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.