Ghana is Magic

My trip to Ghana was sweet. Ghana is amazingly beautiful and amazingly developed (at least compared to Niger). It was actually really good to sort of connect the dots between Niger and the U.S. by placing a country like Ghana in between, if that makes any sense.

Anyways, traveling with two other Peace Corps Volunteers we came down from Burkina Faso and spent a night in a town called Bolgatanga just on the Ghanaian side of the border. Noah and I went out for an evening stroll. We heard music playing and walked towards it. Suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of a massive wedding celebration and were quickly ushered to the center of a dance circle. It was pretty much just the two of us, dancing poorly for about ten minutes as 300 people crowded to the edge of the circle to watch. Felt like a celebrity. It was a lot of fun and pretty hilarious.

The next day we continued on to Tamale, a town near the north where we met up with Ian (booya!). We saw a couple of the African Cup games and then Ian and I split from the other two and continued south, spent a night in Kumasi a town more or less in the center of Ghana and then continued down to Ian’s land.

For those who have heard Ian talk about his land, he hasn’t misled you. Its one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. He and a friend adventured out there on a whim and when they saw it, fell in love with it. They spoke to the local chief and arranged to buy it (see the picture of me and Ian with the chief). Luckily so because within a few months oil was found just offshore and another few months later it was all bought up… So, anyways, lots to be said about all that, but I’ll just show you the pictures for now. Basically jungle crashing down onto beautiful, quiet, sandy beaches with clear blue bath-water temperatured ocean… Amazing.

Kosi

In Accra I met up with Kosi, a friend from Wesleyan. Wow, way to make me feel like I’m directionless. She’s amazing. She is working for a bank in Accra and has started her own micro-financing organization in the city which she plans on turning into a full fledged bank in the next few years. It was really inspiring to see her. Here she is at her office with one of her employees in the background and a borrower seated in front of her.

Kisseman

Ian helped to found a local youth center in a relatively poor area of Accra. The kids were wonderful and the program was really impressive. They do a lot of tutoring with the kids as well as basket weaving and drumming and dancing. Here they are dancing and drumming, and then another picture of me with some of the kids. There’s also a picture of me and him with his local “host grandma” of sorts named “Dada” who was one of the sweetest ladies I’ve ever met.

African Cup of Nations

Here are some pictures of me, Kosi, and Ian at the final match between Egypt and Cameroon. It was a sweet. Actually, the best match we saw was a quarterfinal between Ghana and Nigeria who are arch rivals. It was an amazing game, capped by Ghana, despite playing with one less player, scoring with time winding down to win the game 2-1. Accra erupted into a city-wide party. So fun. Anyways, the final was a good time too, though Egypt won 1-0 (I was rooting for Cameroon). And the ceremony was capped by some really cool fireworks.

Anyways, I’m rushed so I’ll cut myself off writing any more, but overall it was a fantastic trip. If nothing else it was nice to get out of Peace Corps land and be refreshed for my final 7 or so months of service. And yet, playing with other kids and traveling around a lot made me miss Niger and all of MY kids. Its great finally being back in Niger and in Zinder (I’ve gotten to visit Rookaya and Nouria since getting here) and I can’t wait to head back to Matameye tomorrow morning. So, til next time…