Ghana by Night

Ghanaians love to party. Or maybe it was just the people I hung around with. Either way, they love to party. A couple of cool places worth checking out in Accra that I went to were:

Twist Night Club

Located in Labone. Twist has a very laid back vibe to it, however they don’t let you wear trainers inside unless you are some sort of VIP. What I like about it is that they have several booths along the sides which could fit about 10 people in each. Booths are reserved for VIP or if you are buying a large amount of bottles. The music like most other clubs in Ghana is the usual Afrobeats, Hip Hop and RnB and Dancehall. The first time I went there, I was with a group in one of the booths and the DJ made the whole club do the mannequin challenge! This was my favourite club in Accra if I’m honest.

                       

Another Friday night in Twist Nightclub

Mint Night Club

Located by Marina Mall. I must say this place is popping! You have to go up the elevator to get to the club and it looks very plush inside. The DJ is also really good and gets everyone crazy. The only problem I had with this place was that it was ram packed! It felt like a sweatbox to me and I couldn’t stay long because I felt as if my makeup was melting after just 10 minutes of being there. However, what I realised was that Ghanaians mainly partied on Friday and Saturday so everyone is trying to get in to the same place.

Plot 7 Night Club

 Another cool venue. I went on a Thursday night so it wasn’t that busy because as mentioned Ghanaians party mostly on Fridays and Saturdays. However, it still had a good amount of people that you can still have a good time with. I like this club because of the amount of space it has inside. I’m not sure how busy it gets on the weekend but it was still pretty good on a weekday.

Skybar25

Located on the 25^th Floor (hence the name) on Villiago by the airport residential.  This is a rooftop bar where you get a very beautiful view of the city whilst you sip on a wide selection of drinks. I was told that it was the highest rooftop bar in the city. If you feel like being bougie and don’t mind spending some money, then this a nice place to spend a chilled Friday night.

View of Skybar25 in the evening

We run this city!

After last week’s emotional breakdown I was able to come out of myself and have a bit of fun.  I had an interesting weekend. Like ending up in the biggest celebrity in Ghana’ house interesting. A friend of mine from London had given me the details of her friend who lives in Accra and said to me ‘If you want to have a good time, call him’. And I did.  The first thing he said to me was ‘You’ve been in Ghana for this long and you’re only now calling me?’ like we were school mates.

Me with my new friend who took me under his wing

                                               

We arranged to meet the following day as his friend was having a show and he wanted me to come. I took a taxi ride for about 30 cedis from where I was staying in Abokobi to where he wanted to meet at a place called Vienna City in inner Accra. All throughout the taxi ride I was thinking I’m in a foreign country being driven by a random taxi driver to meet a random guy I’ve never met going to a random location I’ve never been to. But when I tell you Ghanaians are probably some of the friendliest people I’ve ever come across, it’s no joke.

The guy picked me up in his swanky white Mercedes and the first thing he said to me was ‘Are you hungry?’ I replied sheepishly ‘I am’. We went to meet another of his friend who also wanted to eat and they asked me if I’ve ever tried a dish called ‘Wajke’  (rice and peas, with spaghetti and meat on the side, with some cheese on top). I told them I had it that morning and I liked it but not sure if I wanted to eat it again. They assured me ‘Once you eat this wajke you will not like all the others you’ve tasted’ and they were right! It was the best meal I had since I landed.

I forgot to take a picture of my waache but this is how it looks source:google

We then went to a hotel and believe me I freaked out when they told me where we were going but not knowing the company I was with, I played it cool like I wasn’t scared. We were encountered by 4 more guys who were their friends. As if reading my mind, the main one said to me ‘Don’t worry, these are your brothers, be cool with us’. I asked them why we were in the hotel room and they replied they were waiting for their friend the artist to get ready so they can go and get him to perform. I asked who he was and they responded ‘Shatta Wale’ but the name did not mean a thing to me. One of them said to me ‘ You will know who he is once we get to the show’ and indeed I did! Before we got to the show we went to a modest sized house,   again I was greeted with more men, weed and loud music. By this time, I began panicking, and as if reading my mind another of the guys said to me ‘Since you are the only girl we will treat you like a queen because you are our sister’. I ended up sitting in a studio with my new friends and a few men dressed in army gear and dark sunglasses who looked rather intimidating. I later found they were Shatta Wale’s bodyguards and entourage. When they spoke however, I found it didn’t quite match their image. They were actually quite funny. So I did what most people do, I took snaps J.  Random much?? Shatta Wale came inside and greeted me with nothing on but a pair of shorts.  I didn’t recognise who he was until he left and I asked who he was and one of the guy responded that’s the artist and you are in his house  before they all laughed. I felt like quite the fool.

On our way to the Accra stadium at around 3am where Shatta Wale would perform, there was about 8 cars all tailing each other with hazard lights on to escort him. I was in the first car. The guy who’s car I was in shouted to me over the loud music he was playing ‘Are you starting to realise how big he is? We run this city!’ Well if going past traffic lights, stopping cars and creating a nuisance on the road was running a city then they surely did.

At the Shatta Wale concert in Accra Stadium

                             

The stadium was filled with people! On our way in I caught a glimpse of Sarkodie coming out escorted by soldiers. I was able to go back stage on the show to watch the performances because like my new friend said ‘we run this city’!

NB: I've been struggling to upload the rest of my pictures and videos on here I'm not sure why. This is the few I can manage

Choosing Joy Over Happiness

I’m not going to lie, I’m starting to feel a certain way.  Somewhere between I miss home and why am I here? I made up my mind to come to Africa because I wanted to take myself out of my comfort zone and try do something different. I no longer wanted to live up to the expectations of other people.  I wanted to write this blog to document my journey but it seems now I just want to document my heart.
                
            

I’m the sort of person who is usually quite open to others, however, trying to be open with myself and really uncovering all my layers is proving difficult. Do I really know who I am? I know what others think I am and I’m usually quite good with living up to that because I know how to say and do all the right things, but somehow I can’t live up to my inner woman. I like to give the impression that I do but I don’t feel that I’ve really connected to her and brought her out for the world to see. People see different parts of me. I see different parts of me because I’ve compartmentalised parts I’m too ashamed off, too embarrassed of or to shy of but these shortcomings are what makes me me.

Embracing my inner woman

When we went to the village on the outskirts of Accra to sign some kids up who were unable to go to school due to lack of resources, I got distracted and began playing with some of them. We had so much fun and that’s when I realised joy and happiness are two different things.

Having a song and dance with the village children

You can’t feign joy but you can pretend to be happy. These kids in the village had nothing to pretend about. What they had when we played and sang songs and they ran about in tattered clothes or semi naked whilst laughing their head off wasn’t happiness, it was joy. Something that I desperately wanted. Joy comes from within despite your situations but still choosing to be positive. Happiness only depends on when your situation is going well. These children taught me this.  I realised in order to connect with my inner woman I had to be joyful despite my circumstances.  Life is not going to be a bed of roses, there are plenty of thorns in it. I believe my inner woman already knows that but each time hardship happens I tend to stay away from connecting with her, being real with my emotions or real with myself like ‘Mel it’s not ok now but it’s going to be ok. It’s ok to cry’. I’m determined to make a change.

Just look at those smiles

                            

What I found was when I looked at some of these faces here in Ghana, I found the parts of me that I didn’t want people to see. I found the scared little girl who didn’t understand why her mother had left her so young, I found the flight attendant who lived most of her life in the clouds and I found myself in the face of the children who were performing their school play and dance but still braved a smile on their face despite going back to the hardship of their situation. I watched these children sing, dance and act with their faded school uniform but for some reason they looked more free than I felt within myself.

Choosing joy over happiness

                    

I’ve tried religion, I’ve tried to be this afro wearing knowledge of self black queen but I’ve realised I actually haven’t really tried myself and that’s just Mel. First I must love and accept myself.  What I haven’t tried is to live a life filled with joy. 

                                    

xxx