THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

It’s Boxing Day, and in my Jordan shorts and a white t-shirt, I walked through the hot sun and cool breeze to the internet café.

It has been a few weeks since I have sent emails to friends and family of much substance. I have mostly just given short replies to what I have found in my box. That has not changed today, but I do hope to begin sending some thorough messages and some thorough reflections.

As it stands, I have 15 minutes on my time left, before I head out to get some lunch, and to figure out whether I am going to a small party or to the beach.

On Christmas Eve, I had planned to go to church, but brushing my teeth with tap water caught up with me in the form of diarrhea. So, instead of leaving the house, I stayed home. As it turned out, everyone in the house went somewhere, except for me. That left me home alone. It was nice though, as I have been around people in such close quarters. I watched ‘The Sound of Music’ and drifted asleep on the couch. When the family started coming home, I got up and headed to bed. Part of why I slept on the couch was to open the door for whoever was first to come home.

On Christmas Day, I woke up and decided to take Tamara up on her offer to come by her uncle’s house. So, I got ready and jumped into a taxi heading to the Airport Residential Area (known as an upper-middle class part of Accra).

When I found the house, Tamara was out, but I made myself comfortable with the family members that were there.

When Tamara did come, I was really happy to see her. Within about ten minutes, we were ushered into her Dad’s car with her sister Tania and Tania’s fiancée Derek. We headed over to a friend’s house and enjoyed an eat-n-run dinner with turkey, lamb and sushi. With desert in my hands we were told Dr. Sam (Tamara’s Dad) was in the car ready to go.

We then headed back to the house, where there was another dinner – this time solely Ghanaian food.

For the rest of the day, we danced, watched TV, played with the children, and caught up.

It was a really nice day. At around ten, I left the Monday night football double-header and took at taxi back to Sakumono.

At the house, everyone was sleeping, and so my first Christmas away from home came to a close...just like my internet time.