I got back to Tamale and a few days later drove to Gushegu. I arrived on Wednesday and came back on Saturday. Fela and Puii are so hospitable and they are excited for me to learn. I have to admit, I did whine going out the door of, " ...I don't want to doooo this". They lovingly laughed and shoved me out, telling me it will be great. Always nice to have friends like that! I had all Thursday and Friday to do language. And...it went better than I expected. I went around the house just greeting people first and then one home I stayed at a bit longer and moved on to another and then I found a school. A teacher said the kids were on break so I could talk to them. He brought the girls around me and I was able to tell them about my family. Then I asked some of them about theirs. The teacher said I could come by any time. Yay.
I met an older woman on the road who told me to come to her house. She has a compound full of families and women of all ages were sitting or cooking or whatever. JACKPOT! She told me to come back the next day. Which I did.
It was different experiences like that that came to me. I did not have to go looking. And everything was Dagbani...ok, so I met some men who talked to me in English and of course want to marry me...ugh...but the women were very kind and did not speak English pushing me to learn harder.
You guys, I was almost excited. HAAAA...almost. I mean, how can anyone be excited about language!? And, before, I did not like Gushegu and now, it may be growing on me.
My two days went really well. Puii mentioned that I should just stay for weeks at a time instead of going back and forth every week. I have been praying about that. I have come to the decision that yes, I will stay. I am going to try doing 3 weeks in Gushegu and then come back to Tamale. It does mean I will not be able to do my girls Bible study. That was what held me back. But, if I want to be able to really do Bible studies without a translator, then, I need to prioritize this.
Thanks so much for praying. Again, I feel encouraged and ready to go. I have not had that feeling for awhile.
I have about 2 weeks before I will do my first "stay" in Gushegu so Tamale is still my base and my neighbors are still my language field. (With my seamstress friend Rafia, I think I have forgotten how to sew a straight line! Ei!!!)
Love you.