Final Weekend in Ghana

Believe, Amanda, Eric, and myself at the Retiree Lunch

On Friday afternoon, the library was holding a program/lunch to honor the five library employees who were retiring later this summer.  The lunch we heard was supposed to start at 11am, but it definitely did not start until 2:30, 3pm.  Despite our tummies being hungry, it was worth the wait.  We sat at a table with two people who work in Henry's office, Believe and Eric.  I feel very fortunate to have been placed at their table as it was a great time.  Eric couldn't sit still and was always up and about taking pictures or dancing, and Believe was great company.

Rice and chicken platter

After introductions, lunch was served.  You could choose between chicken or fish and different types of rice, or banku.  Since I have had banku before, I opted for the different rices and chicken.  It was fantastic!! 

As people were eating their food, each of the retirees were honored.  First they were introduced and then their accomplishments at Balme Library were described, as well as how long they have been serving the library.  The least amount of time was 25 years, the most was 46 years.  It was remarkable to see these people and hear about what their professional accomplishments.  What was most moving about this event was seeing how the other staff at the library appreciate them and will truly miss their presence at the library. 

Saturday, we were supposed to go to Shai Hills with some people from Henry's office, but those plans fell through.  There was also talk of going to KFC (yes, Kentucky Fried Chicken!) Saturday night, and Henry was supposed to call us after he returned home from a wedding.  So Amanda and I waited and waited to hear from him, not sure how much time we had to go do anything.  We finally called him at 5pm, and he said that he would have to take a rain check.  Instead, Amanda and I walked over to the Guest House on campus, and had dinner there. 

Sunday, Henry called us at 9:45 am, and it was decided that we would have dinner with him that night.  He said he was going to take a bath, and then call us.  We weren't sure how long it would take to take a bath, so we chose not to go to the pool like we had originally planned.  Apparently it takes three hours or so to take a bath.  He called us and we met him at the Accra Mall.

Beef Banku in Okra Stew

Once we met up with Henry, it was decided that we would go to his city, Tema, which is about a 45 minute taxi drive from Accra.  So we got to see a new city!  We had dinner at his favorite dives, 2.1 Bar.  There, we had some banku (good thing I didn't get it on Friday!).  We had beef banku and okra stew.  It was spicy.

After dinner at 2.1, we went to Henry's house and saw what a typical Ghanaian house is like.  They weren't bad!  Cozy for sure.  He also had TV!  So we got to watch just a little bit of that with him.  But we had a lot of interesting conversations with him, and it was a lot of fun.  We also talked about his girlfriend with him.  We told him that we hoped to meet her before we left, so he called her and she came over!  She is a sweetheart and we wish Henry and Olivia the best of luck with everything.  There are marriage talks going on, and we talked to him about somethings that girls like, such as chocolate and flowers--he had no idea.  It was great fun, and hopefully we can see the two of them again after we leave Ghana.