Ghanaian New Years, Happy 2014!

Here comes the rain

I've only been in a church a handful of times in my life and one of them was for my own Bat Mirtzvah. If that doesn't indicate how unorthodox my experiences at church have been, I don't know what does. Well, we can certainly add New Year's Eve at a church in Kumasi to that list. 

We headed to the church around 10 and right when we arrived, I knew this was going to be different. You could hear the people from the street. 

Once inside, I realized that this was no church, this was a party! Everyone was so excited, dancing and singing so passionately. The sermon was more like a pep rally, with a hip hop dance performance complete with Michael Jackson single-gloved dancers. I kid you not.

Even though I understood very little of what was said (they spoke mostly in the local Twi (pwee) and switched to English near the end) it still had a great message: holiness before power (I think). However, by the time we left (2 and a half hours later) I was more than ready for bed. Reverend looooved to talk. 

Also, I have undoubtedly never been more of a minority than I was last night. In a room full of at least 300 people, I was the only "bruni" (white girl--i hear it echo after me down the street). Everyone is super polite, but you can always tell what people are thinking reflected by the children. They stare at me and when I wave they grin and giggle and look away. I'm a one-woman show! 

The little boy sitting in front of me was having a field day!

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Backtracking a bit to earlier in the day, I had my first experience with more local children. Romeo, Mammia, and I were playing soccer (ahem, football) outside when a bunch of neighborhood boys came to play. I stole the ball from them once, but it was definitely a fluke. I couldn't beat a bunch of 10-year-old Ghanian boys in flip flops playing soccer if my life depended on it. So I was the ball girl. Maybe someday they'll let me play... Haha!

After they finished playing and realized I was harmless, they all crowded around me and tried to speak to me in Twi at 100 MPH--all 8 of them. It was a game and they thought it was hilarious. They would speak to me in English and I still wouldn't understand, then switch to Twi and I would be so confused. Bullied by a bunch of 10 year olds... ;) 

Tangent: Somehow, Mammia found my belly button ring and all the kids were fascinated, if not a little horrified. "Did it hurt a lot?" they asked, wincing and grabbing their stomachs. "It's just like an earring," I said, "but in my belly button."  "But why?" And then I didn't know what to say...

Overall, I think I'm in with the kids and I had to promise that I would see them again tomorrow, after telling one of them that I couldn't get him a passport to the US...they start young. 

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As I write this, I'm relaxing on this lovely New Year's morning with a bowl of corn flakes and soy milk (yes!!) I won't start at the hospital until Friday and it can not get here soon enough!

I hope you all had a great start to 2014!

-Allie