Hey everyone, Jordan here: So training is over. So this is Peace Corps. After finally making it all the way back to the Upper West Region, stopped in Wa to buy some things that we knew we would need to start our house up and running, catching a lori (vehicle) to the closest town Bugabelle, paid more in luggage costs than the fare to get ourselves there, watched it all roped down and winched to the roof of the lori, piled in another 25 or so people, and headed out on our 3 hour nearly off-road trip to our place.
As we got out of the lori immediately the awstruck looks started from the Ghanaians seeing not one but TWO folis get out and unload what seems to be enough supplies to go on a jungle excursion. A thunderclap struck and the tell tale cold breeze blew on our faces informing us that the time was short beofre a downpour was coming. We shuffled under a store awning and called my counterpart in Tarsor to send a car to pick us up and our luggage. Of course they did not get to us in time and we had to wait out the 30 minute downpour. Eventually we just said screw it lets get into the wet truck and just get to our site; we were ready to unpack. We pulled up to our site expecting to see some of the important things we needed done to make the house ready for us all finished ie door locks, mosquito screens and screen doors installed and a suite of other small things. Only about 2-3 of these had been taken care of so we were glad to hear the Volunteers were having a mandatory meeting in Wa in a couple days so we could buy a bunch MORE supplies. We had nowhere to set things besides the floor. On that floor, part of the floor was seeping sticky glue or sap or something, so we had to spread plastic sheets to not damage our stuff. We laid everything out to dry with rope strewn across the porch. After setting up our bed on the foam pad on the floor and hanging the mosquito net that Mikey gave us (someone must have grabbed ours from the KSO) and went to bed by about 8:30 or so since it is dark by 6pm and we don't have electricity.
We were up the next day after sleeping in at about 6:30am. We made some breakfast (groundnut paste on bread) and started cleaning! But soon, we were ready to head to the market (pronounced yohWOH here). All the communties from around the area all come to the same place for that communities market since it only happens every 6 days. We bought 2 buckets, a big metal wash bowl, and a large garbage can to hold water. It just happened that we bought all of this from my counterpart's mother, go figure. Bori, a friend of ours, helped us around to get good prices. Nearly everything is bartered for here. And since we are white, it is assumed that we have a ton of money and everyone's starting prices if we asked are about twice as much as if a Ghanaian asked.
We also needed some food: tomatoes (Sarah bought these and then left them there by accident and she was super sad), hot peppers (funny story to follow), onions, and a few other things. Since we biked there, we of course had to strap our cargo down and head back on the 25 minute dirt road home. I think it is a common thing to see cargo adding up to more mass than the actual vehicle that is hauling it and our bike ride did not break this trend. But we made it back started the real cleaning with bleach and scrub brushes. I literally watched the 10 year old dirt cascade off the bucket bath area walls. Very satisfying. I think the words "huh, that's what that ledge looks like" came out of my mouth. Then I got down on hands and knees and scrubbed the tile part of the floor for 2 hours. This gave me even more respect for my mother who taught me how to do this the right way as I was growing up. Thanks Mom! We needed to fill our 50 gallon water barrel so we headed out to the borehole to start hauling and every Ghanaian around ran over to do it for us. They love doing little favors whenever possible to show respect and welcome to foreigners. A woman who is deaf (I think she will be a great friend) and probably 70 years old came over, with a smile, promptly threw a bucket of water that probably weighs 50-60 pounds on top of her head and walked it back to our house and poured it, from her head!, into our barrel and spilled maybe 100 milliliters. Then she went back and did it again, and then apologized for the spilled water. Jeepers! These ladies are crazy strong!
Sarah washed some clothes and then we made tuna and vegetable sandwiches for dinner. While Sarah chopped the hot peppers she accidentally wipe her upper lip which immediately began to burn like crazy! Apparently it didn't stop for 3 hours! The only way she could relax a little was by pouring water over her face. Once that stopped burning, her hand was still burning so she had to sit the rest of the night with her hand in a bowl of water. I felt so bad cuz there was nothing I could do. Eventually we made it to sleep and got up this morning at 5am to make it in time to catch the lori leaving from Bugubelle to Wa. On our list of supplies was: white paint, screen for the porch, new floor "carpet", chairs, 2 tables, cooking pots, a frying pan, mop bucket, tupperware containers, hammer, nails, and lots of food. We scoped out the best prices and will buy them all before we head back on Monday morning. Tomorrow we'll see our fellow Volunteers to discuss our experiences with our new sites and suggestions for training next year.
Well I know that's a lot of words and no pictures, but we'll try to post some before and after pictures soon. We hope this post finds you and your families in good health and happy times. With much love from Ghana, Jordan and Sarah.