The Heart of the Homeland

View of the hotel from my window

The banquet hall where my parents had their wedding reception

my father's high school 

The chapel where my parents were married 22 years ago

my mother's high school

my paternal grandfather's house (he died 42 years ago)

The night we arrived my Dad and my mom's sister, my Auntie Agatha met Kofi and I at the airport. We had only met this aunt once and it was over ten years ago so it was quite the reunion :). Then we went back to the hotel where my Dad was staying and after chatting for a bit and calling my mom, we showered and went to bed. The next morning we had breakfast together at the hotel. I had a Ghanian pancake which was delicious. They're much sweeter than North American pancakes and they're huge.....like bigger than the plate. I also had eggs and hashbrowns (on a separate plate)....every serving in Ghana is roughly 2 in 1, it's crazy. In the  morning I was also able to see more of the hotel...since we came in at night I didn't see much of it at all, it is honestly a paradise. After breakfast Kofi and I went and checked into the international students' hostel. The hostel (I haven't taken pictures of it yet) is pretty nice.....it basically reminds me of a summer camp. I met my roommate (I won't add her name because I have NO idea how to spell it....I've been waiting for the right time to ask haha). She is Nigerian and a surgeon specializing in pediatrics, she is very nice and so are all the other people staying at the hostel. They are all super friendly. After checking in we went to visit my Dad's brother and sister. My Dad's sister, my Auntie Mary lives in Anomabo, a small town/village where my Dad grew up and where both of his parents are from. "Anomabo is where you come from" so my Dad tells me. My Auntie Mary is very sweet and Sunday (officially day one in Ghana) was the first time I met her. The house she lives in was bought and built for my grandma who lived there until she passed away in 1998. Of course every single person that we've met since being in Ghana, and even family friends/members in Canada/U.S, call Ghana our home but seeing as I had never been to Ghana before I never took that very seriously. At my Auntie Mary's house there were pictures of Kofi and I up on the walls. Baby pictures and other pictures that I have no recollection of taking, or had never seen before, were framed and hanging in the living room and a few in the dining room. Although it was my first time entering the house, it obviously seemed sort of like my home. It was a weird feeling, similar to like when your parents tell you about something you did as a baby, familiar but you have no memory of it. It's nice knowing that although we had never met, she and every family member we've met since being here care SO much. After seeing her and a cousin of mine for a bit, we drove down to cape coast to see my Dad's brother, my Uncle JPJ (which stands for I think James, something, Johnson. I honestly should know...I'll have to ask my Dad...again haha).
An aside: driving in Ghana is one of the scariest things in the entire world. Honestly I could probably never do it (and I never say never). First of all, you have to know EXACTLY where you're going and know the streets like your life depends on it (because it actually does). From what I could see roads that had 2 lanes could suddenly turn into one lane but the left lane doesn't end it turns into a lane for oncoming traffic.....secondly, there are people, sadly a lot of children, in the middle of the streets. They have no problem weaving in and out of cars to sell phone cards, food, water, and lots of other things, plus even if they are not selling anything....watching people crossing the street even scares me because they walk SUPER slow (I know so do I haha) and they seem to not try and speed up when a car is coming (sometimes they do, but not often) and cars also don't slow down when they see a pedestrian so during the trip from Accra to Cape Coast (close to a 2-hour journey) and back, I saw so many people cross the road and make it to the other side JUST IN TIME.....so scary. Also notice I said make it to the other side and not to the sidewalk....there aren't sidewalks in most areas also making the roads scary....in fact what's worse is there are these concrete trenches about 2 feet deep on the sides of the roads....i.e., another reason why I could never drive in Ghana and am scared even just walking down the road. Also there are a lot of round-abouts, which with people walking everywhere, bikes and honking, speeding cars = terrifying. By the way honking is used excessively here; taxis honk at people walking by as a way to ask if they need a ride, cars obviously honk when they feel someone has done wrong, people honk to get kids trying to sell things away from their cars...or to their car...there are a ton more reasons. Another reason driving is scary is the major roads. For example there is a "high road" which is like a high-way but there is only one lane for each way of traffic, therefore there is a lot of "overtaking" which means passing people who are slow by going into the lane of oncoming traffic and getting ahead of them. This is SO common it sometimes looked as if we were just on a one-way two-lane road. Because it is so common if a fast car is trying to pass a slow car and the fast car doesn't give him/herself enough time i.e., there is an oncoming car in the other lane.... the slow car has to veer off to the right into the gravel so the fast car can pass and avoid a head-on collision...scary. Also on roads that are not major there are numerous potholes if they are paved at all, and goats and chickens along with people milling about everywhere
Anyway back to my Uncle JPJ...he lives in a gorgeous house on top of a little cliff and was delighted to see us. He has 5 daughters and one son and the eldest daughter actually lived with us for a bit in the States...I hadn't seen her since I was probably 7 and Kofi didn't even remember her but it was a nice reunion. Speaking of reunions I also met one of my father's daughters for the first time. Her name is Araba and is 13. She goes to a boarding school in Ghana and lives with my Uncle JPJ on holidays, she's a sweet girl, very shy and softspoken and definitely resembles my Dad. At my Uncle's house we took some pictures, had some drinks and watched a bit of soccer. Then we went back to my Auntie Mary's house for dinner. My Auntie Mary only had education up to grade eight and her english isn't that strong. She told my Dad that Kofi and I spoke too fast and that she struggled to understand her. For dinner she made fufu for my Dad and jollof rice with chicken for Kofi and I.....less than 24 hours in Ghana and I had chicken for the first time in almost a year and a half. Clearly with the language barrier my Auntie was mostly only able to smile at us a lot and feed us....so I ate all the food she cooked for us.
After dinner, my Dad gave us the scenic route back to Accra. We saw the high school he went to, St. Augustine's, which is also the high school my mother's father taught at, where 2 of my uncles attended, where 2 of my cousins are now attending and where my mother grew up (when you teach at a high school they give you a bungalow on campus so that's why my mother grew up there), he showed us my mother's high school, Holy Child, the chapel they were married in and where they had their wedding reception, and he also showed us the house his father grew up in, in Anomabo. It was a very long day, but a great one. When we got back to Accra he dropped us off at the hostel and said he would meet us in the morning at 8:00am to take us to the hospital for our first day of clinical rotations....