Cocoa Beach

October 11, 2008
Today was one of the most relaxing, enjoyable days so far! It was one of those days that you think you have everything planned out, until all of your plans sort of spontaneously change at the last minute.

A group of us woke up early, packed and ready to go to Takoradi to see the Black Stars play another soccer team. It was a qualifier game for the World Cup (South Africa: 2010), and was a good 4-5 hour drive to get there. Long story short-Callie Maggie, Jen, and I decided not to go, because it was too disorganized, crazy, chaotic, etc.

It's tough sometimes because everything (I mean EVERYTHING) here is so group-oriented, that it's often impossible to make decisions independent from a group. Today, however, felt so freeing and refreshing, as a few of us decided to stay back simple to relax and explore Accra.

Jen, Maggie, Callie, and I headed to Osu with no agenda. We ate breakfast at Frankie's, where I had the most delicious bowl of oats, complimented with bread and sugar. After breakfast, we explored a used bookstore that we've been wanting to go to for some time now. I bought 2 used issues of National Geographic (for Miriam and me to use with our class for PhotoTeach). After wandering around the bookstore, I waited for the girls, as I explored the street outside of the bookshop. I bought black knock-off Ray Bans and hopped on a motorcycle with a "Rasta" friend that I had met a few weeks back. He drove in and out of the street, and dropped me off at some artsy vendors, where I bought some beautiful tie & dye fabric. It was like tie & dye HEAVEN!

After shopping at the artsy market, I picked up a few groceries at Koala (a Lebanese-run grocery store--the closest thing to Harris Teeter in Africa), where I met the girls. After shopping at Koala, Callie and I decided to head to Cocoa Beach for the afternoon--somewhere I've been meaning to visit (it came highly recommended from my friend Thomas Edwards at UNC).

We enjoyed a beautiful and quiet afternoon, lounging by the pool, swimming laps in the crystal clear, just-cleaned pool water. Cocoa Beach Resort's pool was only a few feet away from the ocean shore, so we read and rested, listening to the waves, as they crashed salt spray up into the air. Callie and I were able to spend a lot of quality time together, something we haven't really had the chance to do before--which was nice!

As the sun began to set, Callie and I headed back to campus, enjoying a breezy taxi ride, as we listened to Bob Marley and IZ. The night concluded with the most delicious blueberry pancakes (we had picked up a boxed mix of Krusteaz at Koala)! Kenz and the crew didn't roll in until after midnight, so I read a few pages of The Shack , and crashed super early. What a great day and a wonderful night!