Day 61 (wednesday) 4th of July!

My 4th of July breakfast.

Some of the pottery made at the cultural center.

A man preparing his materials to weave baskets.

A wood carved column in one of the shops.

A metal mural on the side of a building with several symbols represented.

Me and the man who founded the cultural center back in the 1950's.

I had to sneak this one in there.

Me and Priscilla.

'Merica!

 

Today I woke up a little after 5 but felt ok. I went to the kitchen to warm up some water and I will have to charge my computer in the common room because we are entering the 4^th day of no power in our rooms. I think we will go into town for a bit this afternoon but don't know what the whole day holds. I had some breakfast and coffee and sat and watched more reruns. I was able to download a book and started to read it (Practical Ethics by Peter Singer). The weather is breezy and a bit overcast and it will probably rain today. I spent some time helping Maureen with some grading and counting and then a friend I met a few times, Priscilla, called and we were going to hang out, but neither of us were really sure what to do. I agreed to meet her at the office in the department of social welfare and we could figure something out from there. This was the only time that I was traveling that far without being accompanied by someone. It all went well and I arrived near kejetia and was looking for some familiar roads that would lead up to the department. I walked a little too far and had to backtrack a little bit, back and forth on the streets, (in the meantime, I bought a little 'merican rag that I stumbled upon) but things were familiar enough that I made my way to the department and met with Priscilla. We sat for a little while in the office and then decided to go for a walk and she suggested the cultural center and it was one of the few things that I was wanting to do that I hadn't done yet. We caught a taxi and headed through the teaching hospital property and made it to the cultural center. We had to wait for someone to take us on a tour of the place and it wasn't so bad to just relax for a bit. We set off on the tour of the place and there were so many cool shops and everyone wanting to “make a deal” but I politely said no thanks and that I would be back. I got to see some pretty cool things and learn a little more on the history of the region and the country in general. I snapped a few photos but will go back for more when I can spend more time there without the guide. There was a museum with some cool historical artifacts, a place where they were making pottery/ceramics, a place where they weave kente cloth (similar to the one I visited in Bonwire), and some basket weaving areas. The guide took us through some of the shops on the way to the administration office where we met him. He attempted to overcharge us but I caught him in it and called him out on it. It was sort of strange that we didn't have to pay in advance or pay the lady sitting in front of the museum. The guide was pretty much disinterested and was kind of in a hurry to get finished. His english was not the greatest (which isn't that big of a deal) and he didn't really know as much as I figured he ought to (reading slowly from the cards posted underneath pictures and artifacts and so on. I paid the guy and then visited some of the shops and bought another cool little figurine and then we headed back to the department. We grabbed a couple of drinks (I had a bottle of coke) and started to watch a movie on the computer and then I noticed that it was getting late (and dark) so Priscilla walked with me to see me off. It took some time and the place I was waiting didn't look very familiar but I finally caught a taxi (I was super tired so I didn't mind taking a taxi, knowing it would cost me more, and especially being the only passenger) and ended up taking it all the way home.  On the way, I saw a kid get hit by a car (it wasn't all that serious, in fact, it was kind of funny...a kid talking on his phone, walking across traffic and didn't even look and stepped in between the cars on the road and got smacked.  The funny part was that after he fell to the ground, he popped right back up and kept talking on his phone and waved to the driver and just walked away).  I was exhausted but had a nice chat with the taxi driver. I made it in and spoke with Maureen for a little while but had to stop the conversation a little short because I hadn't eaten anything since the morning. I warmed up some food and had a pretty big meal. When I got into my room, I realized that the power was finally restored in my room and I became quite excited to sleep with the fan on. I spoke with Maureen again and she informed me that our plans for the weekend were changing and that we were now going to a funeral (the brother of her supervisor) and that she would like to take me to get a more traditional shirt to wear for it. I came back to my room and crashed pretty hard.