we were fortunate to have gone to the office on the friday before we officially started, because it was the final day for some of the summer volunteers. it was a great chance to meet the last group who were incredibly nice and invited us to all their farewell activities and weekend plans. the weekend began on friday night with the pan-african street dance championships. it was one of the most surreal experiences i have ever had. think 'americas next dance crew' meets the world cup in africa. a huge convention centre fitted with stadium seats and a judges table... there was a dj and the teams wore their national flags as outfits. we were directed through the VIP section where we were seated out the front and provided food and drink all night... so i was sufficiently drunk as we watched the countries battle for pan-african street dance supremacy?! ghana made the finals but lost to the kenyans in the third and final round. a heartbreaker for all of ghana.
the next day we started out really early in the morning and drove about 2 hrs out to Ada where there is a harvest festival every year. we were lucky that one of the guys had made friends with a girl at his cafe whose grandfather was the chief of one of the local villages, so we were treated to a celebrity welcome. we walked the streets before the parade and met her family and saw the town. we had lunch (local food is soup with fufu or banku... but chicken and rice seems the safest option for now). then we went back to town to prepare for the parade. it was only our second full day in the country, so we were over-stimulated by all that was happening around us. in particular, the constant greeting that goes on. we were greeted and touched individually by several thousand residents. then we went to check out the parade from a first level balcony owned by our hosts family. the 'building' was from the 1800's and felt like it might fall apart at any moment, but it provided a pretty good spot to watch the parade. each local areas chief is carried through the city on a platform that represents their area.... guns are fired as the are carried through the streets.... all in all a pretty amazing spectacle. on the way out someone showed me a group of people making banku (local doughy stuff). i made the mistake of stopping and starring too long and was approached by a lovely lady who forced me to try fermenting fish. at first it was salty and kind of tasty, then the ammonia hit the back of my throat as i smiled and said 'delicious'...
clearing the streets before the parade
carrying the chiefs in the streets
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