The early part of this week was quiet, mostly because we were waiting to get paid... haha. On Wednesday, I went to a cafe to work and Alex came over at lunchtime to have a coffee and chat. She mentioned that she recently joined NAWA (North American Women's Association) and wanted to go to an organized dinner the next night. She wanted me to tag along; partially, so she didn't have to go alone but also because she's British, so she wanted an American partner in crime. Dan was expected to have a work happy hour that night anyway so I agreed and we RSVPed.
Thursday evening arrived and Alex was coming to pick me up. Just then, the sky opened up and DUMPED rain. In the run from the door of our building to her car, I was drenched. We very carefully navigated Accra's poorly drained roads and got to dinner safely. We weren't sure what to expect as we had been told that NAWA was a lot of older ladies, so we were going in open minded. There were about 20 of us and I think people ranged from early-mid-20s to early-mid-40s, so a good group. Everyone was really friendly and it was nice to meet some new people and share our experiences here in Ghana.
Maybe 5 of us were actually North American which I found pretty funny. One girl from Boston, two from Montana, one from all over California and me. The dinner was at an Ethiopian restaurant and was served buffet style. The food was very good and as enjoyable as I recall it being in Addis Ababa. The owner of the restaurant is definitely Ethiopian so the authenticity was never in question. We had some wine and chatted, and eventually parted ways around 10pm. The restaurant was very close to Alex's house so I felt bad having her return me back home. Luckily, one of the other ladies lives quite close to me and was kind enough to drop me off. I'm really glad I went and grateful to Alex for inviting me. Going to stuff like that alone can be overwhelming.
Friday was Dan's 30th birthday and we had reservations for dinner at a place called Urban Grill, which we heard good things about. It's close to his work so he and some coworkers went over and hung out at the bar downstairs after the end of their day. I met them there and, apparently, just missed the cake/singing bit. Funny because I know that Dan is not a fan of that stuff so I know better than to inform any servers it's his birthday. He had gone to the bathroom and when he returned they started their birthday music and parade of servers with a cake that has a sparkler in it, and immediately knew what was coming. That's what he gets for leaving Noks unsupervised. Dan and I went upstairs for dinner while everyone else kept enjoying their happy hour. We got a bottle of malbec and shared a tuna and avocado appetizer that came with plantain chips. For dinner, we got salmon with quinoa and a beetroot sauce and plantain chip crusted grouper with salsa and green beans. We swapped plates halfway through, haha.
After dinner, we went back down and found everyone right where we left them. We rounded up the troops and headed to Republic, an outdoor bar in Osu. We had some drinks and chatted until we got tired after a long day of work and celebrating. Headed back home around 11 to crash. I think Dan had a good birthday and a nice kickoff to Halloween weekend.
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