No Lights, No Problem

At the risk of sounding ignorant, I had no clue that life could still go on in the absence of electricity.  But here in Ghana, the motto might as well be "No Lights, No Problem."  Aside from the intermittent power outages that plague a lot of developing countries, there was a complete power outage last night...unbeknownst to me because my hotel has a generator.

I was invited to a party by my new found friend from the hotel Kate whose cousin Wilhelmina's fiance Nortey was having a late night bachelor party.  Kate is a hardworking single (if having three boyfriends counts as being single) Ghana girl who's my age and loves to party, so I was game.  Just a side note: The people at my hotel are AMAZING - the owners Donna and Victor, assistant Kate, cook Janet, and my new friends Ann and Roland from Sweden are the BEST! 

When she came back to the hotel to pick me up, I was shocked to step outside the gate to pitch darkness.  So I played it cool, like I always walk down pitch black gravely and uneven roads in Africa with party clothes on.  HA!  Her cousin's house was just a couple blocks away and once we arrived, the party was in FULL SWING, with tons of Ghanaian boys "behaving badly."  And I put that in quotes because this was the most tame bachelor party I'd ever seen, with a bunch of guys just standing around in the street, drinking, listening to music pumping from a car radio, dancing and acting silly.

But one thing is true...it was a PARTY...in the pitch dark (the moon was hanging out behind a cloud)...and magically about 10 minutes in, I actually could see very clearly as if the lights were on.  It was the best time EVER (and not because I got like three marriage proposals) but because everyone acted like I was a cousin or friend they just hadn't seen in a LONGGGG time and were all perfect gentlemen!  And all the single guys (which most of them were) were hellbent on dodging marriage and children well into their 30s...as the 31-year-old best man Niiododua put it "Man, that's suicide!"  HA!

After hopping up to Joker's for a late night snack (it's a very hip club a little further up the dark dark street where the women had weaves down their backs, short skirts and platform heels like any club in D.C.), we walked back to the hotel where Donna was waiting for me in her robe at 2 a.m. (see mama, I have a mama over here in Ghana so no need to worry about me).  HA!  Another side note, people in Ghana LOVE them some Jesus, especially around Christmas time.  The people in the church next door sang and praised the Lord from about 6 p.m. until 3 a.m. - they know how to give God his props like noone I've ever seen!  =)

Overall, I'm falling deeper and deeper in love with Ghana and its people - I was treated like part of the family and I knew coming to Ghana would be that way.  That was just my first day (admittedly I'm late putting this story up), I'll tell you all about my fun out in Accra today with Ann and Roland.

 The Tamest Bachelor Party Ever

 Me giving someone the "Ghana Grip"

 Kate and her older sister Agnes (who said she cooks good Mexican food)