Badgette's Guestbook

Nice nuts!
Love this! I envy all your trips, but this one sounds especially lovely and back-to-naturey. You are such fun to read.

Discovered your blogs today
Mooney Falls look great. I've taken a peak at a couple of your blogs and look forward to reading more.

Enticing Shots
Bettina, your images crisp, clear, and interesting; they truly make me want to save my pennies to travel to this beautiful country. Thank you for sharing.

Sounds like fun!
Bettina, I'm just beginning to peruse your blog and haven't read everything....yet. This looks like a delightfully fun trip. You went with friends? family? Even better, right? I like your conversational writing style. ~Ramona

Green with Envy
Hi! I'm so thrilled to see your pics up here. A friend just got back from Ireland last week and now I see this--I am dying to go. It will be a while--but someday. . . . Glad you had a wonderful summer. Have a good first week--it's great to see your smiling face in these photos--great blog. K.

Wow
Bettina, I'm literally crying here. I'm SO MAD at your airline, the f**ers. I hate Heathrow because everyone I've ever encountered there is nasty and helpless (and yes, I realize that they are doing what their companies instruct, but sometimes it is important to be HUMAN). So glad you met your 'family' and I'm sending them hugs too. xoxo to you and Kaylene.

Thanks for sharing!
Wow! I've never been to Colorado. How beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Wonderful!

twi
One trick to learning is abandon all your precepts about sound, inflections, intonations, etc - especially coming from English. Then LISTEN to how twi words are pronounced. If you're in the central region, or far west of Accra and are only exposed to fanti, then you'll have a really tough time. but with other dialects (Akuapem, Kwahu, Asante, etc). Try to break down words in your head, or even on paper. Next, look for sounds in the English language that most mimic each broken down segment of whichever word you have in your head. Then piece them together after practicing a few times. Ghanaians also LOVE when you make an honest attempt to learn our languages. We might laugh at your initial attempts, but your effort melts our hearts. So try using twi, or Ga, or whichever you're exposed to. Don't worry about butchering the language. You'll always find someone willing to help you learn.

there can be no more important work than saving children and raising the consciousness of adults.

snapping of your middle finger is part of how Ghanaians shake hands. It's not a "tip me" gesture.

bettina, this brought tears to my eyes. xxx