Friday, December 2, 2011

Bonjour,

We left the house this morning a little after 6:00 to head toward the border.  We stopped at the car wash to have them hose off the vehicle.  Everything is so dusty; Harmattan has begun. (Harmattan is the fallout from sand storms in the Sahara Desert.)  Before we got to the main highway, Joe noticed that the vehicle was running a little hot.  So, we stopped to check the fluids.  After adding oil and water, we were on our way once again.

Today is Farmers’ Day in Ghana.  We saw some celebrations along the way with big piles of vegetables in the middle of crowds of people.

As we were traveling, Bonnie wanted a snack.  I asked her where her snack bag was.  She said, “I don’t know; it must have flown the hoop.”

The bathroom facilities at the border always makes me laugh.  Up until a few years ago, the bathroom was just a building with holes in the floor.  Now, they have actual toilets, but many people have never seen a real toilet before.  So, they have a large painting on the wall showing people how the toilet operates.  When the new building first opened, there was a copy of this painting on the inside of each bathroom door.  A man sits inside at a table to take the money.  It is a pay toilet!  He does provide toilet paper.

We had to have an exit and entry stamp; so, we crossed into Ivory Coast, drove around a few minutes, tried to get insurance but discovered that it was a holiday there too, and then crossed back into Ghana.  Joe had gotten multi-entry car papers the last time he came back in; so, the border process went much more quickly today than usual.

The kids did well today.  They napped off and on throughout the day.  Bonnie fell asleep eating lunch.

We were driving along and heard a noise.  Joe pulled over to see what the problem was.  He feared it might be the front axle.  Instead, the radiator mounts had broken.  The roads have gotten so bad that they finally did those mounts in.  Joe found some little pieces of wire to hold it in place.  We tried to take the potholes and bumps slowly.  When we got to a town, Joe stopped and got some more wire to secure it a little better.  We made it back to Takoradi.

We stopped at the church to check on the ceiling progress.  They finished the inside and were working on the eaves outside.  I did a little more organizing of the Sunday school lessons while the kids played and Joe inspected.

We just snacked throughout the day.  We were all ready for an early supper when we got home.  As soon as we walked in the door, Bonnie wanted to know if that food was ready.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie