Oh! What a trying day! We left the house for Tamale a few minutes after 6:00am. We wanted to be the first people at the motor vehicle office to see about getting a new driver’s license for me because we know how slow the office is and how many people we have to see before anything can get done. They have a serious checks and balances system. Naturally, we got there before most of the workers. The officer that was going to help us had to wait for the cleaning woman to finish moping his office before he could start our paperwork. I say “our” paperwork because Steve found out that it was almost time for his first renewal and the officer said we could do both of them at the same time.
We moved to the next office to get an invoice. My documents were accepted and I paid for the renewal license but when they tried to verify Steve’s it did not recognize his phone number and they could not send the verification code to his phone. He said that he could not change the phone number. He said that maybe the phone system was down and that we should go to town for the eye check. Really, I know that I am mostly blind and have to wear glasses; Steve does too. Fortunately, we were the only ones in the eye office. The clinician told me to take off my glasses and read the chart. I told him I could not see the chart without my glasses. He did not believe me; he told me to cover my left eye and read the letters; when I told him I could not see them he told me to cover my right eye and read. I could not see any of them. He then told me to read with my glasses on; I could read them perfectly; then he said, “You must have glasses!” Well, duh! Their printer was not working so we waited for him to hand write the receipts. We went back to the motor vehicle office and were told that unless Steve fixed his phone he could not proceed with renewing his license.
Our next stop was the Non-Citizen Card Office; the office is located inside Cal Bank. When we got there, we realized that we had left the original police report in Yendi inside the scanner when we made the extra copy. We went upstairs to the non-citizen office to see if they would accept a copy or if we had to make the 2-hour trip back to Yendi to get it. The officer called her boss and he said it had to be the original but as we were leaving the office we met the boss; he has known us for years. He said, “I did not know that it was you; I will accept a copy.” Nice to know people in high places. We had to go back downstairs and get in line to see a bank teller. There were so many people in the bank that many people were standing. We knew it was going to be a long wait so we decided to divide and conquer! I stayed in the bank and Steve went to the cell phone office. Eventually the teller called me; he said that he needed my passport. What! I just want to pay for a replacement. Fortunately, I had a copy of my passport. He accepted it and I went upstairs to the non-citizen office. The office was busy; 4 Chinese men were in front of me. When my turn finally came, they asked for my passport. I gave them the copy; it was rejected! Now mine you, we were there last week and were told that everything was in the computer and we needed nothing but a copy of the old non-citizen card. There was nothing we could do but go back to Yendi and get it. The cell phone office was not too far away so I walked to it.
They were able to fix Steve’s cell phone so now it is not saying that his calls are coming in from Sudan and it will now accept a text message.
Back to the motor vehicle office. We waited for over an hour. The officer was able to renew Steve’s license but he said that it would take some time for mine so we could go do something. We stopped at a small supermarket and bought some snacks and then headed to the airport to buy domestic tickets for our friends’, Jim and Pam Clark’s upcoming trip to Ghana.
After we bought the tickets, we went back to the motor vehicle office; I was tired of waiting in line so I just stepped into the officer’s office and said, “I am back. Is my license ready for me?” I was so surprised that it was actually ready this time!
We stopped and filled up the truck with diesel, bought Kentucky Fried Chicken for our lupper and headed back to Yendi.
About ½ way to Yendi we passed some guys that were on the side of the road trying to change a flat tire. Steve turned around and went back to help them; we know how it feels to be stranded on the side of the road. Steve’s jack was smaller than the one they were using; they had to do a little digging but it was not long before they were on their way; they were grateful for the help. They were happy to get the ice water that we shared from our cooler. We try not to travel without lots of water!
We get to go to Tamale again tomorrow! Lucky us!
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
Grapes were my treat when the parents came back from Tamale! I love grapes! But tonight I had an even better treat! The best treat ever! The small termites hatched out; they were flying everywhere! They were delicious! I was a little anxious about trying them but when Mom started catching them and calling them “spiders”. I got into the act myself. I did not even wait for her to catch them; I started grabbing them off the wall and filling my pouches. I don’t know if you know it or not but monkeys have pouches. Actually, our cheeks expand and we can hold lots of things in our pouches. I filled mine with termites! I ate hundreds of termites! I don’t know if it was more fun catching them or eating them! Mom is worried that they will make me have a stomach ache because I ate wings and all! They are a good source of protein, calcium and oil; a perfect food for a growing monkey!
Fricasseed Ants! Yum!
Love, Skeeter
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