Beaches and Bureaucracy

Does anyone else have trouble believing that we are already into June?!

In some ways it seems as though I have just landed in Accra because everyday is a new experience. On the other hand, it also feels incredibly, amazingly, normal to wake up in Africa day after day. Apparently one can really adjust to anything! It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating our one week anniversary of being in Ghana, and now we are on the cusp of the three week mark.

Since last weekend was so relaxed, we decided to keep very busy this weekend. On Friday we spent a very "western" night with our friends Desmond and Abel at the movie theatre in the mall, where we went to see The Avengers. Despite having a flat tire driving out of the parking lot, it was a good way to end the week and typical me, I even managed to squeeze in a bit of a nap during the movie!

On Saturday, we had to go do some errands at Oxford Street and of course ended up doing a little shopping. We were supposed to be meeting Abel and his brother Ambrose at the beach later in the day, but since we finished our errands early and did not feel like going all the way home, we decided to take the short trotro ride to La Beach. What a way to spend an afternoon! The sea spray was subtle while still refreshing, the water and air were crisp and clear, and we were treated to lots of entertainment (intentional and otherwise) from fellow beach goers as we lay in the sun. Laying out on a comfy lounge chair with the water brushing against its legs, all while catching up on my reading was not a bad way to spend the day! When our friends arrived, we walked up and down the beach a bit before heading to a neighbouring beach to have dinner. It got dark very quickly, and rain clouds were definitely coming in. The clouds and rain made it quite cool, but luckily the spice of the food kept our bellies warm! We finished the day attempting to watch a movie at home, but all of that fresh air could not help but make us all drowsy, so we turned in for the night rather early.

On Sunday, Leah had a meeting at 3pm in Jamestown, so we accompanied her in order to look around that part of Ghana. Jamestown is a fishing village not far from the heart of Accra, but has a totally different atmosphere. It is very community-based, and you can tell that everyone knows everyone else which is quite nice. When Leah went to her meeting, Jessica and I headed down the main road out of Jamestown, and ended up in an area where many of the government buildings can be found. This part of the city, while only maybe a 10-15 minute walk from the Jamestown lighthouse, is very different yet again. High Street has lovely brick sidewalks, is very clean, and very "capital city-like", due to the huge government presence in the area. The more we walk around the city on our own, the easier it is to orient ourselves. Here we were, walking on High street, and we ended up right next to the Cultural Centre, where we had visited our first weekend in Accra with our tour guides. Jessica and I ventured in and were invited to play the drums with some shop owners in their shop. It was very fun learning how to make these amazing, hand crafted drums make music, and I was surprisingly pretty good at it! The Cultural Centre is a place for learning, not just buying and selling; to me, this is what Ghana is all about. I have learned that Ghanaians want nothing more than to share their culture with you, and there is a sense of national pride and unity perhaps unlike anything I have ever experienced. Their wish to share their stories with you is genuine, and you cannot help but make friends here.

In fact, our drumming friends took us to Independence Square, as that was originally where we were headed before our musical detour. The square is large and impressive, equipped with grandstands, statues, and flags. I can just picture it being filled to capacity on Independence Day as parades wind their way through the area. Perhaps I will be back in March someday to see this exciting event.

Seeing the arch that represents Ghana's independence was very exciting. It is remarkable that this independence was only acheived in 1957. When Ghanaians ask when Canada was founded and you reply with 1867, there is always a look of shock. We consider Canada a young country, but the Ghana of today is much younger and is still under-going significant changes as it strives towards a "mature" democracy (as some of the papers say). Especially with the upcoming elections in December, Ghana is definitely a country to watch and discussing politics with the locals has been a very valuable experience to me.