Konkromanso--Gideon's village

I’m pretty sure this was my favorite day in Africa so far. Saturday night it rained for the first time during our trip…so Philip and I took full advantage by creating a slip in slide in the grass just inside the gate to the lodge…meaning we just took off and dove in the grass while we played in the rain and eventually even flopped in a big puddle! Ah it was so much fun! We drew a small crowd of the owner and workers who were laughing so hard at us and we must have been inspiring because Ashley took a slide herself after seeing our fun! The power went off during this beautiful thunderstorm, and the next morning I woke up with the power still off. We departed about 630 with the power still off for our trip to Konkromanso, Gideon’s village. Gideon invited Whitney, Lindsey, Sarah, and me all to go so we piled into the back seat of his car for a close 3 hour drive ha and took off with him and his friend Atoo, who was driving. 3 hours later, we reached the end of the road, literally, and got out to walk the last stretch. First, we had the privilege of being welcomed by the village chief. To be welcomed, you must sit down and spend a few minutes with them or its considered an insult, so that was pretty sweet. Then we walked for 15 minutes through the bush to where Gideon’s parents live. We walked through his Dad’s cocoa farm and I learned to distinguish between a palm tree and coconut tree and how to pick out a cocoa tree. We also saw wild plantains which made me hungry because plantains are my favorite food here. Lol We met his uncle first and then we arrived to be greeted by his parents, several of his brothers, and so many of his parents grandkids! The moment almost moved me to tears as I was overwhelmed by the love they immediately showed us and with the fact that we were the first white people that Gideon’s dad has ever interacted with. Btw, he is at least 100 years old, so we are the first in a century of living!! The day’s adventure was just beginning. First they took us to gather firewood and Sarah and Lindsey carried the firewood back in pots on their head just like all the African ladies do! Then they taught us how to peel cassava for the Fufu, so we peeled cassava and plantains and honestly, I felt like I held my own and did pretty well with the knife even though African culture considers that women’s work. Haha Then I put the plantains and cassava on the fire pit to begin cooking as the fufu process was now well under way. While it cooked, we took a break as one of the grandkids climbed a coconut tree and dropped several coconuts down for us. These coconuts were definitely the best I had eaten while in Africa! Next I attempted to climb a coconut tree for the second time while here, but this time I experienced a little more success. I actually started climbing it a little and all Gideon’s family told me not to go any higher as I don’t think they trusted my ability to safely get down if I climbed too high! Ha Gideon said they were impressed that I could climb it at all! Ha Btw I almost forgot but its tradition in his village to bury your umbilical cord and plant a coconut tree with it at your birth. So we got to see Gideon’s coconut tree which keeps him from ever forgetting his roots!