No more monkey business

Well my faithful readers....I am back from my weekend at busua beach. I think I should live there.

The trotro ride was an adventure as always. I need to just accept that when a driver tells us that he knows where we are going that it is a lie. We drove for quite awhile and took a few wrong turns in the jungle before we finally found the Alaska hotel. For less than 15 US dollars each we were able to stay two nights in really sweet huts.

When we got to the beach it was already dark outside, despite our early start and we were all starving! After we put out stuff in our rooms we went out to the sitting area to order some food. The woman who runs the hotel is wild. She reminds me of the voodoo woman from pirates of the Caribbean. Wild clothes, shells in her hair....she is funny. However, she was also very nice and gave us discounts on all of our food for being students and volunteers. So, once again I had French Toast. This time it was French toast how I imagine it to be. Cinnamon, sugar and an added twist of lemon and syrup that tasted like honey! Yummm.

After dinner we had a huge fire on the beach. The built what looked like a fire tower, and it burned down. Then we just sat on the beach and watched the stars for awhile. We as a group have come to call moments like that an "oh africa moment" where you stop and think...ohhh I'm in Africa right now.

Then I had to pee before bed, so I walked over to the communal toilet and tried to pee while 5 lizards watched me on the walls. To add to the animal interaction for the evening Pepo slept on top of my head all night. What a spoiled dog.

Saturday.

Shockingly I was able to sleep in a little, most likely because there was not a rooster screaming out my window. We all met back at the beach for breakfast. I had REAL coffee....it was perfect. So we all sat on the beach and enjoyed our hot coffee with milk and sugar. Then I decided that I was hungry, so I went up to the bar to order.

Now, don't freak out at what I am about to say.....there are monkeys here, and on my way back to the table I think I got a little too close for the monkeys comfort and he jumped onto my leg and bit me. I SAID DON'T FREAK OUT! I got all of my shots before I came here, and I washed it and sanitized it right after it happened. Its fine.....red cross just might never take my blood again. Really, its fine.

After the attack (yes using the word attack is a little drams I know) I enjoyed my wonderful breakfast, of fried eggs, toast, and potatoes. Soo good.

After breakfast we just sat around, because it started to rain. But then we decided that we could still swim in the rain, so the kind lady from before gave us some body boards to use on the waves. Obviously next to the surfers we looked really cool.....but it was so fun, and the waves were so good for using the body boards. I think I will become a professional body boarder. I really think it could work out.....

For dinner we went down to the Black Star Surf Shop/internet cafe/restaurant. We picked this particular spot to eat because there was a wide selection of food, now I am aware that that exact reason can be used to not pick a spot to eat, but today it all sounded so good! I ordered a burrito, and it was the perfect food to settle all American cravings. Seriously, watch out Qdoba, Ghana knows how to make a burrito. Right after dinner it was time for the US vs. England game, so the surf shop pulled a tv out from nowhere and we all gathered around to watch the game...on the beach. There were the Global Mamas interns,two people from Spain, some peace corps guys,surfers from all over,a french man, some Canadians, a family from London, a man from Israel, and tons of excited kids from the village.

The majority was cheering on England, however the match was called at US 1 England 1, so I guess everyone was happy.

When the match ended they started a huge fire on the beach and turned some music on. All of the kids were dancing around, and were seriously such good dancers. We all hung out on the beach until the fire burned out. All the kids were hanging around until everyone was gone. We all kept thinking....do their parents wonder where they are. Isn't it a little odd that 5 year olds are hanging at the beach at 11 at night.

Sunday.

I was the first one up today, but I enjoyed my alone time on the beach with my coffee and book. When a few more people got up we ordered breakfast. I thought I was getting an egg sandwich, however that somehow translated to a grilled cheese. It was soooooo good though. There was onion and avocado on it.....mmmmm. Towards the end of breakfast one of our little kid friends came to hang out with us, and score some chocolate chip pancakes.

We met this particular kid through one of the guys from England. He met this little boy on the beach and found out that he was deaf. They were pretty much inseparable the rest of the weekend. He was so cute, and he loved playing with peop and just hanging out with all of us. We all wanted him to come back with us.


After breakfast we came back to our part of the beach, but it was really cold and windy, so I grabbed a hammock and did a little reading. For lunch we decided to go back to the surf shop, because the food was just that good! When we walked up almost everyone from the night before were there as well. The British family was leaving for the next stop on their adventure, and all the little kids were so sad to see the younger guy leave.

After lunch the Ghana game was on, and I started to watch it, but honestly I had no idea what was happening, so I went in the waves. When we finished body boarding it was time to go, so we all got back into the trotro and headed home. :-(

Pepo and Maria did not come back with us because Pepo is still ill and he needs a blood test. Poor little pup.

One final story from the weekend. I would like to talk about the characters that were staying at the Alaska. Other than the pirates of the Caribbean voodoo woman, there was an French surfer who was the poster child for what too many drugs can do for you. He was best friends with some of the monkeys.... Then there was a German couple who lived in a semi truck, and looked freakishly alike. Late at night there were some guys that looked like they were old school punks from London, and then the most mysterious of all.....the old men with the young African women. We could not figure out their story. We decided that it was most likely creepy, so we did not try too hard to figure it out. It was quite a colorful bunch.

This weekend will be in my top five favorite Ghana moments.

Peace. Love. Monkey bites.