Rainy Morning + BRIDGE

After a good night’s sleep under the ceiling fan, I woke up at 8:15am to get ready for the day. I changed into a clean shirt, packed my things and waited for Joy to arrive to take us to the BRIDGE office. Having run out of water the night before, I was very thirsty. I also did not have any water to brush my teeth. I felt sticky with dirt and sweat, and I craved the bucket shower that I would get the following morning. I watched the sky through our window turn grey and the trees began to sway. A storm was coming. Soon the rain poured out of the sky in buckets causing the air to cool and sweep through the room. The fan was still going full speed, and knowing that rain tended to paralyze time even more so than the country of Ghana, I assumed Joy would be running late. I stretched out on the bed and began to doze off while the rain fell rhythmically on the tin roof and the breeze brushed my face, arms, and legs.

At 10:30am, a faint knock on the door woke me. It was Joy. It had stopped raining. We carried our things to a taxi which drove us to the BRIDGE office. I carried my things up to the third floor, and a familiar face walked out of the office to greet us. It was Emil, the chancellor of the church in Saviefe, and a member of ANYO.  Tony, the previous counterpart, had been transferred to another village and was no longer living in Saviefe or a part of ANYO. Emil and I hugged and greeted each other, and then listened as Bismark (BRIDGE Director) briefed us on our upcoming month together. The BRIDGE office now has internet so rather than pay to use the internet café on the floor below, Samantha and I attempted to check our emails, and update facebook, you know, the important things. After an hour of trying to open the internet, I almost gave up. Finally I was able to get Yahoo Mail to work, so I sent two quick emails just to let family and friends back home know that we arrived safely. Immediately after I clicked “send,” the internet had an error and shut down. With a sigh I remembered that this is how internet works in Ghana and I should be thankful that I at least was able to send those emails… after an hour…

I was so thirsty, my mouth was try and I was getting tired and feeling nauseous. I walked outside to talk with Emil and look out onto the skyline of Ho.