My Last Night: a Conference, a Salsa lesson, and Waakye for breakfast...

A view from my bed last night: was very awake after a stimulating evening and was watching the breeze move the curtains, and the changing lights coming from outside moving the pattern on the cloth...I had a very eventful last night, starting with an event at Golden Tulip hotel, which Martina Odonkor invited me to. It was part of a series called "Adventures of the Diaspora", and was particularly interesting as it was a big discussion about re-vamping the National Museum (which is in a state - most of the 25 000 artefacts are collecting dust in the basement, and the rest are poorly manned by staff who are either asleep, or would be better off asleep given their helpfulness when awake!) There were some pretty big speakers: government members, the head of the museum board, a top local gallery owner and a couple of famous artists. It was a heated discussion and I met some interesting people - and then Martina whisked me off to a club called The 3121 which has Salsa on a Thursday...

It was great fun as there were guys on the dance floor who were teachers, and the music was good, if a little loud. But hey, thats Ghana for you. However, at about 11pm the music changed drastically to what I assumed was HipLife (a hip-hop local mix with "HighLife", the Ghanaian popular music), as all the young men formed lines and carried out a very smooth routine that everyone clearly knew and loved. It was quite amusing as at this very moment a large group of "Obruni" (white) volunteers charged in, with a boldness that could only mean they had been in a drinking spot somewhere beforehand. It was very amusing seeing them try to join in, much to the delight (and horror) of the local boys. We stayed on the sidelines and laughed a lot, then decided it was time for bed...I wish I had had my camera handy!

I have decided for my last breakfast I'm going to go out in a moment and buy some Waakye (pronounced wachii) which is a very wholesome mix of rice and beans, which ususally comes with an egg or some kind of meat, and shitole or pepper sauce (often left out on my part if its only breakfast!) I also ask for some gari which is like a flavoursome couscous topping made from a cassava and plantain mix. That should set me up for my last day!