Catching up

So, plenty has happened in the village. It really is just coz I’m a lazy son of a slingshot that I haven’t been putting any of it on here. But firstly, and belatedly, Afenhyie PA PA! (which means something like ‘the year has gone round and greets us well’ and is pronounced afrishia PA PA (loudly)). We began the year skinny dipping and grinning from ear to ear in Lake Volta. It was part of a really lovely holiday with Ilona’s parents spent in nice hotels, swimming pools, deep discussion about model railways and stitches. Highlights include counting 36 different species of butterflies on a 2 day hike, (when I kept on thinking how much my mate Jon’s moth-bothering dad would’ve loved it), the eerie calm of the volta river during dawn swims, enjoying much-missed red grape juice, rope climbing down to a stunning waterfall with jumps, and the amazingly friendly reception we got everywhere we went. Her brother Ewan had to cancel coz he and his lady, Ruth are having a baby. Which is good news obviously, but meant I had no-one to sneak off to watch Liverpool matches and get pointlessly but festively drunk with. Other than that it was a pretty darn perfect Chrimble / New Year holiday.

While the Johnstons were in residence (Joy and Denis to their friends) we were granted an audience with the village chief. This really was an occasion because the dude turns up. In fact it’s the first time he’s been back for 3 years. His dayjob is as a University professor in the States teaching Business Studies. Really, you couldn’t make it up. He seemed nice in that brash kinda way you might expect and offered us a beer, even though it was still mid-morning. So not all bad, but it certainly seems this fella went for the deluxe irony bypass treatment.

I got sick whilst in Accra. Not to get too technical, but think the Zeebrugge disaster in reverse and you’re pretty near. Actually, it’s quite exciting cos even though they didn’t have the foggiest what was wrong with me, they still immediately checked me in for the night and put me on a drip. Turned out it was just a bit of gut lurgy that a course of antibiotics swiftly put paid to, but it just goes to show you that the docs round here immediately think the worst and ask questions later. Now, this seems to be hereditarily passed down from me dad but when it comes to ailments, I like to think alarmist first then call off the emergency services when the plaster has been put firmly on. So, good job Ghanaian quacks, I’ll have a thousand for the NHS please. Oh hold on, isn’t that who already runs the NHS?

We’ve started the new library. Every morning we are greeted by a dawn chorus of grumpy villagers loudly bemoaning the fact that they have been called to do community service building work. We have worked out that it requires a ratio of 10 grumps to 3 eager workers to get anything done on any particular day. ‘Course some days are better than others and it seems people genuinely appreciate the work we’re doing. It’s just that they wish they didn’t have to help, that’s all.

We have discovered the many back routes through the cocoa fields surrounding the village and have started taking the Scruff running. She goes absolutely crazy in the dead cocoa leaves running this way and that after some imaginary foe. She’s such good value as a crazy pooch entertainer. Maybe we could sell her to the circus when we leave? (cue boos)