Kumasi Craziness!

Continuing on the adventures of Jean and Bobby Joe in Ghana I am jumping right to Kumasi. Kumasi is the heart of Ghana. It is about a 2 hrs drive from MKV (Mensah Kumpta Village). Newmont sends a bus every Thursday for shopping. So on the bus we hopped, luggage and address in tow for another few days to explore.

We stayed at a wonderful little Inn. You can see it here. Four Villages Inn is run by a Canadian Chris and his Ghanaian wife Charity. The inn was quiet and peaceful, a big difference from the bustle and craziness of the city just a short drive away. A feature the inn offers is a guided tour of the market. Why would you need a guide? Well let the pictures talk...

We started the tour on the rooftop to overlook the market, which is a city in it's self, of over 10,000 vendors. It was an amazing view, and looked a little scary. Oh, and I need to mention, the day we chose to do this tour was a national holiday called "Farmers Day". After the general overlook, and using the rooftop toilets (50P for the toilet paper) we headed back downstairs. I think it only took a few minutes for Bobby Joe to get asked to be a wife. We entered what would be classified as a sweat shop. Yes it is hot, yes it is sweaty and yes it was filled with sewing machines.

After that we headed to the sandal area. Watched the process from the beginning to the end. It was a little more information than needed, but Comfort was on a mission to get small sandals made for her granddaughter.

Moving along we saw metal works, funeral clothes and head scarves.

We saw some not too appetizing foods...cow hooves and intestines and dried snails on a stick.

We also saw lots of beads, shopped for Kente clothe, and had a cold drink in the shade. We saw more of this market than we could have ever imagined. Comfort was fantastic, she kept watch that we were not lost. She took us to parts of the market that we would have not seen or been to scared to find on our own. This was a great time, great experience and fantastic bargains!

Adventures in Accra

The Market in Accra ~ So as I was saying, my best friend from Elko came to visit me. We were able to play around in Accra before heading back up to site. We went to the Arts Center. This is not what you would consider an arts center, it is the market. Bobby Joe was a little freaked out, but I thought it was pretty tame after the ones we went to in Cairo. We hunted for Kente cloth, but didn't end up buying any. We had a young teen boy try on a dress that Bobby Joe was buying for her mom (bought the dress after that.) What a trooper he was! We walked up and down the many rows and took it all in.

The Beach ~ Another adventure was going to the beach. For those who know me, you know I LOVE the beach. We have been here 5 months and have not gone yet. So grabbing a taxi we headed to see what it was really like. I had been told it was not safe to swim in and very dirty. Once getting there it was nice. Yes very dirty. Trash, garbage, litter everywhere. Black plastic bags washing up with the waves. Yet among the trash there were shells and people playing soccer, lovers walking hand in hand and locals doing push ups. There was the occasional person, urging us to come to sit at their tables and a few sellers of local arts. If you squinted your eye's, it could almost be resort like. In the end I am so glad we went. It was a bit of time away from traffic and people and noise. Just laughter, waves and the beach.


We had a wonderful time exploring Accra a little more. It was good preparation for our next adventure of Kumasi!

Where Are the McCann's?

I have been AWAL recently. What have I been? What have I been doing? I wonder that myself sometimes. In early November we went to Egypt. Then a few days after getting back, I has a friend visit. Yep, that's right. A friend flew all the way to Ghana to see little old me. Now I am trying to get into the swing of Christmas. So I have not gone native, I have not got lost in the bush. I have just gotten sucked under by life.

Malaria?

Last week Sean was sick. He was fine one minute, and then next he was lethargic, had a fever, felt sick, had a head ache and shivery. The next day he went to the Dr and had 2 malaria tests done. Both of those tests came back negative, but the Dr was not convinced and put him on medicine to fight his horrible disease. Sean continued with the symptoms ~ fever, lethargic (napped most of the day), head aches ~ all weekend. At one point I walked into the house, the air conditioning was off and here Sean was in a sweat shirt and sweat pants claiming it was cold! He attempted to go back to work on Monday but was sent home, Dr's orders. By Tuesday he said he left 95% better and did not get another Malaria test done. A week later, Sean seems to be back to normal. Maybe it wasn't Malaria, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

Every day, for the past 111 days, we have taken Malarone. This is an anti Malaria drug. This does not prevent us from getting Malaria, it just makes the affects less if we do get it. We take Malarone every day, the kids take a pediatric version. Carter and Regan take 2 and Bailey takes 3. So in total, we have taken 999 pills. And we have not even been here 4 months!

So with Sean getting sick last week I thought a bit of Malaria information would be good for all of you reading this blog.



This next video is quite long, almost 10:00 minutes. But very interesting on how the parasites attack the blood cells.



This last video plays a few times. The actual cheer is only less than 2 minutes.

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School visit

All the grades at the school raised money to sponsor one or two orphan's schooling for a year at a local area school. I was able to go with Bailey's class as they presented the student with shoes, uniforms, school supplies, a cup and bowl and lunch money for the year. It was a wonderful chance to see a little more of Ghana, from the outside of the gate. The children were beautiful and full of joy and excitement and curiosity. Enjoy!

What was I thinking?

So you know how things always sound good in theory and you say yes to something. Then later, after the reality sinks in of what you actually said yes to, you start to wonder "What the hell?" That is where I was last night. No, I am not moving back from Africa. But that has crossed my mind many times! This time I was saying "what the hell have I done" because I had told some ladies last evening, as they were making delicious Mango Margarita's, that I would "love" (yes that was my exact word) to go on a 70 minute bike ride tomorrow. Monica assured me it wouldn't be fast, as this was the long endurance ride, not the short speed work ride. So I figure, I have been to spin class a few times, 50 minutes a class. 70 minutes is not much more than that. So great, we are to meet at 7:00 at the gate. That gives us time for the ride, home and off to teach yoga. The evening progresses, 2 very large Mango Margarita's later I walk my bike back home and proceed to ask the question. What have I done? 6:00 Saturday morning rolls around and I am still second guessing my decision, but there is no backing down. So I fuel my body (oatmeal with protein powder) and hold off on the coffee (no place to stop to pee). I get myself ready to go and head to the gate. Monica, Jo, Kim and I head off, and I soon realized this was not a leisurely bike ride through the country side. Sure 70 minutes may not seem long, but we were biking 20 Kilometers. I brought up the rear most of the way. I had issues with my gears, my brakes squeak, and sweat was literally dripping into my eyes, altering my vision. No one complained about me slowing them down, they were being polite I think. The hills were killers, but I would hear my spin instructors voice in my head (give it all you've got! don't quit on me now!) and I would keep "spinning". In the end I survived. I am glad I went and lived to tell. I'm taking it one journey at a time.

Italy 2010

This is our amazing trip to Italy.

We flew to Rome where we spent 2 fast paced days. Then took a train up to Florence. Spending 3 days there was not nearly enough. We took a day trip to Pisa, what is a trip to Italy without seeing the "Tipping Tower of Tortellini" as Carter called it. Then we took the train to Siena where we spent another 3 days. Finally back to Rome for one more day before flying back to Ghana.

The trip was filled with pizza, Regan ate it everyday! Gelati, the kids had it at least once a day. I, on the other hand, only had 2 the entire trip! We saw our fare share of nude males, making Bailey wonder why it was ok for a male to be nude, but not the female. Good questions!

For as much as we loved the trip it was actually nice to land back in Africa.

Athletics Day

Last week the school held their Athletics Day. To us in America, this is Track and Field. The kids learned the art of doing the High Jump, Long Jump, and Javelin. They ran hurdles, sprints and middle distance. This one day event was spread out a bit more due to heavy rains. But what troopers these kids are, standing and running or cheering their classmates on in the rain.

Primary grades (Prek, K &1) stretching!

Bailey's division (Senior girls, 11 years+) had only 4 girls in it. 2 11 year olds and 2 14 year olds.

Bailey, Grace & Loretta (the Gazelle).

Bailey, Pilar, Grace & Loretta getting ready for sprints.

Bailey, Grace & Pilar.

Carter's division (7-9 year old boys) was probably the largest. So as hard as he tried, Carter couldn't keep up with the quick legs of the Ghanaians. He did fantastic at long jump though.

7-9 year old boys. Carter's teacher Miss Kim is in the floppy white hat.

Carter in hurdles.

Carter taking his jump!

Regan's division (5-6 year old girls) was close. Regan did awesome and has her fathers athletic abilities I think.

5-6 year old girls sprints.

Regan, check out the eyes. She was constantly watching where her competition was!

Regan taking the hurdles.

Unfortunately I don't have photo's to show my agility in the sack race, pony ride (skipping with pool noodles between legs) or speed walking.

At the end of the days competitions the results were this. Bailey took 3rd overall for her division.

Regan took 1st overall for her division.

That is Regan's teacher, Vice Principle & PE/Health teacher Miss Lynley.

Regan was also awarded the Principles Award for going above and beyond in cheering, helping and motivating!

Way to go kids!

Whats for dinner?

On a beautiful Saturday, the McCann's followed the Parker's down to Sunyani for an afternoon of shopping. This was our first trip down to Sunyani that was not on the Newmont bus for a flight or the scheduled shops on Tuesdays.

Sunyani is the capital of the Brong-Ahafo region and has a population of about 80,000 people. Make that 80,001!

Saturday Baby Girl

While we were in Sunyani, we had the pleasure of visiting Miss Winnie, the school secretary, in the Sunyani Hospital. Miss Winnie gave birth to a beautiful (4 week early) 2.6 kg baby girl. Here she is at about 8 hours old, ears pierced already. She will be called Amma (female born on a Saturday) until she is named a week later. This was Miss Winnie's first baby and was leaving the hospital that evening...12 hours after giving birth to a preemie! What a difference from America. I was thrilled to be able to hold this wonderful gift from God.

Now for our shopping...

Shoes anyone?

More shoes...

and clothes

These are some non edibles that are available. As for the things I needed, I was able to get watermelon, pineapple, apples, oranges, potatoes, onions, peppers and eggs. All of this has to be washed well, but I am learning all the ins and outs of safely feeding my family.

On our drive home there was loads of people carrying what they have gathered for the day. It is amazing to see children so young carrying maybe only 1 piece of wood or a small bowl on their head, but doing it, all the same. Unfortunately we were driving too fast to get any photo's of the young children.

And now for the highlight of the trip. As the Parker's pulled over to the side of the road I was not sure why. Until the kids came to show us! Grass cutters! The real name is the Greater Cane Rat. It is a type of bush meat and considered a delicacy (?). I am not sure that RAT and DELICACY go in the same sentence. But I was thrilled to finally be able to see these and get a great photo. And by the way, neither us nor the Parker's bought them for dinner.

A tasty treat?

Wonder if it tastes like chicken.