Are you there Ghana? It's me, Margaret.: You sit and watch TV. It will be just like you are in New York!

Last week was not quite as lovely as some of the ones that preceded it. I was sick for two days, I had two papers due, and there was a robbery in the middle of the night in my friends' bedroom while they were sleeping in the room.

Needless to say, I was pretty ready for a break from life here. Since I can't exactly hop a train and go home for a weekend like when I'm in NY, I was incredibly thankful for the opportunity to do a home-stay this weekend. Home-stays offer us the chance to get to hang with a REAL Ghanian family. We were warned that life might not be as comfortable as it is here, but we were promised some necessities (a bed, running water, etc.). We were told that we should try to immerse ourselves in the experience--demand to help with chores and cooking, try to learn some new phrases, go out and meet people, etc. While I knew it might be an awkward or slightly trying experience, I also knew it could be a great way to learn more about the culture and a much-needed escape.

And what an escape it was.

I was assigned to a family with another girl in my program named Bianca. I didn't know her very well, so I was excited to get to hang out a little bit. We got picked up Friday afternoon and taken to the office where we would meet our family. While we were waiting, we made friends with a guy who said he was sad that none of the boys in our program decided to do the homestay. His wife is from the UK and is currently traveling, so he wanted a guy to keep him company. He had apparently thought that he was getting a student for the weekend, so he serviced his car and killed a cow. Sadly, none of the guys followed through with the trip. We called one of the guys to let him know what he was missing out on, and he promised to do the next home-stay. Talking to this guy in the office made us wonder what we were getting into--I certainly hoped no one had killed a cow to welcome my vegetarian mouth.

We got picked up about a half hour later by a lady named Nepare. She reminded me a little of my mom--sweet, outgoing, talkative, welcoming, just quintessentially mom-like. She had a different personality, but it was comforting to be with a motherly-figure. She lives with her husband and has three children, but the oldest just started school in the US and the two younger ones are at boarding schools in Accra. I was a little disappointed not to be with kids for the weekend, but we talked to her two daughters on the phone and skyped with her son in the US.

The drive to her house (driven by her chauffeur) took a couple of hours because of the distance and because of traffic. She lives on the outskirts of Accra up a long, bumpy dirt road. We ended up at a beautiful white house called "Mount Pleasant." The house has a porch on the outside and overlooks the entire city of Accra. The views were absolutely amazing. At night, the lights just sparkle, and during the day, you can see miles. It was amazing (pics below).

The inside of the house is gorgeous too. Although we had been warned not to let them treat us too much like guests, we didn't really know how not to. We were given cokes, directed to relax on leather couches, and given a remote control. We got to watch some TV that we were used, like MTV. We met Nepare's husband, our dad for the weekend. He's an adorable man. Nepare and Josephine, a girl who helps with the cooking and cleaning, made us a delicious dinner of rice, a concoction of tuna and vegetables, and plantains. We skyped with their son, relaxed some more, and went to bed.

In the morning, we were going to go to a wedding with Nepare. She works as a judge in Accra, so she had to go to work for a few hours early in the morning before we could go. Unfortunately, Bianca got a call from her around 9:30 (we were going to leave at 10) saying that she had been in a car accident on her way to work and was trying to sort it all out before going to the wedding. It was just a fender bender, and everyone was fine. We were told to enjoy our breakfast and relax some more, and she would be home in a while.

After a delicious and massive breakfast, Bianca and I decided to walk down the dirt road and explore a bit. We didn't really find much in the way of shops, but we did notice some interesting differences from the area that we live in. For one thing, there are really cute baby goats all over where we were staying. They're about the size of a small dog and just the cutest thing you've ever seen. Also, while Nepare's family seems quite well-off, a lot of the people working in the shops seem to be in a very different socio-economic class. Nepare explained to us today that their area is still developing. She said that a lot of families that move to Accra end up moving into houses that are in the process of being built (so they are basically concrete shells). They don't pay rent to stay there, but it gives them a home and gives the builders some security that no one is going to steal their building materials. When the houses are finished, there are sometimes issues with the families not wanting to leave, but sometimes they just move on to another location. Anyway, another random observation is that people there were not as obsessed with Obrunis. We talked to a few of the locals and waved to all the children, but people were not running up and grabbing us, or rambling in other languages to us. It was a welcome change, but very strange.

After a wonderful little walk, Bianca and I headed back to hang out at the house. We ate some lunch (again, served right to us--so nice!) and then just rested. I spent the afternoon on the porch, looking at the scenery and reading a book. It was rejuvenating and absolutely perfect.

Around 4, our hose parents made it back. They wanted to go to the end of the wedding reception, so we got changed into some decent clothes and piled into the car. After a quick drive, we got to the wedding. Saturday was the Christian service, not the traditional one. Since we were getting to the reception several hours late, they were just cutting the cake when we got there. The bride and groom looked beautiful and the venue was gorgeous. Everything was in gold and maroon. The cake-cutting and toast very similar to an American wedding, except the people were louder, the colors were brighter, and people were constantly dancing around. Before the toast, they opened about 6 bottles of champagne in front of everyone. The guys opening the bottles kept spraying the champagne into the air and on the floor while jumping around. After the toast, we all got to eat cake! Rum raisin...mmmmm. Then there was the procession out of the venue, and it was fantastic. Everyone stood in line to shake the hands of the bride, groom, and their families. But everyone wasn't really standing--they were dancing. The entire time the line was going, they were dancing dancing dancing. And rule number one of dancing in Africa: there are no rules. It was wonderful.

Saturday night was pretty quiet after that. On Sunday, our host family took us to Bojo beach, which is about 10 minutes from their house. We hadn't brought our bathing suits, so we just sat and relaxed for a bit. There's a little river that you have to cross on a boat to get to the beach right by the ocean, but we just stayed on the river side. It was more time to just relax and admire the beauty of Ghana.

And so ended my wondrous weekend. It was not what I probably would have asked for from a home-stay weekend, and certainly not what I would have expected, but it was absolutely glorious and just what I needed.

View of Accra from my porch at the home-stay.