Village life...

Good afternoon!

My oh my it's been quite a while since I last blogged. I made a genuine attempt to come to Denu and Tuesday however the blog site was down. So I've purchased a bit of extra time today knowing that it'll take a little while for me to write all the happenings since last week.

The transition to village life is more evident than ever. It's very interesting to see myself adapt to the village and the villagers to adapt to the volunteers. I no longer walk through my compound/community and hear the word "Yevu." Instead, I am being referred to as "Afiyo" or the "Yevu nurse." I've learned the short cuts through the compound and have made new family friends along the way. Ghanians don't really have established property lines and so on any given walk home, I may tumble through a yard of children or even a house! No matter for them, as having a guest is an honor and very quickly I am brough a stool by a small child and given some bread from the family. It has really given me an opportunity to see cultural rules amongst family members which is extremely unique. Also, a remarkable number of Ghanians speak French so I no longer have to sit in silence with my poor Ewe skills! I knew those years of French school would one day come in handy. One family, for instance, has adopted two extra children from another lady who passed away. The youngest, Midaow, was playing the other day when he tripped on another child and hit his head on the corner of the stove. I just so happen to have some med supplies in my backpack so I did the nurse thing and semi-bandaged the little tyke up. Because the mother spoke French, I could tell her how to keep it clean and that I would be back in the morning to take a look at it. Thus far, it's not infected which is a rarity among children with wounds. It's unfortunate to say but some of the families truly have nothing more than their surroundings to take of their children with, so wounds are attended to with leaves, algae, dirt and if a child is lucky, a very dirty old piece of cloth. So although it's just one child and one wound, I was happy to of some help.

I've acquired a little Ghanian buddy! I've introduced you to him before but to recap, his name is Wonder and he is roughly 10 or 11 years old. School is out for a few weeks for Easter break so he's often hanging around the compound. In the morning, he sells crabs to Giffah and in the afternoon, he and I head out on small adventures. We've gone to the beach a few times which involves Wonder going swimming and me sitting and just chilling. Apparently the villagers say that there is quite an undertow so I choose not to swim and Wonder just kind of splases at the shore line. Due to our large language barrier, we spend the majority of our walks kicking a dried mango back and forth in a pretend game of soccer. Just the other day, Giffah dropped a tub of mangos in my room. Completly perplexed, I asked her why the heck she had given me so many and what I was supposed to do wtih all of them!? Apparently Wonder had dropped them off that morning as a wee gift for myself and the others. Sweet kid...

My drum lessons are still continuing about twice a week. I'm having a really good time attempting to learn the various rhythms but believe me, it's not easy. As soon as the drumming begins, the kids from next door come over and have a total blast dancing around our litte drum circle. I find it SO interesting that such young children (young enough not to talk) know how to dance the Ghanian way! The kids fall to the ground and roll around in utter laughter when the volunteers get up and dance with them - it's worth the embarassment just to see them roll around in the sand laughing! Haha!

Oh I've got to switch computers, so I'll continue in just a minute!