We changed into some of her clothes and off we went to brunch, which was really good. I originally ordered the fruit salad, but they were all out, so I settled for a smoothie called "Avocado Delite" and a banana pancake type thing, which was more banana-y than flour-y. Both were awesome. The smoothie was blended avocado, strawberries, lemon, and honey. I'll definitely try to recreate it when I return home to the VitaMix.
Still waiting for the time to pick up our bags, we headed out to the grocery store to pick up some ingredients for the party tonight. The grocery store was stocked full of a lot of Western stuff, including a head of broccoli for about $18 USD and a Venus razor kit for 70 Ghana Cedi (1C = 0.65 USD). We also visited the Global Mamas store, which was beautiful! So full of color. It's a good thing we weren't able to get our money changed today, because between the grocery store and the Global Mamas store, I'm pretty sure I would have spent it all.
After debating the best way to approach the bag situtation, we decided to just head over there ourselves. Dave and Renae weren't confident we would actually get a call as promised when the bags arrived. Cliff, Erin, and I headed out in a taxi - our first Ghanaian taxi experience. Since this is the rainy season in Ghana, we have been hit with a few quick rain showers. It just so happens that we were heading to the airport during one of these showers. This would have been all fine and good, save for the fact that our taxi did not have working windshield wipers. Although I was initially concerned, the driver compensated by driving with his head out the window, and occasionally stopping at a light to get out of the car and wipe the windshield with a cloth. Clearly, this wasn't his first rodeo.
Right before we reached the airport, Erin and I realized we left the Reclaim Baggage forms back at the house. Blame it on the jetlag? Thankfully, Dave, Renae, and Ben were not far behind us, and got the word to bring them. We went in anyway, and saw our bags right away in a room with about 100 bags along with a heaping pile of strollers that I have a feeling have been there a while. Although we couldn't leave without the reclaim forms, we were able to grab our bags and get the process started. Grabbing those bags felt like being reunited with an old friend, even though barely 40 hours had passed since saying goodbye to them in Pittsburgh. At first, Dave and Renae worried we might have some problems getting our bags through customs without paying a fine. We both had a whole bag full of commercial looking items - Erin with fabric and things for Global Mamas, and I with instruments for the school. Thankfully, we had a pretty laid back crew (I'm convinced that I warmed them up by speaking some Twi - they were pretty impressed!), who did not give us a hard time or ask for any money. Just as we got our bags weighed, checked and zipped back up, Dave showed up with the tickets. We said goodbye and were on our way.
This evening, we went to Dave's friend Eric's house for a party. It started at 4, so we piled our bags in the car and left from there. However, we had five adults, Ben in his car seat, three scuba tanks, one cooler, and four nearly 50lb bags, so finding a seat for everyone was just unrealistic. Dave ended up squeezing in the back with the bags, Erin and I held my Army duffle on our laps, and we started the 30ish minute ride over to Tema for the party.
We tumbled out of the car upon arrival and headed into the house. Packed full of people, the kids hung out in the front, driving cars and trucks between the legs of the adults. In the room behind the kitchen (we'll say the garage for lack of a better word), all the men were huddled around a huge kettle. Although there were just too many characters to describe in one post, suffice it to say, there were too many cooks in that kitchen. Slowly, the contents started to fill the kettle - corn, potatoes, sausage, and eventually shrimp went into the pot. We all sat down with a few beers and tried not to get our faces too close to the kettle - for both the sake of our eyebrows and our noses... those spices had a way of clearing the sinuses. One of the crabs tried to make a run for it, scuttling across the table and finally onto the floor, only to be snatched up by Dave who said, "Hey these things don't have any claws." Famous last words... But actually, he was right. Just when the meal was about finished, Renae and I headed across the street to a small store to see what vegan friendly items we could come up with. We returned to the fiesta with a loaf of bread and some peanut butter, just in time to sit down to eat. We stayed a while and headed back to Accra just when the kids were all getting cranky and tired. I myself fell asleep in the car on the way back.
Tomorrow we will head over to Cape Coast around lunchtime. I hope to get my cell phone set up soon and I might even get a small internet modem USB thingy (yes, those are technical terms) that would allow me to have internet anywhere. None of this is official yet, so we'll see. In the meantime, I hope to have pictures up soon, either here or on Facebook. The connection isn't the fastest!
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