive on potholed roads to get to places hardly even marked by signs, and then we were the only ones visiting. Perhaps it is busier on weekends, but I doubt it; even Issac had not been here before. There's a photo below of Robert & Erin (upstairs housemate), me and Issac the driver at the falls.

The falls were “discovered” more than two hundred years ago by a foreigner. It’s nothing like Niagra, but it is so secluded and peaceful.  As legend goes the two falls (see last photo) are from two rivers that joined and then separated again, and thought to be female and male. When it is especially rainy the two falls join again and a rainbow appears, then when the rivers subside, there are two falls again. They empty into a relatively small area and quietly run off in a deep stream you would hardly notice because of the vegetation around it. The guide took us over some rocks to a place we could actually go behind part of the falls (another photo). Erin slipped on the rocks, and we went no further. My classes got all misty and I put my camera away because I was afraid of slipping and breaking it.

The guide we hired knew all the history, and even took us to an area above the falls (about a fifteen minute drive away).  It was to an area one would never know to travel too, and after we got out of the van it was a fifteen minute walk up and down hills and rocks to “Umbrella Rock”. I climbed the ladder quickly and enjoyed looking out over the valley, but I couldn’t see the falls. I’m feeling adventurous, and so far haven’t suffered the effects on my aging body.  On the way back down to the van we passed an empty village with a special tree. Ghanaians are still superstitious, especially the non-Christians. The tree had not just one trunk, but about six feet off the ground had three separate cores that went straight up and were of equal size (see photo below): this was an omen of something. Next to it was a flat stone about two feet square; supposedly it was not carved by human hands but had been divided  into four equal sections. Each section had a precise graphic symbol, about two inches deep. Nothing was said about the symbols meaning anything, but the rock was made in heaven and sent down. Sounds a little too much like John Smith’s Book of Mormon, but it attracks little more than local lure.

Although I thought we’d stop for lunch or something to eat, we drove home with several traffic delays. Erin and I had brought a few sandwiches and cookies, and some bottled water, so we shared that with Robert and Issac.  Issac stopped to get some roasted corn from a street vendor, and I enjoyed an ear too. It was not like American corn on the cob; it was much drier and had no butter or salt to moisten it, but a cross between that and something like the “old maids” of popcorn.  What the heck, I was hungry and gobbled it down. We got home around quarter after five, so it was still daylight and I was too tired to make dinner. More cookies and some leftover pineapple and I laid down to watch whatever DVD I could find.

Today is my day of rest, and early tomorrow I go to Cape Coast, the “must see” recommended by the other teachers. Happily the fifth grade teacher, Lynn Taiwah, called and plans to accompany me. I am so excited about having company to share it with, and Issac will drive us again. The biggest expense of yesterday’s excursion was the gas, roughly $25 American money, and entry fees and paying Issac was about that much again. What a great investment, and now with Lynn to share most of the expenses this next trip promises to be just as memorable.

God’s beauty surrounds us if we take the time to look.

Love to you all,

Diann

Abori Gardens, Dec.13

Yesterday’s adventure was a wonderful investment of time! We left around 9 am to go to Abori Botanical Gardens, about an hour or two north of Accra. The only one left in my house, Erin,  joined me , and her fiancée Robert came too, making the trip that much better. Issac, the Crosby’s driver, drove us in the school van. I remembered the first part of the way from a trip two months ago to “Children of the Light”, a ministry for the very poor in a rural area run by one of the teachers at my school.

It’s a beautiful county once you escape the city; lush mountains, open valleys and always the sun.  Although many of the people do not want you to photograph them, when you are driving by in a car you can take photographs quickly and sort through them later.  The homes in these villages, for they can not be considered a town by any means, are shacks, some made of bricks that are just sundried clay (not baked in a real kiln), many of scrap metal and bamboo.Heavy rains could easily destroy most of the homes.  Termites are prevalent in the country areas,  I saw several huge “anthills” five feet high, so not many structures are wooden. We drove through several towns, small cities actually, and saw the madness of market day. One of the photos in yesterday’s blog was taken in the market as we tried to drive through the street. Shoppers and vendors were everywhere, even in the street, and you just had to honk your horn and wait until they moved. I was so glad Issac was driving, he’s patient and willing to navigate around huge potholes without too many jolts; getting in a tro-tro or taxi is taking your life in your hands even in daylight. Only once did I cover my eyes as a car came directly at us as we passed an exceedingly slow vehicle.

We made it to the gardens, and hired a guide who showed us around some of the huge plant sanctuary. It’s 120 years old, and has plants from around the world (ones that can survive the heat, that is). They even had a Norfolk Island Pine, which they use as a Christmas tree sometimes. There is a Presidential Garden where world dignitaries have planted small trees that are now huge. Most of the original trees of the land have died, but there was one HUGE tree that is over two hundred years old, and it’s base has big folds that look like a stone wall (see photo with me standing in a "fold"). We went to the spice garden, which isn’t a garden at all (well, none of it is really, it’s all trees). There were cocoa trees of course (photo of a pod not yet ripe), and cinnamon trees (another photo of a row of trees), we crushed bay leaves and all sorts of aromatic spices growing there. Many plants that I can’t remember the names of have medicinal purposes and are used for folk cures. There were philodendrons that I call “Devil’s Ivy”  that had leaves as big as the trunk of my body.

One of the most interesting trees was originally a cedar. A parasitic vine grows up trees for support and looks beautiful for years, but it slowly covers all the branches and leaves and kills the tree. We went inside one “holey”  tree and it was beautiful. Most of the cedar had decayed, but you could still see some of the bark and wood grain. The vine was still alive, and there were several holes that let natural light in. The tree was easily 75 feet tall (see photo of the inside of the tree).

This opportunity to travel has been a real blessing. I want to post some pictures of the garden, so will write another entrie later to tell you about the Boti waterfalls.