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Published: June 22nd 2006
I would like to dedicate this blog to the one and only...Fred. C. Gurley...whom I could NEVER forget as long as I live. My first boss, teacher of so many lessons...now since I'm in Africa, maybe it's a good time to tell you that I once backed your truck into that wall next to Papa's Pizza and kept the info to myself. Some spit and elbow grease erased the TINY scratch it made so I thought it best not to add to the stress level in your life. I've grown and am a better person, I hope...but forgetting you could NEVER happen.
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We're heading out to the north tomorrow morning and won't be back until next Wednesday or Thursday. We're all a little bit nervous and not really sure what to expect, as this part of the country will be a little "rougher" than what we're used to. We've been warned that they're no toilets, no running water, and sparse electricty. It should be exciting.
Good news...the fungus looks like it's clearing up. It itches like crazy though and I'm hoping that's because it's drying up. I'm trying REALLY hard not to scratch (grandmama). Pratt said I should go into the pharmacy and show it to them to make sure there's not something else they could give to me. This resulted in numerous proposals but no new diagnoses. When you talk with someone, you never know what you're going to get. People asking for our addresses, phone numbers, and to be friends is not uncommon but it's suprising to get a marriage proposal or two. It still shocks me. I guess Ghanians don't really care that they are asking for a wife with a tropical fungus on her face.
Yesterday Spencer and I came into town and went to Hannah's (our cook's) restaurant for lunch. She wasn't there when we first got there but her girls were really nice to us and gave us great rice and chicken. Soon, Hannah came bursting through the back door yelling, "My little Naura!!", which is what she calls me...they haven't quite caught on to the L in my name yet. I yelled "Hannah Banana!" which is what I call her and we made quite a scene. The locals didn't quite know what to think. After we ate she took us out back where she lives and introduced us to her mother, whom she introduced as our grandmother. They were making fufu, which is a local dish that looks like really wet dough and I'm told has the nutritional value of a brown paper bag, but fills the stomach. One person stands above a hollowed out log/bowl and pounds the fufu with a huge blunt stick. Another person rotates the mixture in between pounds. They get a rythym going but it still looks like the person who's turning it will get their fingers smashed off. They let Spencer try the pounding and tried to get me to turn it but I just couldn't...I value my digits. I got lots of pictures though.
The kids outside our house are really started to grow on me. There's this one little boy, Ampofo (not sure how to spell it) who's between two and three and is the funniest thing. He'll run around with the other kids and be rowdy and crazy but when we come up, he goes stiff as a board and gets really quite and solemn. He has the big, sad, beautiful eyes that just melt my heart. Yesterday we were sitting in our common room and he wandered in. He walked up to me and leaned against my legs, asking to be picked up. I did and he was content to sit in my lap for about an hour. I'm going to be really sad to leave him. There's another little boy who's younger, Desmond, and we call him the screamer. Whenever he sees an obruni, he covers his eyes and screams. Yesterday I came up to the house by myself and we was standing at the door playing with the handle. I was behind him and I knew he would freak out, but there was nothing I could do...I tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around...you would have thought I was the ugliest monster he'd ever seen. He slapped his hands over his eyes and started wailing. All the adults think it's funny, they all laugh and someone eventually picks him up.
Well, I know this is short but we're late for lunch so I gotta run. Hope everyone is well. Wish me luck in the north...hoping I don't get trampled by an elephant.
Until next time...
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Sean
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I can't wait to see all these pictures. We need to have a slide show as soon as everyone's back together. (Slide show= barbeque/keg party)