Mountain climbing in Ghana

November 15^th, 2008

This morning I was up getting ready at 5am and out the house by 530am heading to the mountain. Our village is one of the nine villages that surrounds the Adaklu mountain; I think it is the tallest freestanding mountain in Ghana. So Me, Sarah, Dela, and three gentleman from their committee came along (they're the ecotourism committee and they are responsible for maintaining the hiking trails on the mountain and advertising to tourist that come to Ghana). It was definitely a workout and I was a little scared at times cause the trails were steep and there was no rope or steps at some spots. There was this one part I for real was like what did I get myself into. Dela and the other men were laughing at me cause I was scared but I just laughed along with them like “haha yea look at me, I'm scared as hell i'm bout to fall down this mountain (lol)”. By about 7am we made it to the top. I made it there with no injuries and it was a beautiful view. I could see our entire village and miles of land pass that. I was a little sick to my stomach when I was looking at the view though, cause I'm not a fan of heights. Plus I had a dream last night that I was on the top of some super tall building looking over the edge and I almost fell off. Yet, it was a different but good experience. I don't know if I'll make it up there again but I might, who knows.

When we got back to the village me and Sarah went over to the Matthew's house. They are a missionary family that's been here the last 11 years and Sarah has gotten to know them really well in her 2 ½ months here, so she introduced me to them. They are really nice people. They have 5 kids between the ages of 5-13, 4 girls and 1 boy. They also have two missionary students staying with them that are in their 20s and 30s. It will be nice having them here.

My Ewe is improving more and more each day. I got my greetings down pretty well, so I'm just happy that I can actually greet people when I pass them instead of looking like the cluesless Yevu (white lady in Ewe). Although Dela tells me all the time I talk to fast. Their language is spoken very slow so that will be hard to get use to. But everyone greets everyone here at all times of the day; you do it to everyone you pass. So I got that part down after week one.

Crazy that its been a week. In a way it feels longer just because I have met so many people and I already feel a connection to these people. But it's still hard for me to think that I will be here for 4 months ( I mean this in a good way). I think it's good though that I just live day by day and enjoy each moment as much as I can. I think that the people here are going to teach me a lot about life. Their experiences and how they see things can teach me a lot. I also love seeing how the children live here and the role they play in the community. I think that it will help me grow as a youth worker and bring different ideas back with me to the U.S. Okay my family and friends, I am going to go sit on my porch and relax in the hot November sun (sorry to all those in the cold).