Life Goes On

September 30, 2008

I would like to mention something about roosters. Its not like the cartoons where they do their cock-a-doodle-doo thing once in the morning and everyone wakes up and starts their day. These things scream for over an hour, straight, beginning at 5am. I checked the time. *sigh* So, I did get a few bug bites last night. The bug stuff I am using has 40% DEET. Strong stuff. It takes the ink off my sandals, which leaves a greenish teal print on my feet. I also noticed the writing on my pen is now practically gone!

Today and tomorrow we'll be "working from home," and will stay in the village. :) After breakfast and another bucket-splash session, we'll just be living with everyone else and playing with the children, once they're finished school. Sema said she'd teach us to carry things on
our heads (yesterday I saw a woman carrying a basket of dishes on her head!) and how to wash our clothes, which is probably just more buckets. Pretty straightforward. :)

Well I must say, I'm becoming very efficient with the bucket-splash system for bathing. This morning we walked around the village and met Tony's mother-in-law, and his 2 children, Richmond (8) and Dina (2). Dina was scared of us. His mother-in-law offered us pieces of a yam
she was peeling. It's not like ours back home; they're white, textured potatoes. His wife had gone to the farm, which is apparently very far. We learned that Tony is a teacher at the Junior Secondary school in the village. He teaches technical skills, for wood and metal.

Saviefe is a township with 3 villages—Agorkpo (the capital of Saviefe), Deme, and Gbogame (where we are). We met the chief of Gbogame today. He is the head teacher at the primary school in Agorkpo. His wife is also a teacher at the same school.

We walked to the next town, Deme, about a 15 minute walk. There, we came to a bar (small shack with 2 chairs, a counter, and a bartender- Erickson). We met a very talkative, slightly crazy man named Roka who wanted to show off his English skills by quizzing us on American
history. Erickson gave us Guinness, joked about Roku, and tried to get him to leave us alone. Tony had to distract him and take him outside. We walked with Tony and Erickson around Deme, and we met more villagers who invited us to their wedding the weekend after next! That'll be really fun to take part in. We went to a house with chicks painted pink (so the hawks won't snatch them). Inside we were offered shots—more of that washing feet tradition! This time it was a liquor distilled from palm wine, and we began discussing the upcoming election. All three men (Tony included) are for Nana because the NPP (New Patriotic Party) has done such a good job so far, and gotten rid of school fees for primary and junior secondary schools. We arrived back in Gbogame and watched some children play soccer. They didn't have school today because it's a Muslim holiday. We had lunch and soon Jessica, Grace, and Selom showed up to play.