I'm seeing red...

Well I'm seeing red dots all over, my holiday present from Ghana were ant bites, bed bug bites, and heat rash. But I made it through the holidays, and that's something to be happy about. I can't say they were my best, but they sure were memorable, and I learned a lot.
I would like to apologized for the lack of photos on this posting. It seems my idea of posting pictures on my blog won't work due to the fact my camera was stolen two nights after Christmas. I will explain that later though!
Christmas Eve was the beginning of my holidays and challenges. Midnight mass! Those of you who know me know that I've never been much of a church goer. However, respected community members are church goers, therefore I am a church goer. I came here to live the way Ghanaians live, I've decided that just living is enough at this point, any way I can. So I've decided to immerse myself in the culture, and a very big part of culture here is religion. My small village happens to have one small church, Saint Matthia's Catholic Church, it is the largest building in my village. (Insert picture of my church here) I normally arrive at church promptly at 9:00Am and it starts promptly between 9:30 and 10:30. The whole service is in Nzema, so I typically daze off and watch the kids, who all sit close to me so they can shake my had, or I watch the old ladies doze off, only waking up to wipe their sweat with small neatly folded white hankies. I have become a small hankie carrier also! Anyways, we normally have 3 to 4 collections which are somewhat different than in the states. Instead of passing the collection plate around, they put a plastic bowl in the front of the church and we dance up to it to make our donations. Well, Christmas Eve midnight mass started at 9:00 PM and apparently I didn't get the memo, I was supposed to bring a food donation for Christmas. Tonight everyone brought eggs, rice, plantains, etc instead of money. Mass ended at midnight and I headed home!
My next big feat was surviving Christmas day, which was surprisingly easy! I went to mass once again, and once again did not get the memo! Apparently everyone wears white to mass on Christmas morning, I decided to wear my best bright blue Ghanaian dress and stick out like a sore thumb... as if I didn't already! Besides being at church on a Tuesday I would've never known that it was Christmas. After church I walked around town and greeted people. I spent my evening packing for my 2 day trip to Accra. I took a break from packing to enjoy our Christmas feast of a dinner, I mean I ate banque and fish again. My day was made when I got to call my friends and family and hear about their holidays though!
With Christmas down, I just had New Years to go! The morning of December 26, or "Boxing Day" in Ghana, I decided to head to the capital, Accra, to pick up my boxes. I left at 5AM and managed to make it to Accra in the early afternoon. With little cash on me I went to the Peace Corps bunks and stayed there to wait for the banks to open in the morning. In the morning I made it to the banks and ran some errands with Carolyn, my PCV buddy. We enjoyed American food and conversations about diarrhea, food, and gossip, as most Peace Corps conversations go. That night we went to Champs for a trivia game and an expensive American meal. When I was leaving the restaurant I walked down a back road to get a taxi just past dark, and a man came up behind me and took my bag. He snatched it right off my shoulder and jumped a fence. The whole thing happened so fast I didn't even know what had happened till I realized I was now missing my camera, cell phone, and some cash. I never even got to look at the guy. With my remaining 3 dollars I went back to the Peace Corps bunks. The next morning I went to the office and reported the crime to the Peace Corps only to learn they can't reimburse me for any of my losses. After I made the report I checked my mail and have to admit, they came at the perfect time! I had 5 packages waiting for me, full of candy, books, CDs, lights, pictures, egg nog, and money... just enough to replace my cell phone. I spent the rest of the afternoon going to the bank, and buying a new phone. I left the next morning and headed back to site for the New Years festival.
I made it home and relaxed for a few days and went to work. New Years Eve meant midnight mass again, and what do you know, I missed another memo! I guess I was supposed to bring a candle, because we were going to do a parade through town, dancing, candles, and singing (in a language I don't know!) So I had to explain why I didn't have a candle... Ghanaians always seem shocked that we don't do things the same exact way as them in America. So I did my shuffle my feet and sway dance through town, with every 15, 16, and 17 year old girl wanting to dance near me and be my best friend. We finally made it back to the church and lit a huge bonfire (well really it was only about 12 feet, small to any Aggie!) The fire was lit and followed by... big surprise.... more singing and dancing! We went back into the church and the service continued and we prayed till midnight when we all shook hands. In the morning it was back to mass for me! Can't wait for the holidays to be over just so I can get a break from church! After mass we relaxed for a few hours before I headed to the big festival 2 villages away. I got there and about 20 drunken Ghanaians rushed up excited to see me and asking if I would take pictures with them. The photographer started taking pictures and the situation quickly got out of control. Before I knew it standing next to me went to hugging me in pictures. Someone tried to kiss me on the cheek in a picture and I pushed them away very mad. (I found that you have to set the limits, early and straight with Ghanaians) So I started pushing all 20 of them off of me and I felt hands grabbing me all over. As soon as I got out of the crowd I headed back to my house more frustrated than ever. I stayed in my village away from my only friends in the country to celebrate this big festival with my community who got drunk and tried to take advantage of me. I left before the festival even began.
So my holidays were a flop! But I'm looking forward to life getting back to some sort of a normal schedule. I hope everyones holidays were better in the states!