One thing I must insist on highlighting is the way in which we celebrated two extremely important events; the days of birth for both myself and Canada.
The day we arrived in Ghana was June 29th, also my 23rd birthday. At first we were quite tired after a long term of travel and were not going to plan anything spectacular, especially since we had just arrived and were unaware of where to go.
Lucky for us we ran into former jhr intern and current freelancer with the Toronto Star Jessica McDiarmid, who was very familiar with Accra and was willing to show us the ropes. We made our way to Tawala, a beach side bar with straw tiki huts and tables in the sand. Every Wednesday is Reggae night and so the place was surrounded with the beats of musical heroes such as Bob Marley and Lee Perry. We drank Ghanaian beer and watched the locals gather around campfires made on the ocean's sand.
As the evening passed we were introduced to the local gin in celebration of the festivities. Although quite tasty, many compare it to a state of petrol.. let's just say it can be a little potent. Our crowd had grown and more locals had joined us, a good friend and jhr colleague Megan Ainscow, who will be travelling north of Accra to the city of Tamale to work at Diamond FM radio, thought it would be a great idea to restate the fact that it was my birthday. As I was sitting down a Ghanaian named Thomas reached across the table, for what I thought, was to cheers. To my surprise, beer started tipping out of his glass and onto my lap. Small at first, then a little more, and then a bit in my hair... Silly me, I thought he was simply intoxicated and failing at a toast so I stood up to help steady his glass. This is when the remaining content fell directly over my head and soaked my entire upper body. As the local crowd cheered and clapped, I saw the jaws of the interns drop and heard, “Thomas, no!! She's new!”
This is when I learned the local birthday ritual of pouring any liquid content over the head of the birthday girl or boy. Soaked and sticky, I still laughed. It was an interesting welcome to Ghana.
As the night continued the music got louder and the crowd grew larger. The tide moved in and began grabbing at our feet and the legs of our tables and chairs. Before we knew it we were dancing with our feet in the Ocean. It was a fantastic birthday celebration and great first impression of what the next six months in Accra hold in store.
Cheryl, Michelle and Megan. New jhr interns in Ghana.
Aftermath of being covered in beer. Sticky but smiling.
Aftermath of being covered in beer. Sticky but smiling.
Celebrating my 23rd birthday with new friends at Tawala Beach, Accra, Ghana.
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