Odds and Ends

No real trip this weekend, but here’s a hodge-podge of some other stuff I’ve been up to (sorry, no pictures this time. To make up for it I’ll try to post some pictures of where I live and work next week).

1. Trade Hub Retreat

Monday and Tuesday of last week I got to live in luxury for a bit at a USAID retreat. ACA was founded and is still supported by their trade hub based in Accra, and this was their annual work planning retreat. It was held in at this beautiful hotel in Akosombo on Lake Volta (sadly I did not have a chance to visit with my friend Emmanuel (see two blog posts ago)).  I had a really nice time, although it’s hard to say if this was because:

1. I got to meet lots of incredibly interesting people from all over and learn about all the exciting work they’re doing to promote African exports

OR

2. I had a hot shower for the first time since arriving in Ghana.

Oh, who am I kidding, it’s totally number 2.

One night of the retreat we went on a “dinner boat ride” on Lake Volta. The only way I can describe it is to point people to The Office episode “Booze Cruise.” Apparently even in Africa business parties on boats are identical, complete with hysterically awkward dancing and lots of bad management/boat puns. Despite this all though it was actually a ton of fun.

2. Salsa

So one of the big trends in Accra at the moment (I don’t really know how recent this is) is salsa. A bunch of places hold “salsa nights” and people get very very into it. I hadn’t yet experienced this yet so on Wednesday night I went with a few friends to salsa night at the Coconut Grove Hotel. It was held outside by the pool and there had to be over a hundred Ghanaians there, all there to learn salsa. Or not even to learn, since they were all crazy good. The night starts with these line dances. They don’t try to teach you – you just follow along. They start off easy but get SUPER complicated – and of course, all the Ghanaians there seem to just KNOW them (just like the Tro-Tro system, really). I felt right out of the scene in the beginning of Dirty Dancing when Baby is dancing in the line super badly, pre-Patrick Swayze. It was very funny though. Then there is couple dancing. Despite clearly having no idea what we were doing, it’s just the truth that as white girls we had no shortage of partners. There was something really fun about be twirled around to fun music though – I can definitely see the appeal of the whole salsa night thing.

3. Play at the National Theatre

This weekend, I went back to my theater-loving roots and saw a play at the National Theater of Ghana. It was a comedy called “Run for my Wife” that was an adaptation of a British play for Ghanaian audiences. I had super low expectations but it was fantastic. It was about this guy with two wives who don’t know about each other until he saves this old woman and becomes this hero and then everything spirals out of control. So nothing too complex but I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. The actors were some of the most famous Ghanaian actors and they were very talented with great comedic timing. It was very different than seeing a show in the US though – for one thing, the audience is a lot louder, calling things out to the actors and screaming, which actually really contributed to the mood. The whole "no pictures at the theater" thing is also non-existent in Ghana apparently, since people were snapping photos with their cameras and phones the whole time. They also projected commercials onto the walls of the theater before the play began, and during intermission Tigo (the mobile phone company who was sponsoring the play - mobile phone companies sponsor everything in Ghana) held a raffle for new phones. Can you imagine if Broadway did either of those things? But with their money troubles maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea. 

4. My name

So this is a little different but Cordelia from PiAf left a comment on my last post with the “Grace Heals Sin Sickness” sign asking how people respond to my name. Well, Grace is an INCREDIBLY common Ghanaian name actually, so they’re very familiar with it. They’re more surprised that a white person can be named Grace (a cab driver once asked me for a whole ride what my “American” name was, thinking Grace was a Ghanaian name I’d adopted while here). Seriously though, was I made for this country or what?

People who actually know me here are also confused by the fact that I’m not particularly religious, since here Grace is a very religious name. The phrase “By the Grace of God” is EVERYWHERE. Esther, a friend of mine who works at the spot (what they call little outdoor bars) in front of my house (remind me to write more about Esther at some point. She is what they call a “character”) attributes literally everything to “the Grace of God.” “Esther, how was your day?” I’ll ask. “Good, by the Grace of God.” “Esther is your head still hurting you?” “No, by the Grace of God.” “Esther do you think it’s going to rain today?” “By the Grace of God no.” You get the idea.

So that’s about it!