Gone to Ghana: My African Adventures

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July 21, 2014



I know it’s been a couple weeks since my last entry. These last couple weeks have been insane at the house with people constantly coming and going. The house is literally overflowing with people. Currently there are 33 volunteers with Dream Africa. Jamal finally moved out of the house to his own apartment where he finally has some privacy. That gave us another room with beds and another room was just finished outside, but even with those two rooms (eight more beds) we’re still struggling to find enough beds for people. There are so many nationalities represented. There are 4 Americans right now, quite a few English, a group of Northern Irish, 6 Spanish, French, Japanese, Swedish, Ethiopian, Greek, Italian, Austrian, Swiss, Italian, and even a Nigerian. Most people aren’t staying very long because they are here during their summer breaks.



This last weekend I went to a beach resort near Accra called Big Milly’s. It was so much fun; despite getting sunburnt. It was nice to be able to relax on the beach. I can now say that I’ve swum on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. What was awesome was with all of the people selling their crafts didn’t try to start with giving us the Bernie price. That happens all the time with taxi drivers and in markets. When we convert the cedi back to dollars, pounds, or euros we think things here are so cheap and we’ll accept a price thinking about how much it is in our original currency. However, they know that they’re ripping us off. That’s why Jamal always tells us to go to the art market with someone who knows pricing. I’m getting better at it, and since I’ll be here for so long I know that soon I’ll be the one to be asked to take people.



Near Big MIlly’s is a little restaurant called Ricemaster. He makes some of the best food! His chicken, egg, and cheese sandwich was heavenly! All of my friends had been raving about his food and I finally got to find out for myself just how good it is.



It was an awesome weekend, but now it’s time to get back to the projects.

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Photos

Big Milly's Bar
These awesome paintings with masks adorned the ceiling.

Big Milly's
Bar on the right

The Ricemaster
However my friends have renamed him as simply THE master.

Painting
This guy's studio was right next to Ricemaster.

Big Milly's beach
I was intrigued by the way this shop was just set up on the beach using an old fishing boat for the display.

Feet in the sand
We took this with our new little friends

Next to reception at Big Milly's
My family has quite a collection of funny signs from around the world. This is my first addition to it.

Comments

[Grandmother]

More details
I love to read about your expeditions and to see your photos, but I would like to know more about what you do day by day. Are you teaching regular classes? If not, why not? More, more, more........

[Mary Thornburgh]

Beautiful photos
Your photos are beautiful Laurel. Really like hear about your life in Ghana.

[Bethan]

Kokrobite!!
Just got back from Big Milly's at Kokrobite (burnt like you) and had a great time, seen you've been to Ada Foah as well- I've just finished my first week in Accra so would be great to know which place you visited you'd really recommend? I also have a blog if you're interested in what this obruni is up to! http://anadventureinaccra.blog.com/

[LERawson]

It's great to hear from someone else who's in Ghana. Other than Ada Foah and Big Milly's I've stayed around Accra. My friends and I love the Art Market, but make sure to go with someone who knows pricing so you don't get ripped off. We also hit up the nightclubs in Osu. We're friends with the owner of Hotgossip. Accra Mall is another favorite to give us a flavor of home.

[LERawson]

It's great to hear from someone else who's in Ghana. Other than Ada Foah and Big Milly's I've stayed around Accra. My friends and I love the Art Market, but make sure to go with someone who knows pricing so you don't get ripped off. We also hit up the nightclubs in Osu. We're friends with the owner of Hotgossip. Accra Mall is another favorite to give us a flavor of home.