I hope you enjoyed the pictures I put up last time. And now the ending of my Ghana story.
On our last night in Ghana I was invited by my friend Acquah, to an outside restaurant where his band was playing. I gathered a couple of friends and we all went out, excited to see a live band. The band played mostly Highlife music, a kind of pop/reggae music that is popular in Ghana and is really fun to dance to. The band kind of played like a DJ would, there was a continuous everlasting sound which would change from one song to another. The band would play like that for about 45 minutes, and then there would be about 45 minutes of a DJ before the band would play again.
We had so much fun dancing and talking with people that we lost track of time. Some people started leaving around 11:30 but a couple of my friends and I stuck around. With it being the last night and all we were very sad to have to be leaving our new friends soon, so when the band had stopped and the DJ had stopped around 1 AM, we were not ready to leave yet. We all headed to the beautiful peaceful beach and continued talking. I learned so much about Ghana and the culture of the people from my new friends it was so awesome. We also talked a lot about music, Acquah made sure we hadn’t forgotten the drum patterns that we had learned. The moon was out and the sound of the gigantic waves were so calming, we definitely sat there in the silence for a while just admiring the beauty of it all. We then started to watch the giant crabs that were all over the place. They would climb up out of holes in the sand and walk around the beach looking for food and playing in the waves. They kind of freaked me out a little because of how big they were. One of our friends caught one and brought it to us to see. It was crazy how fast the crab was when he was chasing after it. We continued having a slight dance party while one person played some music on his phone.
It was an amazing night but before we realized it the night had turned to dawn…..woops….at about 4:30 AM we decided we should probably head back to the ship. Our friends were kind enough to show us the way back. On our way we passed a wakening that was going on for a funeral. I learned that funerals are super important in Africa, one of the most celebrated events. I also learned that if a person who had dred-locks sees a dead person they have to cut their hair off. I don’t really know why…..but they were teasing Acquah about it because he had dred-locks. We also passed people getting ready for their day, a mosque where the cry to prayer was being called, and also a swampy creek where there had to have been 100’s of frogs singing. The walk was a perfect way to end the night, and we were sad to say goodbye to our friends, but we were very grateful to them for all that they had taught us.
When we got back I immediately crashed….but only for a couple hours because at 9 I left with a group of people to go visit an orphanage. The orphanage was a perfect way to end my stay in Ghana. It took a while to get there, but once we did the kids we met were so excited. Apparently we were supposed to start our time there with a tour of the facilities and an introduction about the program…..but neither of those things happened because the children occupied all of our attention. It was such a fun time! I met a 13 year old girl, who was about half my size, named Sarah. When I told her I had the same name she got sooooo excited! She would not let go of my hand for quite some time. As we got to know some of the kids there we colored, and played games, we let some of the children use our camera’s and I got some amazing pictures out of that arrangement. A couple hours in to the visit some kids started playing the drums, then they had one of their teachers come and play with them. The teacher stated singing songs and then suddenly it turned in to a dance party, everyone was playing drums, or dancing or singing, it was incredible and kids were so talented. Then some of them took us up the hill to a town that looked a lot like Cusmapa. They showed us the church they go to every Sunday, it was small but very nice.
That day with the kids was so nice, I didn’t do anything but play with them which was soooooo much fun, but I was sooooooo sad to leave and they were sad to see us go.
That evening I hung out on the back of the ship and we left Ghana. I was really sad to be leaving because I had met such amazing people. So far if I had to choose one place to go back to, it would be Ghana. I am not so sure there will be any place that will be able to take that spot from Ghana......maybe Japan.....haha.
Next I will tell you all about my restful trip in South Africa. But until then please keep me in your thoughts and prayers, that I will be able to have a lot of energy and perseverance as I head into what looks to be a very stressful school week!
Jya Ne!
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