At noon, Lawson and I had to go to the University of Ghana to meet a sociology lecturer who has taken an interest in the project. She would like to place 2 of her students at the school for 8 weeks so they can gain hands-on experience. We were late because the traffic in this area is so bad. There really is no way to describe it. Interestingly, people do not flip the middle finger or curse. They do use their horns alot though but it is mostly out of curteousy to alert the you that they are cutting in or passing. We finally made it to the sociology department. We met for about 1 hour. I think the meeting was very productive. Before we left the campus we hit the bookstore to look for T-shirts.
Jared didn't mind staying back at the school because he had an upset stomach. I gave him Pepto and let him rest. Later in the evening he was till feeling lousy so he stayed back while Lawson and I went shopping at Melcolm's. I picked up a bunch of materials and storage containers for the classroom. I also got Jared Ritz Crackers and Sun Chips!
Our original plan for today was for me to get a cheap cell phone to use to call home and then to go the mall. That would have been a fine day but Lawson suggested at the last minute that we take a ride to the Volta Region to a town called Kpetoe Agotime. The Kpetoe people claim that Kente cloth originated with them and that it was taken to the Ashante region when the weavers were captured during a war. This is a small village known for their Kente cloth weaving. It took almost 2 hours to get there the ride was amazing. The area is near Lake Volta and it is green and mountainous. It was a beautiful ride. We stopped along side of a market on the way there and about 10 people selling food converged on the car. We bought fried yams, shrimp, and water without ever leaving the vehicle. (Jared had water). It was a little overwhelming at first but I took Lawson's lead. He would haggle and them tell me if it was a fair price. I was not happy about the fact that the shrimp had heads but I decided not to whine about it. I was picking and peeling until Lawson told me to just bite the tail and toss the head out of the car window. He ate it with the shell and everything! I tried it but I think taking the shell off is a much better way. The fried yams were delicious.
We made it to the village and stopped and watched one group of weavers. We stayed there long enough to talk to a man who appeared to be supervising the weavers. We left there to find the larger Kente cloth factory. It was not even a mile down the road. I was able to take pictures and some video clips. Jared picked out a sash and a special gift for Marissa. While we were in the factory, there was group of children peeking in the windows. They were excited to see Jared. When we walked out, a little girl walked up and held his hand. The children were giggling. They were selling bananas at a stand so we bought some. Finally, I found food Jared would eat!
We started heading back to Adenta but Lawson decided to take us to meet some of his family. They were in the town of Ho. We stayed for a short time. Before heading back, we found a restaurant that served American food. Jared ordered french fries and tomato soup. The fries were fine but he didn't like the soup. He was happy anyway. He had two cokes and fries so he was satisfied.
The ride back to Adenta was brutal. In the night, the road is so dangerous. It is difficult to see people walking on the sides of the roads. There were cows and goats crossing at random places. There were many guard and police checkpoints along the route because of the various entry points into the county of Togo. It was a very stressful ride. We made it back to the school around 10:00 pm.
Tomorrow, I want to go to the mall and get that phone. We are going to keep it simple.
Hi Kim,
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying your daily reports and incredible pictures! What an amazing journey you're having.
Best,
George Regan