GHANA!

September 2010

The Journey toward home away from home….
I could almost make a book about all the events that led up to all the events before boarding the plane to Ghana. Let’s just say that everything happens for a reason and God is truly always on my side! I arrived in South Africa a day before my flight and spent the night in a cute lil guesthouse right by the airport. Not only did I get a private ride to the guesthouse, I paid LESS than half the price for one room. Why, do you ask? I don’t know. They treated me like a queen. Then it was the next morning and I checked into my flight and was in the best of moods. My flight wasn’t until evening at 6pm, so I enjoyed walking around SA with one of my friends and getting a look at Joburg for a bit before heading out. And the BEST part of hanging around Joburg was EATING MCDONALDS. I hate mcdonalds in the states, but when y've been living in Africa for a year and havent tasted a greasy burger n fries, YOU GO BIG. Before I knew it, it was time to catch my flight. I haven’t been to Ghana in almost 3 years, and after unnecessary delays and disturbances, I was more than ready for this vacation! And everything went the way it should’ve.

It was nice to see my family and see friends that I haven’t seen in awhile! Family makes a world of difference when you need ppl to be there for you. I stayed at my Uncle’s house, and had a nice room and bathroom to myself. I love staying with my Uncle bc he’s the cool one! Unlike my other Aunts, he doesn’t treat me like Im 14 lol, and he acknowledges that Im an adult. Every morning he and I would have breakfast together – which was nice. Some mornings he’d talk about random things – family history, fun things about Ghana, and how he and his brothers used to shoot boomerangs when he was little. And its so nice to just sit and listen to him tell his stories. Trust me folks, take advantage of talking with your family! They have so much knowledge and experiences to learn from. Speaking of which – I learned that my Grandfather’s parents spoke Portuguese! What a coincidence. My Uncle wasn’t sure of the country they were from, but he thinks its Cape Verde or Angola. How cool is that? I’m hoping one day I get a chance to meet them, then I can have someone to speak Portuguese with.


Besides hanging out with the family – eating dinners, going to church, and prancing around town – I was also excited to see some friends, and hang out with my favorite cousins. My family is in Accra, but I also went to Kumasi for a bit as well. It was wonderful, and the FOOD was even better. I miss Ghanaian food the most here in Mozambique. Food here doesn’t even compare to back home. If you ask my Uncle he’ll tell you I don’t eat enough, but I beg to differ. One thing about Ghana – YOU GET SERVED WAY TOO MUCH FOOD at once  Im 125 pound girl, and while I love to go hard on a meal, I cannot however eat a 3 person serving. My Uncle would get mad if I didn’t finish…..ahh memories. So I had to tell my Uncle to tell the cook to PLEASE serve less. Oh and there’s this amazing drink “alvaro” I think is how you spell it, with different flavors. Its addicting. Best thing since lemon Fanta. And I also relaxed n chillaxed on the beach, had some drinks, and of course did some dancing. In my perfect world I’d go dancing on the beach everynight.
I remember before boarding the plane that I immediately didn’t feel an ounce of stress. I had a rough start to Peace Corps, and well, this vacation was long overdue. And funny thing is, I was at peace while I was home. Of course there was the random cases of diarrhea due to overeating and ordering sides of Shito and hot “peppa,” but overall I was happy. I woke up every morning not having to worry about the issues in Mozambique. I got to eat anything I wanted, go wherever I wanted to go. I didn’t have any awkward Mozambican drunk men moments, and BEST PART OF ALL – I didn’t have to take a chapa to get anywhere! I haaate chapas (in Ghana they’re called tro tros) and everytime I sat in a taxi or in the backseat of my Aunt’s hot ride – I laughed at the ppl sitting in them. Is that mean? I think I deserved to amuse myself considering taking a chapa here is the most hot mess experience one could ever have. But at least in Ghana they ONLY sit THREE ppl to a row, and NO ONE has to stand! Can you imagine what that’s like? Here is Mozambique they’d put three people on the roof tied around a rope if they could. Anyway, point is, I was happy face. I felt wanted by friends and family, and I felt like they all supported me. Im not super close with everyone in my family, but just having them all around felt good. Growing up me and my brothers never really had a “big” family, and so for me to continuously get to visit them in gh was nice……and then…..I came back lol.

But I will return very soon…..Ghana needs me ;)