10
Jun

Day Two: Saturday

   Posted by: Dean White   in Ghana

Destination:

  • Ponderosa Inn

Purpose: Rest & Preparation

Tomorrow: Teaching at a church and hanging around town

Highlights from today:

  • Sleep
  • The Ponderosa & Wilson
  • Christy the seamstress

Quote of the Day: “In Ghana …the weather is hot and the food even hotter!”

 

Rest

After yesterday’s travel and finally getting to bed around 3am. I slept in till 11:30am. I would have even slept longer but the rest of the team were already up.  I am very fortunate to have my own room. All others on the team are sharing a room.  The team, for the most part, hung out at the Ponderosa and relaxed.  We did some prep for tomorrow, but the focus was rest and I am excited to say I took full advantage of it.

 

The Ponderosa

We are staying at a wonderful B&B.  This was a huge surprise to me since I was prepared to sleep under a mosquito net and wake up to small critters scurrying off when the lights turned on.  I have an air-conditioned room with a small fridge full of bottled water and my own bathroom.  I feel very spoiled. The Ponderosa has a pool, a nice eating room, and a balcony that overlooks the city. Wilson is the owner of the establishment and has been our wonderful host. He has arranged our daily transportation, has a team to prepare our meals, and has built a beautiful B&B here in Kwabenya (near Accra, Ghana).

 

Fitting In

So one of my big highlights today was meeting Christy the seamstress. This week we have a few meetings with some key people in Ghana (the mayor is one of them) and it will be important that we dress appropriately.  For me, that meant I needed a Ghanaian shirt or male dress.  Wilson arranged for a seamstress to come to the Ponderosa and meet with the team to take measurements and for us to choose fabrics.  She happened to come with a few shirts already made which worked out perfect for me since two of them fit perfectly!  All the Ghanaian women kept saying, “Ohhh look you soooo nice!”  I also teach tomorrow at a church in front of about 200 people and to have a shirt ready for me was …a miracle. It will take the rest of the team a few days before Christy can finish their clothes.

 

Thought for the Day

So often there are blessings and gifts given to us and we might overlook: the gift of a beautiful sunset, the joy we are given to laugh with a friend, the opportunities that await us simply because where we were born in the US. Before my journey began on this trip, a friend told me to be open to all the ‘gifts’ that will be coming to me; gifts that require nothing on my part. Two days in a row this has come true. Yesterday, after a long flight, we went to a nice restaurant in downtown Accra. The place was super swanky. As I was walking upstairs the chef was walking down. I complemented him on the restaurant. He said, “Let me show you around.” He gave me a tour of the most amazing place. An open-air patio with walls created by ferns, a speak easy bar with a secret door that opened up to a 2nd floor cat-walk and a one-of-a-kind wine cellar, to a private Hollywood style circular room whose windows opened up to the room below, to the ‘this is the place to be’ disco-tech, and eventually to the main floor and a private room for our party of 11. A few minutes later the waiter came to me and said the chef would like to provide our appetizers. Now these were not chips & salsa. No, no, no. We are talking Top Chef Richard Blais type of appetizers. Later that night I was given the gift of the Ponderosa & my private a/c room; and then today, to receive two shirts that are already made and fit for me. I am in awe and feel extremely thankful.  I came here to serve and I feel abundantly blessed

     

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 10th, 2017 at 4:39 pm and is filed under Ghana. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One comment

Denise Randel
 1 

So glad you have wonderful accommodations and your own room! What luxury! I too imagined you in a mud hut, sleeping under a mosquito net and sweltering in the heat. Love you so much and can’t wait to read about Day Three. Praying that your teaching goes well tomorrow and that God keeps all of you safe and healthy.

June 10th, 2017 at 5:34 pm

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