April has been and will continue to be a month where I won’t stop moving. It started off when i decided that i needed to jump off a cliff (literally)! Here in Eastern Region of Ghana, there is a Paragliding festival that happens each year on Easter weekend. Being a Peace Corps Volunteer, how could i pass up this opportunity? Well i couldn’t! And it was one of the most AMAZING things i have ever done! Being up in the air, attached to a very attractive man ( not all of them were, so i got lucky) flying over one of the most beautiful places in Ghana...I wish i could have just kept going and never land; super addictive, i would do it again in a heartbeat! After this stupendous adventure, i headed down to our All Volunteer conference. This is where all the PCV in Ghana (all 162 of us) get together and learn some new things, get a chance to brag about all that we are doing, and have a GREAT time together. If i have learned one thing about Peace Corps, is that we really are a big ol' family....no matter how corny that sounds; you have your "mom" and "dad" types that will help you out with anything you need, you have your crazy, odd, not sure what to do with them, aunts and uncles, you have the Super annoying younger bro's and sis's that you kinda wish weren’t there, but could not imagine life without them and then there are the ones that make you a better person and know will never get enough of them.
So with all these different personality types brought together, we somehow worked together in harmony and had an amazing 4 days. The Highlights: 1. Talent show- the amount of talented people shocked me!!! 2. Craft fair- gotta love the chance to shop and not get haggled about prices 3. Date Auction: this is where a PCV can design a "date" to sell, like taking someone horseback riding in Accra, or treating someone to an AMAZING Meal (bugers, fries and beers), and all the money goes towards GYD (gender youth development) 4. Prom: Yes, i know this sounds silly, and a bit odd that a group of 162, ages 22-75, all got together for a another go at prom, but it was awesome! We all put on our best 2 yards, and were looking good! On a personal note about all the stated above activities, i did two songs for the talent show that i wrote ( a play off of "I wanna be a billionaire...or I wanna be a Ghanaian, and a little mermaid parody), I was one of the announcers for the date auction, which was a lot of fun, and I was nominated for prom queen ( Who would have ever thought that in high school.....for sure Not Me) and then ended up sharing the crown (Mean Girls style) with the other 2 lovely ladies who were also nominated. It was a Blast! During All-Vol, we also met with all the committees that we have, and i am now president of the Food Security committee, which works with USAID and Feed the Future initiative. I am very excited to have this opportunity to get things started and bring a new outlook to the group.
I am now waiting in Accra, trying to get my visas for Togo and Benin, since a small group of us are going to the West African Trade Hub Shea Conference, which starts this Saturday. Now the bad part about this is that it falls under the same time as my regions GLOW (girls leading our world) camp...Which SUCKS cause i won’t get to go to it....but i will be learning ALOT that will help not only my village, but all of Ghana. So that’s where i am in my life at the moment, I can’t wait to get back to site and just have some down time and hang out with my friends there. I will write again about the adventures of the other West African countries I’m going to, so till than!
