The Day Danielle Came To Visit

Doesn't it sound ominous? Actually, Danielle is a high school friend who, as of this writing, has been in the Peace Corps in Ghana for nearly two years. In April 1999, she made a special trip to New York, and so a bunch of us left our own homes in various parts of the country so that we could visit. We all met at Aaron's place and had an awesome day. Back row: Lynne, Whitney, Aaron, Richie. Middle Row: Talia, Danielle, Peter. Front row: Marissa.

Earlier in the day, Whitney, Talia, Aaron, and I went to the Seaview Diner for lunch. It was quite the burger-eating day! Here, Talia is grumpy that her food hasn't come yet.
Dani explained to us a few things about the Peace Corps and Ghana in general. For one, she explained that everyone wants to see the white woman, so she's popular in an unexpected and somewhat disturbing way. She told us that people in Ghana have an official "picture pose," where they sit with hands clasped, without a smile, and never looking directly at the camera. Finally, she told us this: If you are in the Peace Corps in South America, you become political. If you are in the Peace Corps in Asia, you become compassionate. If you are in the Peace Corps in West Africa, you become an Alcoholic. Below are two pictures of Dani. On the left, the Official Ghana Pose. On the right, the Official Ghana Peace Corps Volunteer Pose.

Much later than anyone had hoped, we finally went to dinner at a really cool barbeque place. "Barbeque" in New York is an adjective that modifies words like "chicken" and "ribs." When I moved south, I learned that in the South, "barbeque" is a noun that is modified by words like "beef" and "pork." Who knew? Anyway, it was delicious, and they even had non-meat items for Dani, the only vegetarian holdover left in the group, to enjoy.

Here, Richie is zealously enjoying his plate of ribs. Also in the picture are Marissa, Whitney, and Whitney's boyfriend, Mike.
In the picture above, Marissa may be laughing at Richie, but what is she doing here? No one is quite sure how much food she can actually put in her mouth at once!
Isn't Whitney just the cutest in this picture? I took this pic by accident right before the digital camera's battery died.
Well, that's it! We didn't have extra batteries for the camera, otherwise I would have gotten more pictures. It was a great weekend, and, since Dani will be home sometime in November 1999, she should be at the next party, too!