Odweara Festival

So this last weekend we went up to Acrypong and went to the Odweara Festival. This festival is quite the crazy one! Haha if that makes sense! This festival is all about mourning for ancestors and giving them gifts and celebrating there lifetime. The first event we went to was the food event. This is when “possessed girls” (i don’t believe their possessed but people do) carry food on their heads to give to the dead. The legend is that no matter what the food will not fall off their heads. In Ghana carrying things on your head is not uncommon but in America these people would be put into a mental institution for sure. Then the next day is all about mourning and remember the great ancestors that died in this town. Really this festival is just an accuse for people to get really really drunk but who would want to spoil the festive holiday feel! :p. Now i am standing by watching all of this and thinking “wow… there is nothing like this in the entire world. but then again it is pretty awesome if you get right down to it.” This festival is one of the biggest ones ever to happen in the Ghana area. People from all over Africa come to witness this and so you get shoved and pushed around in crowds a lot. The last day we were there was defiantly the craziest. This is just the party day. People just dance and club all night. And then when it reaches six in the morning the town is a ghost town. I asked myself why they cant take just an hour break so that i can sleep but of course that never happened for a minute. At about 4 30 in the morning i woke up and we were staying at this religious studies intstitute that is guarded during the festival and very well protected so that we can sleep a little easier but still i could here people sing Jesus Love Me at the top of there lungs and it sounded like it was outside my door. Once that was all over the fun really began. Mountain Hike time! Serriously. A hour long hike up to the top of this mountain overlooking an africa plain that looks like this:

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the top of that mountain is where we climbed. The plain below is full of Antelope and Baboons! 🙂

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