Tuesday was Ghana's 50th year of independence. Monday night, a bunch of us went to the Kwame Nkrumah mausoleum to watch the fireworks. We should've have known that they wouldn't go off until an hour after the scheduled time because it is Ghana, and we are running on what is known as "Ghana time." Right when we got into the van to head back home, Justin told us that we were finally allowed into the memorial park and we got there just in time for the reeactment of Kwame Nkrumah's speech and the fireworks. It was beautiful. The atmosphere was filled with such pride and excitement, you could almost reach out your hand and grasp it.
The night didn't have a very happy ending though. We got onto the platform to celebrate and to take pictures, but in a few seconds we were bombard with ten or more men who wouldn't let us get off. Little did we know, our pockets were actually being searched by them. When I finally got down safely, pairs of hands just grabbed at my shit. I was really surprised to see that my bracelet was still on my wrist (those fuckers were fierce). Unfortunately, John got robbed. I really respected his calm approach though. He reminded all of us (we were all pretty shook up) that they are just tangible items, and we were lucky that no one got hurt.I find myself always learning.
The actual day of the independence was good. We all decided to sleep in and watch the parade on TV instead haha. We went to the Trade Fair when vendors from all over Africa come to sell their goods. I bought a lot of cool stuff, and now I have about six dollars to last the weekend :/
So I met Jesse Jackson at the Osu Children's Home because the day I volunteered was also the day he decided to make his donation. I found him very inspiring and really enjoyed the part of his speech when he made all of us repeat positive sayings after him (i.e., I am beautiful, I am somebody, etc etc). This guy who is working on Jesse Jackson's book interviewed me, but I really don't think he is going to include me because I sounded like a complete tool. That's okay.
So Spring break officially begins on Monday although we kicked it off early last night with a birthday party Deborah. It was pretty kick ass.
Many of the kids are going off to Europe. The idea has passed me before. Keith has suggested that I join him and Olsi in Barcelona, and I really did consider it. It was during a time when I needed to just say "fuck it" and do something drastic (because me going to ghana was not drastic enough), and also my scholarship money had finally arrived. Anyhoo, I will be staying in Ghana exploring different regions with some people here. I've decided that this is my time to fully be in Ghana. Europe will just have to wait for another time.
I'm really starting to feel at home (it's possible). I've been thinking a lot about how fast time is flying, and it depresses me when I think about having to say goodbye to the people here. I've really fallen in love with the security guard at the academic center, Mr. Tego. Going home makes me a bit stressful; there is just too much to deal with when I go back home (I will not disclose any of it on blogspot). Well. You can't hide forever.
