Mepa wo kyew...I've been busy!

Greetings all,

Sorry for the long delay in posting!
Since my last post I've been super busy finishing up classes, I went on a peace march, and Andy has been visiting since Nov. 16th and we've attended a wedding ceremony, church, etc. and I've had three exams since Wednesday. Basically, it's been a little crazy here!

Jessalyn and I participated in a peace march with our internship at SISS on Nov. 15th. It was a march with our past and current trainees through Agbogbloshie, Jamestown, and into Accra...a 3 hour march in the hot Ghanaian afternoon sun. Luckily, it was really fun and worth the ridiculous sunburn I got. Once again my family questioned whether or not I enjoy getting sunburned haha...not really...I'm just too white..
The march was fun and filled with laughs and dancing with many of our trainees. It was great to see the trainees proudly going through their communities and encouraging a peaceful time throughout the upcoming elections.

This is one of my favorite students, Matilda. She reminds me a lot of myself  which can be good or bad depending on the circumstances...look out world!

This is a pic of some of the trainees and the signs we carried.

Then Andy flew into Ghana on Nov. 16th. Chairman and I picked him up from the airport after a long day of family harassing Tera time haha...luckily just enough to keep my family at home satisfied. He had a dinner of rice and stew and of course a beer with my parents. The girls in the house were giddy with excitement. The first full day he was here we immersed him into the Ghanaian culture by going to a traditional wedding ceremony for my cousin. The groom was oburoni so my family represented his and we had to fully participate in the ceremonies..unfortunately we were two hours late so the  bride's family decided to fine us. There's also a lot of bargaining between the two families and of course some dancing, as to be expected. The girls in my family represented well as we danced our butts off and are probably featured quite prominently in the wedding videos haha

Here's a pic of the bride and groom. They met in the UK when he worked as an IT  guy and he had to fix her computer. Because his family is in the UK and my family stepped in for the ceremony which was video recorded for his family back home.

To signify the traditional joining of the two families, the oldest married woman from each  family shares a bottle of wine to seal the deal..not too shabby.

My four-year-old niece, Nuna, is staying with us and keeps us on our toes.. at one point at the wedding she stole my camera..this is what happened:

Oh, hi Nuna..
also, I think this may be one of my favorite pictures ever..

That night we went out with a few of my friends and brother, Remi, barhopping in the area. We found a bar that now has an air hockey table and the motorcycle video game thing.

Anna and I

Here's a pic of Remi and Andrew battling it out...Remi has never played before..

Tuesday, we decided to make tacos for my family...a very expensive and lengthy venture in Ghana. However, the family loved that we cooked for them and really loved the guacamole...my host dad wasn't too sure about the taco and actually unrolled it when I handed it to him because he didn't understand the point of the shell haha but overall it went well. Benedicta even acted as our advertising person by making a sign for Andrew and Tera's Special and walked around the house letting everyone know what was on the special menu for the evening. Drinks were poured and laughs were had over dinner until I was forced to go and study for my two exams and paper that was due on Wednesday and Thursday...boo for school!

Tera and Andrew's Special with our taco meat...haha Andy said my tastebuds must have changed because I insisted that we keep adding more seasoning and peppers because it didn't taste like anything haha..also don't mind the lovely shine from a hard day's work..

Thursday, CIEE had a Thanksgiving dinner for us. Unfortunately, Andy was sick and couldn't join us but it was still a good time. There was turkey, chicken, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, spaghetti, salad, rice, and of course guacamole (?). On the way home our program director gave the homestays a ride home. Unfortunately, we were pulled over by the police at the police barrier on my road for having an "overloaded" car...there were four small American girls in the backseat of his huge SUV. We tried to solve the situation but the officer just wanted a bribe..surprise..since there were white people in a nice SUV he must be rich! Overall, it was a fun evening with friends and I brought Andy back some apple crisp so he didn't totally miss out on one of the U.S.'s best holidays.

Most of the homestay group in our Ghanaian garb on Thanksgiving :)

These are just a few of the many things that have been happening in the last week or so and Andy and I are leaving to travel to the Volta Region for a few days starting tomorrow since he leaves on Friday. I can't believe I only have 3.5 weeks left!! I can't even imagine what the snow feels like even though my mom showed some newly fallen snow on our deck this morning! 

Till next time!