Time Flies When You're Becoming a Local

     I have now officially reached the halfway point of my stay in Ghana. The first half flew by, and I know that the second will go even quicker. That is because we only have two more weeks of new material in school, and then we begin a three week period of revision and exams- but i'll explain more about that when the time comes.
   This past weekend Auntie took Sara and I to an engagement party of a friend's son. We got to wear our new Kente dresses we picked up from the seamstress so we fit right in with everyone at the party (kind of, haha). The party was very interesting, and much different than I had expected. Not knowing much about it, I assumed it was just a celebration of the eventual marriage, but it was actually a whole ceremony. The groom's family offered gifts to the bride's family, and when the bride told them to accept the gifts, it meant the two families had joined together. There was also an official church ceremony where the couple even exchanged rings. So after the engagement party, as far as the church is concerned, the two are married and the families have become one. The wedding day is really only to make it official with the courts. It was a pretty interesting thing to be apart of.
    On Sunday we took a drive to Ghana's Botanical Gardens. The gardens were neat, but truthfully my favorite part of the trip was the drive. The gardens are located up at the top of a mountain, so we drove right up the side of it to get there. The view was amazing. It was neat to see all the villages of houses with the mountains in the background. Where I live it's all clay and dirt so it was nice to see some nature again, and it was cool to see an image of Africa I wouldn't normally picture.
    Just a few side notes from the weekend- the kids in the house have begun teaching Sara and I how to do this trendy Ghanaian dance called the Azonto. We see the young kids and adults doing it anytime music is playing, so we thought we better start getting it down. I think the kids like teaching us because we are pretty entertaining to watch. I'll just say that we need some practice before taking it public. We are also encouraging everyone at home and school to speak to us in Twi, the most common tribal language in the area. So with my new recipes, clothes, dance moves, and language, I'm going to be heading back to America a real Ghanaian.