The electricity went out this afternoon. I looked up and the ceiling fan just got slower and slower. I was out the door to tell Agoage before it came to a stop. All I could think was, "I can't live without a ceiling fan."
Today was a scorcher, even for Ghana. The man who never goes without his shirt went without his shirt. The fellows who never wear shorts wore shorts. Everything just seemed to sag or scorch in the heat. Even our friend Jared (yes, the one from the Bayous of Louisiana) who came over from Salt Pond with his friend Lashawnda was looking a tetch peaked. He had been volunteering in the Seminary's computer lab trying to update their systems. There is no air conditioning, so the temperature is made hotter by the machines, with only the ceiling fan and windows to cool things off. He came over to the flat to visit. He didn't look well. He worried me. He said they were going to splurge and stay in Elmina that night in a place that had air conditioning and a pool. I think he will probably get in that pool and never come out.
As for the humidity, I'll make it simple: I was making a pattern. I creased a piece of newspaper. When I opened out the paper to cut along the crease, I couldn't find it. Enough said.
So Craig and I went seeking breeze. We found it on the back porch of the school kitchen. The kitchen sits on top of the Seminay hill. From the cement porch, the openly forested hillside falls away steeply for about 50 yards to a lagoon. It's covered with tropical plants, trees and vines, along with litter, some chickens, and and a grey waste water drain. A mighty wind blows up that hillside off the water and through the trees cooling and drying whoever stands at the top. So we stood there, sort of spreading our arms like an Anhinga spreads its wings. Then we simply sat on the wall. Children played on the back porch. A few of the students were sitting nearby in the shade of the doorway to the recreation hall/garage. After awhile we got up and started walking back to our flat. As we walked back down the hill, it got slightly warmer. All of a sudden I noticed I was walking alone. Craig had stopped about 12 yards behind me. I said, "You're going back, aren't you?" He didn't say anything but he was looking a little wistful. We turned around and back we went for one more dose of coolness.
When we got back to the flat, I opened the door with trepidation, expecting to see a motionless fan. But wonder of wonders, it was spinning away.
Today was a scorcher, even for Ghana. The man who never goes without his shirt went without his shirt. The fellows who never wear shorts wore shorts. Everything just seemed to sag or scorch in the heat. Even our friend Jared (yes, the one from the Bayous of Louisiana) who came over from Salt Pond with his friend Lashawnda was looking a tetch peaked. He had been volunteering in the Seminary's computer lab trying to update their systems. There is no air conditioning, so the temperature is made hotter by the machines, with only the ceiling fan and windows to cool things off. He came over to the flat to visit. He didn't look well. He worried me. He said they were going to splurge and stay in Elmina that night in a place that had air conditioning and a pool. I think he will probably get in that pool and never come out.
As for the humidity, I'll make it simple: I was making a pattern. I creased a piece of newspaper. When I opened out the paper to cut along the crease, I couldn't find it. Enough said.
So Craig and I went seeking breeze. We found it on the back porch of the school kitchen. The kitchen sits on top of the Seminay hill. From the cement porch, the openly forested hillside falls away steeply for about 50 yards to a lagoon. It's covered with tropical plants, trees and vines, along with litter, some chickens, and and a grey waste water drain. A mighty wind blows up that hillside off the water and through the trees cooling and drying whoever stands at the top. So we stood there, sort of spreading our arms like an Anhinga spreads its wings. Then we simply sat on the wall. Children played on the back porch. A few of the students were sitting nearby in the shade of the doorway to the recreation hall/garage. After awhile we got up and started walking back to our flat. As we walked back down the hill, it got slightly warmer. All of a sudden I noticed I was walking alone. Craig had stopped about 12 yards behind me. I said, "You're going back, aren't you?" He didn't say anything but he was looking a little wistful. We turned around and back we went for one more dose of coolness.
When we got back to the flat, I opened the door with trepidation, expecting to see a motionless fan. But wonder of wonders, it was spinning away.
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