Western Ghana Beach trip

My Dad wants me to finish up my blog but considering I didn't write for the last 2 months of my stay in Ghana it could get tricky. I've decided to give lots of detail instead of a massive sum up but to lessen the load of a long blog by dividing it up into 3 sections. Here goes:

Part 1/3 Green Turtle Lodge

Mo and I traveled to the western part of Ghana with the final destination of Takoradi. Jarett and Anna Rose were to follow on his motorcycle the next day. Mo and I were a bit excited to attempt the confusing travel route without our expertise leadership of Jarett. It took all day in vans of various sizes and with the help of a innocent small girl named Sophie we found a bus rather than a taxi to the the Lodge. We gave her some coins for her help. As her friends came up to sell us berry tea in bags we declined. Sophie, seeing this, offered us our coins back to buy the tea at which point her tea-selling friends smacked her in the back of the head saying "Sophie!" It was adorable.

From Takoradi we took Sophie's tro-tro to The Green Turtle Lodge which you can check out here: http://www.greenturtlelodge.com/ This eco-tourism lodge was started by a young British couple that works to do research on the sea turtles there and be an environment friendly tourist stop. The beach was unbelievably beautiful like some kind of Corona commercial. Locals walked by with buckets on their heads. One child picked up her small pup and placed him too on her head. We camped in mattressed tents in an open building for 5 cedis a night. Did you catch that? A honeymoon type location on a secluded gorgeous beach for 5 CEDIS A NIGHT! Staying in a lodge house was only double that price. I always imagined a place like that costing an arm and a leg and here we were. I didn't bring enough money so we had to scrimp our funds and find cheap food at the local village until Jarett and Anna Rose arrived. We walked 20 mins to the village and a young boy said he could take us to buy rice. His tour lasted 15 minutes as we crossed a bridge and walked through the mud houses of 3 villages catching sights of puppies and bathing children all excited to see us. That walk was maybe one of my favorite memories. The food was great and cost us only 60 pesewas (42 cents). That boy Joshua also gave us coconut to eat and we bought whole pineapple to eat on the beach later. AMAZING.

Mo and I were a bit worried when Anna Rose and Jarett didn't show up and when we got back to the University having only spent 40 cedis(29$) each on our 3 day trip we found them bruised and bandaged from a motorcycle accident. They were fine and we had fun making fun of Jarett's shaved eyebrow and quasi-modo like bruise. We weren't the only ones to have fun-Ghanaians were extremely curious about his bandage and people he didn't know would constantly cross the street to stop him and ask "OH sorry! What happened to you? Weren't you wearing a helmet?" Eventually Jarett stopped leaving his room because that small village custom of knowing everyone's business still very much exists in the big city of Accra.

Kwame Nkrumah and reaction to Discomfort

Okay so this guy, Kwame Nkrumah (said Kwamay Enkoma) is super famous. I went on a tour through his memorial site and it gave me a lot to think about. He declared Ghana independent in 1957 and he was the president from 1960-1966 when he was overthrown by a military coup that was funded by the CIA. ouch..... This guy was amazing, he was all about uniting Africa and making Africa for the Africans. He built major highways and even made a 1/4 of the parliament for women. We Americans were threatened by a united Africa. We were threatened bc the West had businesses and companies in Africa and we didn't like that Nkrumah was so close friends with Communist nations. So we pay some militants.

I feel very irritated with that and I know that Ghanaians do too. In America, communists are viewed as evil. They need to be dealt with or they will corrupt the system. But I think it is all a facade. Communism threatens the wealthy who love the capitalist system. It demands sharing of wealth. Or you hear that communism just doesn't work and it infringes on the individuals rights which seems quite true. So why interfere when a country seems to go that way? Is it possible that America simply cared too much for this developing nation to let it go down the path of communism? I don't think so.

hmm.

How many actions are based on profit alone? How about in our own lives? When people here ask me for money a few thoughts run through my head:
If I give to one, I will have to give to all and I can't afford that. I need money.
They may not use it well.
Just don't look at them and they will leave you alone.
I have been convicted of these thoughts recently. When I trace them to their start I simply don't want to share. Last night I read the first 7 chapters of Matthew or so. Take a look and see how the poor are to be treated, see how money is to be viewed. (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%205-7&version=NIV) I am to give to those who ask of me and trust in God's provision. What harm can $1 or less be to each who asks? Jesus calls for compassion not sacrifice. I am to look at these people. I am to see them and have compassion.

Ghanaians are friendly people. I wonder if I were black and dressed poorly if the treatment would be the same. Or is our friendliness directly realted to how much someone will benefit us or how little someone will ask of us? I know that I naturally smile and look at the people who will not ask me to buy something. I have been convicted in reading Matthew and by seeing by own discomfort with others instead of what should be love. At the trade market today I made myself look at everyone I passed and to address them directly even it if was only to say "Hi! No, thank you. Have a good day."

I don't feel like I am here to help or teach these people. I feel like they are teaching me.