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on Pat in Zebilla (Ghana), 21/Dec/2009 10:36, 34 days ago
Christmas here is celebrated by Christians in church but is otherwise quite low key. There are a few signs of a more commercialised, westernised sort of celebration creeping in but most people in the north of Ghana can’t afford to do parties, cards, presents etc. Not hearing Jingle Bells from Bonfire Night onwards has been really great! Just last week there started to be a few carols played at times on the TV when other Christian music would usually be played and on Monday Vodaphone were doing a promotion in the nearest big town and had someone dressed up as Santa on their float.At the weekend volunteers in this area got together for an early Christmas dinner. 15of us gathered at one house in Bolgatanga and all contributed to the meal. Our Secret Santa limit was the equivalent of just over a pound and the gifts were a real mix of edible, practical and plain silly. The distribution and opening of them involved a story and the option of‘stealing’ a present that you liked better than the one you had opened, resulting in much hilarity as some things were clearly favoured over others, especially anything chocolate! We then had a UK v the rest of the world quiz which the UK won by a whisker. Anthony who is in a band, Bolgatanga, then bought in his guitar and the band’s drums and we played and sang carols and Christmas songs. Then we noticed it was 1.30am so a good time had been had by all!The Christmas break is now approaching. Schools finished on Friday (18th) for 3 weeks but the office doesn’t close til lunchtime on Christmas Eve. It will be closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day then open again until New Years Day which is also a holiday. Iona, who I share a house with, and I are taking some extra leave days and travelling via Kumasi to Koforidua in the south east to spend Christmas with some other volunteers. There should be about 15 of us. There is a big bead market in Koforidua that we plan to visit on Christmas Eve. On Boxing Day the plan is to visit some nearby waterfalls and do a bit of a hike.After Christmas a smaller group of us are going to travel for a few days in Togo and Benin which should be a bit of an adventure to start off the New Year.A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.