The Birthday Marathon

Yesterday was Capers’ 24^th birthday that we celebrated dancing and meeting new people at Hohoe’s very own, hot spot of the town, Malezia. We were thoroughly entertained that night by a oversized hippie chick, so obviously trying to “get hers,” - Chandler, from a local Ghanaian that was hesitant, but seemed open to the idea. We watched them dance, drink, flirt and finally kiss! Ching... It was on. Later in the night we caught a glimpse of them walking away from the club together and wondered… Where is he taking her back to? An average house around here lies somewhere in between a mud hut and a cinder block structure with foam core beds on the floor. It was also nearly 1AM so there would be no way for her to catch a taxi back home either. She was shacking up, Ghanaian style, with a heavy walk of shame awaiting her in the morning. Better than American soap operas; we'll take it!

The birthday festivities would continue into the next day, turning out to be the holy grail of Ghanaian adventures. We caught a taxi and sped down the pothole-infested roads to the Wili Waterfall. After concluding during my last trip to Ghana, the fall is by far the most majestic and breathtaking piece of natural sculpture I’ve ever seen. I anticipated its awe as we bumped and tumbled down the partially paved roads. Squeezed six deep in a four-person cab, we sped terrorously (as all Ghanaians drive here) down the dry, dirt roads, sucking in so much dust and dirt from outside it felt like licking a chalkboard.  Nonetheless, we safely arrived and began our hike through the lush jungle toward the falls.

Rays of sunlight gleamed hazy through the towering trees above, creating a light glow on our path. A mat of fallen leaves paved our steps, emitting a soft crunch with each stride. I walked barefoot for a while and let myself become one with the earth in an attempt to feel the entirety of the moment. The air was warm with patches of moisture where our path occasionally met the intersecting river downstreem from the fall. Oddly, this somehow threw me back in time to my elementary school atrium during thanksgiving where our principal would bring his pet turkey for each class to come see throughout the day. Strange, but true. As we continued down the path, the overall feel was that of a peaceful dream, or mirage if I could speculate how that might feel. We chatted and walked the painted paths until we came to an opening in the fauna, revealing crystal blue falls towering a modest estimate of thirty stories high. (The photos in no way do it justice). The fall drew us in like a magnet with its fine mist sprinkling our faces. I stood in awe for a few minutes then found a slick rock at the base of the falls to sit cross-legged on, in an unintentional meditation that made everything other than the beauty before me fade away like white washing a canvas. I don’t know how long I sat there, but as I did, there was a powerful rush of water in my ears, a light stream of strength in my heart and a steady gust of wind blowing across my face and through my hair. In an un-idolistic way, I can totally understand why tribal religions of the past worshiped things of nature. It may not have been that they thought the waterfall itself would give them something for their praise, but that it was a medium of communication between them and a higher power. Entrancing. After slowly returning from hypnosis, we jumped in the water and inched closer and closer to the rushing fall in front of us. We fought through the rush of water plummeting from above and made it to the smooth rock wall behind where we could breathe and see each other with the water still rushing down our backs. We screamed and laughed and eventually bailed.  We ended up just relaxing in the water and then on the shore in the sun until it began to gently fall in the sky. It’s always a strange feeling turning your back on something so breathtaking, but we left it behind us and ventured in a peaceful cloud of refreshment back through the jungle and onto the dirt paved street where we waited for a taxi.    

       

~ Wili Waterfall ~

We crammed back into a cab and in half an hours time we were back at Nii’s house ready to have some fun. Capers was celebrating her birthday again tonight with a house party we invited nearly twenty people to, double that if you count all the neighborhood kids that flocked to our loud music later in the evening. The party took off just as we finished eating dinner and people kept filing in and out saying hello, talking for a bit, leaving, then returning later. Nii has two other Rasta friends named Sigon and Raymond that are characters I wish everyone could experience at some point in their life… either that or be the next big Hollywood comedy duo. Hesitantly described as: Night at the Roxberry meets Damian Marley, with a hint of indigenous qualities that make everything they do even more entertaining. For example, every time they come over to the house, they bring their jimba drums and flow to their own beats for hours. Their go-to beat with deep monotone vocals goes something like, “Iiit’s sooo niiiiice, so nice, so nice, so nice…. iiiiiiiit’s soo niiiiice, so nice- so nice- so nice…” Last night they even made a "Capers" remix, adding …soo niiice, Capers-Capers-Capers-Capers!” to the beat in a thick Rasta accent. SO funny I wish I could upload videos. (P.S. I do realize that probably doesn’t make sense, but it was worth a shot).

Anyway, the party was super fun with both a bon fire and a dance party in the front yard! The kids from the neighborhood- most definitely the same ones from in front of the water stand a few nights back- invaded the dance floor and started up their dance-offs again. One boy, about eight years old, even entered the dance floor walking on his hands for like 20 seconds, did a twirl dismount, stood up quick into a still pose, popped a few quick, gnarly moves then strutted out like a bad ass! What?!? MJ reincarnated... It was sick. Two super round, super young girls then had a dance off that lasted over 5 minutes and I don’t think they broke their intense eye contact with one another the entire time. This of course prompted Chandler to say, “What are they putting in the pudding around here?” (...) They were dancing so hard I’m just glad they didn’t pass out. It was really cool to see how good all the kids were and later our neighbor told us she used to dance like that when she was young too; It’s just something the kids have done for generations. How baller would it be if when people in America heard a heavy beat that we’d all just get up and dance our asses off simply because we loved it and no one cared? I’ll take two, thanks. The night ended relatively early, around 11 or so, but so much had happened in the past 24 hours it felt much, much later. We said goodbye to the last of our friends and chilled out inside until we had no energy left to stay up. An epic birthday weekend complete and tons of stories to go with it. 

   

~ Capers' Birthday Party! ~

    

                                                                                                             The Rasta Brothers

                                                                                                                 

  

Photo Shoots & Fog Machines

Our new spring line had been getting a ton of press so far and people are loving the new prints. Our hobo bags are soon to be featured in People Style Watch, Nylon magazine and Town & Country! With brand new spring hobos hot off the sewing press, we were able to do a mini-photo shoot with our beautiful, local Ghanaian neighbor named Fortune. It’s pretty sweltering outside, but nonetheless the photos turned out beautifully! In search for an artistic backdrop for our model, we met a stunning woman named Ramatu, from Niger, who now lives in Hohoe. She gave Capers one of her beaded bracelets as a gift and a sign of friendship. She also complemented our Della hobos and wanted to come back and purchase one from us later on. Both stunningly beautiful, here are some photos Capers took of Fortune and Ramatu that afternoon:

         

Later in the night, I went for a blind walk through uneven side paths to get a large bottle of water for the night. The past few nights everyone had been complaining about the blaring afro-tech dance music and bass our neighbors were playing… Turns out, my walk led me straight to the culprit: a flash mob of about thirty young boys pop dancing in the middle of a dirt road! The front of the small stand where we buy water was blocked so the owner named Fransisca led me to the back and sold me some water. She was beaming and overjoyed to see me and made me promise to tell Tina hello. Her excitement intrigued me so I stuck around for a bit just to soak up the positive energy. After watching a dance off circle fade away, I shuffled home to show everyone the source of their late night agitation. Everyone was just at eager to witness the scene so we walked back as a group and dove into the crowd. The boys made a circle and had another dance off, using a flashlight to see the opponents and tossing up handfuls of dirt every now and then to cloud the air through the beam of light~ The Ghanaian Fog Machine, what more do you need? Capers stirred things up even more when she lept into the middle of the dance ring! Everyone was caught off guard with a yeyvoo (white girl) in the mix and scrambled around to find their place agian. After that we retreated home with a new love for the late night yammies.

Happy Days, Fútbol Nights

Having our very first meeting this past Friday, assimilating our Ghanaian and American based Della teams, gave me a strange but enchanting sense of future nostalgia. I saw in front of me significant accomplishment and growth just from my trip to the Della facility in Hohoe 6 months prior; this is only the beginning ~ A pretty awesome scene. I can’t wait to see all that we will accomplish, not only in the next two weeks of this trip, but also how far we can expand this year alone. Just seeing our Della team nearly double in size since last visit visually represents our growth and success.

Happy Kids Orphanage was our next stop. I had been anticipating seeing all the kids again and hearing them chant, “TINA! TINA! TINA!” as they run, hug our legs, and the small kids jump into our arms.  (They are still learning my name, but I was super surprised when nearly 5 of the kids remembered my name!! That was pretty heartwarming). The kids led us to the soccer field where we played games, took photos and just hung around for a few hours. It’s always so relaxing and rewarding to play around at the orphanage after a hard day of work. At one point a group of kids joined hands to play a game with one person in the middle trying to get out. Since you’re not supposed to let go to avoid being sent to the middle, a little boy in the circle decided the game was more important than keeping his oversized shorts up. He just stood there holding hands and laughing with his pants at his ankles!! Funny moment of the day award.

Ghana was playing Mali in a match of the African cup that night so we took a tro-tro to Malezia, the local hot spot, where the match was playing on a projector screen with dozens of chairs set out under an awning- previously a dance floor. When we arrived, the place was jam packed with people buzzing about the game and joking with friends. When the match began however, it was all business. Making the experience that much greater, Ghana won the match 2-1 and with each goal the crowd launched from their seats and screamed like banshees. Chandler was almost taken to the ground when the excited man next to bear hugged him while jumping up and down. Somehow through all the wild cheering, we turned around to find Capers fast asleep, sitting straight up in her chair! ...Perplexed to say the least. We were all exhausted, but that was awesome. With delicious palm wine waiting for us at the house, we decided to head back. Through the candlelit food vendors and buzz of the crowded streets, we walked home under the hazy sky after another successful Ghanaian day. 

   

   

Touchdown Ghana ~ Voyage II

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We touched down in Accra for my second trip and Tina’s sixth to Ghana. A sense of relief immediately overwhelmed me as we taxied to stay at a friend of Capers, one of three new operations managers we are taking to live and work with the Della team in Hohoe. The other two, Chandler and Adrienne, will also be helping out with production management, skills training classes, creating a standardized sewing program for the Happy Kids Orphanage, product development, and much more!

The next morning we woke up for a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast, porridge, and Don Simon (Amazingggg) pineapple juice. Since we were all anticipating a Think Thin Bar breakfast to go, you can imagine how pleasantly surprised we were for the feast laid out in front of us. It was perfect.

After breakfast, we took taxis to the market, including the ATL factory, where we picked out some great new fabrics to add to our spring collection. This is always my favorite part of the whole Ghanaian adventure because all of the fabric bundles are wrapped in white cloth before we get to tear into them and reveal their intriguing contents. I love the tribal prints most of all and trying to visualize each print as a final product (hobo, MacBook case, Headband, etc.) Discovering some exceptionally strong prints is something we were pretty ecstatic about. We hope to develop some super-fly new accessories to release at Project and ENK in Las Vegas February 13^th – 15^th…. And this time fellas, you’re not left out!

With all our bags and bundles of fabric crammed into a tro-tro, we began our four hour venture north from Accra to Hohoe. Unlike the last trip, all parts of our vehicle stayed intact. The only thing we left behind was Chandler’s suitcase. Since he had forgotten to transfer his bags for the international flight at JFK, his bags wouldn’t arrive for the next two days! As Tina and my time here is short lived, we have to continue on and just figure that issue out when the bag arrives. Welcome to TIA (This Is Africa) Round II.

   

    

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Adventures and Excitement!

After tons of organizing and hard work, we have finally come to my highlight of all the projects I have been assigned: The Photo shoot! We hopped in a taxi and went to Vic’s shop (Della outsources to her) and picked up one of her apprentices who agreed to be our model- Sitofe. We then headed to a field behind Happy Kids where there were a few weathered buildings, tall green field of plants, and an old pink bicycle! I had never photographed a fashion photo shoot, but it was awesome and super fun!

  

              Sitofe Hohoe, Ghana

As for our other adventures over the weekend, we went back and visited the majestic Wili waterfall. This time it was sunny and standing at the base of the falls, the cool mist from the falls combined with the warm sun on my back was pure heaven. The experience was even better the second time around!

            Drive up to Mountain Paradise

On Saturday, we traveled to Mountain Paradise where we took a wild and treacherous hike through the African jungle. This was nothing like the walk on the bridge treetops last weekend- this was a hike! We climbed up and down steep, narrow paths, and even repelled down nearly vertical slopes. In the middle of the hike, we stopped to rest at a secluded waterfall. It was so serine and completely contrasted the rest of the hike through the raw jungle terrain. By the end of the 3 hour hike, we were all exhausted and out of breath. It was an amazing experience and a workout too!

                        Rock Climbing Mountain Paradise 

All Is Well With 8 Days To Go!

We have officially hired two great new tailors and three new seamstresses since we’ve been here and all is looking up now! We are now also collaborating with the local school for the deaf to make a new style of fabric using the native Kenti cloth-making technique. I learned how to say hello and Jenna in sign language too! You say my name by making a fist with your right hand with an extended pinkie and moving it across your body from your right shoulder to your left hip- kind of like you’re putting on a seatbelt! It was so interesting meeting some of the deaf boys that go to school there and Scott, their teacher from the Peace Corp, is the one who is organizing the whole project. He also serves as a translator between us and is working on producing a standardized code for Kenti production.

                              Kenti Cloth Loom

On the flip side, I had to switch out my bed due to bug beds and had a much better night’s sleep last night!! I am heading around the town today to interview all of the women working for Della that I haven’t gotten to yet, and later we’re going to Happy Kids orphanage to play soccer! This past week, we introduced a sewing program to the kids there and taught them to thread a needle, sew a straight line, and tie it off. Yesterday, a little girl there- about six years old- had a ripped dress, and without us even suggesting to she sewed it up and fixed it! Before we play soccer with them today, we are going to drop off a big box of scrap fabric and tell them to go crazy sewing whatever they want over the weekend! Can’t wait to see what they come up with!

Happy Kids Sewing Program

                

A Taste of Home

Yesterday morning Tina stopped off at a small street stand to get an omelet for breakfast- turns out it was so amazing that I decided to walk into town to have it for breakfast myself this morning! I order, "An omelet with two eggs and toast- sweet bread." The girl working the stand, about thirteen, grabs a small brown egg and cracks it smoothly over a plastic Tupperware bowl, using her knife to pop an even crack in the egg's shell. 

For some reason every time I see eggs being cracked open for cooking purposes, I get childhood flashbacks of either a movie about cooking or actually cooking with my mom or babysitter- the memory is too vague to place, but it never fails to surface. 

Anyways. She cracks the second egg into the bowl then finely uses the knife to slice a third of an onion, then a third of a tomato into same small bowl. She adds a little pinch of salt using the tip of her knife to measure it properly and slowly whisks the egg mixture together. She lights a portable propane burner with a match from a matchbox and heats a metal pan as she squirts cooking oil out of a large water bottle through a pinhole pricked in the bottle’s plastic cap. She pours the egg mixture into the pan and flips it over after about thirty seconds to cook the other side evenly. She then moves her attention to a bag of white, sweet bread and cuts two inch thick chunks out to put the omelet into. She holds the bread in one hand as she uses a spatula to fold the pancake shaped omelet into a 4-layer triangle and slides the triangle between each chunk of bread. She toasts both sides by flattening the bread down with the spatula and her knife, omelet in between. Finally, she slides the omelet sandwich into a clear plastic bag and ties it shut. What a show for a delectable breakfast in Ghana, all for only 2 Cedi (about $1.20). She told me her name is Christy and she will be my friend, I agreed, told her mine and that I would be seeing her again soon!