Oh the joys of Accra!

I've been back in Cotonou for the past 3 weeks but Accra is still on my mind.

What did I enjoy most about my time in Accra?

• Learning how to understand and do my job 30 times better.  In two words: "Project Management"
• Negotiating and taking taxis all around Ghana
• Enjoying how everything looks like a 50% off sale (2 Ghana cedis = $1)
• Shopping and exploring the Osu neighborhood
• Reconnecting with USAID friends I met in DC
• Meeting new international USAID colleagues (Ghanian, from Mozambique, Sudan, and Zambia)
• Hanging out with the amazing Marisol, the USAID Ghana Education  team leader 
• Going (by myself) to the Back to the Father Worship concert and seeing an array of Ghanaian Chrisitan artists
• Touring the Cape Coast and Elmina slave forts 
• Seeing how God provided the perfect home for my upcoming stay in Ghana
• AMAZING Ghanaian food at Fiesta Royale Hotel (they catered our lunches)
• Visiting the Ghanaian artisan market
• AMAZING Lebanese and Indian food
• Seeing an Azonto competition at the Ghanaian colleague's party (an sample of Azunto dancers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSmiwQvwYYQ.  And one of children: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXuhQdFMTVk )
• Hanging out with my USAID colleagues from all around the world

Above all, the people I met made the visit fabulous.  From my international USAID colleagues to the guides at the slave trading posts/forts even to the cab drivers who claimed they knew where we wanted to go but didn't!  Pleasant and not-so-pleasant, being in Ghana for the first time was a memorable experience.

Since I have more pics to share, this is a visual ode to Ghana:

Taxi driver on my phone, lost in Accra

One of my favorite billboards in Accra on a typical street

Schoolboys posing for a picture

NEW!!! Ghanaian book on enterpreneurship

What CAN'T you balance on the head?

My USAID colleage and former French classmate
proudly showing his new  hometown, Accra:)

Women returning from a peace rally following
the elections displaying the Ghanaian flag.

A moment from the concert I went to.
No pics but fabulous memories!

An unconventional modernized Christmas Story. 
Mary is seen as a classic teenage pregnancy case 
with delusions of being impregnated by the Spirit.  A very creative portrayal of the story!!

My Ghanaian colleague, Nana and I.

Azonto competition at Christmas party.