the real football

So I really am getting lazy when it comes to these things! A “quick” update on what I’ve been up to lately :).

A couple weeks ago a rather large number of our group headed up to Kumasi to see the Blackstars play Benin in a World Cup Qualifier!!! I was a little bit excited :). Finding a tro was a hassle because we had to find one from Circle (one of the major tro-tro stations in Accra). How I feel about Circle is as close to hate as I have ever come, I think. It is a dirty, dirty area and the people are pushy and clingy. But once we got one it was smooth sailing form there. Smooth in a very non-literal sense of the word, as the road from Accra to Kumasi is anything but smooth. We got in after dark and the older men still left in the van were so kind and considerate; warning us to be careful and pointing us in the right direction. We ate at a wonderful little hotel down a (rather sketchy) side street of the city.

The next morning I got up at the crack of dawn to go wait for tickets to the game. We’d heard that it could be a bit chaotic trying to get some and that they would sell about twice as many as there were seats in the stadium just to ensure that all the seats were filled. A rather silly concept if you think about it, but TIA (this is Africa). We’d also not been able to get the time tickets would start to go on sale. Some had said 6:00, others 8:00, and others 2:00pm. Just to be sure we wanted to be there bright and early! Well, we arrived at the stadium to find that other Oburuni’s must have thought the same thing. And only Oburuni’s. Not a Ghanaian in site. Well we’d get a ticket at least! We ended up paying 10 cedis for a reserved seat ticket and spent the rest of the afternoon playing cards and enjoying the rainshowers, which are becoming more and more frequent.

It felt so much like a game day and reminded me of being home for ISU football season. I expected to walk over the hill and see tailgates open with games of bags and the smell of burgers and beer everywhere. No luck though. However the city was still full of anxious fans and we witnessed more than one bus full of Beninians or Ghanaians proudly singing in support of their team. I watched men walk up and down the median selling hats and ropes braided with red, yellow, and green. The tro-tro’s were all draped in the familiar striped flag with the bold black star displayed proudly in the middle. It was going to be a fun game.

We didn’t want to miss out on the spirit so we all donned our jerseys and decorated our faces with black stars (a little eye-liner improvisation) and headed over to the stadium to grab out seats and watch warm-ups.

The game was fabulous, albeit not as rowdy as we’d expected. Watching Ghana play was pretty amazing though! We scored within the first few minutes and the rest of the game was back and forth with some close calls on both ends. Flags flew and people sang all over the stadium throughout the game, with the occasional firework or flare mixed in as well. In the stands, yes. (No walls falling down though Mom and Dad, take note :).It was good to watch a game again, I hadn’t realized how long it had been since I’d seen, let alone played “soccer”. This was about as close to a World Cup game as I will ever get I’m sure, so we lived it up.

We caught a bus home and drove through the night to make it back to Accra in time to catch a few hours of sleep before Monday woke us up.

This last weekend a group of us headed East to the Volta Region for some hiking and waterfall action. The Volta Region is home to Afajado – the highest free standing mountain in Ghana – as well as some breathtaking waterfalls and pretty intense hiking. We caught a (rather nice and spacious) tro to Hohoe Thursday afternoon and checked in to a place called Waterfall Lodge. We were greeted by a cute little German woman, grabbed some sodas and headed to bed for an early morning. Because it was dark when we got in we did not get to fully appreciate the view from the lodge patio. However waking up in the morning was one of the most refreshing things I’ve done since being here. I grabbed my book and a cup of tea and greeted the morning while staring at the mountains that were completely surrounding me with the occasional waterfall breaking through the trees.

After breakfast Friday morning, we hiked Afajado. Now I have hiked before…but apparently never up a mountain. Who’d of thought? :P Quite possibly one of the hardest, most strenuous things I’ve ever done (minus under-overs in swimming…those will always win out). It was absolutely beautiful though, however I may have used the “pausing to take a look at the scenery” to catch my breath a few times as well. It felt really good to finally make it to the top, and the view was definitely worth it. Going down was just as tricky, if not more so, than going up. Our legs were shaky from being so tired yet we had to control them so we didn’t slide all the way down.

My impression of how hard Afajado was may have been skewed by what happened next. We were in a little town called Ho at this time and needed to make our way back to Hohoe, about 3 miles down the road and not a very tough tro tro ride at all. If there had been a tro tro there to take us. The lack of a tro presented a problem, but we wanted to get to the Falls still Friday afternoon so we couldn’t take the time to wait. “Let’s walk it” we said. Good idea? I think not. What is 3 miles in a tro tro feels more like 10 when you’re walking along a dirt road with no water, having just hiked a mountain, and no shade in sight. I felt as if I was Fivel stumbling across the desert imagining gleaming pools of water and seeing my family in the cacti. Possibly a little dramatic, but you get the idea. We, obviously, made it back though and ran straight for the cooler of water.

We didn’t take much time to cool down though, but headed straight for the Falls. It was exactly what we needed after a morning like that. Wli Falls was gorgeous. Water cascading, thundering down, a rainbow stretched across the entire base, a pool, warm from the sun you could wade in. We spent a fare amount of time splashing around, seeing how close we could get to the spray before it was too much to handle. We relaxed at the lodge that night and the next morning I took off.

I was meeting a group of students in Kpando, at Hardt Haven, while the rest of my group hiked through some bat caves. I figured since I have an irrational fear of bats and really can’t stand small enclose spaces, such as caves, that trek might not have been the best idea for me. We had gotten a group of ISEP students together though and we were going to help Edem and the other volunteers get some work done on the new facility. It was really great being back in Kpando – it’s just such a great feeling driving in to town. Although the road in to town is slightly reminiscent of me trying to play Mariokart; back and forth across the road, trying to gain control. They’re not out of control though, just trying to avoid the potholes.

It was SO good to see the kids again, it’d been a few weeks and the people we brought up were excited to finally get to meet the kids we don’t stop talking about! Sunday we got up early and started the cleaning and trench-digging process at the new sight. It was hard and dirty work and came with it’s fair share of spiders, bats, and blisters. We worked all morning and got the inside all cleaned out and a good start on the trenches. There’s still a lot of work left to be done though! We went back and said bye to the kids and headed back to Accra Sunday afternoon.

I’ve also been busy catching up on things back home. Application deadlines, finding jobs, and securing housing makes my return home seem so close and very real! Hard to imagine being back! I got a letter from my Uncle Bob today though, the second one from him, and it was so very good to hear an update from back home. I also got the chance to talk to a couple friends from school for a little bit and catch up on what’s going on in Ames. It’s fun to hear what’s been happening but crazy to think I’ll be right back in it in a little over a month.

But it will be a jam-packed little-over-a-month. This Monday I’m leaving for a two week trip up through Burkina Faso and into Mali, then back down. A few of us girls are going to visit the Dogon Country and try to make it in to Timbuktu. Maybe even ride a camel or two through the Sahara. We’ll see. It’s been a little stressful planning, but for the most part we realize planning is futile. Transportation is touch-and-go, time means nothing here, and who knows what we’ll run in to along the way! It will be an adventure though, one I will definitely never forget!

Keep us in your prayers as we head towards the Desert :)

love