I've finally got to an internet cafe, after two busy weeks with rationed electricity. Quite alot has happened since my last blog, so i'll probably forget things that i would have blogged about, but i still have lots to include.

Firstly we had the football tournament, which feels like months ago now, and to say that it was terrible wouldn't really do it justice. We turned up on the Thursday morning, and took a seat under a small canopy which we would remain under for the duration of the day. We got there at 8am, and we didn't leave until about 6pm. It was a long day of watching mostly other schools play football in very hot weather. We got through the first day alright, with very little happening, but on the Friday, after the group stages, the s*** hit the fan. Every 10 or 15 minutes, someone would disagree with the referee's decision and start a fight. People would run into the middle of the field and start shouting at the ref, or anyone who happened to be near. Although there were very little fist fights, it was still just frustrating to watch, because you would see the organisers of the tournament arguing with people aswell, even after they explained the rules to everyone; one of which being that you can't dispute the referee's decisions.

Also, after our primary team lost their match in the knockout stages to a team that was much worse, the team was rounded up in the middle of the field and caned in front of everyone. People made a big circle around them and were watching them get beat. It was disgusting to watch, because it was obvious that the tournament wasn't for the kids at all, it mattered alot more about winning. Me, Kirby and Jake were all pretty shocked at what happened throughout the tournament, and seeing that Mr.Acquah Heyford was one of the organisers of the event, we expected some sort of explanation or even apology for what had happened. He didn't mention anything, so we just assumed that this was a perfectly normal occurence at the tournament.

This past weekend the 5 girls from Takoradi came to visit Achiase for the weekend, and by chance, it couldn't have been a better weekend for them to come. On friday evening, Kirby and I, (with a little help from madam Jennifer) cooked food for Jake and the girls. We cooked yams with a stew which is by far our favorite meal there. It's like a tomato stew with onions, egg and seasoning in, then a plate of sliced yams which you dip into the stew.

On Saturday, Kirby, Jake and I had been invited to a wedding by the PTA chairman, and when we mentioned that the girls would be down from Takoradi, he immidiately extended the offer to them aswell. The wedding was just outside our house and a big canopy had been erected with lots of chairs placed around a central opening where there were two chairs for the bride and groom. All the women wore bright dresses, and the men wore kente, which looks like a toga. It was a really great wedding, and after they were married, we moved on to a local hotel where they hosted a party. Before i came to Ghana, i hoped that we would be able to attend a wedding, so that's one thing i can tick off the list.

On Monday, the army barracks just opposite our school was hosting an open day. We all went along and when we were all greeted by a man called George. He spoke very good English, and he told us that he would show us around the barracks. I asked him on the off chance whether we would be able to try shooting a gun, and he said "yes yes of course!". First though, all the soldiers went through a long obstical course which we were able to try aswell. Initially i was up for it as George was telling us, but by the time it got to it there were literally hundreds of people watching, so i decided i would just take pictures of Kirby doing it.

When we got to the shooting range, George brought us straight to the front, through hundreds of people, and after paying 2 cedi (one pound) we had 6 bullets to shoot. Jake went first and hit 3 cans, Kirby next hitting only 1 can, then i went and hit 3 cans. It was such good fun, and i've even got a video of me shooting the gun.

So that was our last two weeks in a nutshell, and im sure i'll remember more to write next time. As always, i have plenty of pictures on my camera but the internet is too slow to upload them all. The girls from Takoradi have been able to upload their pictures on facebook, so you can see pictures of us all there on my profile.