Fun and games in Kumasi

Today started very early!!! I was up at 5.30am for our early start to Kumasi to try and beat all the traffic!! The 3 of us…Me, Rebecca and Michael were on the road by 6.30am for our day of fun and games in Kumasi, armed with our to do lists and shopping lists hoping to get as many items as possible ticked off. It was lively from the start…our first hurdle was trying to herd a flock of sheep along the road to Beposo – they just didn’t want to budge!!

There were many more firsts for me again today…I have been longing to drive here for ages as it’s something I really miss and today I got my chance.




Bessie, (as Hollie and I affectionately named her a while back – don’t think Andrew was too impressed with the name though – not manly enough or something like that :o) ) the 4 wheel drive Nissan Patrol and I got a little bit better acquainted today as I took the wheel once we reached the Accra Road. (don’t think I’m quite ready for the muddy tracks just yet...did you notice what the sheep were walking on??!!) It was great; however, I have never driven a left hand drive before, therefore never driven on the right hand side of the road!! So it took a little bit of getting used too and a few shouts from Rebecca in the back seat encouraging me to stay on the road and I only tried to change the gears with my left hand once!!

So that was fun and when I got some confidence built up I started to drive like an ‘Obibini’…overtaking taxi’s and trucks, first on straight roads then on a slight incline with double white lines in the centre of the road…rules don’t really seem to stand for much here!

But then I had my next ‘first’, I was pulled over by the police – I couldn’t believe it…and no not because of any of my overtaking antics…I was driving slowly through a town at the time. I was hoping they would wave me on by but no they waved me in and asked to check the back of the truck…so Michael had to show them in the back! When he got back in and we had driven off he then proceeded to tell me that he had never known of an ‘Obruni’ being pulled over before by the police…interesting!!!

I did let Michael take the wheel again once we’d reached the outskirts of Kumasi as I don’t think i'm quite ready for big city driving just yet either!

My next first of the day was to try ‘Tizette’ – a northern dish somewhat similar to Fufu, only made from corn, not just as chewy and perhaps a little more palatable for me. Rebecca and I shared a bowl of Tizette with Tuna,

...the tuna was quite good but the sauce was a little…gloopy…for me! Meanwhile Michael tucked into a bowl of Tizette with cow intestines…

...yes cow intestines. He said it was very tasty but we were both more than happy to take his word on that and that had nothing to do with the fact that it was hardly even 9.00am yet.

Our next stop was at the post office were we had to check the post box. There are literally thousands of little red boxes all around the building and it seemed as if ours was one of the furthest possible away. But it was worth the trip as when we got there, there was a letter waiting for me…yay!! It’s great getting post at the best of times but over here it’s just wonderful, such an encouragement and also great to keep up with any news.
The rest of the day was spent getting some much needed shopping and doing general errands.

We had a full car on the way home…of shopping…and of people. We picked up Sammy (the clinic administrator/accountant), Hubert (who is placed at the clinic on a training programme), FF (the clinic lab assistant) and his wife and young son. So they were all in the back seat, while Rebecca and I sat up front with Michael who was driving of course.

The banter was great…I had my Ipod plugged in to the radio and Rebecca and I were dancing and singing away (anytime we could agree on a song!! ;o) ) having a bit of a giggle in the front seat, it certainly helps the journey to go a little bit quicker.

But I found a comment from Sammy very amusing…I’ve been here now for just over 2 months and I guess some people still don’t really know me that well, I realised that when Sammy said, “eh, Louise I’ve never seen you in this mood before!” I suppose he only ever see’s me when I’m in work mode in the office – perhaps now making me seem like 2 different people to him (maybe stretching it a little bit…but go with me!)

Earlier in the day I had been joking with Michael about The Killers song “smile like you mean it”, asking him if he was smiling like he meant it or was it just a front and was he feeling differently inside – was it a mask??!! It can be very easy to put on a mask, to pretend that everything’s ok when it’s really not, or to hide behind a mask when we don’t want to face difficult or uncomfortable situations. But that is not want God wants from us…He wants honesty and integrity in all situations – and don’t get me wrong I do know how very difficult that can be.

However its only when we uncover our face and strive for honesty and integrity without that mask that our faces can reflect and shine with the glory of God…as happened to Moses. Moses listened to God and obeyed Him and having spent much time in His presence Moses appeared before the children of Israel and ‘his face had become radiant’ (exodus 34:29-35). If we remove our masks and are truly seeking God’s truth we to can become radiant, shining God’s light for others to see.




And finally to end on a lighter note and just to see if Helen Lynn is paying attention!!!
Helen...if you lived in Ghana this is so where you would work!!! :)