I know we are very sad that bopcha is gone but remember that this is the time we need to be headstrong and believe that no matter how bad things are, it will get better.
I hope everyone likes my song I wrote a few nights ago for Bopcha (or as alex says gabopchca) and I want everyone to hear me play it so I'm thinking about recording it for everyone to listen to.
I hope all is going well in Oregon.
I feel like I haven't seen sid in years!!!! I have some songs to play for him so I hope he comes to my birthday party.
I miss everyone and good luck at the farm
PS: By the way I was wondering if you were going to keep the blog?
I am sending you all my love and will be there soon. In the mean time I wanted to forward you a song that Nina wrote for Bopcha. You may know Nina practices/plays guitar and she seems quite fond of writing her own songs. She wrote the following for Bopcha. I know it is sad, but it is a real testament to the memory that Bopcha left on Nina and Alex (he is not as expressive but no less feeling than she)
The world felt a little emptier, to work today. A cool mixed in with the warm air, its start to late autumn now. I drove the back way, past the farm in the ‘old’ truck - too dangerous for me with no tread - the livestock seemed lined along the fence this morn, real close to the fence at the road – brown cows and cattle, a huge horse stood at the end near the silo. – like they all knew a soul has departed us today - the cows kept eating.
Funny how it goes – I thought, so fast it goes – I wish it could’ve stayed fresh all the time, forever, timeless and happy.
In Hamlin even the cars seemed in procession – all lites on - led by a Marine's truck - as if for a moment, the world knew with me – we all knew.
I hope it clears up soon it’s been awfully rainy and dreary all week......... I feel very sad.
Hey guys. Sorry for the hiatus. We stayed in Kumasi for the last couple of nights. From what I am told, Accra seems to be some of the newer parts of Ghana and Kumasi is more of the cultural and historical center. We actually were not that busy while we were out there. It is about 4 hours away from where we are staying in Accra so much of the time was spent driving/getting from one place to the other. We didn't do much other than drive eat, and meet with a couple of students at the local university involved with SIFE - Students In Free Enterprise - A program we have a Seattle U. We just picked their brains on how they have tried to gain some entrepreneurial spirit within the community and what not. Very interesting. Today, we drove back and met a church group outside Accra, with the topic being a potential bakery that they would like to start there. We basically just brainstormed different ideas and/or asked questions regarding how they were going to run it. Good day but long. We are about to go to dinner so until tomorrow...Hope all is well in Seattle/Corvallis.
Sorry again for missing a day guys. There are technically two computers here but only one of them remotely works and everybody is on them all day so it is hard to find the right time. Either way the last 2 days, again, have been really cool. Yesterday, we met with the coach of a girls soccer team which is co-run by this club and school. It is called Valued Girls. We met him in the morning to discuss expanding their computer lab of about 10 computers to something closer to 50. Not that simple but intriguing, still. In the afternoon we went to a ceremony held in one of the local villages of greater Accra honoring the dead. It was cool to see all the people gathering to pay their respects to people who had long past away. After that at about 5pm we returned back to Joy Family Lodge and as I thought I was going to be able to sneak a nap in before dinner I was told that we were going to the beach. So all the students here, which is 8 total people, packed some of our stuff, and took a solid hour and a half long journey to this resort. We ate at this Italian restaurant and had pizza. Who would've thought. Afterwards we came down to our campsite and hung out near the ocean. It was cool to look out onto the Atlantic Ocean and have it disappear into the distance. Kind of surreal. This morning we came straight back to see the Valued Girls soccer game in which they won in the last couple minutes. We went straight from there to a Frankies, a type of American style restaurant that had everything an American could want. I had a cheese burger with fries. Since then we have come back to the lodge and packed up some of our stuff to get ready to go inland to Kumasi for a couple days. I'm not sure what the internet access will be like there but I am told we are staying in a dorm of one of the local universities. If I don't get back to you soon don't worry. This place is unbelievably safe. Seriously it's kind of a joke. Its about the equivalent to walking around mercer island by yourself at night. anways talk to you guys later.
Today was cool. We started kind of early though. We first went to a school maybe 5 minutes away. We sat in on about 15 minutes of class where we did an exercise where we took about 5 minutes to envision where were going to be in 10 years. Most of the kids were around 13 so basically they envisioned where they'd be when they were my age. Obviously my vision looked more like a 33 year old. Either way it was fun to hear what all these kids wanted to be. Straight from there we went to a fruit harvesting company called Blue Sky. We went on a tour and I had some of the best pineapple/mango juice i've ever had as well as mango slices. Straight from there we met up with a local soccer camp/program nearby where we are staying that had a soccer game. It started raining right before we started playing so instead we first witnessed a local dance ceremony. Then as the rain continued to come down we played soccer with a large group of 13-17 year old girls. They're good. Once we were drenched and we took pictures we came straight back for dinner and a nap. Exhausting but fun day.
Sorry this is coming so late. It is 8:30 in the morning here. Yesterday we were gone pretty much the whole day so when we got back everyone had to use the computers and because of the limited availability, I had to wait but then eventually just fell asleep. Yesterday we met at about 10 had breakfast and ventured out to a canopy walk a couple hours away in a protected forest environment. First we hiked up about 15 minutes fo pretty steep hills and stairs until we had to walk these rope bridges where the walk way was about a foot wide. As you walked (and there were multiple of us at a time) the bridge would shake and sway. The shortest bridge was probably 100 feet and we were no less than 60 feet off the ground I would say. If you were scared of heights at all, this was the place to be. After that it was about mid afternoon already so we sped back to the former Portugese, then Dutch, then English, slave castle in Cape Coast. According to our guide it was the oldest of all the slave castles in West Africa. It was pretty powerful. Don't worry I took pictures. After that we ate locally and got home around 11pm. It was a long day but it was definitely one of the most fun. I will update you guys when we get back this evening. It shouldn't be as late this time.
I absolutely love hearing about your travels through Ghana. It really is great that you are writing in each day to family and at the same time you are creating a journal, which you will always have. It is always so great to go back and read your life events from a time period gone by. You get to relive the experience in a way. Thanks for sharing and it so interesting to hear about a place that is so far away. Hope you continue to have a wonderful trip. Loved hearing about the orphaned children working toward self-sufficiency. That seems like a project worth learning more about.
It sounds like the family really enjoyed Joe Bonamico's dining and entertaining skills. Sid says you all enjoyed some great Southern Italian cooking. By the way, I have so much basil growing on the balcony - in one little container. I am even giving basil away to folks at work. They are immensely greatful and usually very impressed. Little do they know that it is probably the first time in about .....well okay a lifetime......that I have successfully grown something. It must be because this year there are two cute kitties to sit under the basil plant and keep it company. I don't think it really has anything to do with the fact that I remembered to water it every day.
I have had some wild stories going on at work. So much drama - I never get bored.
Today we woke for breakfast (Toast/Coffee/Omlette) at 8am and left by 9:30. Because there was no downpour we were able to get our day started on time. We first travelled another Organization, somewhere in the greater Accra region. This organization was called World Class Ghana. It's purpose is not only for loans and entrepreneurial guidance and training but also for various healthcare. There were a bunch of babies getting weighed and tended to in one of the other larger rooms. After we left there, we drove about an hour an a half somewhere up in the hills. We went to an orphanage whose purpose is not just to take kids off the streets and give them care but they are so self sufficient that they have their own food supply with the farm they have. Very cool. On the way back from the orphanage we got a flat tire that took about a half hour to chang because the van is pretty old and we didn't exactly have all the necessary tools needed. Today was a fun day.
So today my sleeping schedule was a little bit more normal. Even though I woke up around 2:30 am and didn't fall back asleep until 5 am, I woke up at 8am and had breakfast at the lodge. We were supposed to go to this other organization around 9am and meet with the Womens Trust organization but we were stopped by mother nature. At around 9 we were met with a light drizzle, something very similar to the days in Seattle and then in a matter of minutes, we were met with a downpour as bad as I have ever seen having grown up in Seattle. As far as rain goes in Ghana, people stop what they are doing and go inside. Daily life goes on pause or whatever is done is done inside. The main reason to my understanding is that because the roads here are so poor, it is dangerous to try and drive any where. Plus, there is the danger of flash floods which apparently has claimed the lives of people as recent as this year. So basically we hung out at the lodge, taking pictures, cracking jokes and doing the occasional reading to the sound of heavy rain. Kind of reminded me of home. Once we finally left it was about 12:30 and we went to the Womens Trust building in Pukuase I think which is a part of Accra similar to Ofankor. They are similar to A Village Net except they were started a few years earlier so seem to be a little more advanced and have a larger client base. Afterwards we had lunch where I had Yams with this spicy spinach sauce. It was delicious, but the portions are so big here that I challenged myself to finish my plate. Ending up in a 2.5 hour nap that I just woke up from a few minutes ago. It is 7:45 pm here by the way. Hopefully I am not up too long tonight.
Noah - I'm so delighted that you are sharing news of your adventures in Ghana with us via Bop's blog. Makes keeping up with you so easy. I'll read to Bop when she wakes up. She's napping right now. Lots of love, Aunt KC
