What an Adventure!

Hello,
An earlier attempt to send a very detailed e-mail crashed. We've just finished dinner at a place called Frankie's and they have American food. Ihad a very delicious cheeseburger and french fries. We have all enjoyed the food here, but this dinner was a welcome change.I forget to mention that we visited Kakum National Forest on Sunday. It is a rain forest with suspended canopies over 100 ft. high. It was anarduous trek uphill. I debated whether I REALLY wanted to do it, but EVERYONE agreed that we should all do it, I couldn't let the kids down. Youhad to go in pairs and Jamaal elected to be my partner. I think he wanted to take care of me and make sure I was safe. There are all kinds ofbeautifulanimals that live in the forest, however I don't think many of us looked down to identify them. It was beautiful - I looked down when I was on thelast bridge because it wasn't too far from the ground!

We spent the two days in Hohoe, it was a huge change from the hustle and bustle of Accra. It's quiet rural. We went there to build desk and tolearn how to batik. Our goal was to build 10 desk, we completed all 10. However, the highlight was meeting the children in the village who came totalk with us and take photos when we were taking unnecessary breaks. They were incredible, sweet and innocent. They wanted to see and spend timewith the Americans who were in town. We stayed at the grand Matvik Hotel. Ms. Manning said she doesn't believe anyone had stay there in months. Originally she was willing to trade inour hostel accommodations for the double bed with AC, refrig, portable radio, t.v., vcr and hot shower. We could never figure out how to turn the hot water on.........so we ended up taking cold showers! Graig felt sorry for me and bragged about having two hot showers. After a brief trip to check on our batiks he permitted me to take a warm shower! We had a batik making lesson and then had the opportunit to make our own batiks with adinkra symbols. They are all beautiful. What was a two daybatik process in Hohoe, would probably take a day at home. They use no electricity to heat the pots which takes an extremely long time.

Yesterday after finishing our batiks, we took a 30-minute drive to Wii Falls. It is the largest water fall in West Africa. It was a 45 minutewalk from the entrance to the falls. I was a little relucant to do it after our uphill trek in Kakum National Forest. Of course, I couldn't let the kids down, so I did it. It was a beautiful rain forest with avocado and coco trees. The waterfall was breathtaking! Our guide shed a few of hisclothes and of course the girls followed suit. They didn't shed any clothing, they just got in the water and soaked! To my nervousness, the boys climbed the side of the mountain on slippery rocks. No injuries!!!!!!

Today was probably one of many highlights, we worked on a foundation for a library in Pantang. Pantang is about a 30 minute drive from Accra. It was pretty rural and we were given instructions and students completed their expected task. It was very hard work pouring concrete and then transporting it a few feet. I didn't participate very much in this project, I just encouraged the kids. The elders laughed when the kids wanted totake a break. Jamaal, Kyree and Cole chased goats and chickens through the village. You should have seen the villagers laughing at them!

We are off to Kumasi the home of the Ashanti kingdom. I am looking forward to our time there. We'll be staying on campus at the Universityof Ghana at Kumasi. Enroute we'll stop at the Bonwire Kente Village- famous for their kente cloth.Oh, we all had to hand wash our clothes! Boy was that an adventure. I got up early this morning. One of the workers brought me a chair and thenasked if I wanted him to wash my clothes. Of course I did! I had already washed clothes the night before and spent a few hours in the morningwashing whites. I couldn't remember the last time I had done that - even with a delicate item. We were reminded that we take washing for grantedand will wash one item (wasting water) or an entire load in a heartbeat. Whene were at Wii Falls there was a family in the spring washing theirclothes. On our way back, the young girls were washing their hair. So, clean clothes, a few headaches and sour stomachs- nothing major except Graig was playing soccer with the kids in the village today and bumped hisankle on Nick's foot. Both sustained very minor injuries!!!!! We've had a Ghanian food tasting and the women at St. Theresa's Training school prepared a hugh feast for us. I've been trying to be opened mindedabout food. Graig has practically tried everything and a couple of students also. For the most part, we stay with what we know rice/jollof rice,slaw and chicken.

At the college, I picked up what I thought was goat. They eat a lot of that. Graig later informed me that it was chickengizzards. After the first bite, I didn't bother to eat what was left on my plate.We are having a great time. I'm confident that students are impacted by what they see even when they don't admit it. We've gotten some positivewell wishes and prayers from our elders in the village. It's been a awesome experience!