Thanksgiving, Green Turtle, etc.

Sorry for the long delay in blog posting. I’ve been realizing more and more lately how little time I have left here and I’ve been trying to make the most of it!

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving! The majority of the day was spent trying not to think about all of the delicious foods / activities we were missing. Michael and Matt went to the Accra Mall and came back with the ingredients for a thoroughly ghetto Thanksgiving dinner. Craftily utilizing the only cooking equipment in our hostel (an ancient hot plate) we prepared spiced turkey legs, bacon flavored mac n’ cheese, frozen stir fried veggies and pasta salad. It was a pitiful attempt at an American Thanksgiving dinner, but we enjoyed preparing the meal and of course eating it. Later Catherine and I made pseudo banana pudding using Fanice, milk cookies and bananas. It was pretty tasty and we served it to other Yankees from PennState.

I spent Friday at my internship at CHRI working on the annual report and the domestic violence workshop. I’ve truly enjoyed working with all of the people there. It’s refreshing to work with people who share common passions. Later Friday night a group of international students and I went to the bush canteen, a small market area on campus which doubles as a bar / hang out area during the evening. We stayed until closing time and when we left the gate had been locked so we had so scale a 10ft wall and jump over the side. Woo Africa!

Sunday morning Catherine, Michael, Matt, Greta, Lauren and I left at 6 am to get to the Accra bus station to catch an STC bus for Takoradi, a beach town in the Western most coast of Ghana. We entered the bus and grabbed our seats, only to be shooed out a few minutes later so the entire interior of the bus could be covered in Raid to kill the mosquitoes. I guess it was nice not being bitten up during the ride, but I’m pretty sure I inhaled a few lbs of toxic chemicals. The ride was about four hours long. I always enjoy watching the scenery go by on the bus rides, the bush is beautiful and I love people watching from the window.

We arrived in Takoradi around 10 am and grabbed a cab for the Green Turtle Lodge, a beach resort about one hour away. All six of us crammed in the cab and Catherine and I spent the next hour sharing the passenger seat, laughing at our soon-numb bottoms and listening to Girl Talk on my iPod while dancing.

Green Turtle Lodge is beautiful! It’s a completely eco friendly resort. All of the electricity was provided by solar power and the toilets were self-composting. We stayed the first night in a clay bungalow, complete with comfy mattresses and mosquito nets. The beach the resort rests on is known as being arguably the best and most beautiful in West Africa. We spent the next few days laying on straw mats under wooden umbrellas in the sand. I somewhat lessened my farmer’s tan, but it still looks like I’m permanently wearing clothes. The restaurant at the resort was excellent, serving items ranging from bruschetta, falafel, sandwiches, salads and delicious chicken entrees for dinner. The resort also had a book swap, board games and gift shop with cool t-shirts. Everyday from 5pm -7pm was happy hour with delicious cocktails! My favorite was the black star; brandy, a dark chocolate liquor, rum and lime. Another of my favorite things about the resort was its proximity to Paco’s Tacos, a beachside taco stand. There was no cheese : (, but there was delicious salsa, fresh chicken and veggies.

We were all sad to leave the resort on Tuesday afternoon. Our bus left at 4 pm and Catherine, Michael and I were set to meet up with our British friend, Oliver, for dinner and drinks to celebrate his last night in Ghana. Our bus arrived late in Accra and our taxi was stuck in such horrible traffic we had to go straight to Monsoon to meet Oliver. We all looked rough having spent the whole day travelling and had our luggage with us. Dinner was delicious as always and we went to Epo afterwards to hang out.

Nothing too interesting happened the rest of the week. I had an exam, I worked more at CHRI.

Last night a group of us went to Champs for karaoke, per usual.

Tonight we ate Ethiopian food, which was interesting / kind of gross.

It’s my last week here!