(exhale)…that is for the sigh of relief that eased out of my chest as I sat in front of the computer and began to type.

It is Friday and I am back in Tamale. I arrived at 3AM via my STC bus (which left over 3 hours late). After nearly a week of traveling from Tamale to Accra, throughout Accra, from Accra to Kumasi, then back to Tamale, I was tired. On the way I had picked up a little bit of a chest cold, which was beginning to bother me. To ensure a comfortable ride home, I picked up some cough medicine to ease the coughing.

That turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the drowsiness allowed me to catch a few naps on what would have been an impossible ride to sleep on otherwise. The little boy sleeping on his mother’s lap beside felt the urge to stretch his legs into me just as I was drifting and the bus crashed, shook and rattled (intensely) with every bump in the road…there are a lot of bumps in the road. I also found that my seat was growing to be damp along the journey. Thanks to whatever was in the cough medicine and the answered prayers to keep our bus safe, I actually dozed off a few times. When I reached to Tamale, I stumbled into a taxi and headed home.

It was nice to be in my bed. I slept well, and by 8am I was up and getting ready for work.

Though I am very excited about work and all of the projects we are working (there are so many amazing opportunities in front of me!), I wanted to deal with the postal issue first. The postal issue is this, of eight packages that I should have gotten, I received two. Of those two, they were both sent fairly recently compared to some other packages. I have been asking various people about it a few times a week, and they keep telling me that nothing is there.

The packages were sent, they were tracked, they reached Ghana, but they are not there. It wasn’t adding up to me. So, finally, I went to the post office. After inquiring with a few people, and I ended up in the mail room (out of bounds to the public). Within 15 seconds of being in there, what do I see? A big package from Canada “Attn: Chris Penrose”. While I found it, I still could not take it.

(exhale)

I spoke with a few managers and was being directed from one person to the next when I found two more of my packages in the parcel department, but I could not take them.

(exhale)

I got the GM of Justice to come, but he could not collect the packages. We needed the mail key and the slips that were deposited into the box, so we went to the office of the Chief Executive and found one of the mail guys. However, he was the one who had not seen the slips for the package…the other guy that was visiting his village was the one who had them. So we went back with the key and explained the situation. It was fine with the manager, so he would let me get my packages…except the customs inspector was on break. I was told to come back in two and a half hours.

(exhale)

In the interim, I went for a lunch of jolof rice and fried fish, which was good until I found a small beetle in my rice. I really thought, ‘no, that must be a clove’. It wasn’t. It was a beetle.

While I was eating, there was some noise in the streets as a new political party (Democratic Freedom Party) was making their presence felt with drumming and trucks full of people, and then a parade of four trucks with bands and speakers turned to into Caribana for a few minutes. Funny thought, I was thinking, ‘what would you call Caribana in Tamale?’. Thinking that ‘Tamalbana’ sounds awkward and gives a Sri Lankan feel to it, I next thought of ‘Talibana’…not a good idea.

After lunch, I braved a few minutes in a hot, smelly internet café and headed to pick-up my mail. To my surprise, two more packages arrived. That’s five of six! I was relieved to take them with me back home, though my birthday present is still on it’s way (and I will be more relieved when that comes).

The root of the whole issue was that there were slips being put into the postal box saying “you have a parcel to clear at customs” and the guys picking up the mail ignored them for months.

(exhale)

Thank you to Mom, Drew, Roxine, Grant, Granny, and Carey (and to everyone who is sending stuff to the new address in Accra…the address without all of the drama).

I really enjoyed getting all of those fragments from home.

So now I am in my office and the day is coming to a close. I am very excited about what I am embarking upon over the next few months. God willing, I will not be traveling to the south until Christmas, so now is the time to forge ahead and make all of the visions and plans real.

Oh, today I got a taste of how dry and hot that it gets up here. People, it can get hot and dry. We are still feeling the periphery of the rainy season, but a few moments today were foreshadowing what is coming.

And for controversy, the former military president of Ghana had been accused by the current president of planning to finance a coup d’etat. The popular former president come out and flagrantly denied the allegations. Personally, from listening to his speech and seeing what’s going on, I don’t think the accusation is true, but what do I know?

Today was a bit of a rough day, but (exhale) I feel much better. Throughout it all I have been learning to remain patient, composed, respectful and counting my blessings (though that has been challenging…especially when I wanted to find the mail guy and ask how hard is it to read cards that are constantly being put into the mail box everyday??? And when you keep getting questions about missing packages, why would you not check think of the slips???).

As I head home, the smiles of children keep me smiling and the environment around me keeps me wondering about the splendour of creation. The memories with friends and family, as well as the messages and calls are treasures.

If you could know…maybe you do.