Beach girl

Before Ghana, Salakka didn't like beach life. You know: laying on sand under the sun, sweating, with crowds of other people doing the same. It wasn't enjoyable. She didn't have the patience to keep sweating there long enough even to get suntanned.

In Ghana, it was a bit better, because of the Ocean. Even though the sun was too hot, the Ocean was worth it. Anyway, she often couldn't stand staying under the direct sunlight for very long, still, and maybe this was the reason she was a lot less suntanned than the other volunteers. And still, she was a little bit annoyed with the kind of beach life she saw in Accra: the crowds packed on the beach, tourists forcing themselves to stay on one spot, sweating. Was it really so great?

Then something changed. It was after 6 months in Ghana, and it was with Milla at first. She took Salakka to a smaller beach east of Accra, where it was quiet and there were no tourists. They bought fresh pineapple and lay in the heat. The sun was so bright that when she tried to take a pic of Milla, she didn't see what she was photographing (and ended up leaving out Milla's head). It was definitely too hot - but they simply didn't mind. They just went to swim, added sun cream and stayed there.

And suddenly it was wonderful.

There's no way to explain it. It was simply a change of attitude. Salakka let go of the need not to feel so hot, and instead of feeling uncomfortable, she tried enjoying the heat. And did. The sun was caressing her, and the Ocean was there ready to take Salakka on her arms any minute she felt like it.


The change was sealed when Salakka went on a two weeks travel in the end of her stay. The first place she got to was a small village called Busua on the west coast of Ghana. At the time, it was no tourist season and the village was practically empty. The beach was the most beautiful one Salakka had ever seen (or has ever seen since, writer's notice). She was alone and free to spend there whatever amount of time she liked - disturbed by no one. And it was then that she finally truly got hooked on the beach life at it's best.

It wasn't crowds packed on the same spot to sweat until they dropped. It was about enjoying the sun on her skin, feeling the presence of the Ocean, not having to hurry at all, to any place - simply being free to stop to enjoy that very moment.

Since then, Salakka was able to feel the same happiness, no matter how many people there were around, and even when the sea was not the Ocean herself. A year later in Finland, she rushed to the beach on the first hot day and ended up getting herself totally sunburnt, having stupidly thought "the Finnish sun coulnd't hurt her after Ghana". And 3,5 years later, when she headed on a trip to Cuba and Ghana, she told her mother what she looked most forward to, was the BEACH. Her mom laughed, surprised. She remembered her daughter as the one who couldn't stand beach life.