Shake Your Groove Thing

Today, Senora and Kristen met in the lobby at 6 am because they could't sleep. We watched the hard workers clean the lobby. Tilley joined us at about 8 o'clock thinking that it was 9 am. Bridget and Shema were in the room panicking thinking it was 9 am also and we had to be at our lessons at 10 am. Senora called the night before for an 8 pm wake up call but neglected to tell the receptionist what room we were in. She said that they have a computer at the desk so that they should know. Well, we did not receive a wake up call and they do not have a computer. We called our trusty driver Samuel to take us to near the American Embassy where we would take our drum and dance lessons. We were to meet near a big tree by a concrete wall.  What an adventure.  Thank God it was a cloudy day or else we would have died. Gifty, the dancer and Nii the drummer met us and bravely proceeded to be our teachers.  The dance we learned was a traditional Accra dance using the Ga language. It was hilarious to see us try to mimic beautiful Gifty.  She moved with such ease and fluidity and we moved like middle age white women.  Once we mastered the dance we moved into learning the drums. After finally learning how to call and respond, Nii taught us the introduction and an ostinato pattern for the dance movements. After practicing for nearly an hour it was time to put it all together. Senora and Tilley took the drum parts along with Nii and Kristen, Amy, Bridget and Gifty busted a move. Don't worry this part is all on video soon to be on Facebook. You have to see it to believe it!  Lunch was at Roots Restaurant on a lovely patio under the trees.  Bridget and Kristen got their pizza fix.  Shema and Senora had red red, a bean and chili dish and Tilley was brave with her paw paw in light goat soup, eaten Ghana style with her hands.  We then set out on foot to find a bank a few blocks away.  An hour later we were still walking and looking for the elusive bank.  Senora gave up and found a chair in the shade and made friends with some locals.  We finally called Samuel to save us and he drove us to a bank where we replenished our funds.  Home at last to a well deserved nap.

Noticing and wonderings.......

It is very rare to spot someone over the age of 50
The sun sets at 6 pm
All the school kids wear uniforms
Everyone is extremely friendly
As we walk many we turn many heads
Every taxi beeps at us
No purses or backpacks, everything is carried on their heads
We have not seen anyone smoking ( the call tabacco a narcotic)
Beach front property really doesn't mean anything. Nobody uses it.
The tro tro is always full
Everyone speaks English and their tribal language
Lizards meet us for breakfast every morning
All school girls have short hair
We have heard mostly American music in restaurants and bars

How much do the ladies that carry babanas on their heads make in one day.
Who lives behind the big houses with walls and barbed wire and what do they do?
How do the men wear long sleeves and suit coats and they don't even look hot.

Tilley, Bridget, and burg went for a walk on the beach after we posted our noticing and wonderings. We ran into a Ghanaian who was working out on the beach. He came running up to us and asked Bridget to take a picture with his phone with Kristen. His name was Sunday and he was training for soccer.  We walked along the beach and were amazed at how much trash was washed up on the beach. After our walk we took a shower and decided to go out to dinner at Ryan's Irish pub. We took a cab there and wow this was an experience. We were close to hitting a cart that was being pulled in the middle of the road. We are really not sure what our driver could actually see because his windshield was cracked foggy and filthy.  We were dropped off in OSU and we had to look for Ryan's Irish pub. We ended up eating there and we found out from the owner that it is the only Irish pub in west Africa. It was very pricy but had the best bathroom that we have Used in accra. There were chocolate bars (twix, snickers) on the menu; however none were actually available. We shared Fish and Chips and Cottage Pie aka Shepherds Pie. Both were delicious but crazy expensive. We also shared Sticky Toffee Pudding, which was also tasty. After  all visited the bathroom we left the restaurant, and ran into a taxi who wanted 6 cedi to drive us home,we are learning to negotiate and told him Kwame only charged us 4 cedi. We don't know who Kwame is. Haha. He accepted and drove us home only going 5 mph the whole time. We learned tips for getting to Cape Coast on Friday and learned his name is Foster. We are now back watching videos of our dance skills and having some more Star while Señora cuddles with Tilley and her socks. Sweet Dreams!

The Ghana Girls :-)

Check out our drumming and dancing video

http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=JWhL10N4RcE&feature=YouTube_gdata_player.