My watermelon initiation

Greetings my darlings,

Time again for my weekly blog update...

So when we last "spoke" (I guess I am the only one doing the speaking in this case, but you catch my drift), I was getting prepared to enjoy another exciting weekend in Ghana, which as it very much turned out to be. Though I had planned to take a leisurely Friday evening to cook, read and maybe even do a bit of writing, I was coerced by Ranjith and the gang into going for supper at a nice little Jamaican bistro by the name of the Green Turtle. Jerk chicken and a couple of beers later, we decided to continue the festivities at a club that Laurence (une quebecoise) and Florent (her boyfriend) are quite fond of. And I can see why. Not so much a club as a huge outdoor terrace, we spent a good four hours dancing under the stars to the beat of Ghanaian High Life, possibly one the most danceable musical genres out there. Laurence and Florent also gave me my official Ghanaian initiation, which consisted of a visit to a small booth in the back of an alley where I downed a glass of Alamo, one of the local alcohols. When asked what is used as the base ingredient for this alcohol, Laurence replied "n'importe quoi qu'on trouve dans le champs", loosely translated as whatever happens to be in the field at the time of harvest. Hmmmm...Well, regardless, that potion certainly did the trick, warming the throat, loosening the dancing muscles and lingering the next day in the form of a mild but persistent headache.

After a Saturday of laundry, rest and Alamo recovery, I was able to spend Sunday with Tim, the dancers and their German guests. We hopped on a mini-bus that took us to Akosombo, a town a few hours away from Accra right on Volta lake. We visited the dam responsible for providing most of the electrical power in Ghana, where we learned that levels have been quite low this year...thus explaining why we have power outages for 12 hours every five days or so (you get used to it pretty quickly, though the food in the fridge doesn't always adapt as easily). It was a nice day, and I very much enjoyed having the opportunity to step out of Accra and begin seeing the rest of Ghana...a process that I look forward to pursuing over the next months, particularly when my sister arrives for her 3-week visit at the end of January (Eve, j'ai trop hate!). The landscape was beautiful too, lush vegetation, hills with strange rock formations at the top, and the biggest man-made lake in the world, tempting in the seering afternoon sun until you start thinking about the possibility of bhilariose (aka worms under the skin). Speaking of worms, the day alas turned a bit sour when a piece of watermelon was ingested on the side of the road, along with the little bacteria it contained, thus leading to my first case of food poisoning. It lasted 24 hours and other than some digestive upset and lack of energy, was quite tolerable. And I tell myself that it was bound to happen at some point or another, so after this weekend, I feel that I have been fully and completely initiated!

With Monday spent in bed reading a romance novel that the girls at work had lent me (a Harlequin selection of four Christmas-themed stories) and recovering from the watermelon initiation, I was able to get back to work on Tuesday. On that front, things continue to go well. I had a few meetings this week, did some reading and as most of you kn0w, some emailing for the Orphan christmas party I have been assigned to help coordinate. (On that note, thank you for your kind replies to my plea for help in fundraising...and don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions or need any information).

Oh, and I finally got to go to my reggae party on the beach that I had so been looking forward to! Following a lovely potluck supper at Lidvina's house on Wednesday evening, we headed over to Labadi Pleasure Beach (actual name), where every Wednesday evening, reggae music is played right on the sand, right under the stars and overlooking the waves, to the delight of grinding and girating bodies. As expected, the experience proved a very enjoyable one, and one I look forward to repeating at least a few times during my stay (though of course, the Thursday wasn't as pleasant with only five hours of sleep under my belt).

And here we are again, another Friday, another fun weekend on its way. I'm not sure what my plans are quite yet, but they will probably involve a night out for supper and dancing, as well as some further exploration of Accra during the day.

I am still happy, still well-fed, and loving every minute of my stay in Ghana (okay, almost every minute). I do miss you though...and wish you were all here to enjoy the reggae music under the stars and to share in all these incredible experiences with me.

From Ghana with Love,
Sophie

ps: Following a few questions and complaints, I have changed the function on my blog for comment posting, such that now anyone --not just registered members-- can post their comments. Sorry about the previous limitations...still figuring out this whole blog thing.