Rain and Children Run the Day

Yesterday was Sunday and a surprising gift of a day. We were given the opportunity to sleep in a little and wake to a wonderful breakfast prepared by Tim. We had scrambled eggs with sauteed vegetables and avocado on top, ripe Ghanaian grown pineapple and mango, oatmeal, grits, and bread and jam. It was a feast that settled reminders of America on all of us. After filling our bellies, we got ready and headed to church to attend Pastor Kofi's service at the Presby Church. It was Pentecost Sunday, and even though we couldn't understand much of the service because it was in Twi, it was a glorious event. The entire service was a great celebration; there were women dancing, singing from all directions, and some of the most passionate speaking I've ever heard. It lasted for about 2.5 hours, much longer than any service back home, but this is the way of the people here. Sunday isn't simply a day to attend church for a check list, but a day of complete rest. They put all things aside and don't count down the minutes left until their next chore; they enjoy every moment they experience and delight in all they see. It's been a beautiful refresher to be embraced by such a culture.

Once church ended, we headed home with the intention that we would have lunch then do a little work at the site. But our plans were not needed, because in the process it started to rain. We took the little gift of weather as a chance to nap and rest, expecting it to slow down eventually. It did and we ventured to the building site to see what the progress was, and found a considerable amount done. On the way home though was when the humor really kicked up. It began to pour buckets of rain with no introduction, soaking us to the core. Tim, Mary, and I had to come to the Technology Center at the high school (where yours truly is currently typing) in order to send an update email to the profs. We decided to continue braving the rain and quickly realized if we didn't stand out before, we definitely did now. Soaked obruenes walking in the rain. Pitiful. It provided for some funny conversations though.

When we got home we took full advantage of the patter of the rain and all nestled up in comfy clothes after a warm shower. It was an afternoon and evening of full rest, reading and writing and catching up on tasks put in the shadows of manual labor. The plans that we had were washed away with the rain to leave us with nothing but the Ghanaian lifestyle of a complete restful Sunday.

Today, (and I'll keep this short, sorry readers) we spent time on the site again clearing the dirt from the front of the building to help the plumbers, and let me tell you, I'm going to be soreeee tomorrow! We got a standstill during the day because we became constantly in the way of the carpenters, plumbers, and electricians, so I went into Konogo with Christabelle, Alex, and the Kontihene for some errands. When we got back we detoured to the elementary school to look at last year's well, and this simple task became a funny sight. As we started to walk across the field, I realized I was rapidly attracting followers. Flocks of children were trailing behind me laughing and yelling "Obruene!" I turned around and smiled and waved and a ruckus exploded from the crowd. I started talking to them as best I could with my limited Twi. They laughed and grabbed my hand, dragging me all around. Needless to say, I've never felt so popular. We started taking pictures and it became the ultimate game of who could get in the most. They posed and laughed and grabbed on to me. Sweet little ones were the delight of my day, and the almost full completion of the roof, plumbing, and electrical only added to the reasons to be thankful.