Twas the night before Christmas

Am I being paranoid or is this really a dead Christmas beetle?!? 

I was walking this morning with my ipod and "Snoop John B" by the Beach Boys played...."I feel so broke up.......I wanna go home!"   Then, as if by magic, "I get by with a little help from my friends" came afterwards!  How appropriate, Joe!   And so true!


I get the impression that I have not been very clear on the situation and position on where and how we live, so I am going to try and explain.  We live in Bantama, a tiny village half way between two larger villages, Kwame Danso (to the East) and Atebubu (to the West).  In our village the residents mostly have little stalls outside their houses selling whatever their little plot on the outskirts of town produces.  So, if they grow yams, they sell raw and roasted yams from a table outside their homes to the passing traffic.  Some people sell air time from their stalls, others sell a few sweets or biscuits, others bread, others roasted ground nuts.  There are ladies and men here too that have a little mending shop.  They have those hand turned Singer sewing machines and either make clothes or do mending. 

Each little family is doing their bit to make a little bit of money. There is the main road (that photo I showed you when we went on the 4 wheeler) and then other little side roads with either traditional huts (similar to our Zulu huts but not as hardy or waterproof - it does rain here but never gets cold, so waterproofing isn't a priority as everything dries quickly) or block houses that are more modern but very basic. There are no fences between the houses so it is very community based. There are little fire places outside each hut on which they cook their meals.  One also often sees people just sleeping on flat benches underneath the mango and other trees outside their houses during the day.  The whole family travel to their plots (farms) everyday to work.  They either walk, bicycle or go on motor bikes.  One often sees three or more on a bike or a motor bike.  The ladies sometimes travel side saddle with a baby strapped to their back.  Being such a flat country it is the perfect mode of travel.  They also have to collect water from a pump outside the village and little bibinis as young as two years old carry jam tins with water on their heads following their mother and siblings.

In the two larger villages, there are similar small stalls, much larger stalls and also larger shops.  They have a few tarred roads in Atebubu but only the main road is tarred in Kwame Danso. So some stalls would sell plastic articles, others TVs, bicycles,  tyres, electrical equipment, motor spares etc.  Some small shops sell things like coffee, jam, tin openers, fans, toilet paper and a conglomeration of different unrelated items. 

So if we need anything besides what is grown in Bantama or airtime (which one can find all over) we have to travel to Atebubu or Kwame Danso.

Some stalls have little lock up rooms in which they keep their stock overnight.

This is Atebubu.

But there are no "shops" as such where you walk inside and collect whatever you need.  They have those shops in Kumasi and Accra.

 

As far as Porks goes, he leaves for work at about 6.30am and goes to the office about 5kms away.  He

will then come home for breakfast at about 9am and then maybe for lunch at about 12.30pm.  He then gets home at about 5.30pm.  He is supposed to work 5 and a half days a week but with his work ethic and the unpredictability of this job he has worked every single day since I have been here, including today, Christmas eve.

Me - I do not leave the house unless Porks has to go to Atebubu or Kwame Danso for work. He will then, on occasion, come and fetch me and that is when I take the photos and learn about the environment. So there are some weeks when I don't go outside unless it is to take Gundi to the grass to play or to do my exercising and that is why sometimes I haven't done my blog for a while - there is nothing new to tell you.

Porks had to go and check on a "test site" an hour and a half away on the wild sea road, so he took me with him.   I held on to the hand rail with my right hand and braced myself with my left arm against the seat of the land cruiser while we are driving.  Half way back I felt that my left elbow was hurting and I checked and I had a blister on my elbow.....from the rubbing on the bumpy road. Wow, it just shows how rough the road actually is.

 Can you see what we saw?






This driver was thrilled that I was taking a photo of him and his taxi!

 

 

We don't see many pigs here (Gotjie, Kelly!) but no matter what the animal, sheep, dogs, fowls, cattle, they are MUCH smaller than our animals in South Africa.

 

 

One of the local  butcheries, and you thought you were the only ones with drive-by food!!


Porks thinks this was either sheep or goat.

 

Porks checked on the watering of the seedlings this morning as we are the only people left here this Christmas and luckily he did as there was a problem.  We then went to the Volta dam through Frame a little village south of us (not as in  picture but  frame`) on a newly graded road - what a pleasure!  This part of the dam is only about half an hour away from us. We had been told that one can sometimes by fresh fish from the dam.

There was nobody there when we arrived but it didn't take long before a fisherman arrived in his boat.











Unfortunately the man only had these fish, so we didn't buy any.







An eel (?) and those little fish that are dried and sold with the flies at the market.








A fish drying rack near the dam.









A beautifully made fish trap.










A little school classroom in Frame.  See the desks and chairs stacked up for the holidays.  There are also closed-in classrooms in block buildings built by the government.






Look carefully at this photo.









It was a goat!

Before we left the house to check on the watering again at 4.30pm, we heard the local band playing at the church. We drove past to take photos and they were playing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "What a friend we have in Jesus" that nearly had me in tears.  They normally play random music that I have never heard before, so to hear something familiar so far from home was heart wrenching.












Young adults playing trumpets and drums together with such eagerness and joy.







When we went out again, we decided to take Gundi for her first outing away from the house.  We took these photos especially to show Sean how his little girl is growing




Porks and Gunds on the steps at the office.

I took her out the truck and placed her on the sand (dust) outside and she must have sniffed the air as she suddenly started sneezing and sneezing. The dust probably got up her nose, poor thing.

Don't you think that this is cute?    (Gundi, man, not me!!)

She is sitting on my shoulder very comfortably. I can walk around the house like this and she balances very well.


Porks standing near the seedlings while they are being watered.  I tried to get the sunset but needed a tripod to get the proper effect.

 
Gundi had done a lot of walking so she slept in my hat on my lap while we waited,

and passed out on the seat on the way home. 

 

Porks and I would like to wish you all a joyful Christmas with your special families and a safe and happy New Year.  May your presents this year be health, laughter, joy, but mostly love. 

 

Sending my love, Shannie (and Mommy) hugs and sunshine for your hearts from Ghana!

 

 

............"Happy Christmas to all, and to all, a good-night!"