I haven’t been on here in a while. I warned you about this happening, didn’t I? I only get internet access at work, and I feel bad updating my blog when I’m supposed to be working. The other place I access the internet at, this Clarion hotel in Crawley, has its CPU locked up so people can’t play with it. Moreover, you can only open one window at a time, so I can’t do much except check email. I’ve been here for almost a month. Scary, isn’t it?
Last week I went to Tottenham to sing at a church revival service with my friend Jojo and his team of instrumentalists. It was an interesting experience. J Teeheehee…! I left Crawley on Friday evening, after spending the whole day sleeping. I didn’t realize I was that tired. I told Nan I liked sausages with fried eggs and baked beans, so she made that for me, and added oven-baked French fries. Very lovely meal! She made the eggs overeasy though, and I had to convince her that I liked my eggs really well done. She said that it would be as hard as leather. LOL!
When I arrived at the Seven Sisters station in one of the zones of London, I called Jojo to come get me. While I waited, this English man walked up to me and asked if I could speak English. I said I could, and he said that the country (UK) was getting f’ed up. (He was a little drunk!). I asked him why he had come to that conclusion, and he said it was because he had just been on the bus and no one on that bus spoke English. I guess my English accent reeks of the US, because he mentioned something about that happening in the US, and I said that I’m actually from Ghana. Immediately he said he had a friend from Ghana, actually pronouncing the name properly: Michael Quartey. He said his friend owned a lot of houses in Ghana, and asked me about the real estate business in Ghana. LOL!! Then he asked if I felt safe standing there on my own because it was a rough neighbourhood. Honestly, I never felt unsafe there, which might be a little weird. I could see the station, and there were people constantly entering and leaving, so I felt safe. I thanked him for his offer, and he strayed off. Another girl came up to me to ask if I knew where the Tesco’s was, because I think she was also meeting someone, just like me. I told her I had no idea where it was because I was also new there. She hailed one passerby who ignored her completely, actually sidestepping her in order to move on. We both commented on that and laughed. Another man passed by (I’m actually sure he was Ghanaian! We are everywhere!), and he gave her directions to the store, which turned out to be around the corner. Jojo called then to ask if I was near the Tesco’s, and because I had an idea of where it was, I could give him better direction to where I was standing.
He took me with him to the church where they were having the revival, and we left around 11pm. He took me to stay with this very nice lady called Vero, and she made a lot of good food for me. I had some rice with stew, boiled egg and friend plantain on Friday evening. The next morning I had milo with some very good bread and fried egg! Lovely meal! (Yes I know, I love food! My dad said I always write about food on this blog and not about the gym I signed up for. I have signed up for a gym, and I go there at least three times a week, after work.) We were supposed to sing at 7pm, but things were a little behind schedule, and I don’t think we started till almost 8pm. I was singing backing vocals, with a nice Nigerian guy called Ayo. My voice was not in top form, but people said I sounded good. I’m sure they were just being nice. I think I was coming down with a cold, so I had to keep singing high notes because I couldn’t maintain the normal range without croaking. I met some really accomplished musicians, like Borax, a lead guitarist who apparently plays for Joyful Way, and George, a really good keyboard player. He was one the original John Teye band members, along with Otoo, the drummer who is the founder of John Teye’s son. The conga player and bassist were also original John Teye members (I think). I haven’t had such a wonderful session with great music played like that. ( In fact, I haven’t sung solo in a while because I’ve been directing for about two years now). I took some pictures which I'll put up later.
On Sunday Jojo came for me around noon, after his church service, to go sing at another church. We were going to stay at this other church the whole time, but after Jojo had led praise and worship we left. As we were driving past, I saw a girl I had been in Gey Hey with, Shole Gerber. It was really nice to see her. She was looking great! Jojo drove me to Kathy’s place, and I went to the movies later on that evening with them. I saw “John Tucker must die.” Very funny movie. I watched that with Annabelle, while Kathy, Thomas and Ato watched “Snakes on a plane.” I’m already uncomfortable about flying, and I don’t want to add that level of fear to my flight experience.
After the movie I had a very uncomfortable conversation with Sammy, my friend in Birmingham. We had had an argument just before I left his place when I visited, and I hadn’t heard from him since, although I had been texting him. He said he was mad at me, for getting mad at that. I’m not going to go into the details, but I still am not feeling too good about it.
I just wanted you to see the congregation we ministered to. The lady I'm next to is Julie. Very nice lady from the church we ministered at. The two guys I am standing next to are my cousins who live in Croydon with an aunt I haven't seen in 15 years. I haven't seen my cousins in about eight years. It was quite a shock to see them looking tall and their voices sounding so deep. :) The last one is me, as usual, with my hair pulled back, playing with the camera. Oh yeah! Today is one month since I arrived in the UK! 
