6th of March

Happy Ghana Independence Day!  Today I woke up and watched the Independence Day Parade on the television with Mandy.  It took place at Independence Square in Accra, which is a huge piazza looking place with stadium seating on one side…very cool!  It’s very different than parades we have at home.  The people marching in it were literally marching, and were all dressed in uniform, rather than waving and in everyday clothes.  And they march around the square, rather than in a straight line from one point to another.  The President spoke, but I’m not sure what else happened because I had to go in to the school suddenly to get the money from the drawer for Marian (I was the last to leave the office yesterday, but I didn‘t even bother to check the drawer because she usually takes it when she‘s there…so I guess we both thought the other was going to grab it).

It ended up being an all day affair at the school (I brought my laptop and a change of clothes to play football in because yesterday, Terry and Seth - two teachers - said they’d be going the next day…but I didn’t plan on being there until 6!).  It was actually really fun, although I was sad to leave Mandy and Chichi on a day off.  But yeah…I got to hang out with the kids and stuff (part of the time I was typing up vegan recipes to send to Summer because Natasha has an awesome vegan cookbook…and the kids were thrilled to just get to type on my laptop - like they were waiting in line to type a sentence for me = )…and when we played football, the girls played, too.  And this time it was like a real game on the pitch.  It was so cute!  I didn’t realize how many of them want to play, but don’t get to because it’s always the boys playing.  It seems like they’d just come to terms with the fact that girls don’t play.  And I hope this doesn’t sound like bragging, but it hit me when I was talking to Terry and he said that it was neat to see the girls playing (like it’s never happened before) - I think that seeing me play has helped them to know that girls can play and that they deserve to be out there.  Don’t get me wrong…it was quite frustrating at times.  Some of them weren’t taking it very seriously, and they lacked ball skills and knowledge of the game…but they were trying their darndest and hustling and listening to my coaching…and really improving!  It was so exciting to see!  And the boys who played with us were so cute and so patient (we started out girls against boys…but some of the boys voluntarily put themselves on the girls’ team).

While I was there, Aunty Aggie asked me to watch the kids while she went to the senior high school campus to visit her daughter…so after everyone had collapsed from playing soccer (so I’ve been really bummed that I haven’t gotten any sun, it seems, when I thought I’d be getting super tan in the hot, Africa sun - but today was SO hot…and I actually got color! = ), I still had to stay.  But Terry forgot his key in his house, and his roommate wasn’t gonna be home until like 6, so I got to have a companion to hang out with = )  And of course the kids hung out with us, also, but more for the companionship of our laptops than us…haha = )
When I got home the house smelled SO good!  Mandy had prepared jollof (woot-woot! ; ) and the most delicious chicken wings!  But yeah…I forgot to talk about our meal last night.  She made super rich and creamy mashed potatoes, literally the most juicy chicken breast I’ve ever had (and that’s after only eating dark meat for the past two months…oh my gosh…besides being so delicious it was just so nice to have chicken breast!), and chocolate cake!  It’s funny because the over didn’t bake it well…but I liked it better than chocolate cake because the outside was crisp, like the corners of brownies, and the inside was mushy, like cake batter…so it was the best of both worlds = )  And then we watched Coach Carter…love that movie! (the boys are so fine! ; )

Talk about a perfect ending to a perfect day…my Skype, which has been anything but cooperative, worked for Becca and I to talk for like an hour and a half - it was so wonderful! = )  And so now, even though it’s 12:26 and I was up at 5:38 this morning and 4:48 yesterday, I’m feeling so perky = )  But actually…writing this is making me very tired, so luckily I'm finished writing now.