Fri. Feb 27

            My first day jogging in Obuasi.  I went from Pastor Martins house out to the main road and up the road towards the main city.  I prefer rural and uninhabited areas but I felt the need to identify landmarks so as to be able to find his house easily on my own.  I also didn’t want to get lost like I did in Pig Farm.

            Here also they have no running water.  Same old, same old.  After bathing they asked me what I usually ate for breakfast.  Needless to say we were soon in the car looking for pineapple and bananas.  Returning home, Portia was insistent to prepare (cut up) the pineapple for me.  It was large enough for Benny (Benedita) 2 ½ to get more than she wanted also.

            The man who wanted to meet with me was in Kumasi and due to return at noon, he said.  We decided I should wait.  It is 8 o’clock and I am still waiting.  He called about a quarter past seven to say he was leaving Kumasi.  I should have gone home and met him there!

            I wrote an email home and journalled my blog and decided to go to the Internet and send them off.  I had good intentions, but left my computer at home by mistake.  As I returned it began to rain.  I believe it is too dangerous to go out again in the rain.  Not only is visibility restricted, but people dash across the roads to get to shelter.  Additionally, there are few sections with centerlines and the taxis pull to the curb and the streets are narrow so you must cross part way over the center to get around them.  Then they frequently stop opposite each other and traffic must take turns through the space between them.  In such a gap the taxis and TroTro’s will play intimidation tactics and I am sufficiently intimidated to stay at home and not play. The good news is that tomorrow I will publish this blog as well and actually be up to date.

Thurs.Feb 26

I arose and left for Obuasi without jogging.  I followed Kwaku’s Toyota T100 to a small remote village about 2 hours from civilization.  I parked my car there and rode the rest of the way in the truck.  We walked a few hundred yards into the cocoa plantation.

            The red ants are everywhere feasting on the cocoa pods.  You might brush a leaf and wind up covered with them as I did.  The nasty little critters for some reason are biters also.  Having brushed them off and killed them, there seems to be always another one sampling your neck or armpit.  If you stand a few minutes they crawl up your socks and head for tender areas to chomp.  Disgusting little creatures, they hampered the enjoyment of all the tourists.  (just me, I guess)  There are not too many snakes, mostly cobras and pythons that hurry out of your way.  Danger comes from the less venomous green snake that is camouflaged on a leaf or green branch and hates being disturbed.  They are not enough of a concern for the workers to even carry a snake-bite kit.

            We headed home with the truck, and got high centered stuck going up a washed out hill.  There were 12 of us to push it out, and with shovels made a bit of a path which Kwaku missed and got stuck again.  Diff-lock would have helped but we had 12 men instead and the third time we were lucky.  We stopped at the edge of the village to offload men and equipment and get water for the Toyota.  Kwaku convinced me and also Otchere that the best method of payment for the men was piecework and he paid 50 GHC/hole, and a bonus if the hole was deeper or the work was fast or whatever.  We agreed with what worked for him.  Otchere was to stay there with the men and get a 5 AM start at the digging.  It was 7:30 when I was dropped off at my car, and Kwaku simply drove away abandoning me to find my way out of that remote area.

            On my way in, as I followed him, I was missing a huge boulder by hugging the edge of the road when it suddenly gave way and I slipped straight sideways into the ditch.  Some men came by right away and we pushed the car out with seemingly no damage.  What if that should happen again, or something similar like knocking a hole in the oil pan?  I was very remote and without cell reception.  It was another opportunity to exercise my best driving skills and trust God for the outcome.  I had started my GPS on following a track so that it recorded my location every 2 miles so that I could 'backtrack' to return to the site.  I had earlier set a waypoint at the house in Obuasi, but I could not use the "go to waypoint" feature at the same time as the tracking feature, so I tried to return from memory, hoping to not track any errors.

            I soon discovered an new aspect of my newly repaired air conditioning--the windows fogged up.  Not from the inside though, from the outside as the interior of the car got cooler, the moist jungle air condensed on the outside of the glass.  Periodically I had to use the wipers and thrice stopped to polish the windshield with my rag.  Cautiously I continued and at one point stopped and reversed in order to choose a different route over a particularly bad area.  This road is not built for saloons. (sedans)  There are not many snakes in Ghana because their backs are broken trying to follow the crooked roads in the Ghanaian outback!  In over an hours' driving I met only 2 TroTro’s and one taxi.  I caught up to no one, nor was overtaken.

            I came to an intersection and with a road teeing in from the left and I could not remember seeing it on my trip in.  A bit of light in the sky to my left suggested that was the way to the city, but on the other hand if I had come that way earlier, I felt I would have remembered making the right-hand turn.  I still hadn't come into cell range and I didn't want to spend time being lost without telling Pastor Martin, who was hosting me that night, that I was indeed coming, but later than expected.  I ended my tracking on the GPS at that point and switched to 'go to' the waypoint in Obuasi.  Obediently it told me I should proceed straight ahead and ignore the road to my left.  Approaching civilization, I asked people walking on the roadside if I was on the right road to Obuasi.  Confirmation would be a pleasant thing, however they either didn't understand my Twi, or my Canadian-Non British English was unintelligible or for some reason refused to respond to me in any way.   It is most unusual to be ignored as Ghanaians almost universally try to be as helpful as possible.  Many will want to jump into your car, abandoning whatever plans they have and saying "I will take you there!".  I was ignored a second time and astounded!  Again today I was 'third time lucky' and was told I was on the right track.

            I got cell reception and called Pastor Martin and told him that coming from Kumasi I was at the first traffic light.  He said to go to the second traffic light and wait at the Commercial bank and he would have someone meet me there.  I had been on that section of road before and I was pretty sure that the next traffic light was in Dunkwa!  After a couple of blocks I stopped and asked directions and was told to turn around and backtrack to the light and turn right and ask directions.  As it turned out, I was on that route earlier in the day and remembered that the light didn't work and a policeman was directing traffic.  At night there was no police, and one would not have recognized the dark traffic-light standards.  Pleased with myself, I turned left and asked directions and found out the bank was at the very next roundabout, where I parked, right in front.  Little did I know that this would concern the unseen policeman guarding the two banks in that spot.  A black policeman in dark camouflage clothing is not easy to see until he is right at your window with his AK47!  With my having explained the situation, he drifted back into the shadows.  At about ten o'clock the pastor opened the front gates and the doors to the garage and I was ushered into his home.  We quickly said our hellos and good nights due to the lateness of the hour and early awakenings at 5:30 AM.

            I had forgotten my bananas and ground nuts in Kwaku's truck and he was not at home when my GPS led me to his house, so my late dinner consisted of three boiled eggs.  I was content-many have had less.

Tuesday Feb.24

            There are ants in Africa.  We have some large ants at home—carpenter ants that may be ¾ to an inch in length.  But in Africa there are tiny, tiny ants.  Their bodies are thinner than a hair and legs are virtually invisible.  If you squeeze them between your fingers they just hide in the folds of your skin and are not squashed.  Today whilst jogging I saw a line of larger ants about 3 inches wide marching across the road.  I stopped to watch and a young girl, Gifty, said hello and I replied “army ants”.  She said they were not army ants and the column about 15 ft long soon passed, heading for the nearest far-away place.  Just a colony re-locating I guess.  These ants were the ½ inch variety.

            Our ‘peanut lady’ who fries groundnuts for us has had a baby girl.  Perhaps today we will shop for a small gift for her.  Betty is also pregnant with a girl and hopes to deliver within the next two weeks.

            The local parliament channel showed the house session and some members saying that funerals were becoming a problem in Ghana.  Indeed, my friend tells me that some funeral celebrations may cost from 6 to 15,000 GHC.  Attendees make donations and the bereaved family hopes to make a profit by the number of mourners.  A good band etc. will tend to draw more donations.  The ones who really profit are those who print the elaborated multi-page programs, the caterers and the bands.  I have no idea what government thinks they can do to reduce funeral burdens on the population.  Many feel obliged to attend and are too poor to make the donations they feel obligated to make.  Such is the culture here.

Mon Feb 23

Today we went to our bank and then to Ghana Commercial.  When I finished my business I asked for a washroom.  I was told to ask the guard at the front entrance, which I did.  He escorted me through the parking lot through a locked vehicle gate to a 4ftX8ft. washroom.  The door was at one end (without a latch or lock) and at the other end was a sink and a urinal.  Behind the door was a porcelain-lined hole in the floor.  There was no paper.  I went back to the car where we would usually have a box of tissues, but had none.  The guard came to my rescue with yesterday’s newspaper.  The job being completed including the paperwork deposited in the bucket provided, I returned to the car, much relieved.

            We continued on out to Offinso and met Emmanuel at the mill and sorted out some details regarding new samples, his email, port of shipping, and the address of Farm House Natural Cheeses on McCallum St. in Agassiz as a destination for samples.

We bought lunch on the roadside on the way home: bananas, ground nuts and 2 boiled eggs, and a sachet of water.

 

Mon. to Sat. Feb. 16-21

This week has been short on blog material and now on Sat. I can’t remember what I did on Monday, and I am not sure what I did this morning!  I know I have been running because I keep a log of my mileage and heart rate.  I also know I got a blister on my toe on Wed. in the same place I got one in Accra, and still have no idea why when I jog the same route about the same pace etc.  Anyway I put a band-aid on for Thursday and I went early to Obuasi on Friday so I gave it a rest.

            The fast Internet café is still slow, slow.  At first Ghana Telecom said it was a server problem and then it was the physical line at fault.  It seems they are reticent, reluctant and unable to fix the problem.  Their billing department has no such problem and the bill for fast service will come through as usual.

            It’s the same with our water here.  I was out building some steps up to the front entry of the house when the Water Guy came by with the bill for this residence.  He assumed that the white man working on his own steps must be the owner.  I told him no different.  He showed me on the bill the current charge and the 6 months overdue.  I told him we had no water, and he asked if I was sure so I took him up to the spigot and turned it on with no outflow.  Then I took him around the side and demonstrated how we pumped water from the well into a garbage can to be carried inside.  Because this house is above the 1.25 inch MAINLINE that runs in front of our walkway he said there was not enough pressure to feed the house, and we should have been getting water once a week!!  I told him no service—no cedis!  He said he would adjust the billing.  We will see.

            We went to visit the airport and there was a 50 pesewa parking charge so we didn’t stay.  The security person said that he had never seen a single engine plane at the airport, ever.  My friend Rolf told me that as soon as Ghanaians get a few dollars ahead, most of them want to show their new status by a fancy BMW or Mercedes car.  He may be right because it seems that none of them buy Cessnas!  I show my status by buying an ice-cream bar at Opoku Trading for 1.5 GHC.

            Today when I started my run I met a keep fit club who invited me to join them, so I did.   Their pace was a bit slower and when I caught up to the pack they were walking, so I jogged past but kept them in my rear view mirror so when they turned up a side street I turned around and went back and passed the pack again.  After about 3 times like this they cut loose their young stars who emerged from the pack and passed me taking the lead.  I just kept my usual plodding and followed them until they slowed to a walk and were once again passed. 

            Next time one of the leaders broke from the pack and just went with me and we chatted about eternal security until we came to the steep hill that runs right by my house.  He said they usually sprint up this hill and so it took quite a bit out of me to leave him behind.  Out in front again, I turned and went to the back to encourage the stragglers and again faced sprinting up our hill, which I did a bit faster this time, in order to show off.  That pushed my heart rate up to 105% of maximum for my age.  I had to break off from the group in order to jog a bit slower and recuperate.  I caught them again and followed them to the school where they start and finish, and they invited me in for breakfast, but I turned them down, as I hadn’t finished my hour workout.  I bet I’m going to feel it tomorrow and I’m glad it is a rest day.

Sat.-Sun Feb. 14-15

I arose about 5:30 and went to fetch Felicity to open the internet café.  Generally her upload speed has been about 400Kbps but GT was having problems the last few days and upload speed was only about 30 Kbps so we continually disconnected if we used the video.  We got a glimpse of each other and then switched to audio only and talked for over an hour.  Hopefully we will be up to speed next time.

            By the time I returned home, and changed, my jog didn’t start until 9 AM and the day was clear and my route is entirely exposed to the sun.  Even at that time of day my shadow is only about 4 ft. tall!  With no water stops alone the way it is amazing how much more energy is taken out of you in the heat and direct sunlight.  I was out of gas at only 5.5 Km. and walked home.

            Sunday is a rest day because English service starts early, but the children were to go with us this morning and were not ready on time.  You wouldn’t believe the bank of speakers in the sanctuary, about 10feet square with about 10 speaker boxes piled on each other and the mate on the other side of the auditorium.  It is VERY loud.  Without a doubt higher than WorkSafe regulations would allow without ear protection.

            After church the Pastor joined us for a ride home making 7 passengers in the CarinaE, which is not at all uncommon in Ghana.  I stopped for petrol at the Total station and bought ice cream for everyone.  The little ones were very careful and managed to keep it all inside their bodies and not inside the car.

I met with Emmanuel in the afternoon and his production is delayed a little bit, but we solved the rubber stamp issue and decided on getting some new samples, which he will send to Canada for inspection.

Wed-Fri Feb 11-13

Writing to the blog requires 3 things: time, energy, and something to say.  When things are really quiet and we are in a ‘waiting’ phase, there is not much to say.  This week has been very busy and I am simply behind.  I have several reports and projections to do but I sense I am coming into a slack time and will be able to catch up.  Wednesday we heard from Emmanuel and the contract with TIDD needed our company stamp.  We didn’t have one.  So we traveled in the heavy traffic to downtown Adum and Marlayne remembered from LAST YEAR where there was a stamp maker and recognizing the street suddenly cried out “turn here” and then stop and park here.  Sure enough he was just around the corner exactly where she had remembered.  Hard as it was to do, I told her right there she was a keeper!

            I am not sure how rubber stamps are made in Canada, but at this place the vendor is just a clerk who calls the stamp maker (his brother) on the phone and we wait for 5 Ghanaian minutes for him to arrive. (Nearly 20 Canadian minutes)  When we had decided on the layout of the stamp he went to work, pulling up a piece of car inner tube and cutting off a rectangle of rubber with a scalpel made of a razor blade tied to a stick.  An astonishing young man with eagle eyes and a ‘mirror image’ brain does the stamp all by hand with a small metal ruler and his razor blade; we left him to his work to return on Friday with 7 Ghana cedis.

            We bought groceries on the way home and I topped up the fuel tank with petrol for my trip to Assin Fosu on Thursday.

            It is difficult to determine travel times here because what few signs there are very seldom give any mileage, and it would not help a lot unless you knew that the road was or wasn’t under repair and whether or not it was good the whole way and whether or not it passed through a ‘market village’ and you have to wade through gridlock for 20 minutes.  I was told about an hour to Obuasi and another 1.5 to Assin Fosu so I allowed 3 hours and left at 6:30 for a 10 o’clock meeting with Maria.  I stopped at a sawmill along the way and Maria called at 9 saying she had arrived while I was still about 15 minutes out.  Maria works on Can. Time and said her driver unexpectedly showed up on time also.  The government official with whom we met was less than helpful and at the end of the day we returned to our respective homes branding it as a useless trip.

            Friday morning began at about 5 AM with a ‘shots fired’ Police incident less that a block from our house.  Details are not suitable for Blog publication.  I began with a jog and report writing while waiting for a phone call for a meeting.  A lengthy and somewhat more fruitful meeting ensued and then the dreaded trip into Adum in Friday rush hour traffic to pick up the rubber stamp.  A beautiful job, correctly done, very tiny, and very hard to believe it was done by hand. We headed for TIDD with our prize, nearly drowning in traffic up to our ears.  The official, Mr. Odum was not in at TIDD but I must “Please wait, he is coming”.  Upon being ushered into his office I produce my prized rubber stamp only to discover that he had not accepted the contract documents and had sent them back with my supplier, 03 Company.  I will duly stamp our Company name under my signature and re-submit the contracts.  Fortunately none of this slows production.

            I went to the internet and did some research on cooking with steam ovens and took Felicity home so I would know where to fetch her for Saturday mornings’ early session with folks at home on Skype.

Tuesday Feb.10

 What a treat yesterday to have Felicity open the café early for us so that we could Skype to family at home.  Some of the kids were already in bed but we visited for 1.5 hours to the rest of family.  By then other patrons were coming into the café, and truck noise from Kwadaso Road was getting quite bad.  We lost connection only a couple of times and remained fast enough to support a 3-way conference call for most of it.

            Since it was after 8 AM I had an abbreviated run because I had to take the car to the mechanic to fix the exhaust system that had the catalytic converter hanging down to give us only about 2.5 inches of clearance.  He asked for 5 GHC advance in case they needed to buy hangers and I had only a 10 GHC note which I gave him.  Later in the day I got the car back and the charge was exactly 10 GHC.  Here, we don’t take the car to a garage.  There are some dealerships, like Toyota, to which one could go but so far we do not go to the dealer.  We call the mechanic and arrange to meet Kenneth where he works near the Bekwai roundabout and I fetch him there and come home and he takes the car to his place if it is an oil change or something he fixes, but if it is A/C then he takes it to the air conditioning shop for repair, or in our case to the muffler shop, and then returns it to us later and we return him to his area. 

Shops is a misnomer because most of them don’t have shops as such but may have ramps or a pit and just work on the vehicle in the open.  Last week in downtown Adum there was a 1-ton van in a regular parking spot in front of Melcom’s department store, jacked up and on blocks with both front wheel assemblies removed and major repair happening.  Many vehicles get fixed where they stop.

We needed to do a major grocery shopping and blew about 15 GHC on the way home.  A half sized fridge shared with the Pastor’s family keeps us shopping about every two days.

Sunday Feb.8

English Service was at 8 AM this morning and Pastor Turkson asked if we would take his 3 children with us, which we did.  Twice during the service the little ones left their service/Sunday School to come and ask for money; the first time for biscuits (cookies) and the second time for offering, and we obliged both times.  After church we talked briefly with Evelyn Nimako who is in her final year at university and hopes to go to England next year for her masters in business accounting.  Two other children that are known to Lois hitched a ride with us as they live only a block away.

            With the extra load the muffler (converter) was hitting the pavement over every bump.  I looked underneath when we got home and the exhaust system seemed to be attached to the exhaust manifold at the front and at the tail pipe at the back and nothing in between.  Kenneth, our mechanic, will look after it tomorrow. 

            After lunch my friend Paul the taxi driver from last year, was to come and visit with his wife and baby.  He had misplaced his phone and was looking for it so Nancy and baby Rachel (1 year) came without him and with her friend Mathilda.  We discovered that they live about 2 blocks down the hill from us on the same side of the street.  We visited for a while and then watched the first half of the movie, “Jesus” from Luke.  John Asamoa who lived in this house with us last year also dropped in for a visit. How wonderful it was to see him.  He also is at University to study Business Administration with the goal of becoming an accountant.  He is such a good man and we hope to visit with him again before we leave here.

            I am not impressed with Ghana Telecom and called the head of Internet Services on Sunday afternoon to report that he had not gotten back to me and his man had not come for installation.  He says he will get onto it tomorrow, perhaps to rid himself of my calls.

 

Saturday Feb 7

 

            Happy Birthday, Hugh! Clickety click.

            I had a great run this morning with no pain.  I added a bit to make up for not doing the Apres hill and did about an 8 Km jog and 1.5 Km cool down.  I even included a short short run and got my heart rate up to 90%.

            After breakfast we took the Pastor’s 3 children with us to Lake Bosamtwi. They charged us $5 to get down to the lake, but when we got there it really was lovely.  We looked at the tickets and admittance was posted as $.20, which would have been $1 for all 5 of us instead of $1 each.  The foreigner pays much more that the native Ghanaians do I think.  We were told the toll is to go toward widening the road down to the lake.  And it sure needs it.  It is a narrow paved road switchbacking its way down.  And half way down there are large cement barriers in the middle of the right hand lane forcing all traffic to be one lane through that area.  No warning signs, not painted or even reflective buttons on them, just dull gray cement coming up suddenly.

            When we got to the lake the girl at the change rooms wanted another $1 each to change but there was a free change room out the back and that was good enough for us.  The guide said that fee was supposed to be $.10.  Fred thought they were being too greedy so they got nothing because that would have been an average days wages for us to change our clothes.

            The lake is a large round crater lake with no natural river going in or out.  It relies on rain water to keep it filled.  It was very warm at the edge and had a nice sandy bottom.  The 2 older children really enjoyed it but the young 5 year old boy was nervous about the water and stayed very close to the shore.  Eventually he got out of the lake and played with a group of boys playing on the path to the village.  Swimming made everyone hungry and we bought rice, stew (spicy sauce), boiled eggs, fried chicken, bananas and ground nuts from the village on our way home.   Both the little ones fell asleep in the back seat on the way home so I think we played them out.  All in all a very successful trip.  Pastor was thrilled to see the pictures of his children playing in the lake and Fred transferred them onto his computer for him.

            Traveling each way took about an hour so we were very surprised when the GPS told us that the return trip was only about 15 miles. Getting out of the city is a nightmare for traffic and each small village on the way is crowed with taxies and TroTro’s (van buses) and the road is full of large pot holes.  So everywhere you want to go takes a long time. 

Friday Feb.6

The power went off for a while last night and I headed for the Internet, supposing that we live in a poor grid for outages and Santasi would still have power.  The power came back on just as I was leaving, but I guess it had been out on Santasi as well because one after another the café’s that I went to were closed early.  The last one I went to was still open but I was their only patron.

            I ran the torturous Apres hill again today, but 2 days after the rain it was already too dusty.  It gives me a 9000 step run with cool down but I don’t like sucking in all that red dust in the morning and then trying to spit it out all day long.  The folks along the way love to see me, but they’ll just have to be patient between rainfalls. LOL J

            I am still phoning and waiting for Ghana Telecom.  Finally I got through and someone answered the head guys phone and said he would call back but he didn’t. No one came either.  It has been 10 days.

            A new faster café has opened and I have negotiated to have them open early on Monday so we can Skype family and friends.  It will be 10 ‘til midnight back home.

A personal journal: 4.02.09

When I ran on Monday I had heart pain for the first time in probably 10 days and it was worse than normal, came on later in the run, and instead of going away quickly, it persisted for about 2 kilometers.  Worrisome.  I hadn’t used my spray ‘cause I thought it would go away.  Tuesday was pretty much a repeat of Monday.  Fortunately my knee only hurts every other step else it would really take away the will to run.  I needed a theory as to what was going on.

            I recalled what Dr. Ken Cooper had written about reaching a plateau and then new capillaries are built into the muscle and deliver more oxygen and one goes to a new plateau.  If this is true and I’ve been consistently doing about 8000 steps, then maybe the heart muscle was getting some new capillaries to get to the next level. 

            Those being built from open heart vessels would have adequate blood flow.  Those being built from a clogged artery would demand flow that was not there and the starved portion of the heart would be in pain--typical angina. Likely there is a better theory, but I decided to go with the non-flow.  Wednesday I took the same route with no pain.  I had a slight nagging a couple of times but no actual pain, just awareness.  Go figger.

            It rained on Wed. evening so there was no dust on Thursday morning so I tackled the notorious hill out of Apres and climbed all the way to the Samaritan Villa without any pain.  Well, maybe it takes only 2 days for the heart to build capillaries, or maybe my heart did a spontaneous by-pass!!  I’ll ask Jesus when I get to heaven, or maybe I won’t need to ask—there’s a theology question for you!  My blood pressure has been about 114/62 and my resting heart rate is under 50 bpm. So I think I’ll go for a run in the morning. J  Praise the Lord.

            On another note, I am preaching at the House of Faith in a couple of week’s time.  I have no research materials and no Internet as such, so I’ll just have to do my part and rely on God to do the rest.  I’m getting pretty accustomed to ‘watching Him work’ so I’ll put my hand in His hand for this time as well.  Pray that I will be used as a blessing to that congregation.  We expect there will be about 200 for the English service and more through an interpreter for the Twi service, later.  Preaching with an interpreter is better because you get a chance to think while he is interpreting!

Wednesday, Feb. 03

 

Emmanuel said he would come to me on Sunday or Monday morning to discuss cutting specifications and sign contracts.  I guess he also is on ‘Ghana time’ and showed up the middle of the afternoon.  That seems to be the name of the game here in Ghana and we were waiting for Ghana Telecom to show up on Monday anyway.  He agreed to the specs we needed and contracts are signed.  I had already cleared a draft copy with TIDD so we should be well on our way.

And GT didn’t show up at all.  Nor did they come today.  And I don’t have a phone number to complain, but I don’t care because it would do no good anyway.

By the way, we went to Ahwia on Saturday.  A lady in Accra had told us about ‘stool town’ where they made the chieftain’s chairs that were sold in the shops.  We had also heard there was a factory where the elephant and giraffe carvings were made.  Supposedly one would get the goods cheaper at the factory.  Turns out it is all in Ahwia.

The village is not that easy to find for us, so we took the Pastor’s children with us to ask directions in Twi.  Theo an 11-year-old friend from last year also came along with us and they were rewarded with a nutritious lunch of ice cream, cookies and donuts and bananas.  J  They were pleased to choose to buy whatever they wanted. 

But the carvings were not cheaper.  All the salesmen were schooled in the same school of barter and begin by asking outrageous prices followed by “that is my first price”.  If you barter, it is followed by a second and third price and then “because I like you” or “because you are my friend” you can have it for less.  The prices wind up the same as the hawkers at the cultural center in Kumasi or Accra. 

 

Sunday at the House of Faith

Today Fred and I got up early for church at Pastor Turkson’s church.  The English service starts at 7 o’clock, so Pastor told us to arrive about 7:30 A.M.  He would be there before 7 but we didn’t need to be. When we got there at 7:30 ours was the only car in the parking lot and only about 10 people were there.  Over the next 1 and ½ hours about 200 more people arrived.  When we left about 10:30 many more people were arriving for the Twi Service.

The girl usher had everyone sit up at the front of the church with each row filled before a new row could start.  Because we were early we didn’t know this and had sat down about 6 pews back. One man in front of us was all by himself in the row and she made him get up and move 1 row closer.  But she didn’t bother us, I guess we looked like back pew peopleJ.  The drum set at the front was microphoned and the singers were not so it made for an interesting song service, but the enthusiasm and swaying certainly made up for it.

The guest Pastor’s sermon and the following Sunday School class were terrific and we enjoyed hearing the Ghanaians discussing the Holy Spirit.