The weekend I could never forget

Friday:

Picture the greenest most beautiful scenery you can imagine, with hills and beautiful mountains in the background and you still wouldn't be able to obtain the majestic view that was the Kakum national park. It was absolutely beautiful. I felt so insignificant in the lands, I've seen plenty of forests but there was something about this park that just screamed beauty. I fell in love with Ghana at that moment and my crappy week suddenly was left in the past. As we went through the canopy walk, I was extremely happy. I love heights. I love being in the air, up high above everything else. It was so beautiful. If you check out my Facebook picture, you can see a few of the shots I took of the canopy and how high it was. The air felt cleaner, I felt freer, I cant explain the feeling. It was just incredible. After the canopy walk we walked onto a nature trail where they explained a lot of the local foods and plants that grew around the park. It was breathtaking. The pictures I took honestly didn't do it justice. 

After that we went to lunch at a local hotel and I had the burger, which is actually really yummy. Usually when we go out I have more American styled food because I get plenty of Ghanian food at home haha. After we were all so exhausted. I stayed awake long enough to notice that the rainy season had definitely come to Ghana because it blew a huge tree branch onto part of the road. we arrived at the ProWorld house, and I meant to leave to go home but instead I passed out on the couch and stayed there until about 5:30. I left the house, home in my mind. Well instead I stopped by the local seamstress to check out some bags. We call her the ProWorld seamstress because she gets most of her business from the volunteers and she really caters to us and gives us way better prices. I wanted just a bag originally but she had some beautiful cloth that I fell in love with, and she suggested a dress with it. Then she'd had another fabric that I saw and I asked if she could make it in a skirt! She said she'd figure it out for me and I was so excited. Then I realized I was just over 45 cedis and I only had 20s on me so I decided to get a bag, three wallets for my sisters back home and some cute jewelry. 60 cedis later I walked away thinking about how beautiful those fabrics were going to look. I was disappointed in myself though because I knew I had to leave Aubra by 6 so that I could go out with a local I met, but I ended up not being able to because I didn't get home until it was already dark and like I said before going out alone is just not smart. Did I mention how much I love USA showers? I have a shower at my house but it's freezing water and even after a long day, I still would rather a scalding pressured shower than a cold, soft shower haha. But I get through it all the same, it's nice if you don't think about how cold it is. That night I had a cute photo shoot with my homestay family. Theyre so cute. I love spending time with them. They remind me of my amazing family back home. So many little kids. Even baby Olivia is precious, though I'll admit her teething gets annoying at time haha. The girls names are Aaquaba, Maud, Charlotte and Olivia. Theyre all under 10 and make me so happy. I tried hard but I totally have a favorite: Little Charlotte is 5 and will go to school in the fall and I just love her. She has an attitude on her but she and I laugh about everything. Aaquaba is the oldest at 10, Maud is 8, and Olivia will be 1 in a week. They remind me of a lot of my childhood haha, so much fun to hang out with but it's always nice to have a room to get away. 

Saturday: 

Well Saturday started out kinda crappy because my taxi driver stole my wallet. There's a story with it but it still annoys me and even though there was about 100 cedis in there that I was going to buy a good mothers day present for my homestay mother, its just money... Haha right??? Plus he probably needed more than I dId. Well onward, Saturday we went to learn about the slave trade that was exported from Ghana through a local place (in my Facebook photos) and we walked without shoes to understand the path that the slaves had to walk, and looked through parts where slaves were traded by their own village chiefs. It was really sad. 

The next place we went was the Castle tour, (back where we had lunch on orientation day). It was interesting and just an emotional day. To this day it's hard to think that people could ever force others to believe that they weren't equal. It gets me so mad just thinking about it, especially when there are people even today that think they're better than others. Gah, well that's life don't sweat the small stuff is what my dad says. So we had lunch at the castle again and this time I had a tuna sandwich that was sooooooo good. I don't like any other fish they have here because usually it has the eyes attached but this one is good. After we went back to the ProWorld house I took forever to upload photos but it was overall successful and before I left to go home a fellow volunteer invited me to go hang out with everyone Sunday at the beach, I was def about that life and agreed!! I left for home and was happy to just relax and hang with my girls. I love hanging out with this family. They are seriously amazing and just so giving. I love this family like crazy. I told my momma that I'd be going to the beach the next day and she just said be careful, hahaha she already knows me so well. 

Sunday: 

Well Sunday was mothers day, and though I didn't get Evelyn anything because I still didn't have money to I made her breakfast while the girls were off at church. After, I left to go to Abura to go to hang out with the fellow volunteers until we left to go to the beach. They're a brilliant bunch and it makes me proud to know that there is still a group of dedicated intelligent individuals who care about the world in my generation. Well we all met Ang's homestay family and Hannah's as well up on the PRT. The PRT is the "party roof top" no really it is. It's this section above a concrete stand that goes all over Ang's house and has a bench, a few chairs and an area for a bonfire if needed. It's actually pretty cool, and you can see the streets of Abura from it. We waited, and waited, and waited some more for the boys and Tarra's homestay family to arrive then we left in a taxi with out Sam, Brown and all the other guys, I guess they had a lot of work to do for the PRT since there was to be a party that night. 

We went to Mables Table which is right on the beach, and meant to have a quick lunch then head over to the Elmina beach but we took forever to order, then Tarras family took forever to come sit, and then the boys took hours to even arrive. Like I said they were getting a tent for the PRT, but we were still upset because we wanted to be back earlier, but we all just kept going with the flow anyway. We had a good time and I got to know Sam and the boys a lot better. They're a good group. We all took taxis back and Sam was nice enough to take me straight to my house since it was on the way, but by himself so no one else had to pay for me. I got out and promised Id go to the PRT later! 

I arrived home to my beautiful sisters jumping on me and giving me hugs and kisses. Haha you would think I hadn't seen them in forever, I have to admit its one of the best part of coming home to this house. We made dinner together for mothers day, but I didn't eat which was sad because she made fufu and I still have yet to have fufu!! I made eggs for myself so I could get ready to go to the PRT. The neighbor was nice enough to find me a ride straight to the PRT house via his bible study friends. Everyone is seriously so friendly here: A reminder that humanity is still giving I suppose. It was nice to ride in a car that had air conditioning too hah. Well I arrived at the PRT after dark so I knew I had to lay on the bug spray and before I knew it things were in full swing and we were all dancing and having a blast. I became official camera lady after I was getting too sweaty haha. We all were having a good time, but it was getting late for me (around 1030 and I knew I had to be up early so I left and Brown was nice enough to take me in a drop taxi right to my door and even paid for it. Like I said that group was really nice. 

Overall a wonderful weekend!! So happy to be in Ghana :) they have amazing hospitality here!!