It is great to be exhausted. What is it about working from sun-up to sun-down and eagerly waiting for dinner, with a hunger deep in your belly, that is so satisfying?
Betty, one of the young women we met several years ago in Accra, is on her 1 year of national service here in Gbintiri. She has volunteered to cook for us. It’s 8:00pm, and I can smell the onions and and chicken simmering in my titanium backpacking pans. I’m a bit light-headed from the heat today, but feel great. I’m enjoying a Starbucks instant coffee in room-temp water to help motive my blogging… it seems to be working :-)
Beth is busy marking up the passages we will record tomorrow. She has been orchestrating all the readers, running auditions, and coordinating. Naturally, everything is running smoothly in a wonderfully unique chaotic style that is part Swiss watch and part African party.
Kevin and Nathan were plunged head first into active, difficult recording sessions and emerged with smiles. They are in the other room, backing up their data files, and organizing their clips. Kevin led a team recording the “narrator” portion of the Gospel of Mark. They worked using a “prompting method”. Oscar read a part of verse in the newly translated Komba, and then James would say it clearly into the microphone. They worked their way verse by verse, chapter by chapter. Pastor Emmanuel carefully listened for mistakes. Once they fell into a rhythm, they worked quickly and efficiently, making it through almost 4 chapters of The Gospel of Mark in several hours.
Nathan and Ray recorded several people from the local church telling their story, then set up outside, where it was a bit cooler, and recorded all the woman’s parts from Mark. Whoowhoo.
So, to wind the clock back a bit and give people a picture of things from yesterday morning….
After flying from Accra to Tamale, we drove about 5 hours north and into the bush. The broken pavement gave way to the fine red dusty paths we use for a road, and now covers our packs and clothes. In Zamashegu we switched drivers and I took my turn navigating the muddy pools and avoiding rocks. It was dark by the time we reached Gushegu, and we drove another hour in the darkness before reaching Gbintiri. Finding the Lutheran offices was struggle — the electrical power was out and every dirt path looked the same. We eventually found a line of trees that looked familiar (yes, I know that sounds impossible) and drove into the compound, unpacked, and plopped into our rooms.
Accommodations are great for Gbintiri – our rooms have screens on the windows, so we have not had to rig our mosquito netting. We have a barrel of water that we use for bathing and cooking, and filtered water for drinking.
We took our chairs out under the stars and watched at least 4 shooting stars zip across the clear sky as we talked, relaxed, and prayed.
In the morning we attended Pastor Joseph’s church – a wonderful and colorful African celebration. Everyone, and I mean everyone, needs to experience an African church service… Naturally, we all had a chance to dance. The little kids laughed at my most awesome and graceful dance moves. Kevin shot some video, but I’m betting he accidently deletes it before we get home.
In the afternoon we started the recordings.
And that brings us to now… whew. I know, more details, but it is 12:00am, and time to drive toward a hill, and try and get a cell signal, then prep for tomorrow…
So… there you have it. We will try and upload photos, but our connection is spotty at best. For the nerds out there, I’m getting 56% packet loss, and about the speed of an old 14.4K modem (probably slower).
