My 28th Birthday

It is February the 28th, my 28th birthday.

I tried not to think about it too much, I was fully aware at how fragile my moods were.  I always get sad on my birthday, I hate birthdays in fact, and I knew it was going to take a lot of extra strength to keep the birthday blues away this year. I missed my girlfriend even more that day and I kept my phone in my hand willing for it to ring and to hear her voice on the other end.
I decided to go to a little street cafe around the corner of my hotel. It looked super cute and David said he goes there all the time. It is just a table with 6 picnic chairs set up on the footpath behind a sheet of lace and an extra table for the woman to prepare the food. I ordered an egg sandwhich and my first cup of coffee since Sydney airport. It was instant nescafe with sweetened condensed milk, but I enjoyed the familiar morning ritual of sipping hot coffee and contemplating life.



Abigail's cafe



I started a conversation with the woman who worked there. Her name was Abigail, she was a stunning woman, she also had the scarred lines down her cheek bones. I told her I liked them, she scrunched her face up and said how ugly they are. She said she wouldn't do it if she had a baby. I asked her if she had children, she said no, I sensed a touch of sadness, or perhaps a deeper reason there, so I changed the subject and asked if she had a husband or boyfriend. She said that yes she was in love and it made her happy. She asked if I was in love, I said yes, but she couldnt understand why I was so far away from my partner (she assumed a man, I again just kept using the male pronoun to make life easier). I said that travelling is easier in a way knowing that he (she) was still there for me. She agreed saying love is strangth.

I trotted back to my hotel wondering if love is the same feeling for people world-wide or not.

Back in my room I was starting to feel the birthday sadness creep in and I thought I better do something to distract me. I picked up the map of Accra and studied it for something to do. There was a few museums I could check out, a memorial of some kind... and then I saw it. Right along the bottom of the map, way over the other side of town I see a street called '28th of February Rd'.

What are the odds of that?! On the 28th of February, on my 28th birthday, I see a street called '28th of February Rd'.



So naturally I decide that I must walk all the way across town and take a photo of the street sign.

So that is what I did.
And eventually I found it.
And I took a photo.

And this is what happens when you are forced to spend your birthday alone.
Though later that night David met me for a few beers and some dinner, and my 28th birthday was not so sad afterall.