In a blink of an eye and voila... it's my fourth week in Accra, Ghana. I still find it unbelievable that I managed to travel to two different places (Wli Falls and Winneba) for less than 150 Ghana Cedis (roughly the same as SGD) during the second and third weekend here. And the experience has been awesome. Never in my life have I traveled with such an international mix of people - Dicky from Holland, MariaNO from Mexico, Lydia from Canada and Chris from Poland. Crazy .. but nice people. The 3 hour climb up to the upper Wli Falls with them was challenging, but also fun because you get to see all their 'color' coming out when they are out of stamina. Amazingly enough, I was the fastest person to climb up the steep slopes. I think it's all thanks to the staircase climbing with Jono (Big hug to sis!)
The waterfalls was splendid. There was no one present, only us... so it really felt like our private space. And thank God I bought a waterproof camera so we were able to take pictures in the waterfall. (Pics on facebook) And since no one had access to the internet or any other form of entertainment, we end up playing drinking games (with cards, palm wine and gin). I am quite ashamed to say that I was the only one to get wasted - enough to make me laugh, sing, puke my guts out, cry and yell out 'Fuck you guys.. I hate you for making me drunk.' Oh, the feeling was just horrible. But I'm happy that they took good care of me, making sure I get the alcohol out of my system and guiding me back to my room. Therefore, I was quite surprised that I did not wake up with a hangover at all. In fact, I have never experienced any hangover in my life before - only a slight dehydration. And of course, they were laughing so hard about my drunken state over breakfast and telling me there's more to come.
They were right. We went to Duplex the following Thursday (with Brenda) but I was glad that I did not get myself intoxicated. It was nice that I bumped into Dave and Desmond and their group (Benedict's contact) at Duplex. They were the first group outside AIESEC that I went out to meet by myself in Accra. So happy to see them.
Then we went to Champs (This club- karaoke place) for Lisa's farewell. I drank only the housepour (Vodka Orange) which tasted like 100% OJ and left with Mario and Lisa's two friends from Germany. Too bad we didn't stay long enough to see Dicky and his friend, Nillis get drunk over the microphone. Damm, we could only contend ourself with the details from Canni zzarra.
The weekend at Winneba was a fantastic one, chilling out at a beach. I went with Mario, Dicky and his friend, Nillis who was staying for the weekend in Accra. Never have I traveled with three guys (two of them blonde) before. Needless to say, we obroonis were attracting plenty of attention from the locals. We were accompanied by locals wherever we go. I almost felt embarrassed to strip to my one piece bathing suit with all of them staring at me. Dicky and Nillis played with the local boys in the water. Honestly, I wanted to soak and play with the water too, but I was firstly more concern about our belongings that they do not get stolen (even though Mario was with me) and secondly, I realize that I would attract a whole lot of unwanted attention and company if I were to play in the water as well. (Too bad I'm no social butterfly that day). Still it was fun eating grilled sausages with powered spice and watching the people dance and grovel to Ghanaian music beats.
The taxi ride back to Accra was hell though. It's no fun stuck in small car, sandwiched between two sweaty guys and breathing exhaust gas in a massive jam that lasted 45 minutes. Thank God for the Singapore Government - really... After which, I made my way to the airport to join former capitalgroup interns, Aqua and Romain to send Lisa off. I was supposed to go back home but I ended up staying over with Aqua in Romain's house, which is like the best expatriate house ever. Every room was decorated differently and were fully equipped with air-conditioners. There were proper toilets and a designer kitchen. I had the best sleep there and chatted with Aqua quite a bit in the morning over her experience in Capital group.
Came back home on Sunday and I was refreshed after a good shower. I waited for the toner to arrive for the whole afternoon but it didn't (It came the following Wednesday). However, I made good use of my afternoon by finishing up most of the mentoring program slides. In the evening, went with the guys to Frankies for dinner. I found the milkshake delicious, mainly because I haven't tasted any form of dessert for ages, but it is expensive.
I will be going on a business trip - my first business trip - to Tarkwa, a mining town for training with the Chief and my colleague on the 23rd of May and I will be away for 2 whole weeks. Gawd... Am kind of excited to gain the experience but at the same time I will miss my newfound friends in Accra. I mean half the fun of travelling lies with the fact that one has good company. But I've learnt that time flies very quickly here so I'll be back before I know it.
That's all for now... Rainy season's here and it's effing cold when I take a shower because there's no heater. -_____-
