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| Rosemary with a smoked grasscutter |
Okay, so the blog has languished, but we have excuses. First
of all, as I said below, we had company – and lots of it. It started with “the Rosemarys” as we
called our first visitors – Rosemary, David (see him heating fufu below), Hawley and an old mutual friend,
Jennifer from Uganda. Lots of fun and laughs – until they brought that smoked
grasscutter into the compound. I wouldn’t let it in the house, but Kwame cooked
it up and we at least got to taste it. (A grasscutter is a rodent-like
creature, sort of the size of a groundhog – they raise them here and also
capture them wild.)
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| Liam and his Dad at Shai Hills Reserve |
Then on the heels of the Rosemarys came Kate and Elliot. As
you can see below, we wore them out with trips to the markets, seeing monkeys, etc.
Then the day they left, Liam arrived. Liam had the quote of the visits – one
day Bill asked him what he had seen that he found interesting, and he
responded, “I don’t think I saw anything that WASN’T interesting!”
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| Kate and Elliot after a day at the market |
And since then it’s been work, libraries, more markets and
finally, last week, a trip north to Tamale to do some election coverage
training. We had planned a trip further north just for fun, but Bill ate
something (could it have been that spicy goat???) that caused him to turn the
shade of his beige shirt, so we returned to Accra after the training.
And now, the tears and sadness begin, at least for me. I
leave in less than a week. We’ve done this before – you worm your way into
people’s lives, and vice versa, and then what happens? You leave. You tell
everyone you’ll be back, but will you? It’s a long way away. This morning
Gladys dissolved when she realized I wouldn’t be here next Tuesday when she
comes. I assured her she is like my daughter, but what does that mean? She
stays here, we come and go; she continues to carry used clothes on her head to
make a living, we go home to A&J’s and Café Ladro.
On the other hand, maybe the world isn’t so big after all.
One of the kids at the library yesterday wanted to know if I was on Facebook.
He’s all of 10 years old, but I guess he’s wired.
Funny, we were reluctant about letting Ghana get under our
skin. The climate is awful, the bugs as bad. But now we are reminded that it’s
not about those things, it’s about the people you meet, the culture you learn
about that becomes a part of you. Not seeing Kwame’s dimples again when he
laughs, which is always, not seeing Husseina’s lovely little smile when I say
something ridiculous, which is always … not looking at each other and saying,
“What just happened?” – again, always … well, we’ll miss it all.
That said, home beckons. Seeing everyone and cooling off in
the garden is looking pretty good! Bill is here for two weeks after I leave, so
maybe there will be more frequent posts to the blog as he winds down.
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