Busy Busy Weekends

I have never before had such hectic weekends, but now I would not trade it for anything. Since it has been a while since I last wrote anything this might be a long one (I apologize). On Friday night our program had its semi-annual social mixer (ha!) which was really just a gathering at my dorm between NYU students and Ghanaian students from the University of Legon and Ashesi. Unfortunately it had to rain for the first time since we've been here, so we had to scramble and move all the speakers and food inside. But the rain was amazing, it fell in sheets for a good 20 minutes and then the lightening came, huge cracks that you could see outlined in the sky. They looked purple and terrifying but it was awesome to watch. After it cleared up we were able to resume the mixer (which was really just plain awkward at first...). Luckily it became more enjoyable as the night wore on, though the male students from the universities are very interested in getting as many girls phone numbers as they can, so sometimes you just have to pretend you haven't bought a phone yet. Though that can lead to a whole other set of problems, including offers to buy a phone or a Sim card, or requests for your email. But awkwardness aside it was quite fun and I was able to maneuver my way carefully around the exchanging of numbers.

On Saturday 16 of us took a huge bus to a small beach town called Winneba. The town was eerily reminiscent of the suburban east coast. In Accra, and especially Labonne where I live, all the houses have 8 foot fences with electrical wire or sharp spikes at the top. And almost every house as a 24 hour guard. However, in Winneba there were no fences, just green grass and cute brick ranch houses. The place did seem really deserted though, we could never find a taxi and it was even harder finding people to give us directions. The hotel we stayed at was near the beach on a small lagoon (Lagoon Lodge, quite the appropriate name) though because it was all booked we had to stay in the "Coconut Guest House". Sounds nice I know, but it was really just a building that resembled a barrack with little rooms and a communal bathroom. But we can't complain because we only spent 6 cedis. The walk to the beach was pretty interesting, we had to follow a dirt path for about 20 minutes through some pretty long grass that reminded me of Jurassic park. But when we finally made it to the beach it was totally worth it. This beach was one of those postcard beaches, with palm trees in the sand almost to the water, shells washed up along shore, and not a single person around except the fishermen way off in the distance. The water was bright blue and warm and we swam for a long time. However, when I finally decided to take a nap in the sun I ended up getting sun burned (though not as bad as everyone else). At night we walked into the outskirts of the tiny town and had drinks at a small outdoor bar. Then we all walked back to the beach (which was really difficult since the only light we had was our cell phones) and sat and listened to the surf and watched for shooting stars. In the morning we all headed back to the town to catch the bus and then endured a very very hot hour and a half bus ride. At that point the only thing keeping us going was the prospect of buying fanice, this delicious invention that is frozen ice cream in a bag. When we finally get home everyone was exhausted and at night we were too tired to watch the Superbowl, though a bunch of people went to the American bar (which I heard as the only good Mexican food in Accra).

On Monday I went to my first full day of community service, at New Horizons Special School. I played games with the kids and even came in last in one of the races (only because my shoe fell off). Then I observed each classroom and got to do one on one activities with the kids. In the afternoon a bunch of us went to the Accra Mall (which has, of all things, a Shop Rite) to get groceries. It also has a movie theater, a food court, and a bizarre store called GAME that is like a mini Target. We really couldn't figure out what it was but it had really cheap cereal and wine and also sold appliances and car parts. At night we all went out for this guy Danny's birthday. The place we went was a cute little bar right on the beach with delicious skewers (by the end of the night we had ordered 30 haha). Going out is so much more relaxing here than in New York, you always end up sitting on the beach or on some rooftop where you can see stars and bats and hear crickets. It also helps that drinks here are phenomenally cheaper than they are in NYC, I don't know how I will be able to go back and ever eat out at an actual restaurant without balking at the price...