THURSDAY

06|10|10


Well, another night of sleeping poorly. I’m not sure why, it could be that I don’t have a blanket and I keep waking up in the middle of the night freezing cold with nothing to warm me up. The closest thing I could find was my tunic top that was sitting on the bed. I stuck my legs through the arm holes to keep myself warm and that seemed to help pretty well.
Dear Ghana, thank you kindly for another awful taxi ride!! There was six of us crammed into one tiny car. I was upfront with Katie and the other four squished in back. It wouldn’t have been that bad at all besides the seatbelt fastener digging into my side. I’m quite sure I have one massive bruise. It’s the speed bumps that will get you!!
Today was Katie C’s last day and she had asked a few of us if we would like to tag along with her on a site visit unrelated to Global Mama’s. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to go but I decided to go with it because the situation sounded interesting. Before Ekaette left she was in contact with a few local businessmen who have started a private school for underprivileged children. The public school systems aren’t that great in Ghana and they wanted to be able to offer people less fortunate a better education. Ekaette has connections in the states that could help get the men some recognition but she was unable to go to visit them to take pictures. That’s why today we went with these men to check out the school, meet the kids and take some pictures.
The school wasn’t too far away from the Global Mama’s store; it’s actually just around the corner from Mama Gina’s house. I have to say this might have been my favorite part of my trip thus far. There’s no way to explain the excitement the kids had just to see us. They wouldn’t let go of our hands the whole time. Some of them wanted to be picked up and held which I gladly did. I didn’t want to put them down. We interviewed the men and asked a lot of questions for Ekaette. They really need help from volunteers to come and teach the children. They also need books and supplies. I could honestly say that I wouldn’t mind coming back another time to give my time to these kids. I hope that before we leave to take another trip there. I have so much stuff to give away and I would love to share it with them.
When we got back to the office we had to go into town for some groceries. We ran into Sabrina when we were out; she is one of the Global Mama’s. She asked if we would come by her shop and grab some things to take with us to the office. I think Sabrina is one of my favorite Mama’s. She has an amazing story; she really is a selfless person.
Back at Global Mama’s I spent the rest of my day sketching. I tried to come up with some new dress ideas for the women’s collection. The last part of the day seemed to fly by since I was doing something I really love to do. I haven’t drawn in so long I sometimes forget how much I enjoy it. Of course another fab taxi ride home. There was six of us again and I, once again, sat double in the front seat. .. at least I didn’t get any more bruises this time around.
Back at home we found Pepo lying underneath Marias bed. He’s been acting funny for the past few days and we think he might be getting sick. Poor little Pepo. It’s really not good that he is sick since tomorrow is his first birthday and we have planned a trip to Bushwa Beach to celebrate. Maria has jokingly said he’s having a one year crisis. I think it’s funnier in her Spanish accent. Super excited though for the weekend, we’re leaving Friday night and not coming back till Sunday night. The hotel is 10 Cedi per person per night. Not too bad!!
We went for a walk (Me Nick and Katie (M)) down through Elmina. It was nice because it was Katie’s first walk through town. It kind of made me feel a little like “this is my home” cause I could point out things I’ve noticed from my walks. Explaining things about Elmina made me feel a little more part of it rather than an outside I guess. It’s the small things! By the time we were half way through our walk the sun had already gone down, bummer that we couldn’t have spent more time walking. When we got back I had bread and butter with tomato sauce for dinner. I decided that wine would go better than beer and bought my first Ghana wine purchase. I have to say it was no Cab but Don Garcia hit the spot!! Its called Tinto, I’m not sure if that means something in a different language or if it’s just the name of the wine. Maybe it just means red. I like the carton it come in, I would classify it as the Ghana version of a bag of wine, better yet.. box-o-wine … in a carton. Stay tuned for pictures. The plan for the night is to play cards. I’m hoping to stay up a bit later than the past few nights in hope that I will make it through to morning without waking up. Wish me luck!!

Things I could go for at this moment in time …
James, my duvet comforter, espresso conn panna!! That is all