Birthday Celebration

I believe the photo issues began happening right after my birthday celebration took place. To refresh your memories, my roommate Karrah somehow managed to plan a celebration for me in Ghana. The entire group of volunteers got together and we went to Stumble Inn, for dinner and a night of drumming and dancing. At first I didn't know what to expect, but it ended up being an amazing night.

The night started out with a little drumming.

Then the dancing began. 

This guy always had a crazy look on his face.

I like his skirt....

This was some impressive balancing.

How many people can say they had fire blowing at their birthday party?

Seeing if there was anymore file left in there?

And of course the night ended with them singing happy birthday to me!

peace. love. fire breathing birthday.

I'm baaaaaaack,

Hello United States of America!

My phone decided to flip out the past few days, so I couldn't do my final few posts in Ghana, and I am sure you are all wondering what my count down for one was going to be, so I will tell you now.

One thing that I most fear upon returning to the United States....
1. That my jeans will not button. Think about it, I have been wearing cotton stretchy dresses for the past 4.5 months. You can't really tell whats happening in the waist area under those things.

I guess I am happy to report that my jeans do button, but it could be more comfortable....

Anyway, back to the end of Ghana. My last few days were good, very relaxing and I actually did not feel like I was leaving. On Sunday morning I said my goodbyes and I set off for Accra. It was nice spending the day in Accra. I finally got to meet Renea, who is one of the founders of Global Mamas. Normally people meet her when they first come, but she was out of the country when I arrived, and I never went back to Accra during the time I was there.

We went out to brunch with Maria and another volunteer who had just come in. Accra is such a different feeling than Cape Coast, and I would imagine pretty much any other area of Ghana. We went to a nice restaurant where we got to sit outside and enjoy the weather. After brunch we went back to the Accra house and said goodbye to Maria and the new volunteer. Still, saying goodbye I did not feel like I was leaving. It just seemed like they were going off, and I would see them later that day.

I spent the afternoon just relaxing, and then we made some burgers before it was time for me to leave for the air port. I will admit I wasn't looking forward to the Accra air port, because I had no idea what to expect. All went smooth, and I used my charm to distract the worker while my bags were being weighed. Seriously, I should not have been allowed to bring those bags with me. They weighed so much. Then there was the issue of the damn drum. I'm telling you, that is the last time I carry a drum onto a plane with me. That baby was HEAVY! Oy.

The flight was smooth, and I was able to catch up on a few new movies, and of course I did not sleep at all. I had a layover in Amsterdam, and I am starting to not like going through there. I always have to get a full body search, and this time I had a mini interrogation before the full body search. Ugh, it was so annoying at 5:00 in the morning.

The second flight was also smooth, and although I had the crappy last row seat, the person who had the seat next to me did not show up, so I had both seats for myself. It was nice to spread out a little bit while I was watching movies. Once again, zero sleep.

Things moved fairly quick at customs in Detroit, and they didn't even ask what I had in my bags. I think that if they would have searched the bags, we would not have been able to fit everything back inside.

As I walked through the doors with my cart of bags my mom came running, yes literally frolicking at me. Then we got stuck and couldn't find our way out of the room. :-)

So, now I am home, and I have showered and my mom is currently making a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies. How spoiled am I?

It is not time for this blog to come to an end quite yet. I owe you readers A LOT of photos, so for this next week I will do a photo post every day......starting tomorrow.

peace. love. home.

Two for one

Friday.

My last day of work.

Fun Friday was complete and total chaos. Xavi and I set off to find some kids to hang out with, give the bags to...maybe color and play a game. Well, we went to an area where we saw about 7 kids playing in a corner. We went up to them and they were all super friendly and we asked them if they wanted to color with us. They all started jumping up and down and were so excited, so I bent down to open my bag, and the madness began.

Honestly, I should have known better. These are kids I'm talking about. The second I opened my bag, swarms of kids started surrounding me. They were grabbing everything they could! I couldn't stop the madness! I swear to you in about 15 seconds the bags were gone, and the kids ran off to showe everyone. Then there were still a ton of kids hanging around who didn't get anything. Luckily, they were just exited I had a camera. So, we took a bunch of photos, which seems to be their favorite thing to do, and then the excitement died down when a woman came to yell at me for not giving her children something. Ummmm does it look like I have anything left? Sorry, I feel bad enough already.

Xavi was smart and didn't open his bag, so we still had a few things left. We decided that it would be better to just find random kids (on their own) and give them the bags. There were two really cute little kids and they called to us, so we waved and walked over to say hi. The smallest one just started screaming his little head off. He wanted nothing to do with us.

After the cryer (like in the back of a catholic church) I just went back to the office with a few bags left. And as I was walking to the taxi I looked for kids that were alone and I gave the bags to them. This is exactly what I should have done the first time. So, note to anybody who might ever give something away to kids....get them on their own.

All of the kids were so cute and shy, and they all said thank you. So, thank you sister Joyce for making it happen.

And now...two things I learned while in Ghana.

1. I can go MANY days without showering, before I start to look or smell dirty.

2. I can "go with the flow" a lot better than I thought I could. It seems like I was one of the more relaxed people this summer. I knew sooner or later we would find our way or things would work out, so I just didn't get worked up....that is unless a taxi was trying to rip me off!

Peace. Love. Two.

Three cheers for Three days!

Thursday.

I became slightly side tracked at work today, because I was thinking about what brained person I am. You know,right brained or left brain. Well, I started by searching what the qualities of each type of person are. I couldn't decided, so then I took a "test". Well....guess what. My score was 50/50. That didn't help, so I took another one. Again, 50/50. I think this could explain why I can not make up my mind about things. I want a legit test to tell me.

So, tons and tons of samples came in today, and I got them all photographed, filed, and sent out to be made into a product. Then I had to make a file inside every folder that said specific instructions on what was in each file and how to use it.

I walked around for a little bit at lunch, and the ocean was so pretty. It was so many different colors of blue. By the time we drove back to Elmina at 5:00 it was deep blue again. Actually, I would describe the color as vintage 1969 denim...Katie do you know what color I'm saying?

So, three days until I leave...I bring you three things I will miss about Ghana.

1. The ocean. I drive along it everyday, and hang out at it almost every weekend.

2. Street food. Everyday is like a new 10 cent adventure. We have found some pretty tasty treats.

3. Friendly people. Almost everybody I have come into contact with has been so kind. They usually just want to say hello and find out where you are from. Everyone on the streets say hi!

So, three is just so small. I will also share three things that I will not miss.

1. The smell of the gutters.
2. Taxing a taxi EVERY day.
3. The roosters in the morning.

Peace. Love. Three.

The Final Four

Wednesday.

Next week on this day I will be at quilting....right ladies?
I have so much fabric that I need to start sewing something.

We have not had internet at work all week. Its so annoying. Lucky for me, I am just wrapping things up and trying to get everything in order for the next designer that is coming in. And I am staying quite buys with the yards and yards of sample fabric coming back.

At lunch I did my final fabric shopping. I went to three different streets and got 9 more yards....oh the joy of stacked up cloth. Then I went and got my last egg sandwich. It was delicious.

We had to take a few items back to the house today, a large box of soap and t-roll aka toilet paper. Tim thought it would be a good idea to carry it on his head like a true Ghanaian. So, ten minutes before we left the office we all got a lesson on carrying items on your head. I hold the record of 20 rolls of toilet paper...no hands..walked around the office, and bent down to pick up my backpack and then put it on. What can I say...I'm so Ghanaian. So, on the way to the taxi Tim put the box on his head, and held it with one hand. The people on the streets thought this was hysterical.

Today I thought of something I should have been posting all summer. A daily "I spy" of things I see in the gutter. Today...a dog licking a fish head.

And now, four of my favorite foods in Ghana

1. Yam balls and egg stew
2. Rockies
3. Palava
4. Egg sandwiches. Think of an omelet in a grilled cheese. Ahhhh!

Peace. Love. Four.

Jump Five

Tuesday.

Oy, I am so sleepy today.

I was basically falling asleep at my desk all day.

I went to get my passport back today...seeing that it is pretty critical in my journey home. Ghana now has a full spread in the passport.

After I picked up my passport I decided to walk over to the castle to try for the dish one more time. Lucky for me....and for the vendor, he was there today. He knew that I had been there last week, and I told him that for all the trouble I had to go through to get the dish, he better give me a discount. He did.

From there I went and got some notebooks for my day of fun on Friday. I am going to find random kids on the street and color with them. The notebooks are so funny, they all say Ghana schools on them, but they have different images. Most are soccer players, but one is the Obamas. Random. When I was little...it was all about Lisa Frank. Oh how times have changed.

By the way, Karrah made it to Thailand, and she just did a blog about it, so check it out. www.karrahwood.blogspot.com. Its pretty funny, especially if you know Miss Karrah Wood.

Pepo puppy got his stitches out today! It still looks quite swollen, but I hope it will heal soon!

So, with five days to go, I give you five things that will return home in my suitcase that did not come in it.

1. Sand
2. A drum
3. A stool / accent table
4. At least 30 yards of cloth
5. A beaded elephant

Peace. Love. Five.

Sarah Kitty

There is now a cat named Sarah. Hello kitty!

Elis cat had kittens, and Nii named one of the kittens, Sarah. It is the sweetest looking little cat. However, I held my little namesake after dinner and now I am having an allergic reaction of itchy eyes. Thanks for nothing sarah kitty.

Today I got a nice email informing me that I will be taxing a private taxi to Accra on Sunday. There are volunteers that need to come back to Cape Coast in the afternoon, so the private taxi makes it easy for all of us. Yay for that!

So, I have had a request to continue with countdowns, so today makes six days until I leave Ghaha.....so, six places I am going to go when I get home.

1. Target
2. Banres and Noble
3. Twelve Oaks
4. The Cider Mill
5. Mt. Pleasant
6. Grand Rapids

I need requests for the next 5 days of count down.

Peace. Love. Six.