We spent the bulk of the morning trying to figure out why we had a withdrawal from our Visa that was made from Apple. It was made after we arrived in Ghana. We can find no evidence of a purchase in the history portion of our Apple account. We finally gave up and Steve decided that he would wait until the bank opened and call them to see if they could shed any light on the subject. There is a 6-hour time difference between Ghana and Athens, Alabama. When the time changes, we will only have a 5-hour time difference. Ghanaians cannot even imagine changing the time because we are only about 7 degrees from the equator and the days are about the same length every day of the year. Besides, the Ghanaians usually go to bed when it gets dark and get up when it gets light. Most of them do not worry about having a clock; they just watch the sun. That is why sometimes when we are having a cloudy day the workers come to work late because they say the sun is not yet up. The churches do the same thing; so, to let the villagers know that it is time to come for worship they will start singing and sing the brethren in. This whole lack of concern for time is very disconcerting for us because we are so time oriented.
When we went for our walk this morning the streets of Yendi were deserted because almost everyone in Yendi had gone out to the parade ground to watch the festivities surrounding Ghana’s Independence Day. It is sort of like the people in Athens going to watch the fireworks on the 4th of July. The celebration is long and hot! Various schools were invited to come to the parade ground and march. They march like the British people march by throwing their arms out straight in front of them. The schools are all decked out in their school uniforms. It is sort of like a competition. Later in the morning we heard the guns being fired as a salute to the nation. The King of Dagbon is usually at the parade ground as well as lots of dignitaries and important people of Yendi. It is the place to see and be seen!
Today was Yendi’s big market day but the market suffered because no one was interested in buying; they were all busy with the celebrations and parade. At least the rain we got 2 nights ago helped settle the dust! It did nothing for the heat but at least they were only hot, not hot and dusty. It is nice that Independence Day fell on a Friday this year so that the kids do not have to go back to school tomorrow. They actually got a 3-day weekend.
Enjoy your weekend!
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
I bit Mom 3 times today; I actually brought the blood but I did not get in trouble for biting her. I was in distress and Mom did not know it! The neighbor was plowing his field with a huge red tractor! The tractor scared me so much that I was throwing myself all over my jail cell trying to protect myself from the tractor! I just knew that thing was going to eat me for supper! Mom looked out and saw that I was stressed! She could not tell why I was acting so crazy; she started looking around for a snake! Monkey’s hate snakes and will go berserk if they see one! The moment she opened the door I was out like a flash! I could not get to her fast enough! I then stood up in her arms and looked across the field at the tractor. She then realized that the tractor was what was scaring me. I still did not feel safe! I was clawing all over her! I was on her head, on her arms, trying to get far, far away from that tractor. Mom had to hold onto me tight because I was not on a leash and was trying to get away! I was so distraught that I bit her hand that was holding my collar and then I leaned over and bit her arm that was supporting my stomach. When we finally got in the house I bit her again when she was putting me on my leash! Even after I was in the house and on my leash in my safe place, I was so agitated that I started pooping and peeing everywhere. I have never been that scared before in my whole life! Mom then decided that she needed to move me into the bedroom where I could not see out the front door. All the fright and fighting made me so hot! Mom thought that I had a fever but it was just because I was so scared and had no place to go!
Once I was in the air-conditioned bedroom I started to calm down. At first, I would not even take a drink of water or accept my favorite treat, a red grape! It took me about 30 minutes before I was calm enough to eat the grape! Dad bandaged Mom’s hand and arm and I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out a way to sneak up on her and pull the bandages off!
I am back to my old ornery self!
Love, Skeeter
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