Tuesday July 7, 2009

I got up pretty early today to meet Frank’s group at the airport, however they ended up being almost 3 hours late. It took a while to get everyone situated on the bus and then we headed to the mountains for breakfast/lunch. We went to a guesthouse where we ate and then continued our trip to Kumasi. Along the way I saw plenty of the giant snails being sold on the side of the road . . . apparently they live in the surrounding jungle. After an hour or so we made it to the hotel which was pretty nice. We ended up getting there much later than expected so Philip and I stayed the night at the hotel in order to ensure that everything at the church building site was prepared for the group. Frank’s group consists of about 16 people and they were all pretty tired so they had a chance to rest and shower while we headed out to the build site. It was really interesting to see the way they build . . . nothing like in the states.
Later we headed back to the hotel for dinner then I went to bed pretty early.

We had breakfast early the next morning and then everyone went to the build site to work, but everything wasn’t prepared as it should have been. Upon leaving for the airport the day before I didn’t know if we were going to be staying out in Kumasi, but if we were to stay, we were going to leave early the following morning. This didn’t happen however and we ended up spending several hours at the build site where I was completely useless in my flip-flops and capris!! I felt so terrible just standing around while everyone worked!! During the time with this group I did meet a couple of great girls who I hope to keep in contact with when I return to the states. I also met a baby kitten, a few goats, and a little puppy named Skipper who kept getting in everyone’s way. I was able to help make lunch (PB &J) and we left soon after that to return to Accra. On the way home I saw several random dirt piles which I found out are ant colonies and they are HUGE!! Like 3 feet tall or a little more. It takes years for the colony to grow and it continues to grow as long as there is a queen. The dirt from the these piles is especially good for making the mud houses in that region because the ants refine the sand which allows for a very strong structure . . . in case you didn’t know. I worked for a couple of hours when I got home and then was done for the day.