XP +1: Teshie Homowo Festival

I went to the Homowo Festival today, which is a festival about a large famine in Ghana and its end by "scaring" the famine away with loud music, singing, and shouting. It was in Teshie, a poorer town east of Accra, and thinking it would be more authentic than something in Accra, I decide to get out of my Saturday lethargy and go.

Jens, Francesca, and I grabbed a tro-tro (fixed fare mini-vans), and boy, did they fit a lot of people in the van!* When we arrived, the street was PACKED, and we were definitely the only obrunis (foreigners) there. People were dancing, playing loud music, and running around. Some people were dressed in costumes; men dressed as women; kids doing tricks on rollers blades or bikes; it was quite unique and unlike anything I had ever seen. Kind of reminded me of the crazy festivals in San Francisco. We walked around the street for a bit, people watched, and eventually sat down and had a beer and some really bad meat kebabs. I think they were made from cat. Super gross.

*Now that I come to think of it, I took a tro-tro when I was in Joburg in 2005. I had to go to a party for work, and my coworkers told me to take this van to get to the party. At the time, I remember cramming into this car with 11 other people and wondering why my coworkers would be so cheap and not hire an extra car for transportation. I didn't realize it was public transportation...