This is a rock snowman Kirsten and I made while visiting the village of tenzuk for my birthday.

A house in the village of tenzuk.

Inside the cheif's palace in Tenzuk. The cheif of this village has more than twenty wives and they all live with their respective family groups inside this vast maze of rooms and corridors that is called the cheif's palace. This is a room that is reserved for the oldest woman in the family, or special visitors.

An alter in the village of tanzuk. Traditional religious practices are alive and well in this area of Ghana. It is all very interesting.

Kirsten and her little special buddy Tonga. She loved to perch on her shoulder when she was still small enough, not she is getting more mature and independent. She stays up nights hunting bugs, lizards and plays with other cats, instead of curling up with us and sleeping like she used to.

For my 31st B-day Kirsten and I journeyed to a place called Tenzuk, not far from our site. The village and surrrounding area are sacred to many of the traditional believers in Ghana because of the ancient shrines tucked into caves in the surrounding hills. The area reminded me of Joshua Tree nat. park with the crazy looking rock formations, and had a sort of an ancient feeling to it with the homes of rounded mud formation and the prevelance of traditional religious practice. This is hyena cave that Kirsten is in. A Peace Corps volunteer was stationed at this village a few years back and she used to sleep in this cave. Longer ago Hyenas used to sleep here.

I will put up more photos in a few days.

This is the view from our house (looking straight out the front). That is a large compound house with 25 or more people in it. The tree is the tree that is used in religious ceremonies by our neighbors to give thanks to ancesterol spirits and offer them gifts. In the rainy season this burnt, barren ground will be all covered in millet stocks.

That is our house in the background. I will need to get some more detailed pics of our house up soon. We just painted our kitchen green, got a table, bookcase, kitchen counter.

Doesn't Kirsten make Camel riding look like a good time? My advice: The next time that a stranger shows up at your door with a camel and offers you a ride, take him up on it. I mean who know when another guys will show up with a camel for you to ride?

This is one of our super awesome neighbors. You can get an idea of the tribal scarring that people have on their faces and stomachs. The markings identify them as belonging to a certain tribe and people, and are given to them when they are very young. Some people's faces are covered in a spiderweb complexity of lines. People are moving away from marking their children these days. However, most children still get a couple of small scars on their faces and sometimes on their stomachs. These lesser scars are givento the children along with traditional medicine to protect them against certain diseases and dark spiritual forces.

Interesting Things That Happen Here

1. Most of you know that I've desperately wanted a cat for years now. The going rate for a kitten these days is one chicken and 10 pesewas (10 cents) so we went into Bolga on our bikes, bought a live chicken, strapped it to our bike and then rode back and exchanged it for our kitten. Tanga is an awesome kitty. When we first got her she was super-snuggly and sweet. Her favorite toy was a nail and her own tail, both of which she would chase around the house endlessly. We are struggling a little bit now because we go to a different house to sleep outside and so Tanga now lives there so we don't see her much during the day. She's growing up. She's got a cat friend who's been showing her the ropes. Once we get a wall built we'll bring her back home but for now she's happier over there. But I miss her a lot.
2. I was doing laundry outside the other day when I looked over and saw two men on camels approaching us. We didn't share a common language but they gestured for me to get on the camel so what was I to do but climb up on the camel? So I sat on the camel. Camels are really tall! I gestured that I wanted the camel to walk around but instead they had me get down. Then JJ got on the camel and they let him ride it around.
   
3. We live in a compound where about half the people are Christians and the other half are traditionalists (they practice the indigenous traditions). There is a tree in our front yard that is believed to house their ancestors and so there are often sacrifices performed there. Usually it's a chicken or a guinea fowl, but sometimes it's a goat or a sheep.
   
4. Most people here have facial scars. Generally, the older they are the more elaborate the scarring. One person explained it to me as a tactic against being taken during the slave trade, and others say it is for tribal identification. It is actually against the law to do it today but many still do. Just about everyone (Christians, Muslims, and traditionalists) has a small scar on their cheek to ward off the ninga, which is a nocturnal bird. If a baby cries at the same time as the ninga the baby will fall ill, and so the scar offers the baby protection.
5. The moon and the stars are awesome. We sleep under the stars (and our mosquito net) most nights because it's unbearably hot inside. It's been nice being so aware of the moon all of the time. When the moon is full you don't even need a flashlight top see your way around.
6. I'm out of time here at the internet cafe. Once we get electricity the posts will become plenty.