My first time in Ghana - part 6

Date: Early 2007
Context: Thekenyanexplorer went to Ghana with a team from uni on a 3 week trip to Ghana. Her team was focusing on some development work in energy and water. This is an email that was sent to her friends and family after the trip. The full story will be in a few separate consecutive blog entries.

OF DREAMS AND CHILDREN
 The kids in New Longoro are so cute and sweet. I felt like I would leave Ghana with a few of them. One of my team-mates had a dream. She was pregnant, and gave birth to a black baby (note: she is white). It was quite funny. We asked her if the baby was mixed. She said the baby was black. I interpreted this to mean that she will probably adopt an African baby in the future. Strange that the kids in New Longoro don't scream when they see a camera flash. They calmly stand when pictures are taken. My new best friend is called Nico Nico and he is Pastor George's goat herder's son. He is 13, but could pass for 8. It is pretty sad that many of the children here are malnourished. Not due to lack of food, but due to lack of nurses to teach new mothers the importance of giving their children a balanced diet. There is quite a bit of marasmus and kwashiakor in the area. The most ironic thing is that the child with the most distended belly in the village is a fisherman's son. The kids here don't get enough protein even though peanuts are grown in the area (they are sold and not consumed by the families.) I keep on getting the strange feeling in Ghana that the government actually cares for the people. John Kufuor the current president seems to have a heart. There is a new school feeding program, and children in all primary schools get lunch. Enrolment in schools has gone up due to the feeding program, and I think it is a wonderful undertaking. 

THE GIRL WITH A WOODEN DOLL
    Today we taught the kids in the hall. They stood up to move to the other side of the room, and I saw a little wooden doll on the floor of the room. The little doll was dressed in the yellow school uniform that the rest of the girls had. I slowly walked to the doll, and picked it up. I wondered whose doll it was, and where it came from. Something about the doll made me feel really sad. All dolls are lifeless, but this one was dead. One of the boys walked up to me, and told me that the doll belongs to one of the young girls. He told me the doll looks just like her. I inquired why. He told me it was carved out for her after she lost her twin sister, and she went everywhere with her doll. Tears stung my eyes. I turned, and saw a limping girl come towards me. She looked just like the doll. I gave her her doll, and gave her a warm comforting touch on her wrist. I knew it was a cold comfort. I felt for her, but knew there was nothing I would be able to do to take away the sadness from her eyes. I was curious about her limp, her loss, her, but all I could do was sadly watch her limp away.

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San Telmo, Hard rock cafe

We woke up with grand plans of going to Recoleta cemetery - "the most beautiful cemetery in the world." I know, I know, that is quite confusing - a beautiful cemetery? That was what everyone said, "You must go to Recoleta!" 

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We walked an hour to get there and when we were a few minutes away, we decided to eat at Hard Rock cafe. We ended up spending an hour there, and by the time we got to the cemetery (5pm) they had closed. It was so funny, how we had sort of wasted the day - walked for an hour, eaten for a few hours and found the cemetery closed...:-) It's good none of us was on a tight schedule.

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We ended up going out again that night, but it was not as much fun as the previous night - I think most of us were tired. 

The next day we went to San Telmo - the oldest neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is characterized by colonial buildings, cafes, tango parlors and antique shops. Seeing artists and dancers on the streets is quite common. It was a Sunday and all the streets were lined with people selling all different types of unique items. I really need to apologize to the guys I went to San Telmo with. They mostly wanted to sight see and I mostly wanted to shop (as soon as I realized that there were great things to buy.)

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One of my favourite sights was that of an old couple tangoing in the middle of the street. It was so beautiful. I remember wishing that in my old age, I would still be with the love of my life and still feel the love. I really find it so cute when I see acts of affection between old couples - cause you know they have gone through thick and thin, and it's so impressive if somehow even after all that, they have that puppy love.

In the evening, we ended up going to this massive club called Club One. That was when I realized that I really really needed to sleep. I was drinking the equivalent of Vodka/Redbulls (but in this case Vodka/Speed - an energy drink found in Argentina.) Despite that I was falling asleep, standing up. I gave up and went home to sleep - my body was officially telling me that full days and full nights would have to come to an end soon.....Age slowly creeping in:-)

Steak, music and theater in Buenos Aires

Lunch at Don Julio was amazing - one of the top steak restaurants in Argentina and in the world. What was most impressive was the fair price for the meal. Sometimes I forget just how expensive Nairobi has become. Here I was eating the most delicious steak I have ever eaten, for USD 20 in this amazing restaurant in Buenos Aires, and it made me think of all the mediocre meals that one can eat in some Nairobi restaurants for more than that. There is a good reason why I went to Don Julio three times during my 1.5 week stay in Buenos Aires. 

In the evening a few of us congregated at the hostel lounge. My Scottish friend brought out his guitar, and the next thing I know was that we had started a little singing troupe - me as the lead singer, my Scottish friend as the lead guitarist and a few spectators. It was wonderful - we did a bit of Bob Marley, a bit of Lucky Dube, a bit of Madonna ("Don't cry for me Argentina") etc.

In the evening we went to an amazing gay theater/club. It was quite fascinating - something like moulin rouge - an interesting combination of theater, singing, popular club music. Our merry troupe left the club at 7:30am and went back to the hostel rooftop to watch the sunrise. It was a wonderful morning of laughter fits, fun conversations and selfies.