At work and beautiful!!

Breakfast Joint

Remember i had a delicious sweet coffee at a breakfast joint??

Here is the sign for it! Starbucks doesn't come close!

Setting out the Fabric to dry

The Stamps

The stamps are made of the same foam used for beds...

The Dying Process

Between each stamping of the design in wax the fabric is dyed...first she measures out the dye ... then they put the fabric in the dye.. then they swish the fabric in the dye ...

TGIF (thank goodness it is friday)

Today i decided to wash my clothes... i had just about run out of the unmentionables and everything else...err.... needs freshening up! I turn on the tap and remembered 'ooops..no water'!

Last night after my wonderful day i had come home with a layer of dust and grime coating me...you can imagine, i had fantasized about standing under the shower... only to find there was no water at all!! This apparently happens every so often... actually it happened the first day we arrived (another day i was pretty grimey!) ... which was a Thursday, too... hmmm... is a pattern forming here?..

But don't worry... since this sort of thing happens often there is an alternative set in place... a big bucket full of water is kept near the shower with a small bucket. So... low and behold you have a manuel shower!! it felt delicious sluicing off all the grime. (i blessed Maggie silently)

Anyways back to this morning, i nixed the Washing-woman thing and went for breakfast.

I have cornflakes with tons of fruit diced on top... today i had a whole mango ... and replaced my milk with a fruit smoothie (as there was no milk- the smoothie was better anyway!)

Maggie assured me the water would come soon... no worries.

Maggie is the person in charge of the house. She is a wonderful person and seems to be Christianne's right hand woman...

And sure enough after breakfast the water was coming... so i rolled up my sleeves and went to work.. wow! had to rinse my stuff a couple times....(hey!..not because of me!) Then i hung all my stuff out on the line.

Now hold that thought: my clothes are on the line.....

Off we went to the Office.. went around saying hello to everyone ... popped out to put some money down on my stamps at Jerry's. .. then settled in to work.

I took a break with my camera again to record a bit more of the batiking process.. this time i caught them dying the fabric for the second and third time... The dye is mixed with caustic soda in these big basins... it is quite toxic so they wear masks and big protective gloves... It is quite beautfiul
when they lay out the fabric to dry in the sun...

At lunch time i had opted to stay in town rather than go back to the house. I hadn't ridden my bike as i wanted to to explore on foot a bit.

So i set out... this time i managed to ignore the fact that i was like this white sore thumb sticking out and just ambled around... It was fun... i bought a mango that was picked carefully for me, these funny little new fruits that looked interesting (and which Bernice showed me how to peel and eat later... oooh! sour!!) and some bananas that are half the size as ours but twice as sweet....then, i found some beads guarded by this wizened old lady and fought with her 'viciously' to bring down the price as she was demanding about 50x the normal price as i was a rich 'yevo' (which is 'white' in Ewe..it is not said in a mean way at all).

I had come into the store and saw this little old lady and thought i will buy some beads from her to 'help' her... they weren't even that interesting...but you know how we are... oh, my! it was so funny when i suddenly realized this was no 'sweet' old lady but a very canny negotiator!! A young girl and another woman (probably family) were trying to protect me and tell her to be reasonable but she had seen her meal ticket and wasn't about to let go!! So i got into it with her and we had a lot of fun. She ripped me off but not by a margin i couldn't live with!! :)

Exhausted by an eighty year old, i retired back to the Office.

During the afternoon i managed to get a necklace finished for funkyFrog... It was an interesting mix of african beads and beads from Panama given to me by Andrea and Etienne for Christmas... It had turned out very nice... I thought it would be fun if my new friend Bernice would be the model for it... She is a very lovely young lady...

Later in the afternoon everything had sort of sunk into this torpor... a kind of low buzz... it was so hot and humid! And then there was this BOOM! ... that i recognized...Thunder! Oh! It is going to rain, everyone murmured excitedly...

Do your remember my washing??? Of course, it is going to rain... What was i thinking quite smugly when i was hanging up my unmentionables in the sun? .... of course i was thinking.. 'well, at least i don't have to worry about RAIN here!!' (how provocative is that? (...better than a rain dance!!)

And ... did it rain? It pelted down!! almost like hail the rain drops were so big and hard!! It was wonderful to see the parched earth become wet...

I thought 'Oh, well! my stuff will just get another rinse!!

Finally, it was quitting time ... the excitement i had felt ... tgif... was the ladies off for the weekend! They have a great job but still they are eager to go home!! The babies are wrapped and excited chatter as they get ready t o do!! All of them tell me to have a good weekend and they will see me on Monday!

It seems amazing that i have only known these women for a week and already they have integrated me into their landscape... accepting me ... enjoying me!!

I answer back to them, 'Yes, have a good weekend and i will see you Monday!!

We set off home.. the landscape already looking a bit less dusty ... we arrive home...

and bless her, Maggie has brought in my washing for me!!

A day at the Bead Market!

Today started early... i was waiting at the road for Dela at 7 am ... we went by taxi to the tro tro station.

Here everyone travels in between villages and towns by tro tro, which is a retrofitted mini van... the inside has been redone with rows of benches so that when the van is comfortably full which is quite rare, 15 people can be seated.

You buy a ticket to the town you want to go and then you sit in the tro tro until it is minimumly full ie 15 people. This can take two minutes or as was the case for us this morning 1and a half hours!!!!! Dela had wanted to start even earlier and i understood why... people start earlier when the trip is a long one! Live and learn!

We had time to go to a breakfast joint... which is a tiny shack where breakfast is made... i had a delicious sweet coffee!

Finally we were off... i didn't really notice how long the trip out was because i had a Ghanaian to grill... 'Why do they burn down so much of the green?' 'Acch, this is Africa! No respect for the countryside.' And there were many other questions...

So time flew by... as did the country side... a bit to fast for my liking sometimes...

I was pleased when the villages came as he had to slow down. Especially when all the sellers would swarm us...

Finally we arrived in Kofridua! And a bustling town it is...lots and lot of people shopping... but we got into a taxi again and went further out...

The Bead Market is now in an organized spot with stalls... Since it is not a part of a larger market there were hardly any shoppers..

It was so fantastic to be there... i had dreamt of this moment for ages.. One of those moments i had mocked up since getting back from Ghana five years ago.

It is a wonderful place to find beads.. the sellers are nice and not pushy and actually many of them know a lot about their product. So i had an engrossing several hours perusing all the different stalls...

I had not brought much money.. not really on purpose but it turned out to be a good move... i was able to just tell people it was my first time there and i was getting the lay of the land. Everyone was understanding and explained where the beads came from, what they were made of, etc. It was exactly what i needed.

My head was spinning a bit after the intense concentration.. Dela recommended a fresh coconut... A man on the side of the road hacked open a coconut for me with his machetee... The coconut milk was so refreshing and reviving...

I was ready for the long trip home... and my! it was long! We were all nodding drowsily in the heat... i just hoped the driver had drunk a lot of coffee!! But then he was probably pretty wired on adrenaline maneuvering that van on the hairpin turns up and down the mountains...

During one stop in a village one of the sellers was a young woman with oranges pyramided up on a large round silver tray... She was like an acrobat with those oranges... she would reach up take an orange deftly from the pile , do this fancy thing with her knife which skinned the orange and then place it back in a new pile around the pyramid! It was captivating to watch... i smiled and she was there in a flash outside my window with such a hopeful smile i reached my hand out... up went her hand to the pile snatching an orange and with a flourish and a slice four pieces of orange were in my hand... and it was one of the sweetest oranges i have ever tasted!!

All in all a captivating day! I am going again next week but i will have a Plan before i go!! and a book to read on the way home....

One thing that was a bit strange... i was so living my day today i completely forgot to take a single photo!!

Next time that will be part of the Plan ... take some photos to show you....

Wednesday

So there was action early this morning as Felix and Kofi came to pick up Cathy for the visit to the villages. They go every week to keep in touch with their 'partners'.

So i found out a bit more about the Loan Business. First the Partner needs to prove she can save money. She must put away 1 cedi per week (which is roughly 70 cents) for a month. Then she can ask for a first loan of about 250 cedis (which is roughly $170). This must be paid back within 6 months. And then they can apply for a larger loan, about double the first. But now they need to have a certain amount of money saved... and on it goes. Really a wonderful idea as it both helps them and teaches them how to spend money and save it!!

I am think of investing... anyone out there who wants to join me let me know!! I have told Christianne i would like to know who i am lending the money to... And she thinks this is a wonderful idea. Right now she does not have individuals investing but rather she fundraises from larger sources. . But this would be such an interesting way to help out.

We spent the morning at the house since Christianne and Shoko had a meeting. I caught up with odds and ends. It was nice to go slower..

I am doing yoga and zazen in the morning so i got to take my time...

Lunch was Red-red and fried Plantain... and it was another keeper!! I am going to ask for the recipe on Friday for the blog (has anyone tried the Groundnut Stew??) ... tomorrow is Bead Market Day!!

Shoko and I rode our bikes into the Office after lunch... oooh! midday... think of melting icecream ...that was me when i arrived!! just a puddle on the floor... a happy one though.

I wanted to get a stamp made like i did last time i was here for funkyFrog so Shoko took me over to a business she thought would do it... It was a silk screening business! It was very cool to see all the screens and designs in such a different setting.... It is very much business orientated. I think they do mainly tshirts and probably for businesses. But they do stamps as well. So we conducted our business... all outside ... next time i will take photos. I think Iris will find it interesting to see an silk screening 'atelier' in Africa!!

In the afternoon, i helped the ladies get the stock ready for Shoko to take to Accra on Friday. She is here with JICA (Japanese International Corp Assoc) The Office sells handicrafts from all around Ghana (free trade style!) There were bags, purses, pants, shirts, etc all made with the beautiful batik fabric made here at the Office that needed special pricing.

It is very hot and muggy today... so by about 4:30 i was feeling more or less wiped... so i gave up and sat on the porch and answered emails... i love getting emails from people! Dan has sold his house and is moving in with his love! Way to go Dan!!...Nolan is settling in and Jazz is behaving!... Hi, Robin!!...

Then it was quitting time... suddenly all the ladies are leaving....rewrapping the baby onto the back, telling me they will see me tomorrow... me saying, No,no tomorrow i go to the Bead Market! Allright. Friday then!! Bye!!

Cathy is going by taxi... Shoko wants to stay and work.... i am left to bike home alone... another first!

Off i go.. and i got to thinking... how would i describe this to you... there is garbage everywhere, it is hot and terribly dusty, everything is dirty .... wow! it sounds horrible, right?

But it isn't .... there is something so vitally alive here. The vibrancy i feel as i bike home is so energizing. Somehow i feel there is an immediacy to life here that we have lost in all our judgements and wants... it is a mystery to me because the contradiction is right in front of my eyes.... i should be horrified by the stream that is polluted beyond imagining...the dust and grit hurts my eyes... but i am beaming! ... and everyone is beaming back.

I only have to ask once and i chose a very, very tall man to ask (i am thinking of my brother, Stephen, i think, something reassuring about a very tall man!) ... he said just keep going... but ask a lot! .... ok,ok... i looked a bit lost but hey! my first bike ride home and believe me this town had NO city planners what so ever!!

After that moment of.. hesitancy..(won't call it panic, as i am trying to be more 'real'..John's training.. he is my other brother..) my ride home was totally smooth...

Waved to the termite castle... said hi! to my friend selling oranges... ignored all the people laughing at me and i was home! ... feeling quite triumphant!

But my adventures were not over... tonight i was determined to go buy beer!

Shoko had told me i could buy beer over there (she waved vaguely in the opposite direction we usually go..) but i needed to bring exactly as many bottles as i wanted...

So i selected two bottles from the garage.. one Star and one Club... and set off..

I crossed over this poor little stream.. ok, i won't describe it to you ( but my son the Ecologist needs to come over here and Do something!!) and there was 'Shalom Spot'.... a tiny little shack with bars on the window..

I approached a bit nervously... and there was a tiny wizened old lady beaming at me... i simply offered her my empties (i had been trained well in the etiquette by my friend, Shoko, you cannot buy a beer without an empty bottle in exchange! ..thank god there had obviously been a lot of thirsty volunteers before me.....) and she solemnly gave me back the exact same brand in exchange, one Star and one Club!!.. Cold from her fridge!!...

Shoko arrived from 'work' with plantain chips which enhanced the already delicious beer tremendously!!

Now i am going to bed early as i have to meet Dela for the trip to the Biggest Bead Market in Ghana early tomorrow...

Goodnight. Sleep tight. I will... it is so quiet here... even the goats are asleep.

A new batik design is born!

Luki is putting on the first design .. she stamps it on with wax.. then the whole cloth will be dyed again. If the wax is now removed, the area exposed will be the original colour of the cloth ie white.

Ghana is beautiful!