Dearest Gentle Reader,

This tropical Christmas was an unexpected experience. Not only was the weather different, but also the Christmas activities.

I am used to frosty winter days and Christmas markets where we eat grilled sausages, drink punch and huddle around the fire, in a Christmas market, to get warm. This time, there was no need to huddle around the fire because the weather was very warm: around 30 degrees. It was strange to see Christmas decorations everywhere while walking around in a t-shirt.

Before Christmas there are a lot of “9 Lessons and Carols” concerts. Nana Aba took her daughters and I to a carol concert hosted by a radio station. It was so fun, we were all singing, dancing, and playing games. Thyra, her daughter, even won a prize. After the show, cake and drinks were served then, we went out to eat a pizza.

The 24th of December is the day the families go out and spend time together. Papa Eugene, my host dad, took us all out to the water park. The group consisted of papa Eugene, mama Augustina, Asempa, Nhyiraba, Nsenkyerene and me. The water park was so fun, but the water was a little cold. However, the cool water was a nice refreshing touch in contrast to the hot weather. After swimming for 4 hours, everyone was hungry so we went next door to get pizza. Once the pizza was done, we went to Accra Mall, where the boys could pick out a new set of church clothes. After some more shopping and food, we went home.

On the 25th of December, we attended church service in the morning. It was soooo long and ended around 2pm. After that we went to a birthday party. The boy’s cousin turned two, so they had a big party. There was a popcorn machine and a cotton candy machine, two birthday cakes, and a lot of fun games.

The rest of the days were full of lounging around the house and cooking food. Just relaxing and enjoying the quiet time, even though with kids in the home it is never quiet.

On the 28th of December we had a family prayer service where the extended family also came over. Mama Augustina and I spent all morning peeling and cooking yam and meat for fifteen people.

The last few days of the year went by in a blur. On the 30th of December I met up with a friend named Sarah. She is also a German volunteer, and we wanted to spend a quiet new year together. We went to a beach resort about an hour from cape coast. It was a beautiful small resort; the beach was empty except for the few guests that were also staying at the resort. The owners organised a small New Year’s Eve celebration with a special menu and a dance show where dances from different regions of Ghana were shown.

We stayed there for about a week before returning back to work.

This Christmas and New Year has been very eventful and so much fun. I hope that my sisters back in Germany did not freeze too much and enjoyed Christmas. I know I did.

Thank you for reading and see you soon!

Yɛbɛhyia bio