Tuesday in Kumasi ...

Hi everyone !

So far this journey has been very eventful and extremely rewarding. This morning we got to sleep in, which to Heather means 7:45, but was nice =]. We started our day by traveling to a small village where we meet a local man who makes glass beads for a living. He took us to his bamboo and grass hut where he began to show us how the beads are made. He explained how they fill a ceramic plate that has small holes in it with powder made from ground Fanta and beer bottles. To form the hole in the center of each bead, they place a small piece of a twig in each of the openings in the ceramic plate. Before he could finish his demonstration, it began to rain for the first time since we’ve been here. We tried to wait it out, but it continued to rain and we finally decided to come back another day.
Leaving there, we made our way to the King Asante’s Palace where we were lead on an educational tour. When we were done, we loaded back into the bus where we had a quick lunch on the road (which of course included fries) on our way to the cultural center. Here we had our first chance to shop for ourselves. Many of us learned how to barter and found lots of Ghanaian souvenirs. After a long two hours of negotiating, we then headed to the largest store in Kumasi, which was equivalent in size to Primo’s Pizza, where we finished up our shopping for King Jesus Orphanage. When we were finished we delivered it to Pastor Kofe, the head of the orphanage, and were able to say a quick hello to the children. Then we went back to the hotel for dinner and devotionals, where we rapped up our adventurous day. We miss everyone at home, but are having an amazing time, and getting to know so many heart warming people.

Until tomorrow,
Ann and Lindsay