The Contrasts

Sarah is in Ghana. We are in Belgium. Today we went to the flea market where Benjamin bought a WW2 gas mask complete with instructions in French and Dutch. Our friend Marilyn bought a crystal bowl and a set of silver spoons. And a really cool chair for 15 euro. Then we came home and ate chocolate. Then we went to the Garrison shop and the library. Then we had a lovely dinner of grilled salmon with roasted celery root and leeks Now we are watching American Idol.

Here is a synopis of Sarah's first couple days as told by one of her chaperones:

"After much travelling, we have settled into our village. As I write this email, your children are making bricks out of soil, digging, and clearing brush.

Hot and humid air greeted us in the Ghanaian capital at about 2:00 am local time. Rather than spend two or three hours in a hostel, we decided to strike out for our village. Unfortunately, I can't report many of the details from our bus ride, since I slept nearly the entire way. We arrived at our village at about 1:30 in the afternoon (yes, unsurprisingly, the trip took more than 6 hours).

The rest of the day was spent settling into our accommodations and seeking shelter from the rain. Four families evacuated their houses for our stay. We are sleeping on thin mattresses and our mosquito nets have been installed. The kids have quickly adapted to their homes for the next week and a half. The villagers are extremely friendly and have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome. The village children are abundant and adorable. At our orientation meeting this morning, many of the village kids were comfortably resting in the laps of ISB students. We also had the pleasure of experiencing our first tropical storm yesterday. It began pouring (yes, pouring, not a Belgian drizzle) at about 4:00 and didn't stop before nightfall. This didn't pose many problems, though, as most kids were asleep --yes, asleep, not just in bed -- by 8:00! Really! It was reassuring to hear local people say it only rains once or twice a week.

We were up at 7:00 this morning in order to eat breakfast at 7:30. We were at the work site, which is just around the corner from our houses, by 9:00. A sweat had been broken by 9:15. After making sure everything was in order, I left the work site at about 10:00 to travel to an internet cafe, which is about an hour away from our village. The students, who are brimming with excitement, are interacting with villagers and learning that patience is required in Africa."

I cannot tell you how happy this e-mail makes me. It is spring break and Sarah is up by 7:00 and sweating by 9:15. I am really looking forward to seeing if the patience piece sticks. Actually she is already pretty patient, but there is nothing wrong with more. And for the record, I would gladly give up the chocolate to be mixing mortar with my girl.