It’s day five here in Ghana and I’m enjoying myself immensely. In fact, I’m enjoying myself so much that my cheeks are actually sore from the gigantic grin which has been consistently plastered across my face. Today, while posing for a group picture at a local school, I couldn’t even hold my smile without my upper lip quivering from fatigue. While the first couple days here were great, the trip has been getting progressively more amazing as the days go on. Yesterday, Wednesday, June 29th, was the greatest day I’ve had in a long time and probably ranks somewhere in the top ten most enjoyable days of my life.

The day began with a trip to the small town of Aburi, about an hour from our house in East Legon. The mood was set on the bus ride over as we took in the surrounding scenery to the melody of the Nigerian hip-life playing over the speakers. Once in Aburi, we visited the Aburi Botanical Garden, located high in the mountains outside of Accra. This beautiful landscape sprawls over many acres and features a myriad of both native and imported plant species. This place was so lush; we were surrounded by shades of green contrasted with the red dirt that covers the southern region of Ghana. The garden was not only gorgeous, it also had a very calming atmosphere which left me happy and relaxed as we sat down to what I and most of the group consider to be the best authentic Ghanaian meal we’ve had so far.

Once we finished eating, we left the garden and drove down the road to the local wood carvers’ market. Here we got to view dozens of stands filled with stunning wooden masks, bowls, animal figurines and other various carvings created by local artists. While meandering from stand to stand looking for souvenirs, we got to practice our bargaining skills. The bargaining triumph of the day was Neethu’s drum purchase, during which she talked the vendor down from 65 Ghanaian cidi to 10. My favorite purchase of the day was a small unity stool, accompanied by a bowl to rest on top of it. Unity stools are foldable stools made up of three intertwined pieces of wood with heads carved into the top of each piece. Each stool is carved out of a single piece of wood. These stools are unique to Ghana. I also bought a necklace, a small mask and a set of small wooden elephants for my mom. On the drive home we purchased fresh coconuts on the side of the road, something I had been wanting to do since our arrival. We watched as the street vendor used a machete to sharpen the top of the coconut into a point and then slice off the tip so that we could drink the water inside.

After returning home for a couple hours, the group and I ventured out with Sonny, a young, local man we met through our professor. He first took us to a small concert at a hotel and then to Reggae Night on the beach, a weekly event that I had been looking forward to since I learned about it weeks prior to our arrival. Ok, “looking forward to” is a vast understatement. I have passionately loved reggae since the age of fifteen, and there isn’t much that I enjoy more than spending time at the beach. The prospect of combining the two while in Africa was right up my alley. So, with a fantastic day already under my belt, I was absolutely thrilled to attend this event and see what was in store for us after the sun had set.

The night lived up to and possibly even exceeded my expectations as I danced barefoot in the sand to the live band performing covers of some of my favorite reggae tunes. The venue, nestled into a stretch of sand deemed La Pleasure Beach, was outfitted with wooden furniture weathered by the sea air and beachy straw-covered umbrellas and roofs. The seating area was lit with cool blues and greens and the stage glowed fiery red and orange as the band performed. The crowd, a mix of tourists and locals, gave off a chill, care-free vibe tailor-made for my mood.

At one point in the night, I half-danced, half-walked out past the tables and chairs down to the water. As I stood gazing out into the distance, warm sea water lapping at my feet and the sound of music and breaking waves in my ears, a sudden feeling of ultimate contentment fell over me. As I thought about where I was, what I had done that day, and what I was doing just then, my chest swelled with an indescribable happiness. Moments like these do not come around very often, the kind that stay perfectly intact in your memory for years to come, the kind we call perfect.