Sunday, August 4

In the morning we strolled around that part of Accra. There's a nice bakery that seems like a bit of Europe in the middle of Accra. I tried my hand at the ATM machine at Barkley's bank.

It was finally time to leave for the village we would be staying at - Jordan Nu. A two and a half hour drive from Accra.

The welcome was intense. The villagers were waiting on the side of the road when we arrived in all their finery. They immediately began drumming and dancing to escort us into the village, and ultimately to the High Priests compound at the far end of the village.

As local custom dictates, it is proper to visit the chief or high priest to ask permission and state your intentions on an important visit. All the elders where there. We hand their full blessing and sealed the deal with Coke. During our meeting with the High Priest, some of the kids were drumming and the rest were intently watching the formalities. We were all in awe with what we had just experienced.

After the ceremony, we relaxed and settled into the house they had been fixing up for us right up till we arrived. It was the perfect size for our group with a large porch to hang out in. There was large front room, a hall and two bedrooms. Each of us had a 2" latex foam mat to sleep on, which turned out to be very comfortable.

For dinner, Mary and Rose, prepared Abolo and bean stew for dinner. Abolo is sort of a large breaddy dumpling that you eat with your fingers, scooping up some of the stew with it. Very tasty!

Akpene (Janell as she is known in America) is the Peace Corp volunteer that was in our drum class last year. It is mostly because of her that we came to Jordan Nu, and were given such an impressive welcome. George is her "counterpart", and has been instrumental in making everything happen for us. Mary, who prepared most of our meals, is George's wife.

Some of Akpene's Peace Corps volunteers friends, Jessica and Mark came to visit with us in the evening.

While we were starting to settle in, some of our group went with George back to the airport to retrieve lost baggage and our lost group member. They were successful except for a few bags. There would be another 2 or so trips to the airport (5 hours round trip).

For dinner Mary prepared Smoked tuna in the red sauce that is common in the meals (called Shitto I think).

Later, I walked with Janell (Akpene) to get Akpateshie (a-pet-ashi). What Anandan likes to call his goddess, and Americans know it as the local moonshine :-) It's made from palm wine and distilled to about 150 proof we guess. Little shacks all over the country sell the stuff.

We walked to the next village, about 1/2 mile away, and ducked into a small shack. Inside was a counter, and chicken wire from it to the ceiling. Behind the counter was a small boy who pulled out a dirty looking plastic jug and started measured the brew using old pop bottles. Then he funneled it into an old water bottle we brought. One of the older guys came in, and we tipped him with a "500" - a shot costs about 500 Cedis (about 6 cents).

Akpene told us about one of the common sayings "You have tried" - which is intended as "you have done really well".