By Kiasia Baggenstos

It has only been one week in the majestic Accra, and I already feel like I’ve been here for a month with everything that I’ve experienced thus far; dancing with beautiful children full of energy and love, eating almost a pound of Jollof rice at a time because It’s too good to waste, watching baby goats chase each other as if they were wild squirrels, and so much more.

So you think you can dance? Honestly, I never had the courage to find the rhythm in my body to do a simple cupid shuffle, but when I came to Nima it was different. As soon as my ears heard the drums playing and the children singing their heartfelt welcome songs in English and French, I knew it was time to dance. I’d never felt as much joy dancing as I did when I was dancing with the children at the school in Nima. I will never forget these experiences and I can only imagine what opportunities the next 5 weeks have in store for me.

Jollof rice; The varieties of rice I’ve had in America were limited to the basics; jasmine rice with butter, chicken fried rice, and worst of all: basmati rice. I didn’t expect to have such high expectations for rice until now. Jollof rice is the perfect shade of orange and when you take a sniff your nose might start running, which means you’re in the right place. I never would’ve thought rice could fulfill my cravings for spicy food until I had the one and only; Jollof rice.

Thank you, Accra for enhancing my pallet with such a flavorful rice dish.