* When I arrived, I was taking cold showers each day: a bit chilly, but I kept comforting myself with the thought that I would really appreciate the coolness when the famed heat arrived in March and April. Well, guess what? The showers these days are hot (as is everything else…have I mentioned that?).
* Americans are big on bottled water, but Ghanaians drink “sachet water” – two-cup servings of allegedly filtered water that come in sealed plastic bags. The sachets sell for five pesewas each, or about 3-½ cents. (Ghanaians call the water filtered, but online sources beg to differ; Pastor Tirumbu has also told me I shouldn’t drink the sachet water, making it all the more suspect.) The empty plastic sachets litter the landscape.
* Africans can carry amazing loads on their heads. Abba, for instance, can carry 50 kilograms (110 pounds) on his head. “You could learn to carry on your head too,” Pastor Tirumbu tells me; but the problem is that no one can teach me how. Africans learn so young that they can’t tell me how to balance. They’ve just always known how: hasn’t everyone?
Little girl casually carrying breakfast drinks on her head in a market strewn with empty water sachets
That is an awesome picture, Leah.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Mundane posts. They help give a real flavor of life.