Day 79 (sunday)

Where they were making palm oil.

Maureen sitting in one of the classrooms.

Me sitting in front of one of the oldest standing structures in the village.

Shaking hands with the chief...bummed that it turned out blurry.

Me and the eldest woman in the village (110 years).

The mother of one of Maureen's uncles and I.

I woke up a few times throughout the night but felt pretty good. I had some fruit and coffee for breakfast again and then spent some time relaxing and was under the impression that I would be going to church with Maureen. I got ready and made sure my bed was straightened and my bag was packed and we had some lunch and took off to tour the village. What a blessing and wonderful way to round out my experience here in Ghana. I saw some amazing people and structures and learned some of the history. I saw buildings they used for the schools, amongst other structures, and got to see how they harvest palm fruit and make palm oil. I was introduced to several people and was fortunate enough to have met the oldest lady in the village (110 yrs old). She was absolutely wonderful and full of life and still very strong. She was excited to come out of her room to meet me and happy when I asked to have my picture taken with her. We walked around some more and I was able to meet the chief. It was nice to sit in front of him and to have him so willing to share with me. I wasn't sure whether or not it was appropriate to have a picture so I didn't ask but surprisingly he asked if I wanted one. I was pleasantly surprised. He was originally just wearing regular clothes and then went into his room to change into appropriate attire. He has been ill recently so it was a bit of a struggle to get to his room. We took some photos and had pleasant conversation. He wanted to make me king of the youth in the village and I was delighted by the gesture. We walked back through the village and set off for home to grab our things. We had some more food and I realized that it was past the time that church was letting out. We were set to meet back with the family at Maureen's home as one of the uncles was going to take us back with him to Accra (that was the plan). When we got to the house, the uncles had already left so we had to take public transportation again, it was kind of a bummer. It was a bit of a long journey but we finally arrived in Accra. Maureen wanted to buy some vegetables for dinner but when she was buying them she wouldn't let me pay for anything. It was a very sweet and sincere gesture and sort of frustrating at the same time. We headed home and it was nice to be back. It was great to see Aunty Grace and my favorite Uncle Joe and I was glad that everyone made it back safely. I took a much needed shower and laid down for a bit. I didn't think that Maureen was going to make dinner tonight (I had suggested that she should relax) but she did. She must have been reading my mind and made curry pasta with vegetables (I had been thinking about it for the past couple of days and thought it would be a nice alternative to rice). It was so good and totally hit the spot. I came back to my room and had a pleasant conversation with one of Maureen's cousins about spirituality and Christianity. I started reading and writing and became very tired. Maureen came in a short time later and asked if she could sleep in my room, of course I obliged and I fell asleep a short time later.