War Eagle!

So, I had to pull my bike over this morning to "snap" this guy!

He, of course, had no idea what his shirt meant, or that it was even a school.  I asked him to say "War Eagle" and put his hand up - ha!

A big business here is the "Obroni Way Woo" store.  This literally means "dead white people's clothes." So, next time you drop of clothes at the thrift store, realize that whatever isn't sold in the US is shipped to Africa and sold for pennies.   The people here wear whatever - they have no idea what the shirts say or mean.  The guard next door wears a shirt at least once a week that has a turkey and says "Gobble" on the front and says "Happy Turkey Day 199-" on the back.  He had no idea what Thanksgiving was.  I explained it to him, and have asked him to be sure to wear it on November 25 - we'll see if he remembers!

We are "moving"!! I have moved almost all of my things to the pink house - and I think that we will spend the night there tomorrow! Just so that you can see how great the house is, I took some pictures from inside the razor wire.  We have a great front porch!

We even have a little grass!!!

Here's the living room - we are in the process of moving - so please excuse the mess!

Dining room:

Kitchen:

Here is the window from my bedroom:

One of the hardest things about being here is not having the freedom and independence that I am used to having in the states.  If you notice, here, we live and work behind walls and gates.  We live in houses and work in a school where the windows are covered with bars.  And this does keep us safe and helps me feel safe - but it is very restricting.  Beyond that - Accra is a huge city with little vegetation and there are buildings and people everywhere.

At home, I could find "peace" sitting on my Dad's back porch, or going on a run in Birmingham, anywhere I could be outside and look at grass or water - any place with free and open space.  I write this to say that I am so thankful to be able to see trees outside my window.  After being here for a while - I don't even see the bars on the windows and the razor wire around the wall.  It gives me great peace to be able to see trees from my room.  I am really learning that peace is not where you are or how you feel or even how comfortable you are.  I can find and bring peace everywhere I go.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the World gives do I give to you." 

John 14:27

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. " Philippians 4:7