Week of Firsts

Ok, so this week has been a week of random 1st time adventures. It started last weekend when Ali, Theo, and I spent a 5 day weekend at the Green Turtle/Safari Lodge. Which included my first time canoing through mangroves (in Africa), being pulled out to sea by a current, and sleeping on the beach with only a mattress and mosquito net.
The next adventure, on Wednesday and Thursday,included having to really act like an adult for the first time. Set up: so basically there is only one place in ALL of Ghana that a Mastercard Atm card can be used and that is the Barclay's in downtown Accra. Lauren, the other IU girl, and I made the trip together since everyone else on the trip has Visa. We withdrew out money and everything went surprisingly smooth. That is until I found out that somehow I was charged double the amount I withdrew. Therein began my adventure of leaving UG at 630 AM and grabbing a taxi by myself to beat rush hour traffic. Well, it ended up that the bank wouldn't open for another hour. So I read and was said Good Morning to by every Ghanaian that walked by. Basically the next hour consisted of everyone telling me they couldn't help me or pointing me in the wrong direction. It was fun.
The next adventure was on Friday was actually fun. I took my first solo tro tro ride. I grabbed tro tro outside of the Bush Canteen and got off at 37 to visit Max Mart for the frist time. Max mart is one of the three grocery stores in Accra. It tends to have a few more international items than ShopRight, like skittles which I got to share with my neighbors. Then I headed over to Bonjour for lunch and enjoyed the air conditioning for a little while. While I sat there reading They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky, I was approached by a guy from Sierra Leone whose parents had been killed in the war. He offered to marry me in exchange for a Visa, but I said no thanks.
The Last adventure of the week included attending my first ever revival. My neighbor Beatrice who I had gone to Bible study with a few weeks ago, told me that GAFES (IFES's chapeter in GHana) was going to be putting on a program in Central Cafeteria. I was super excited to go because I have been trying to find GAFES since I've arrived. It was supposed to start at 7 but Beatrice said we shouldn't leave till 8, always trust a Ghanaian when they tell you arrive late. Betrice ended up getting sick so I went by myself. Let's just say the evening included a preacher who really enjoyed yelling and promising to heal people and a guy praying in tongues(?) on the mic. I'm still trying to process this one.