Sunday evening reflections over what life is like since John and Bev left - I miss them dearly, but I have not had time to even worry that I might get even a little bit lonely here...in true Ghanaian style there is really not much chance of that!

Since it became known that I was living alone in the house, I have had a never ending stream of visitors; it seems everyone and their dog wants to come and greet me and be friends and 'talk a while'! As soon as one leave, another arrives, and I am slowly learning how to balance adapting to this culture with some assertiveness from my own, not an easy thing to do with so many smiling faces at the door!

The sweetest of my new friends is the crazy lady. She saw me blubbing a few tears when John and Bev left, and ever since has been to see me every morning before I go to work, peering in through the windows softly murmuring 'tuma tuma' (greeting used when people are at work and what I say to her every day when I pass even though she is usually not actually working). We have these wonderful conversations in a language that I do not understand (she seems to speak a different kind of Kusaal so even that is lost on me with her), peppered with lots of gesticulating, head nodding, mmm-hmmm's and aaaah's and awww's. What we are talking about I have no idea. But she just seems so kind and sincere that it's just really lovely anyway.

We did have a strange interaction over a washing up bowl the other day, when she came in and picked it up from a pile of things I had on the floor and wandered away with it back to her house. A few minutes later she came back with it looking really sorry and handing it back. It took me about ten minutes to persuade her to keep it, and I still don' have a clue what was going on. It's like that advert HSBC used when they were going global; sometimes there are aspects of culture that we just won't understand unless someone points it out to us and even then it can still be utterly confusing!

The young child that follows her about everywhere, I have discovered, is a girl not a boy. An easy mistake to make here sometimes oops! She still waves at me curiously every time she see's me, and seems to get huge pleasure out of saying goodbye .... goodbye .... goodbye .... so sweetly over and over like a wind up doll until I am well and truly out of sight.

One night when I came home recently, I changed into my chill out clothes, started dusting and cleaning in preparation for the cleaner to come the next day (sounds odd I know don't ask) put on some Beyonce, and started singing and boogying about the house. Little did I know that there were 4 little children who had prowled into the house in curiosity and were stood staring at me through my bedroom doorway. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw them there. They just rolled about on the floor laughing, and then when I stopped they flipped themselves up and danced around on the stony floor giggling and mimicking me. Anywhere else I would probably have been embarrassed, but there's not much room for that here so I just joined in which of course made them laugh even more.

On a more practical note, I have been learning to sign! This is so that I can communicate with Giddeon who is deaf. I can already sign my name, how are you, thank you and randomly 'will you marry me?' (oops quickly changed the conversation direction at that point). Next I am going to try to learn how to say things like 'what's your favourite colour?' and 'what do you like about school?' so that I can use it when I visit the school for the deaf children hopefully in the next few weeks.

Oh, and I even have a goat-friend too! He also comes to greet me every day, and has a real habit of making loud honking noises to let me know he is there. When I open the gate he just stands there looking at me with a very curious expression on his face - I don't really know why but when he looks at me like that I do expect that one day he might just talk! Funny little thing.

It has been a real challenge for me to get used to this aspect of Ghanaian culture. Sometimes I think I would just like to be on my own. Coming from such an individualistic culture I think this is pretty normal - but not here, in Ghana, the centre of 'you are welcome' and 'you are invited' and 'that is my wife, and my other wife and my other wife' (in some cases literal in others not), oh no madam. This is a country where to be on your own is to be lonely. And so I realise that all these visits, the company, are just the caring communal aspects of the culture that I am only just starting to really understand. Coming from such a small family with only one sibling, I can't imagine what it must be like to have four sisters, five brothers, ten uncles, eighteen aunts, three grandmothers, two chiefs and a donkey. There is a wonderful never ending sense of community, family, and togetherness. Even the goat has got it!

Sunday evening love,

From me and all my many visitors,

Em

xx