21st Birthdays, Custom Clothing and the Azonto

Little Max, the only undergraduate amongst our group of about 20 graduate students, appropriately celebrated his 21st birthday in Ghana. Our Professors graciously presented him with a bottle of tequila, which we discovered tastes pretty darn delicious with fresh coconut juice.

This picture with #TeamCassava and I cracks me up, because I'm SO dark yet I still get called 'white' by locals. Funny story actually - I went to the movies to watch Think Like a Man with some of my Ghanaian friends a few weeks ago. (Hilarious movie by the way, and such a good-looking cast!) After the movie started one of our friends was able to find us although the theater was completely dark. He said it was because I was easy to spot, since I 'glowed in the dark'. -_- Relative to a local Ghanaian, yes, I am 'white'.

(Note to self: my hair is growing dangerously long and desperately needs a trim.)

I forget the name of this local Ghanaian dish, but it was a spinach stew on top of fish with boiled yams. It wasn't what I imagined when they described the dish as a 'stew', but it wasn't bad... or my favorite local dish neither. 

Marjorie, the NYU seamstress passing out everyone's uniquely-made dresses, shirts, wrap skirts and more. Choosing your own fabric and designing your own clothes is relatively inexpensive and fun!  For example, a yard of fabric costs about 5 GHc ($2.50) per yard. A shirt, short skirt, or short dress requires about 2 yards, while a longer dress requires 3. Labor for a skirt is 15 GHc ($7.50) and a dress is 25 GHc ($12.50). So on average a personalized skirt is about 25 GHc ($12.50) while a dress is 40 GHc ($20.00), including the cost of fabric.

My traditional print one-piece romper. 

I also got a maxi dress (in the brown print) and a short skirt (blue and orange print). Since I had leftover fabric, I'm also getting a pencil skirt in the traditional orange fabric, and another pencil skirt in another fabric not shown here. I went to pick up these three pieces from Marjorie's shop, and discovered she has her own selection of fabrics for sale. I couldn't help but put in a few more orders! Since I hate wasting anything, I'm also getting shoulder bags or small purses made with any leftovers. Fun fun!

Actually, what I really want is a blazer! A friend of mine has several of the most gorgeous blazers I've ever seen, all made from traditional Ghanaian fabric. I've been hesitant because it's difficult to pick a fabric that isn't too loud, but I think an earthy toned, or mostly solid-colored blazer would make for a uniquely stylish business casual 'New York' piece. 

Can we talk about Ghana's current dance craze for a second? Not only is the song extremely catchy (as you'll notice from the video below), but the dance is too cute. In Kumasi we were lucky enough to witness an Azonto flash mob of Airtel promotors dancing on the side of the Kumasi market. 

The Azonto was even covered by BBC News.

Anyway, that leads me into these next photos. During our going away dinner at Hospitality Headlines we enjoyed local food, a cake, and a deejay who spun Hip Life hits all night long - including the Azonto. When the NYU Wagner-sponsored celebration officially ended, we decided we weren't going to call it a night just yet...

...so the party continued at Bella Roma in Osu until the early morning. It's nothing but unforgettably good times when professors, students, and staff coexist on the dance floor of a foreign country.