Aki's Going Away Ceremony

February 24, 2011

So today was Aki’s going away party in my village.  We had so much fun.  The ceremony started 3 hours late (as usual) so we spent the morning just hanging out and being silly.  We had a formal ceremony with the kids drumming and dancing and Aki and I getting decked out in beads.  The community bought her 2 nice woven cloths, a kente strip, and the chief bought her a kente woman’s cloth.  The women’s group bought her a batik purse and we all brought food to have a huge potluck after the ceremony.  We danced (the good pics from Aki’s camera to come later) and took palm wine.  We had so much fun.  It really made me so thankful for my awesome village.  They really are giving and loving people; I know I bitch about things not getting done and people asking me for stuff, but I am so very lucky to be in this village.  They’re really sweet!

 Bustin' a move at Aki's ceremony.

This weekend I have 5 friends coming to my village so we can climb the big mountain and hike from Mate to Todome…so right on.  We are also gonna make fufu and light soup with Esther Saturday night.  It’s gonna be a good weekend…and next weekend is Aki’s going away party from us PCV’s…I’m gonna really miss her a lot!

She and I are working on getting a wheelchair for Boss, so we can at least strap him in and take him outside…he’s just been lying on his mat for 3 months in his sister’s house…it’s very sad…so next week I’ll start searching for the wheelchair; I’ve heard we can get one in Ho. We’ll see.

This week has gone by really quickly, but it has been emotional for some reason.  Monday I had a great day going to Accra to pick batik supplies, Tuesday I ran out of propane and had to cook on a coal pot.  Wednesday I couldn’t get the damn thing to light and I was so hungry and aggravated; I called Confidence and she came and lit it by burning a poly bag (gross…it stunk and gave me a headache) and then I cooked a less than delicious egg and was trying to hurry so I could get to HoHoe to get my tank refilled and get home in time to hold class.  I couldn’t get the regulator off; I pulled and pulled like I was told to do.  I called Chris crying because I was so aggravated.  He gave me a little piece of information that Mawuli had failed to, “You know the switch, press it in as you pull up.” And it came right off.  So I threw my tank on my head and headed down to the road to catch a tro…Mawuli caught me and took it from me…and I got my gas…and made it back for class…and everything was fine.  It’s so funny how simple things drive me to tears here…and then today I’m supremely happy…geeze.

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