ready to be cut out by the Japanese master!!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
New beginnings of a batik
First you figure out the design... then you cut it out so you can trace the design onto the foam...
ready to be cut out by the Japanese master!!
ready to be cut out by the Japanese master!!
Tuesday
This morning i woke up around 5 am ... feeling quite gung-ho! ... so i thought i would go running ... got all my gear on, went out, ... creaked open the gate to go out into the lane and ... wow! it is dark! pitch black... no way i can run in that ... nonchalantly saunter back into the house (felt a tiny bit sheepish) ... yoga on my mat! That works...
Well if i couldn't run i would walk... to the Office (the bike had defeated me!) ... and as a back up Christianne could pick me up as she went by... that way i could get exercise without turning into a puddle.
Excellent idea... it was quite cool still.. and sauntering along really beat puffing up hill...
It was a wonderful way to see things as well. And it turned out it was quite a manageable distance.. i beat everyone there... Shoko on the bike, and the guys in the car!
In the morning i chose the batik for my order.. that i am hoping Brigitte, of Pure Art will like ... Then i worked on the batik design for funky frog .. it is now drawn onto the foam and Shoko will cut it out!! I have picked out the colours and Luki says she will make a beautiful batik for me!!
I went over to pick up the stamps i was having made, they weren't ready but i took the opportunity to take photos of the silk screen workshop... i will include them in the blog ... These are for Iris.. who has a wonderful silk screening atelier in Montreal!!
Also, I did a bit of mentoring.. and i thought of Andrea, my son Etienne's beautiful girlfriend! She is a psycho-educator and in her last job helped young people to reintegrate into the work force. This was a different kind of mentoring but still i think she would get it :) ...
Apparently, the Bead Ladies had asked for a fan a long time ago. Christianne told them that if they wanted something they needed to make it happen.. They had a tendency to simply wait for things to be done for them.. So i showed them how to take charge because i could see it was something very foreign to them... I got Rita to go and say to the person with the Purse: 'it was agreed that we needed a fan, i will go and buy it. It will be 50 cedis. May i have the money for this?'
It was very interesting to see a whole different society at work. Here in Ghana the hierarchy is still incredibly strong. And it took a lot for Rita to believe me... but she went... I saw how she was treated and was glad that i was there...... we sorted it out and off we went to buy the fan!I I could see Rita did not believe me when i said that just because a person is in charge of the money does not make it Her money.... this organization was as much Rita's as anybody! i insisted. She listened... it will take a lot for things to change here... and the change will definitely not all be for the good.. the other side of this society is how polite and considerate people are.. In our society where everyone is equal, manners and considerateness have gone by the wayside.
We went to lunch... arrived home to Kafui, our amazing cook, beating the hell out of the fufu... She has been handling fufu for a long time, you could tell with every economic gesture! I was excited about eating this as fufu is truly loved here... a staple.
Oh my!! i did not like it... something about the gelatinous mushiness of it but my Stomach said No! ... and i had to pay attention to her... she rarely revolts! I loved the red sauce that went with it but had to leave the goo... i brought my dish in, head down and confessed, 'I do not like fu fu but i love banku!!' They laughed at me ... their feelings not hurt at all. Indeed, Felix assured me that it was an acquired taste and i must try it again because next time i would like it!! i nodded gamely (but thought 'No, bloody way! - oooh! that's the influence of the Empire again!!)
....that afternoon i enjoyed the breeze from the fan as much as the ladies... it was really hot today.
One of the aspects that i love about 'here' as opposed to 'there'.. is how babies are handled. A baby in Ghana is everyone's preoccupation. The whole group looks after each and every baby. There are six of them at the office at the moment. Belinda is in charge of them ... She is often jiggling a couple of babies ... one wrapped on her back (usually doing the jiggling croon with her!) and one or two in her arms... you just can't help but jiggle with her!! But everyone partakes in their wellbeing... during the day each and every person working at the Office comes to croon at the babies, poke them to make them chortle, smile goofily at them hoping for an answering smile ... all day long these babies are getting attention with a capitol A!! And they are all amazingly well adjusted... they get cranky late in the afternoon but then i do, too!!
And this crankiness escalated when we arrived home.. after a delicious supper of Pizza... yes! yum! .. we had a black out so i retreated to my room to do some of my blog ... but i was totally smoked out!!
Dennis, who looks after the grounds had chopped up everything drooping in the garden.. cut down the lower leaves of the banana tree, ripped out anything that looked slightly green and had made a pile in the morning... and now, had lit the pile to burn it!!
This is a nation of pyromaniacs, i am convinced. It was green stuff that could have been piled up to compost and the world would have been a better place... Nope, burn it. And of course everything burns really quickly here so you are left with this smoldering pile that gushes smoke... my room was instantly filled with it! This is Something that is really driving me crazy! Who started this horrible trend? Where are all the eco warriors when you need them? Sorry but this is, as somebody once described my rantings, a real rawhide! We can be as ecco as we like but Ghana is busily negating every step.. you are bringing bags to the grocery store? Black plastic bags litter every square inch here... No one smokes here but our lungs are constantly feeling heavy from all the smoke from garbage being burnt (90% of which are plastic bags). Wake up Ghana!
They say the malaria pill makes you irritable after awhile... maybe it is just that but ...
You know where i am blogging?
Cathy is a football nut (not soccer, that is so American) ... and her team, Stokes City, is playing Manchester United tonight. So we drove all over town looking for a bar with a tv we could highjack... because of course, most bars have the African games on!! She is over there in seventh heaven (???) and i am blogging... Christianne and Shoko are into the game... for her? i don't get it but they seem to be enjoying it.. I know my dad would totally approve and understand!
Oooops! Manchester United just got a score with a penalty shot!! Cathy is not happy!! ...i am trying to drum up some enthusiasm. After all she went bead hunting with me...
Talking of which, i am quite psyched and ready for the Market on Thursday. I will be at the tro tro station at 7 am and Dela and i will be off! Rita has chickened out... i am not sure if Shoko will come ... it is a very daunting drive out but i can't wait!!
Well, there is a good side to everything... the beer is delicious and cold!!
Well if i couldn't run i would walk... to the Office (the bike had defeated me!) ... and as a back up Christianne could pick me up as she went by... that way i could get exercise without turning into a puddle.
Excellent idea... it was quite cool still.. and sauntering along really beat puffing up hill...
It was a wonderful way to see things as well. And it turned out it was quite a manageable distance.. i beat everyone there... Shoko on the bike, and the guys in the car!
In the morning i chose the batik for my order.. that i am hoping Brigitte, of Pure Art will like ... Then i worked on the batik design for funky frog .. it is now drawn onto the foam and Shoko will cut it out!! I have picked out the colours and Luki says she will make a beautiful batik for me!!
I went over to pick up the stamps i was having made, they weren't ready but i took the opportunity to take photos of the silk screen workshop... i will include them in the blog ... These are for Iris.. who has a wonderful silk screening atelier in Montreal!!
Also, I did a bit of mentoring.. and i thought of Andrea, my son Etienne's beautiful girlfriend! She is a psycho-educator and in her last job helped young people to reintegrate into the work force. This was a different kind of mentoring but still i think she would get it :) ...
Apparently, the Bead Ladies had asked for a fan a long time ago. Christianne told them that if they wanted something they needed to make it happen.. They had a tendency to simply wait for things to be done for them.. So i showed them how to take charge because i could see it was something very foreign to them... I got Rita to go and say to the person with the Purse: 'it was agreed that we needed a fan, i will go and buy it. It will be 50 cedis. May i have the money for this?'
It was very interesting to see a whole different society at work. Here in Ghana the hierarchy is still incredibly strong. And it took a lot for Rita to believe me... but she went... I saw how she was treated and was glad that i was there...... we sorted it out and off we went to buy the fan!I I could see Rita did not believe me when i said that just because a person is in charge of the money does not make it Her money.... this organization was as much Rita's as anybody! i insisted. She listened... it will take a lot for things to change here... and the change will definitely not all be for the good.. the other side of this society is how polite and considerate people are.. In our society where everyone is equal, manners and considerateness have gone by the wayside.
We went to lunch... arrived home to Kafui, our amazing cook, beating the hell out of the fufu... She has been handling fufu for a long time, you could tell with every economic gesture! I was excited about eating this as fufu is truly loved here... a staple.
Oh my!! i did not like it... something about the gelatinous mushiness of it but my Stomach said No! ... and i had to pay attention to her... she rarely revolts! I loved the red sauce that went with it but had to leave the goo... i brought my dish in, head down and confessed, 'I do not like fu fu but i love banku!!' They laughed at me ... their feelings not hurt at all. Indeed, Felix assured me that it was an acquired taste and i must try it again because next time i would like it!! i nodded gamely (but thought 'No, bloody way! - oooh! that's the influence of the Empire again!!)
....that afternoon i enjoyed the breeze from the fan as much as the ladies... it was really hot today.
One of the aspects that i love about 'here' as opposed to 'there'.. is how babies are handled. A baby in Ghana is everyone's preoccupation. The whole group looks after each and every baby. There are six of them at the office at the moment. Belinda is in charge of them ... She is often jiggling a couple of babies ... one wrapped on her back (usually doing the jiggling croon with her!) and one or two in her arms... you just can't help but jiggle with her!! But everyone partakes in their wellbeing... during the day each and every person working at the Office comes to croon at the babies, poke them to make them chortle, smile goofily at them hoping for an answering smile ... all day long these babies are getting attention with a capitol A!! And they are all amazingly well adjusted... they get cranky late in the afternoon but then i do, too!!
And this crankiness escalated when we arrived home.. after a delicious supper of Pizza... yes! yum! .. we had a black out so i retreated to my room to do some of my blog ... but i was totally smoked out!!
Dennis, who looks after the grounds had chopped up everything drooping in the garden.. cut down the lower leaves of the banana tree, ripped out anything that looked slightly green and had made a pile in the morning... and now, had lit the pile to burn it!!
This is a nation of pyromaniacs, i am convinced. It was green stuff that could have been piled up to compost and the world would have been a better place... Nope, burn it. And of course everything burns really quickly here so you are left with this smoldering pile that gushes smoke... my room was instantly filled with it! This is Something that is really driving me crazy! Who started this horrible trend? Where are all the eco warriors when you need them? Sorry but this is, as somebody once described my rantings, a real rawhide! We can be as ecco as we like but Ghana is busily negating every step.. you are bringing bags to the grocery store? Black plastic bags litter every square inch here... No one smokes here but our lungs are constantly feeling heavy from all the smoke from garbage being burnt (90% of which are plastic bags). Wake up Ghana!
They say the malaria pill makes you irritable after awhile... maybe it is just that but ...
You know where i am blogging?
Cathy is a football nut (not soccer, that is so American) ... and her team, Stokes City, is playing Manchester United tonight. So we drove all over town looking for a bar with a tv we could highjack... because of course, most bars have the African games on!! She is over there in seventh heaven (???) and i am blogging... Christianne and Shoko are into the game... for her? i don't get it but they seem to be enjoying it.. I know my dad would totally approve and understand!
Oooops! Manchester United just got a score with a penalty shot!! Cathy is not happy!! ...i am trying to drum up some enthusiasm. After all she went bead hunting with me...
Talking of which, i am quite psyched and ready for the Market on Thursday. I will be at the tro tro station at 7 am and Dela and i will be off! Rita has chickened out... i am not sure if Shoko will come ... it is a very daunting drive out but i can't wait!!
Well, there is a good side to everything... the beer is delicious and cold!!
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