Part II: Community Love

On Saturday I attended a community meeting with the headmaster. I’d received a letter inviting me earlier in the week from one of the assembly men so I knew I had to attend. When we arrived, I sat on a bench next to a woman but then a teacher from a different school who officiated the meeting told me there was a chair for me. I thought he meant on the front row but he actually intended for me to sit in front of everyone with the assembly men. For some reason I keep trying to blend in here which is next to impossible. I know I should just embrace the attention while it lasts but I definitely don’t want to do anything to gain extra notice! Besides an opening prayer and reading of the beginning of a report in English, the meeting was in Buli. So it turned out to be a huge help that I was sitting next to a chairperson who had the report for me to glance over at. Development issues including construction, roads, education, women and children, health, and more were discussed. During the open forum, I could sometimes catch a keyword that helped me figure out what the opinion being voiced was about. Electricity, dams, boreholes, market, and a lorry stations were some of the topics discussed. Also I would look over at the notes my neighbor was taking too. I liked how the men made sure the women were expressing opinions and also let them go ahead of them in line. After I was introduced at the end of the meeting, I was recruited to give the closing prayer which occurred after I was introduced since some people didn’t know me. One lady ulily noise (think high-pitched squeal but I will have to post audio sometime for you to really understand) when they gave my Buli name after my English name.

Monday was a school holiday here so Alex rode his bicycle to come visit Gbedema. It was his first time besides just dropping by way back in July. He was impressed with my kitchen setup and since he brought eggs and another guy came buy with fresh milk in the morning I made crepes and an apple caramel sauce. We walked to the dam and I showed him the cotton field just beyond. The weather was surprisingly nice with a wonderful breeze coming across the water. It was nice to see my community through someone else’s eyes and gain a new appreciation- it really is a pretty place. I am starting to love it where before I just liked it. I try not to take it for granted and almost every evening I appreciate its beauty while walking or running. On the way back we ran into the headmaster so he took us to a lady’s house which doubles as a spot for Cokes (by which I mean Sprite and Coke). We each had two but still had another social call to make. I’d promised the chief’s wife Asibi the previous day I’d bring the other felika to meet her so we went there next. We were served a water and Pear Alvaro- a super sweet, yummy carbonated fruit beverage. I thought I was going to pop but managed to finish all.

I cannot believe how fast November is passing by, how quickly Thanksgiving is approaching, and how soon the three month at site mark is coming. At the bottom of my blog, you can see the awesome (by which I mean cheesy) countdown I added for Christmas. But it’s really more of a countdown for when my first visitor will come to Ghana a couple of days after the holiday. 47 days and counting!