Ghana be Fun

Back to Africa- again

Well, I have now been back for over a month and still not gotten around to writing anything before now.  I guess I should also look back over the weeks before I left for the summer, but that really was too far away.

I have surprised myself by how much I was looking forward to being back here.  I still don’t think I am feeling about it in terms of being home, but I certainly feel quite settled and sinking back into the groove of life here.

I was looking forward to coming back to Accra for the weather- I am loving the days here at the minute, very little rain, warm, a great breeze, mainly sunny but with a bit of cloudy shade and very little humidity. It is a fantastic time to be outside and to enjoy being here. 

I also enjoyed being able to catch up with all the people here when I returned, and it was down to one of these, Prosper (or Douglas) that I found myself at the Mepe Festival on August 4.  It really was a once in a lifetime experience! Well, for me it was a once in a lifetime trip, it actually happens once a year in the village of Mepe about 60 km outside of Accra.  All the people who come from the village return to their homes, the chiefs of the five main clans are all present and parade through the town dancing, singing and playing music.  It really was a mad throng of people with an incredible vibrancy, joyousness and volume.  Different clans wear different color outfits and one group even seemed to be eating their headdresses, which on closer inspection where created using pineapples. 

I am not sure who found the spectacle more entertaining.  Me being able to watch the parade and be completely surrounded by all the singing, dancing, color, noise and the pushing throng of people or the townspeople who seemed to think I was a real embodiment of one of the evil ghost spirits they were driving away.  Quite near the front, and accompanied by drummers, where two men dressed as white, evil characters- a personification of everything that is bad.  So, to have a real white, ghost, spirit present was a reason for a photograph.  I felt like a minor celebrity as about 50 people whipped out phones and cameras to capture the three of us- two in costume and me.

I am assured that this is a remembrance of the battles they fought to claim and settle the area even before the British appeared on the scene. This is about inter-clan and tribal victory; the colors they wear representing the role their ancestors played in the local history, and nothing to do with the Europeans.  Which makes my presence a little less strange; I’m not sure how much less, but a little less.

Other than this, school has started again and I am loving being back- catching up with everyone and meeting new people, seeing the school grow and develop; but that does mean everything has been busy, busy, busy and weekends have started to fill up and become a time for mundane chores and relaxing.  Then again, nothing here can be mundane… there are always the traffic, the fluctuating power, the interesting smells and the never-ending mosquitoes to keep you on your toes.