Ooops, I did it again!

 

Just before we left to come back, we met up with Porks' best man Ronald Corbishley.  He and Angie, my bridesmaid, who now lives in England and is married to a very special man, Henry, are still great friends of ours.  Brigit, their second daughter, is due to have her first child in February and Jannet, their first daughter, is getting married in September in South Africa.  It will be wonderful to see Angie and the girls again.

 

Departure day.

Due to some smooth talking and charm, we managed to get priority loading stickers onto our four suitcases this time, which then gave me peace of mind all the way to Accra.

We then said sad farewell to Kell, our darling daughter and started the long journey back to Ghana.

 

The 2013 matric results had been published in the newspaper and after more charm, we managed to obtain one from the steward in business class as the papers hadn't yet been delivered to the airport by the time we had left.  Our good friends, the Higgs' daughter, Taryn, had done very well and received 8 A's.  She must have her father's brains because he told us that in his matric year he got 3 A's.....when his Dad opened his report card, he shook his head and said "Ay, Ay, Ay!"

 

Anyone need a sleeping partner?

We arrived in Accra and had to snake our way past the "yellow fever" check point to immigration. In line were two young people we had met in the queue while waiting to go through the x-rays in Johannesburg.  We hadn't realised that they were also going to Ghana and staying in Accra.  He has a job in construction. While we were explaining to them that we still had to travel 9 hours north, another gentleman asked where our final destination was.  It ended up that he works on a Jatropha Farm near Yegi, one hour north of Bantama, so we swapped telephone numbers and agreed to meet up for dinner.

We were picked up late from the airport and taken to the Oak Plaza Hotel.  It has been the best hotel we have been in so far but the confusion is that there are two Oak Plazas in Accra and one takes a chance as to which one has been reserved. We were helped by Ghanaians named Stephen, Theophilus, Benjamin, Mercy etc. and were glad that at least they have names we can remember and spell.

 

We went to the Holiday Inn for supper and met up with camera-shy Ian Crawford.  He works three months on and three weeks off in Yegi but his home town is Shelly Beach.  He is also lonely in Yegi, so we told him to come and see us anytime that he wants to get away.  He also has to have a driver so we'll see if he manages to arrange an outing.  The guys had hamburgers and Porks swears it was the best hamburger he has ever had!

I changed my watch to Ghana time and set my cell phone to wake us up at 6.30am.  We woke startled from a deep sleep, bleary eyed, hearts pounding and in pitch darkness. Porks eventually slurred "its 4.30 Shan". Ooops, I did it again!
My scrambled egg for breakfast the next morning was delicious!  

The trip to Kumasi was uneventful besides the fact that we had to pay R500 for excess baggage and the fact that the electricity went off twice while we were in the airport.  Flying over Accra and Kumasi, we noticed that the only tarred roads are those close to the airport.  We think that 80% - 90% of the roads in Ghana are dirt roads.

Driving home was a relatively easy trip with a couple of naps on the way and we arrived in Bantama at about 3pm.

We brought caps for two of our special people.  One for Papengarru, the local tomato farmer. The cap he is wearing we bought at a shebeen in Mbali in Pietermaritzburg.  We had a bridal shower there and bought one as a souvenir.  He has such a beautiful white-toothed smile but this is obviously how some Ghanaians are used to posing.

The other cap we brought for Isaac, one of the drivers, to whom I had to explain that SANBS means South African National Blood Services.  I can only donate twice a year at the moment as one has to be away from a malaria country for three weeks before they'll take ones blood.  I wondered if he understood the concept of our donating blood to saves the lives of others?

We bought our new house assistant, Augustina, a bracelet.  I met her the day that I left for South Africa.   Theresa, our other helper, has had a baby daughter.

 

 

On Saturday evening we went for a braai with our new colleagues, Colin and Audrey Croudace, who live about 4 kilometres away from us.  We had a wonderful, fun evening with them and we know they would have made a vast improvement to our social lives BUT sadly, after a month here, he has resigned. Audrey leaves on the 23rd January and we are hopeful that Colin can stay until Deon gets back with Roz on the 12th February.  Deon is also here at the moment, but leaves again on the 21st January.  

We still have both their birthdays to celebrate next week, so we are focusing on the present and just enjoying their company while we can.  I am so sad for Porks as he and Colin get on extremely well. They have the same work ethic and the same vision and he is another South African who understands the complexities and challenges of working in a strange and foreign environment.

 

Walking in to an empty house without my Gundi being here to greet us was more difficult than we could have imagined.  It has been just over a week and I am still battling to find my positive attitude and things for which to be grateful. I catch myself tearing up when walking past his jungle gym, finding his ball, seeing his toys and ladders, finding his little packet of diced chicken in the freezer and while cooking in the kitchen. I also find myself watching where I walk in case I stand on him.  Any movement on the floor, shadows or curtains moving, makes me think it is Gundi and then suddenly my heart sinks again. Sitting at the computer is heart breaking as it brings back memories of him scuttling to me and screeching to be picked up, so I have put off writing this post.  In every aspect of my day Gundi was involved and I have nothing to talk about to Porks when he comes home in the evenings. I know I will heal with time but I am so sore and so lost without him. He was my only source of joy and gigglement during the day, and night, and I am finding it difficult to find the silver lining in being back in Ghana.  Porks feels the same way and we both bring out the tissues when we talk about him. I know it will improve, it'll just take time.  Walk through the pain, Shan.