Emmanuel's Visit Day 10: Winter: Day After Christmas

Today Emmanuel had to leave again.  I was very sad, because after this I wouldn't be see him unless he had business in California, but I was planning on visiting him in Ghana.  He had to pack up his things and say goodbye to everyone, because just my dad and I would be taking him to the airport.  The parting scene here was very similar to the one in New York, but it was much sadder, because they probably wouldn't be seeing Emmanuel in a very long.  My dad, Emmanuel and I decided to go to the beach one more time before Emmanuel left.  We went to Goleta beach, but we didn't get wet, because Emmanuel had to leave on a plane back to Ghana very soon.  We stood with our feet in the water for a while, then it was time to go to the airport.  We said our sad goodbyes to Emmanuel and promised that we would see each other soon some way or the other.  Once again we watched him depart until we couldn't see him anymore.  I was very sad, because we had, had so many good times together and I didn't want them to be over so soon.  However I knew that this wasn't the last that we would be seeing of each other.

Emmanuel's Visit Day 9: Winter: Christmas Day

Today Kevin and I woke up early to see what "Santa" had brought us.  We had to wait for everyone to wake up and then once they were all awake we had to wait for Hannah to come over, which took forever.  Finally everyone was at the house, awake, had their coffee and seemed happy.  We always start by opening our stockings.   Everyone has one even the dogs, we had gotten Emmanuel one the day before and hung it on the fireplace with all the others.  We each took ours down and took all the stuff out.  It was normally just candy and little toys.  When we were done opening them we started passing out presents.  My sisters and I had a tradition of giving each other christmas ornaments so that we have more and more every year.  I handed each of them their ornament, I gave Ashley a fabric owl and Hannah a glass snowman.  I gave Kevin some stupid video game that he had been wanting forever.  I gave Emmanuel a photo journal of all the pictures I had taken while he was here.  He loved it! No one else in the family liked presents so I just made them handmade cards every year.  I got lots of things, but my favorite was my Harry Potter shoes that my Aunt had painted.  Hannah got a new ipod and Ashley got a new unicycle for riding in New York.  Everyone had to give Emmanuel small things that could fit in his bag so none of his presents were very exciting, but he seemed to be very pleased with what he had been given.  When we were done opening presents we took two cars to the beach and Ashley and I had our unicycles and we rode while everyone else walked on the beach.  When we were done with our walk we went to eat lunch at the Cajun Kitchen, but most of us had breakfast foods.  When we were finished eating we went home and my grandma and aunt took a nap and my sisters went downtown with their friends, so I convinced my dad to take Kevin, Emmanuel and I to the Santa Barbara Ice company so we could get dry ice.  I loved dry ice, because it was so fun to play with.  We got about five pounds, took it home in the yard boiled lots of water then put the water in two trash cans one with some soap and one without.  The one with soap started to bubble the bubbles overflowed the trash can.  We picked them up and blew them and threw them at each other.  When they were popped the smoke was let out so it go all foggy.  The one without soap just smoked and covered the whole ground with grey fog.  When our dry ice fun was over it was time to make dinner.  We made rice and avocado and my dad grilled chicken, which I wouldn't be eating.  We helped cook then of corse we helped eat.  After that we did the dishes and watched another lame movie that no one seemed to like.  When the movie ended Emmanuel came up to me and said, "thank you for a wonderful day."  I said, "your welcome, I hope we can do this again."  We got ready for bed and then went to sleep.

Emmanuel's Visit Day 8: Winter: Christmas Eve

Today my Aunt, Cousin and Grandma came into town from LA for Christmas.  They got here around 3 o'clock.  Today was Christmas Eve and also my Aunts birthday! Emmanuel would be getting in around 5 o'clock.  Five o'clock came and we went to the SB airport to meet him he hugged my dad and I and I introduced him to my cousin Kevin, Aunt Laura, and Grandma Faye.  We got his bag and drove home.  My mom, Hannah and Ashley-who had flown in the day before-hugged him when they saw him.  I got him settled in Ashley's room, and then we went into the kitchen to help make Aunt Laura's lemon birthday cake.  We finished making the batter and then put it into the oven.  We went to go sit on the couch with everyone else.  My grandma started going off about something and in no time it was time for dinner and then dessert.  The cake was brilliant! We finished then my dad started on the dishes and the rest of us started watching some lame Christmas movie that we are forced to watch every year.  When the movie was done we all brushed our teeth and Hannah went back to her house, because we were already tight on space. We went to bed and "visions of sugar plums danced in our heads".

Emmanuel's Visit Day 7: Summer

Today it was time for Emmanuel to go home, so he had to pack and be at the airport by 12:45, because his plane left at 2:00 and it was always crowded at LaGuardia airport.  I helped Emmanuel pack and then we went to meet my sister for breakfast at a dim-sum place in china town.  We took the subway there.  We got lots of everything and then sat in an ally and ate it together.  It was amazing! When we were done my sister said goodbye to Emmanuel.  She was sad to say bye, but it wasn't too bad, because Emmanuel and Ashley were both coming to Santa Barbara for christmas.  All of us minus Ashley got a taxi and took it to LaGuardia airport.  We paid the driver and then got out with all of Emmanuel's stuff.  We checked his bags to Accra, Ghana where he would be landing and then walked him to security.  We couldn't go through so we said goodbye to him there.  Emmanuel thanked my parents for being so hospitable and nice then he turned to me.  He gave me a huge hug and said, "thank you so much for teaching me all you have.  me dor wu".  (me dor wu means I love you in Ghanaian)  Emmanuel had taught me more than I think I had taught him.  I told him, "thank you and me dor wu".  Then he hugged each of us one more time and walked into the security line.  We watched him until we couldn't see him anymore then we took the subway back to our apartment, because we would be staying in New York for a couple more days to hang out with my sister, but it wouldn't be the same without Emmanuel.

Emmanuel's Visit Day 6: Summer

Today we all woke up around nine New York time which was six California time.  We had cereal for breakfast then got dressed and took the subway to Central Park.  We walked around for a while then it started to get hot so we went to where the boat pond was and watched the RC boats for a while then we left and took a tour bus to the Empire State Building and took pictures of it, then we got back on the bus to a bike rental place and rented four bikes, rode them over to the Brooklyn Bridge and rode across and back. It was beautiful but not really my thing, I liked more green trees and nature.  We returned our bikes and walked over to the dock near Ellis Island and Liberty Island.  We bought tickets and got on the next ferry.  When we landed on the other dock we got off and went over to the statue. It was huge Emmanuel seemed fascinated, he reminded me of myself when I first saw it.  We went over to where you could find out if you could go up in the torch, normally it was closed, because the statue was getting old and they couldn't have thousands of people going in everyday.  BUT TODAY WE GOT LUCKY! It was open! We bought tickets right away and went up the stairs with a group of people and a guide.  We climbed up and up until finally we reached a big circular metal room with little windows in it.  We went over to the windows and look out. It was amazing! The view was incredible! I could see everything, I was so thankful that I got to have the experience.  We all stood by the windows and took pictures and took in the view.  After about 20 minutes it was time to leave so we descended down the staircase and came out into the bright light.  We got back on the ferry and headed back to Manhattan.  When we got there we went and had a late lunch/early dinner, we had pizza at this place near our apartment.  It was the best pizza I had ever had, my dad and I had had it last time we were in NY.  We went back to our place to get the tickets for "Wicked" because we were seeing it tonight.  Then we went to this bakery that my dad and I had also visited last time we were there.  It was amazing they had key lime pie, eclairs, cookies, and many other delicious deserts.  I got key lime pie and so did Emmanuel.  We couldn't finish it so we took it back to our apartment and put it in the refrigerator, so we could have it for breakfast the next day.  After that it was time to go to the Gershwin Theatre which is where we would be seeing "Wicked".  We got on the subway and rode it for about 15  minutes until we got to 51st street.  We got off and walked about a block to the theatre.  I had seen "Wicked" once before last time I was in New York and I loved it.  All of the actors and actresses were so talented, but I was sad that I didn't get to see it with the original cast.  It was super crowded at the theatre, but we decided to go to the bathroom anyway so that we wouldn't have to go during the show.  After waiting in line forever we finally got our turn and then went to find our seats.  We were seats D 109-114.  They were amazing seats right in the front, but not too close.  We sat down and watched the show at intermission I asked Emmanuel what he thought of it.  He said, "They are all so talented, I have never heard anything like it before."  His reaction was almost exactly the same as mine the first time I had seen it.  We watched the second half then we went home and went to bed.

Emmanuel's Visit Day 5: Summer

Today Emmanuel, my mom, my dad and I woke up early, 6:00am.  We had to be at the airport by 7 o'clock, because our flight was leaving at 8 o'clock.  We got dressed, brushed our teeth, put our bags in the car, and then drove to the airport.  When we got there we had to go through security, (none of us were terrorists), checked our bags to our final destination, then sat and waited for our flight.  Finally they started boarding us, they checked our tickets, we walked through the tunnel and got onto the plane.  We found our seats Emmanuel and I were 17 A and B, I let him take the window seat.  We flew for about half and hour before we landed in LAX airport.  We got off the plane, waited for about another half hour, then got on our second plane going to LaGuardia airport.  It was a long uneventful flight, there was an uninteresting movie playing the whole time, I didn't watch it.  After about 4 and a half hours, but it felt like more, we landed in LaGuardia.  We called Ashley, my sister who lives in NYC to let her know that we had arrived, then we got a cab and took it to my dads friends apartment on Bleecker St., which is where we would be staying for the next three days.  We unpacked our stuff, my parents shared a room, and Emmanuel and I each had our own room.  We put our suitcases in our rooms and then walked to a nearby restaurant where we met my Ashley.  I was very happy to see her, because I hadn't seen her in three months.  I introduced her to Emmanuel, I knew that they would be good friends in no time.  After dinner we "minus Ashley" went back to the apartment.  We all decided to shower, and go to bed, because we were all tired from the long way we had to travel.

Emmanuel's Visit Day 4: Summer

Today we all woke up at different times.  Emmanuel, my mom, my dad, and I would be departing for NYC tomorrow.  I wanted to take Emmanuel to New York, because my older sister Ashley lives there and, also I wanted him to see the Broadway musical "Wicked".  Today we had to pack.  I hated packing, but Emmanuel made it more fun.  He kept talking the whole time so the time just flew by.  We were packing all day it wasn't so hard for Emmanuel, because he just packed all his stuff.  He would be leaving back to Ghana directly from New York.  I was sad about him leaving, but it wasn't too bad, because he would be coming back in the winter time for Christmas.  I decided to bring mostly shorts and T-shirts, because I had gone to NY the summer before and it was like 90-100 degrees everyday.  When we finished packing we double checked everything that we were supposed to have and then ate lunch.  When we were done we did our dishes and then walked my dogs around my neighborhood.  They would be staying with my dads friend from work Joyce.  After our walk it was time for us to take the dogs to my dads friends house so we got together all the stuff they would need and then put them in the car and drove out to Goleta where Joyce lived.  I said goodbye to them, so did Emmanuel and then we left.  Finally we drove home and got my mom, because we were going out to eat at The Natural Cafe.  I loved it there, I always got a veggie burger.  Emmanuel got the same thing as me and he also loved it.  When we were done we payed and went home to get a good night sleep.  We got home and went to bed right away even though it was only like eight, we had to get up super early to catch our flight.

 

Emmanuel's Visit Day 3: Summer

Today I woke up at 4:15am.  I went into Emmanuel's room and gently rocked him, he woke up startled, I said, "its time to wake up."  He sleepily got up and stretched,  we went out into the living room quietly, because naturally my parents were still sleeping.  Emmanuel sat down at the dining room table and I went into the kitchen to make toast and avocado.  When the toast was done I put avocado on it and put the pieces on two plates.  We ate it then I told Emmanuel to put on some clothes that were comfortable for hiking in.  We both got dressed then I took the bikes out of the garage again.  I made sure both of the bikes had flashlights on them, because it was still dark, and it wouldn't be safe without them on the dangerous ride up to the Rattlesnake trailhead.  We set off, after about an hour of riding we reached our destination.  We hid our bikes in a bush made sure that no one could see them, then we set off up the trail.  We walked in silence, there was no sound other than our heavy breathing and muffled footsteps.  After about a half hour of hiking we stopped to take a break.  We drank some of the water we had brought, I said, "we should be there soon, because we have crossed the river four times and it should be a total of six.  I'm guessing we will get there in about 20-30 minutes."  We finished resting and kept walking up the trail.  We crossed the river two more times and 15 minutes after crossing the last river we reached the top.  We sat there and stared down at the darkness that was Santa Barbara.  Five minutes later a bright orange sliver of light appeared right over the ocean.  As we watched it, it got bigger, and bigger and then it formed into a complete circle.  It was beautiful.  "I have done this many times", I said.  "And this is one of the best suns that I've seen."  We watched the sun for a few more minutes then I took out some of the peaches and apples that I had brought.  We sat there eating until it was completely light out.  I checked my watch, it was already 9:00am!  We got up and started to hike down the trail.  When we were about half way down we were both sweating profusely.  I told Emmanuel that we were almost to a place where we could go down to the river to cool off.  He nodded appreciatively.  We walked on for 20 more minutes before I recognized the place where you could go down to the creek.  I showed it to Emmanuel and we walked down the steep decline until we reached a huge pool.  I said, "I used to come here every weekend and play in this pool, I would jump off that rock into the water."  We decided to swim in the pool, because we were both so hot.  We swam, jumped off the the rock, had a splash war, then we walked up the creek a little.  We discovered another awesome pool and swam in that one for a little bit.  After we were all splashed out we chose to rock hop down the creek, because it would be much cooler than the hot trail.  When we got to the trailhead again we were almost all the way dried off. We got our bikes from the bush, thankfully no one had taken them, and started riding down hill toward the ocean and my house.  When we got to my house we showered and then went out to get blenders.  Emmanuel loved them.  After we were finished we walked back to my house, and I thought him how to play the card game kings corners.  He wasn't very good at it I don't think he really understood why one would waste their time playing such a pointless game, but he pretended to have fun anyway.  I decided not to make him play another round.  I told him that I wanted to show him pictures of my grandpa, because he died when I was about eight, but when I was alive he was one of the funniest, most loving people I knew.  I got out my photo album and found the few pictures I had of him.  I showed them to Emmanuel he seemed to know how felt, I could tell he had experienced loss before.  I also got out my parents wedding video, because there was a clip of him laughing and making jokes on it.  "He lived near Mount Shasta, and Shasta Lake, so I didn't get to see him very much.  The only times I remember seeing him were once at his house when I was about three and once when we went to Disney Land or something when I was about six," I said. "the worst part is, I remember right before he died I asked him over the phone when he was going to visit us in California, and he said he really missed me and my family and that he was going to try to come within the next three months.  About two months after that he died."  Emmanuel grabbed my hand and said, "I am so sorry." I knew he meant it.  We sat there for a while then I put my memories of my grandpa away and we went outside to watch the hummingbirds at the humming bird feeder.  My parents got home and we ordered pizza, and Emmanuel and I made salad.  Emmanuel was strange, because he loved cheese and almost no one in his culture used it to cook.  We ate then watched his movie, "Emmanuel's Gift", because my parents hadn't seen it yet.  Emmanuel didn't show in any way that it was him on the screen.  He didn't act as though he was a hero, he was very modest.  When we finished his movie we went to bed.

                                My Grandpa and I

Emmanuel's Visit Day 2: Summer

Today I woke up at 8:36am.  I went out into the living room and looked around.  Emmanuel wasn't there, but when I looked outside he was sitting on the garden bench watching the birds eating from the bird feeder.  He saw me and came inside, I asked him how he slept and he said, "good the bed is very comfortable."  We ate breakfast (cereal and milk), then got dressed.  I told him that today we were going to go to my preschool (Harmony Preschool) to see all the little kids playing.  I wanted him to see all the happy kids, because I knew it would make him happy.  I got two bikes out of my garage and we road over to the preschool.  It wasn't a long ride, it only took about 20 minutes and the road was all flat.  When we got to Harmony, which was at my old teacher Gina's house she greeted us at the front gate.  I introduced her to Emmanuel, they shook hands and smiled at each other.  We went inside and took off our shoes and put them in two a free cubbies.  Only a few kids were at the preschool this early in the morning only about five or six.  We were introduced to the kids and then they took us on a tour of their school.  They showed us the main playroom, the kitchen, where they had snack time, the outdoor painting area, the cottage where they took naps in the afternoon, the playground where they played everyday, and the front yard where they did water colors and played in the sprinklers on hot days.  After the tour it was about 10:00am and more kids had arrived.  At 10:30am Emmanuel and I helped Gina prepare the snack.  She told us that she was really into keeping the children healthy by feeding them super nutritious foods.  For example the snack was sugar snap peas, butternut squash, and sliced apples.  We ate snack with the kids, then played tag with some of the older ones, and then played pirates on the pirate ship near the playground.  The kids got super into it, they dressed up and assigned characters to Emmanuel and I.  Emmanuel was a good pirate and I was a bad pirate trying to steal the magic treasure.  After we were done playing it was time for some of the kids to go home.  We said goodbye and Emmanuel hugged everyone that was going home.  After they were gone it was 1:50pm and time for the remaining kids nap.  I remember how when I was at Harmony I hated nap time, I would always stay awake with Gina and play games, and do puzzles.  While the kids were napping Emmanuel, Gina and I decided to clean up after the kids, we put away costumes, picked up forgotten toys, and did some of the dishes.  At about 3:00pm the first kids started waking up, while we were waiting for the rest of the to wake up we did some water colors.  Fifteen minutes later all the kids had woken up and the parents started to arrive.  Emmanuel and I said goodbye to all the kids and parents as they left.  After all of them were gone we thanked Gina said bye to her and rode home on our bikes.  When we got back we took showers and then went outside and sat in the shade and drank lemonade which Emmanuel loved.  When my parents got home from work they made pesto pasta, and salad.  I told Emmanuel we would be going on a hike tomorrow early in the morning and that I would wake him up on time.  We went to bed, and I replayed the day in my mind.  I had so much fun! I was very excited for tomorrow.

Emmanuel's Visit Day 1: Summer

  Today Emmanuel got to Santa Barbara Airport at 10:30am.  My parents, my sister Hannah and I picked him up from the SB airport.  He was totally wiped out from the 25 hour flight from Ghana to California, so he decided to sleep for part of the day.  He would be sleeping in my sister Ashley's old room, which has a bathroom that he could also have to himself.  When he woke up around 2:00pm he was hungry so I asked him what he would like to eat.  He told me about all the different traditional meals he enjoyed in Ghana: Waakye (rice and beans), Fufu (pounded cassava and plantain or pounded yam and plantain, or pounded cocoyam), Banku/Akple (cooked fermented corn dough and cassava), and many others, so we decided to make one of them together.  We chose to make Waakye and Fufu.  To make Fufu and Waakye first we needed to go to Whole Foods Market and buy Bisquick, instant corn flakes, rice, and black beans, and then went home to start cooking.  To make the Fufu we boiled six cups of water and then stirred in the Bisquick and instant corn flakes for 12 minutes.  It was hard, we had to keep stirring vigorously until I couldn't stir anymore however Emmanuel could have stirred all day, because he made Fufu almost every day in Ghana.  Then we cooked the rice and beans. After that we set the table and sat down and Emmanuel said a traditional Ghanaian blessing and then we ate. It was delicious, but not like anything I had ever tasted before.  After we were done we cleared the table, and I brought out a chocolate chip cheese cake that my dad and I had made earlier, when Emmanuel was sleeping.  I cut him a piece and he picked it up and smelled it, then he broke off a piece of it, ignoring the fork that I had given him, and put it in his mouth. He chewed for a minute then asked me what was in it, I told him and he looked at me and said, "why put cheese in it? In Ghana we don't use cheese in anything most people don't like it, but I personally find it quite good."  He told me that he enjoyed my cake very much, and accepted a second piece when I asked him if he wanted another.  Finally we were done and went into the kitchen to do the dishes.  When we were done with the dishes I asked Emmanuel if he had enough energy to go to the beach.  He said yes so I asked my dad to drive us to Santa Claus Lane Beach, he said, "of course!" so we got our bathing suits on and I got us towels.  I thought it would be fun to play soccer together on the beach so I brought my soccer ball and then we left.  On the drive there Emmanuel couldn't stop looking out the window at the ocean.  I think he thought it was just a really big lake.  When we got there we parked right in front, we were lucky there was  a spot, and got out of the car.  It was a perfect beach day, it was super sunny and there wasn't a cloud in sight or a wisp of wind, we couldn't have asked for a better day! We crossed the train tracks and onto the smooth hot sand.  Emmanuel sighed and closed his eyes.  I understood standing there on the warm sand was one of the best feeling in the world, one that was only matched with actually being in the ocean.   We crossed the sand, set down our stuff, grabbed each others hand, and ran into the ocean!  I screamed as the freezing water hit my skin, but Emmanuel just smiled happily, as if he didn't feel the cold water around him.  We dunked our heads under the surface when we came up for a breath I saw the biggest smile I had ever seen spread across Emmanuel's face.  He said, "This is the first time that I have touched the ocean."  I couldn't imagine not living near the ocean my whole life, it's a part of me.  After about two hours Emmanuel had finally had enough splashing, swimming, and body surfing.  We got out of the water, dried ourselves off and just sat and stared at the water, after about five minutes a pod of dolphins passed by,  Emmanuel jumped up and glared at the dolphins curiously.  "What are those?", he said.  "Dolphins", I said.  "I have heard of them before, but I never dreamed that I would see one", said Emmanuel.  "In Ghana they are very rare, because fishermen capture them in nets and eat them.  There are very few left, because of this." he said.  When the dolphins had passed we decided to play some soccer.  We just ran and passed the ball back and forth and then we played one vs. one with goals made out of sticks.  Emmanuel was very good.  He was fast, had awesome footwork and skill, and was very fit from playing in Ghana.  After soccer we went on a beach walk, I found a white spiral seashell.  I gave it to Emmanuel and told him to put the hole to his ear.  He did, and said, "It sounds like the waves."  I told him to keep it and take it back to Ghana so he could always here the California ocean.  He held it to his heart and said, "Thank you very much" and then gave me a huge hug.  We went home and I showed Emmanuel how to work the shower, he was very surprised at how clean the toilet and shower were.  He took an extremely short shower, I guessed that it was because he was used to using as little water as possible.  He put on his night clothes and came out to say good night.  I told him if he woke up early he could wake me up, get something to eat, or just go out in the yard and watch the birds.  He went into his room and I went to bed.  While I lay there I thought about what a good day it had been, and how excited I was for the rest of the week.