when there's no choice but to wait.

Over this past weekend, we went to Kumasi to do a little tourist-ing.  We travelled by bus.  The sites were lovely.  The air was hot.  The drive was long.  Even waiting for the bus to come took awhile.  I never realized how much anxiety I allow into my life, until I had about six hours to just sit there and deal with it.  Have you ever tried to just sit and do nothing?  No agenda, no real distractions--just dipping your feet into the puddle of your own mind wanderings?  It's hard.  But also nice.  I had time to process things that had been hiding in the corners of my head, I could look around and actually see, and, eventually, I could just turn it all off.  It felt a little like an exercise, like I was training my heart and my mind.  Maybe it will be a good practice to continue in the future.

But anyway, Kumasi.  We drove through Kejatia Market, which is the largest open-air market in West Africa.  It was very cool to see, but there was not one inch of me that wasn't glad to be inside a car.  On the second day we went just outside of the city to Bonwire, which is the home of Kente cloth.  As I walked into the small-ish, barn-like building in the center of the town, I was immediately confronted with so much pretty.  Colors and lovely woven patterns everywhere.  Let me tell you, it was hard to walk out of there without an empty pocket and a very full bag.  But I reminded myself that we were about to go to Ahwia--a carving village--and I only left with a little more than I had expected to buy.  Now the carvers were just as difficult to leave, but it was made easier when I realized I had no more money.  Whoops.  (Hey, I left a large portion of it in the hotel so I didn't actually spend all of it.)  

Now.  Let's talk about two things I know I will miss: Blue Skies and Alvaro.  These are two beverages produced here in Ghana, both of which I tried for the first time over the weekend.  Blue Skies is a pineapple juice drink which is incredible.  There are three kinds, but the one I had included ginger.  Seriously, it was delicious.  I hope to try to recreate it back home because I have been craving it every day since.  Alvaro is a malt drink which also comes in three flavors: pear, passion fruit, and pineapple.  Definitely also great.  So now I need somebody to do some research and tell me that there's a place in Ohio where I can get either of these.  Please.  Please.