Don't even know where to start writing. The beach party was so good. Maybe too good, as that always comes with consequences. And now I am home in bed as my stomach tries to recover from whatever poisons I consumed at yesterday's barbecue. But, what the hey, it was worth it!
Got to Prampram around 20:30 on Saturday after Dirty came to my house and we met Ruby & Co at Shell by the motorway roundabout. Saturday was easy, we set up the place, taking chairs out, packing up the food we'd brought and so on. After a while a few others arrived. I think in total we were about fifteen people there (after H and his gang arrived around 1:30).
The evening progressed in a very bohemian spirit as we danced to music, chatted, drank, walked on the beach and went skinny dipping. Is this what our parents were doing in the seventies? We had so much fun in the water, after Ruby and I accidentally fell in with our dresses and everything (as I mentioned a few blogs ago, that sea is evil!), we gave up and just enjoyed the water. Still had to avoid a lot of rocks that would painfully fly on the waves towards us. Went back up and a while later we changed into swim wear and went into the water again. It was so wonderful.
HOWEVER, the next morning, after Dirty and I were rudely awakened by Ruby, we walked to the beach and looked out over the sand and the sea. In shock we saw the rubbish all over the beach, which we must have walked through the night before, light bulbs, toothpaste tubes, etc, all scattered everywhere. I looked onto the waves thinking I saw lots of fish, only to realise I was seeing loads of plastic bags. It's amazing how at night you get that eerie, romantic feeling of a place, only to be brought back to reality in the sharp daylight. (this didn't stop the guys from going swimming twice during the day, while the women prepared for the barbecue, oh what a sexist environment!).
At 13:30 I begun to wonder if Ruby's fears were true that not many would show up, but then I reminded myself that we were operating on GMT - Ghana Man's Time, so since we'd told people to come from 12 onwards, I really shouldn't be expecting anyone until after 14:30. Of course everybody arrived between 14:30 and 15:30 and I would estimate that there were about 50-60 people in total. The music was good, there was food and drink in abundance and even if all that had been rubbish, it wouldn't have mattered as the breathtaking view was enough to make anyone happy for driving all the way there (the rubbish on the sand and in the sea are not visible until you stand at the edge of the lawn).
Once again it became clear how small Accra is, as our guests who we had invited separately and from seemingly different backgrounds were united with childhood friends they hadn't seen in decades. For me, the most fascinating meeting was with a man who had spent 18 years in Finland! Just as I always speak of London as a relief from Sweden because there, being black isn't such a big deal, he told me he used to take Alandsfarjan (ferry between Sweden and Finland) on weekends to get to Stockholm for a relief from the racism in Finland. I asked if he ever goes back and he shuddered, "no, no way". I guess that's the difference between growing up in a place and moving there as an adult, don't think I could ever imagine never going to Sweden, it's too big a part of me, but then again, I still have a lot of friends and family there.
As the sunset, most people left, and it became clear which persons were self-employed or had flexible hours as they seemed to be in no hurry at all to leave. Those of us who are employed were itching to go home and get ready for the working week, while the others seemed to just be getting into the mood, hoping the party would go on into the small hours.
I agree with most people who said it was the greatest party in a long time, most of all I'm impressed that we managed to hold a 24 hour party and still not have a moment of boredom, but I think I have the wonderful ambience of Prampram to thank for that.
Pictures will be posted later, have lost my USB cable, and anyway the best pictures are on Ruby's camera
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