So much to report

I'll have to catch up starting with my first day in Kpendua. Since my last visit, the World Hunger Feeding Program has become very active in Cheri's community. There is a small classroom within 50 feet of Cheri's front door and each morning, 60+ small children sit on the dirt floor of one room school for pre-school lessons. Cheri and I spent two mornings teaching the children various songs and playing games. I had a great time teaching the children head, shoulders knees and toes while Cheri taught lessons on hand washing and other good hygeine practices. Shea fruit has just come into season so kids are running around with slingshots trying to get free food. As a reward, Cheri and I brought Shea fruit to the class on the second day and whenever a student answered a question correctly, they got to walk to the front of the class for a Shea fruit. To make it more fun. I held the food just out of reach so they had to jump as high as they could in order to reach it. Adding a little laughter and motor skills to trivia can't hurt. I've already mentioned the flooring activities in Kpendua. We did some cooking (homemade tortillas with homemade guacamole and homemade salsa added to spiced corned beef and falani cheese for my first tacos in 8 months), at some local dishes (including adolescent pigeon that was gifted in exchange for our work flooring houses). One night while preparing dinner, a huge bug ran over the top of my foot and into the corner. This but was 3+ inches long and faster than a mouse. I had no clue what it was but it looked like half spider and half scorpion (large front legs but no stinger on the tail). Throughout the night, I had to kill three of this hairy legged beasts before we'd sealed them out of the house. When we asked Cheri's counterpart about the bugs in the morning, he told us that they're calle Pazuriyomyom (literally meaning is "lady who runs fast") and that they're totally harmful. I wonder if they name comes from the fact that the bugs run fast or that they send women running fast. From my one encounter, I can assure that both are true. I drank my first pito while at Cheri's nearest market. Northern volunteers have been raving about how good pito is so I was excited to give it a shot. Pito is millet beer and it's served out of a calabash. We sat amongst at least half a dozen chiefs while drinking our pito and answering questions. Great experience!! From Cheri's site, we took a 5 hour bus ride to Bole for Janet's 60th Birthday party. We arrived at the bus stop hours in advance to ensure we got a seat. Once we were in our seats, we learned that it's common to drastically overbook these buses. I had an aisle seat and had elbows, knees, hips and other body parts pressed against me for the entirety of the trip. While the travel was not ideal, it was great to see Janet for her 60th. We ate great food and played pin the tail on the cow (the Ghanaians got a kick out of it!!) After less than 12 hours in Bole, a group of us woke up at 4am to catch the 5am bus back to Mole (some continued to Tamale and beyond). I slept for most of the ride but would occasionally wake up with sand in my mouth (passing out on a bus in the desert with open windows will do that). By 7am, Cheri and I were looking at the oldest Mosque in West Africa. I'm sorry I didn't take pictures but it was great to hear about the 600+ years of history behind the Mosque and to hear that the tour guides providing the information got their start with the help of former PC Volunteers. From Larabanga (site of the Mosque), we went to Mole National Park. By this point, we'd heard mixed reviews and were worried that we'd spend our money without seeing animals. Quite the contrary!! Within a mile of the gate, I saw a family of warthogs and a HUGE bushbuck. Once we were dropped off at the hotel, we had to walk no more than 20 yards to be able to see a dozen elephants bathing in a water hole 200 feet below the ridge upon which we were standing. It was only 8:30am by this time and our tour wouldn't start for nearly 24 hours so we enjoyed running water, air conditioning and some much needed sleep. The following morning at 7am, we set off to meet our tour guide PK. Foolishly, Cheri and I both forgot close toed shoes and were forced to wear bulky rubber boots with no socks while trekking around in 100 degree heat. PK told us that of the 94 species of mammals that live within Mole's territory, it's only common to see 8. We saw all 8 (Three types of antelope (Kob, Waterbuck, bushbuck), three types of primates (red monkey, grey monkey and baboon), warthogs and elephants. We took a two hour walk at the end of which it sounded as though I were walking barefoot through the swamp due to the sweat in my boots. It was really amazing! After a brief swim, Cheri and I were walking to lunch when we noticed that Ghanaian children are not the only ones who get excited about Shea fruit. While waiting for our lunch, Cheri and I sat beneath a tree and watched over 20 Baboons eating Shea fruit from a tree not 30 feet away from us. Warthogs and red monkeys joined in the fun while the two of us sat with our stomachs in our throats and huge grins on our faces. It's hard to stay still when huge Baboons walk to pick up a piece of fruit at your feet but I'm happy it worked out! We woke up at 3:45am this morning to catch a bus to Tamale and while walking to the bus, half awake in the midst of a rainstorm, I made a bit of a snort to clear my sleepy sinuses and received a LOUD snort from a HUGE warthog as she slept beneath a nearby truck with her baby. Talk about a wake-up call!! 9 hours of travel later and I'm here in Kumasi. More travel tomorrow and back to Bormase.