Texas Girl Takes on the World: Ghana: The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Well, it’s Christmas Day and I sat on the balcony in front of my room for the last time this morning. Every morning since I’ve been here, I have sat on that balcony looking out over the little shanty town and just beyond to the sea that runs into the sky. The breeze in this spot is unbelievable and I usually end my day writing and listening to music in this same spot until the bats and mosquitoes run me back into my room.

Tomorrow, I’m leaving Accra to go to Cape Coast in the Central Region and Kumasi in the Ashanti region. I have fallen in love with my new family, this sea, that breeze and will always remember these days at La Paradise Inn as some of the happiest of my life. While I will be back in Accra for one day on my way back to the States, the times I’ve had over these last few days will stay with me always.

Today, I received the best Christmas gifts ever – hot water, the beach and a farewell dinner that I will never forget.

About the water. Since I arrived a week ago, I have yet to get the hot water in my shower to work no matter the amount of tinkering from the hotel workers. While the water hasn’t been frigid, it’s not been warm - best SAT word I can think of is "tepid." But it’s no big deal really since Ghana is so hot. Well, today when I turned on the nozzle out poured the most wonderful, warm water ever. I showered like it was 1999 ya’ll! It’s such a small thing that I take for granted in the States but one of the most precious gifts I have ever received on Christmas.

The next is the beach. I brought in Christmas dancing and partying on Tawala Beach screaming “Merry Christmas” at the top of my lungs into the sky at midnight. Me, Donna, Victor, Kate and a few others all went down to Tawala beach around 11:30 to listen to music, drink and usher Christmas in the right way. I have never spent Christmas on a beach and even if I do it every Christmas until the coming of the lord, it will never be this way again.

Last is our Christmas/farewell dinner. I want to cry thinking about how wonderful Donna, Victor, Ann, Roland, Kate and newlyweds Lola and Ayo from Nigeria have been. I know I will be friends with Kate, Ann and Lola forever because we cliqued like we’d known each other our entire lives. They’re all my sisters (and I just met Lola yesterday!) We all gathered in our usual dinner spot, the cabana by the pool, for a wonderful dinner of guinea fowl and potatoes, a game of “Guess that Tune”, telling jokes, talking sports, telling tales of getting beaten as children and our love and respect for our parents because of it and just enjoying our last day together before everyone checks out of Paradise tomorrow and goes their separate ways.

But we all have the precious gift that we have found in each other. Tonight’s dinner had people from Italy (Victor), the UK (Donna), Africa (Lola and Ayo), America (Me) and Sweden (Ann and Roland) and we were all speaking one language. It’s more than amazing and I will miss this place and these people. Farewell Donna, Victor, Kate, Nenekwame, Ann, Roland, Lola and Ayo – much love.

But, there’s no time for tears because I’m off to other adventures in Africa first thing in the morning. Merry Christmas ya'll, I hope you had a wonderful day filled with gifts that can’t be bought from the store and enough love to carry you through to next Christmas and the next. I have to be up in 4 hours...now ya'll KNOW this is about to be a hot mess! HA!