Adventure in Senya Beraku and a food exchange

Hi friends and family! Happy almost April-hope springtime is treating you well!

Last weekend we weren't sure what we wanted to do. A bunch of us wanted to go somewhere, but we were not sure where and knew we did not want to be away for too long. After spending Thursday evening browsing our trusty Bradt Ghana travel guides (we have at least 4 in our house), we settled on a little town on page 140-Senya Beraku. We knew we were in for an adventure, but we weren't sure what else to expect. Friday, we took a series of tro-tros to Senya Beraku, ending up there at around 3. We were all so excited to be on an adventure, that everything we saw got oos and ahhs from us. We made our way through the little town looking for the Fort of Good Hope-an old slave castle that a family lives in now and has converted a few rooms into cheap guest rooms. The town itself seemed pretty poor but very welcoming to visitors-a soundtrack of kids yelling "Hallo! Hallo! Hallo! What is your name?" accompanied us the entire way. After dropping our stuff at the castle and checking out our amazing view of the beach below loaded with colorful fishing boats and fishermen working we went out to try to find some food. While talking to some of the crowds of people that came to meet us we met a man named Robert who decided to be our escort for the weekend. He swore at anyone trying to bug us and led us to a chop bar (places everywhere selling basic Ghanaian meals) where we had chicken and rice and beer and he told us about the Liberia (he is a Liberian who moved to Ghana in 1990 because of the war). He invited us to join him and the community at the funeral they were holding that night for a 95 year old town elder. We went back to the castle-marvelling at how it was a place of such horrible things but how at the same time it was such a relaxed hang-out place for people in Senya Beraku-many came and watched the stars on dates there while we stayed there. Later in the night Robert came and took us to the funeral. It was really unlike anything I'd experienced- we walked around the body-which was decorated and clothed on a bed in a small room, and we shook hands with everyone while Robert forced one of the girls to take pictures. We left the room quickly and less than 2 minutes later the power went out (something that happens very frequently here). We all grabbed each other-what if that had happened when we were in the room with the dead town elder!? We walked home holding hands-we were a bit freaked out with the power out even though everyone was out in the street and Robert was watching over us. We decided we wanted to go for a nighttime dip on the calm beach under the castle. We had asked Robert and a few others about its safety, and after being taught what to do should we meet the witch that comes out after midnight (we made sure we went down well before then), we were pointed in the right direction by the hostel manager. After a short wading cut very short by our nervous hostel manager being weirded out by our nighttime swimming we went to bed to try to get through the night in the almost certainly haunted castle. We were fine in the morning, though, when we woke up early to watch the sunrise, walked around the fishing boats (we even got invited to go out with them, but 8 hours on a little boat in the sun did not sound that appealing) and went to a nearby town to use a nice hotel beach to swim and relax and indulge in a delicious desert (that we could not help but have for lunch) called angel kiss-battered fried pineapples with cinnamon, sugar and ice cream! All in all it was a fantastic trip-and all the more fun because we did not know what to expect!

When we got back on Sunday we went to the house of a neighborhood family we have befriended for Fufu-probably the most popular Ghanaian dish. They let us pound the Fufu (which I think is mostly yams or cassava) and then laughed as we all tries to eat the dish (which has the fufu in a light soup with all kinds of meat) properly. It was in a big dish and we were all supposed to use scissor-like motions to eat the food, but I was awful at it and mostly just made a mess! The dish was pretty good-not as spicy as most food here! The whole family really welcomed us and were so kind and the father even said, "You are a stranger only to the food." It was so sweet I almost cried. We invited them over for dinner this Sunday, where we made them meatballs (complete with our own hand-ground beef, as the local butcher only would give us slabs) and spaghetti. They were just as gracious and sweet-but like us couldn't quite finish the food, although they said they liked it! Mostly it was just fun to have the family over and talk more and watch the kids sing and appreciate the relationship we've made with them.

Other than that I've just been keeping up with my routine of exploring my area, going to classes and dance and drumming and tutoring the kids in Kissemam. Today I even started weaving a basket with the woman who weaves with the kids to raise money for the program. Monday was our first big rainstorm and I wasn't expecting it! I had to run through it when I got out of class and got to the International Programs Office soaking wet and ridiculous-looking and all the Ghanaians thought I was nuts (no one else had dared go outside, but I did not realize how rainy it was). In Kissemam there was some flooding, and it was interesting to hear how the community dealt with it-replacing the planks of wood used as bridges that were washed away, saving chickens, standing in flooded rooms until the water goes low enough to sit. It seems like these hardships are common place for them-in the US it'd be a big deal!

I've also been loving hearing from more and more folks from home and am really looking forward to seeing how being here makes things better or different for me at home.
Hope all is well and happy almost Pesach to anyone celebrating! We'll be having a seder here too!
Micaela