“I find introverts weird,” random guy at the beach resort in accra said uninvitedly, in the midst of chatting me up (also uninvitedly). “But you don’t look like an introvert,” he opines further, as if to mitigate the starkness of his prior statement.
None of this aspect of our exchange mattered. Most important to me was how I admitted (for the first time) my personality. I spoke about it briefly here. It was the first time that i was proud to state this. I don’t feel the need to constantly be seen. I adopted a quite outward personality in my late 20’s, and that didnt serve me well in the long run given the disconnect between how much I shared content online yet failed to follow through in the actual engaging with others part of social media (I keep harping about this because this stint taught me so much about myself and for that I am grateful).
I don’t necessarily feel the need to extert myself or make my presence known. My presence always speaks for itself.
That is exemplified with the way I spent the night before new years eve (it was so perfect that I wish this was my new years eve). I had gone to a restaurant on my jays (my new favorite phrase) called Bella Afrik. It was a nice way to wind down the night given how I had spent the day - ok actually it was quite the chilled day through and through: I had gone to brunch earlier in the day, then went home and took a nap (woke up by 7pm). I wanted to end the night on a sweet note, so I went to this restaurant after not being let in to No. 19 (they were having a private event). I found a seat at the bar next to two ladies that I ended up befriending. We chatted over food and drinks and shimmied our hips to the afrobeats playing pleasantly loud in the background - it was the holidays after all: good feels all around. we decided we didn’t want to end the night there. After trying Bloom Bar + another bar to no avail, we ended up at a more local spot, The Woods.
I was so happy about the ambience at The Woods that I exclaimed this exactly upon entering. It was not packed, people were in their respective spaces just lounging and we did the same. We enjoyed the night, laughed, smoked, ate, and enjoyed one another’s company into the wee hours of the night.
(post- edit commentary: I had lunch with friends on January 7th in Dallas, TX that said they also went to The Woods a different night, so now that location has lost its low key allure for me. Motivation to find a new spot next time I go to Accra, then.)
That was how I spent the night before new years eve. Now fast forward to the next night that I was on the beach in conversation with this guy. I was in the middle of writing out my reflection on 2023, so focused that anyone that disturbed me was met with my “written all over her face annoyed” look. That didn’t stop him from engaging in conversation with me. “Working on a holiday?” “No, just writing out my reflection of this year and goals for the next” “Oh…*proceeds to ask further probing questions*”.
After he leaves, I finish my frozen drink as I close out my reflection and goal writing session, pray a bit, then by 8 pm I am on my way home to change for dinner. I eat dinner at Shogun, a Japanese restaurant, on my jays. My last meal of 2023 was two slightly underwhelming sushi rolls and a nice cocktail. By 10 pm I am in bed, ready to sleep into the new year with my alarm of such transition being the fireworks that start to strike so effortlessly and in tandem by midnight.
Happy new year.
Funmi Oke
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