US Visit: "In Newwww Yoooorrkkk..."

Warning: most of my pictures consist of me eating FOOD. Because next to my family, friends and traveling, I love love love food. Enjoy!

*cue Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind" song*...

Thus begins my epic adventure back home to the US. September was the best time for me to visit -- my Grandma and Mom's birthdays, the school year here in BF hasn't started yet, the weather isn't too cold back home, I just finished working PST, etc. etc.

So I flew out of Ouaga on September 6 and Kyle was on the same flight as me. Air France is seriously amazing -- unlimited wine and champagne! So the flight was Ouaga to Paris to New York.

Getting into New York was such a trip. I took the subway to our hotel on the West Side and eventually met up with Devin!! Long story short, we chatted it up like no other, walked around New York, shopped at H&M (!!), ate everywhere and just enjoyed each other's company in one of the greatest cities in the world (seriously, I wanna go to grad school in NYC). We even met these West Africans from Cote d'Ivoire at Times Square. They were speaking French and we couldn't resist talking to them!

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

First meal back home: chicken mcnuggets with sweet & sour sauce + fries + orange soda. Don't judge!

New York style pizza. It was great -- we'd just walk around, go with our gut and just eat.

Toasted plain bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. *drool*

Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Chinese soup in NYC Chinatown. Check out the lady hella mugging in the back! haha

New York MUST: frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity's!

=)

NYC Subway. So efficient!

Overall, a very great transition back to the US. The first couple of hours were overwhelming because I was so fatigued from travel but after a while, I immediately acclimated to life back in the US. In short, I love the US. <3

Meet Hercules. Plus, pictures from Gaoua!

After an exhausting but enjoyable time working PST, it was back to site for me. Actually, it was more of a Jon-and-Mikey reunion because heck, we're like brothers from another mother and haven't really seen each other since PST began in June! I can't even begin to tell you how close you get to some of your closest PCV neighbors. You're each other's support networks and I think Jon and I both really lucked out.

Anywho, I come back to a relatively empty site. People are still traveling because it's vacation time or are out in the fields because it's rainy season. Madame Constance and her baby, Grace, are back though. I drop by to say hi and low and behold, one of the cutest things I've seen here in BF comes running to my feet: Hercules! Yes, Hercules. Or in French, Hercule. It's their new puppy who is just about the cutest thing ever. Only about 3 weeks old, from what I heard. But I'm super excited because Madame Constance is my closest neighbor, and I feel like I'm not up to take care of a dog (plus I leave in a year...don't wanna get too attached, you know?)...and yeah, it'll be like having my own dog without all the hassle, haha.

Jon and Hercules. Look how tiny that guy is!

Drinking milk...out of a Vienna Sausage can. So cute!

So Jon slept over and we just caught up over what's been going on during the last couple of months. Jon was teaching English for month at this English camp in Ouaga while I've been busy working PST. For the longest time, I've been wanting to do a video tour of my house and we finally got that done (Internet connection is slow here so y'all will have to wait until later). Afterward, we both took our regular trip to Gaoua (provincial capital). It would be the last time I'd see Jalila, our Belgian friend, before she leaves to finish her work in Mali and then eventually return to Belgium. So we all did some shopping and Brenda came by, too! It was her first time so I gave her a little tour of Gaoua. Man, I really do love where we live!

Jon and I roasting marshmallows in my house. No, seriously! His sister sent them all the way from Portland, Oregon. And it was a little chilly that night, too.

Sneaky Jon. A candid at our regular lunch spot in Gaoua, PP (a.k.a. Poni Paradis). Such a great place to chill and get some basic food.

At the marché.

Again at the Gaoua marché. Jon had to be discreet about taking pictures...we feel weird doing it in public settings because it makes us feel like tourists, you know? I promise to get more pictures soon. Especially the vegetable/fruit section of the marché -- so colorful!

Jon, Jalila and I at the APFG (Association de la Promotion Féminine de Gaoua), the women's association of Gaoua. Great place!

On that note, I'll end it with this: I realize this is a public forum and not many people know, but I head home tomorrow for vacation. I can't believe it! The school year doesn't start until October and I am officially done with training so this is the perfect time to leave BF for a bit and get in touch with family and close friends again. I fly out tomorrow evening, get to Paris and take a connecting flight to New York. I spend a couple of days in New York hanging out with the one and only Devin (!!), then head home for a couple of weeks. Not planning anything big -- just a simple visit home. Celebrate my Grandma and Mom's birthdays, do some Peace Corps presentations with my old high school French teacher and my old 8th Grade teacher's classes, among other things. So yeah, it's completely surreal but I'll be sure to keep updating this during my trip back home after one year. Let's go!

Farewell to a really good friend.

I don't even know how to start this blog entry but I think the title pretty much says it all. One of my absolute closest friends in the Peace Corps, Devin, left to go back to the US last Tuesday. It's really bittersweet -- while I'm really sad that she's not in Burkina Faso anymore, I completely respect and support her decision to leave when you know it's the best decision for yourself. Due to health and family stuff, she's decided that it's better to be in the US and for that, I respect her for it!

Rachel, Carolyn, Devin, Charley and I outside the Ouagadougou Airport, wishing Devin farewell! Love how Devin is prepared for colder weather back in the US. =)

I'll never forget when we first met in person (we met through our blogs online a month or two prior to staging in Philadelphia in June 2009) and instantly clicked while in line at Air France in Philadelphia. Who would've thought we'd be so close after a mere eight months of knowing each other?

I say this time and time again, but the Peace Corps is such a trip! You're sent to a foreign country with other American volunteers from all over the US, you've never met any one of them before, you're placed in three months of intensive training and pretty much with each other 24/7 and after your swear-in ceremony, are sent to live by yourselves at your respective sites for 2 years. Yet within all of that craziness, you cultivate some of the most interesting friendships in your life. People you'd never meet because you're from different parts of the US but just happen to meet through an experience like the Peace Corps halfway across the world.

Devin -- I feel so fortunate to have gotten to know you during this relatively short period of time (PST, Ghana and all the random, hilarious moments in between!) and can't wait for the time when we reunite back in the US...road trip to California?! Ou bien? Either way girl, you're officially family! Love you!

Devin and I at her airport send-off. Not only do we love each other but we love the color orange on our shirts and bags from Africa. Huzzah!

Strawberries in January!

I tell you, Burkina Faso is one random country. Particularly in Ouaga (the capital), you find things that you'd think you'd never find. Like strawberries. In January?! Whaat?! Unbeknownst to me , it's strawberry season here in Burkina Faso and they are some of the sweetest strawberries I've had in my life! Just thought I'd share a couple of pictures with some of my favorite people...enjoy!

Devin's future career = modeling delicious strawberries such as these. Mmm!

Colette enjoying that sweet goodness. In January, good woman!

Damn good!

The Yonso Project and Kumasi...then head back home

The last leg of our trip: Kumasi! Kumasi is the cultural epicenter of Ghana and something I've been looking forward to for a while. But most of all, I've been wanting to visit my friend Sonja's non-profit called the Yonso Project which is about 45 minutes away from Kumasi. And check out the Kejetia Market!

The great thing about traveling in Ghana is that a bus company called STC InterCity goes to the main cities in Ghana with comfortable, air-conditioned buses on a set running schedule -- which is a God-send here in West Africa! We take that from Busua to Kumasi, and fortunately, the Guestline Lodge (the hotel we wanted to stay at in Kumasi) was only a block away from the STC bus station. Another backpacker's hostel paradise -- clean rooms with no thrills. And cheap!

The next day (Sunday), Danso, the Country Director of the Yonso Project, came to get me and Colette decided to come along, too! We took a tro-tro (like minibuses that travel everywhere and anywhere in Ghana and are ridiculously cheap, although some of the drivers drive ridiculously crazy) out to Jamasi (the next 'big' town to Yonso), then take a taxi to the village of Yonso.

WOW, Yonso is such a cool village, particularly because the topography of Ghana beats that of Burkina Faso. There are mountains and hills and greenery -- everything that Burkina Faso doesn't have except in the Southwest.

I encourage you all to check the Yonso Project's website (http://www.yonsoproject.org) and read up on what they're up to and how you can donate.

I'll let the pictures below let you know what I've seen...

In front of the Yonso Project library. Sonja, I'm so proud of you!

A picture of the Yonso Project library. We couldn't get inside because the teachers have the key but were able to open a window to see the inside.

Danso (the Country Director for the Yonso Project) and the guy in charge of the bamboo bike production. This is where the bamboos are dried.

Close-up of the bamboo bike. Apparently it's really, really durable.

Danso and I. He's so damn hilarious!

So this was really interesting. A lot of schools in Ghana have these "Speak English" signs painted around their schools.

A procession of the village elders, the queen mother and the chief heading to village centre. Apparently every 40 days, they meet in the village centre and hear the town's citizens voice their concerns.

The next day, the three of us were on a mission to do two things: visit the Ghana National Cultural Centre and shop at the Kejetia Market. We decided to visit the Ghana National Cultural Centre first and it was a haven for souvenir shopping while supporting your local Ghanaian artisan. They have fabric, jewelry, paintings, clothing, books -- you name it, they have it!

Me in front of the Ghana National Cultural Centre. Basically, we got all our Ghana souvenir shopping done here in a matter of a couple of hours!

As I've mentioned before, the Kejetia Market is the biggest market I've ever been to in my life and is quite possibly the largest market in West Africa, if not in all of Africa. You walk in and it just swallows you up...it sounds horrible but really, it's one of the more interesting experiences I've had here! They sell everything but one thing I wanted to get was fabric to make shirts, since I think I really need to update my African wardrobe, haha.

Me next to the Kejetia Market in Kumasi. This has to be the biggest market I've ever been to! I'm positive it's the biggest market in West Africa if not in all of Africa.

Getting to Kumasi bus station to get back home, Colette, Devin and I made a point of spending all our Ghanaian cedi (currency) so that we wouldn't have to exchange it back to West African CFA (since we heard exchanging Ghanaian cedi back to West African CFA gives you a really bad rate). We didn't really need to buy anything else before getting on the bus so between all of us, we had about 2 cedi. BUT I completely forgot that we needed to pay for our bags because we were putting them at the compartments at the bottom of the bus. 6 cedi. Shit! So we asked if we could use West African CFA and they said no...I'm telling you that God was really watching over us and things just fell into place when they could've been absolutely chaotic. And Devin would repeat this all throughout the trip! Fortunately, a man behind us in line offered 6 cedi without hesitation. Actually, he asked if we needed 60 cedi and we were like, "Ohhh no, no, no, we need 6 cedi." He was willing to give us 60 cedi which was absolutely insane! We felt so bad asking him for money but eventually gave him more than enough back in West African CFA...even if he refused to take it, we pretty much forced him to take it, haha. And get this...his name was Emmanuel. Which means "God is with us." Crazyyyy!!

Long story short, we head back on the nice and comfortable air-conditioned bus back to Burkina Faso later that evening...and thus ends our adventure in Ghana!

Really, I encourage everyone and anyone (granted, one has enough money) to visit West Africa and see for yourself what it's all about. Burkina Faso and Ghana have been absolutely amazing, and with a little French and an open mind, you'll discover this is one special place. Cheers!

Christmas on the beach in Ghana!

Finally!! We leave Cape Coast and take the relatively long trek to Busua, a small beach town along the Ghana coast. When we arrive, we thought all the resorts were in one location but it turns out the Green Turtle Lodge is farther away. Every volunteer that's been to Ghana has recommended the Green Turtle Lodge and I'm glad we made the journey over there...

Its location is so remote but regardless, there are still other people there. It seems to be a haven for other volunteers when they vacation in Ghana and just want to take a break from it all and chill on the beach. So we set up our tents (cheapest accommodations yet! Only 4 cedi/1200cfa/about $3 per person/night to set-up your tent!) and pretty much hit the beach. So we get there on Christmas Eve and immediately jump into the water...it felt so refreshing especially since I hadn't seen the ocean in over 6 months. =)

Colette setting up her tent. I'll say that it wasn't as comfortable as it looks.

The next day (Christmas Day) we woke up to breakfast on the beach and we each decided to do something special. When we were at the Koala Supermarket in Accra, Devin had this amazing idea of each of us buying something to share on Christmas Day at the beach with one another. The idea was food -- one salty and one sweet -- but it could really be anything. But we had to surprise each other Christmas Day with all of our stuff!

So Colette got these Christmas popper things that have stickers and a little joke inside each of them. It's a tradition in her family and she brought it all the way to Africa to share with us!

Devin, Colette and I after opening our Christmas poppers. There were little paper crowns inside along with stickers and the corniest jokes everrrrrr.

We chill on the beach some more and it was just nice to take in the warm beach breeze and watch the waves crash onto the shore. Next to the Green Turtle Lodge, there's this place called Paco's Tacos which seems completely out of nowhere. I've been craving Mexican food for a while and this was the perfect thing to satisfy my craving! The older couple that owns this is actually from California and they built their house along the beachfront....and Paco's Tacos as their business.

At Paco's Tacos for lunch. Chicken tacos and avocado tacos!

Again, more chilling at the beach. I forgot to mention that the Green Turtle Lodge is remote enough that there isn't cell phone reception. Except for this one distinct spot that we discovered. So I sent some text messages to family and a couple close friends. Before I left site, I promised Madame Ouattara that I'd call the family and say hi...but since reception was kind of choppy, I decided to text them. She texted me back almost immediately and wished me a very Merry Christmas and said that the family missed me. Really made me miss site! I also got a call from my Mom that afternoon and it was the morning of Christmas Day back home. They were all at my Tito Vic's house since the whole family does a little sleepover. I got to talk to a couple of uncles and aunts, my brother and my grandpa but it really made me miss home! I don't think I've missed home more than I did at that moment...

All three of us get ready in our Global Mama's outfits and head to Happy Hour at the bar. And walked around the beach until sunset. For dinner we had garlic roasted chicken and potato salad! Delicious! And to top it off, we had a huge bonfire on the beach with the other guests.

I just couldn't resist taking a picture in front of this. Oh man...

Enjoy our first drinks of the night -- Deep Blue Sea and Tequila Sunset. Yum!

The three of us in our Global Mama's outfits and drinks in hand.

The sunset setting on the beach. Amazing.

Look how huge that bonfire is!

The day after Christmas, we had breakfast again on the beach and got ready to leave for our next destination: Kumasi!

Relaxing one last time on the beach before heading out to Kumasi.

Ghana: the adventure continues in the Cape Coast

Cape Coast. After a couple of days in the hectic capital (Accra -- seriously, the traffic is neck-in-neck with Los Angeles traffic), we head to Cape Coast to do two things: 1) walk along the rope canopies at Kakum National Park; and 2) visit the Cape Coast Castle where they once held and sent slaves to the Americas and Europe.

By recommendation, we stayed at the Sammo Guest House which is your typical backpacker's hostel. The good thing was that we had a balcony that brought in a consistent breeze from the ocean, plus it was central to everything! Walked around and headed to the Mighty Victory Hotel for lobster with garlic butter sauce and potato salad! We met a Canadian business development volunteer from Kumasi there, so it was nice meeting another new person.

The view from our balcony. Look at that sunset!

The next day, we wake up really early in the morning and take a taxi to Kakum National Park to experience the rope canopies. There are 7 walking bridges in a semi-circle, attached by rope, nails and rope to huge trees about 30 meters (about 100 feet) above the forest floor. Insane! If you're scared of heights, it's definitely an experience that'll make you piss in your pants.

It was created by 2 Canadians and 2 Ghanaians but I was confused if they made it in 6 months or change/repair the rope bridges every 6 months...in any case, check out the video in another entry! It was so humid at Kakum; our original plan was to camp out there on one of the tree platforms -- thank God we didn't! I also tried palm wine for the first time (de-licious) and met a girl from Oakland who was vacationing here with her boyfriend. What a small world!

Us three on one of the tree platforms 30 meters (about 100 feet) above the forest floor!

Crazy! It's not bungee jumping but it's damn close. Haha!

Devin, Colette and I being our own crazy selves. <3

We later head to the Cape Coast Castle which is something I've been really looking forward to for a while. You know, it's one thing to learn about slavery in middle and high school but it's another thing to actually visit the holding quarters for slaves in Africa before they were shipped off to the Americas and Europe! The Cape Coast Castle was handed down by different European countries for different purposes, eventually landing in the hands of the English for slavery.

A replica of Cape Coast Castle at the museum.

Two things stood out most for me: the holding quarters for male slaves and the Door of No Return/Return. The holding quarters for the male slaves was essentially this huge underground dungeon that they were held in for months at a time. To explain the gravity of their situation, they sat in waist-high feces for weeks at a time, and you can even see shackle marks on the ground for when they would try to revolt and attempt to escape from their captors. There was even a church right above the holding quarters for the male slaves and the guide referred to it as "Heaven and Hell." So interesting!

One of the dungeon areas where the slaves were kept for months. The wreaths of flowers below are left by descendants of slaves every year to commemorate the lives (and deaths) of all those kept captive there.

These are marks on the floor left by slaves that were shackled and attempted to revolt/escape. Absolutely surreal.

As a slave, if you were seen as strong enough and survived months of torture, you were sent through the "Door of No Return" which led directly to the slave ship and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. The government/historical society that decided to preserve the castle in the 70's (I think) put a "Door of Return" sign on the other side of the "Door of No Return" sign as a way of welcoming back the descendants of slaves and anyone willing to learn more about the history of the Cape Coast Castle/slavery.

Our tour guide, Issac/Kofi, showing us the "Door of No Return." On the other side, it says the "Door of Return."

The steps leading down to the Atlantic Ocean after exiting the Door of No Return. Now it's where a lot of the fishers prepare their nets and get ready to head out to the ocean.

During the tour, I also met a couple from LA and they were vacationing here in Ghana! Man, Californians are everywhere!

Me with the Atlantic Ocean in the background. Note the cannons in the back, too.

This plaque was presented by Barack and Michelle when they came to Ghana in July of this year. So cool!

At the museum, there was this really interesting map of the slave trade.

Also, a replica of a slave auction stand. Crazy!

Colette, Devin and I with the Atlantic Ocean in the background.

Not going to lie -- it was pretty emotionally draining but interesting nonetheless. We walked around the main roads of this very bustling fishing town and found an NGO that sold cool-designed fabric to make shirts, etc. We also took pictures with these really random kids who were absolutely hilarious! We also had dinner at the Oasis Resort which is right next to the Cape Coast Castle and right along the beach...coincidentally saw Jen and Farma (a fellow BF PCV and her boyfriend). Good times!

Colette and I with some neighborhood kids at the Cape Coast. They were absolutely hilarious!!