Hey friends!
My flight from Rabat to Accra was long. Mostly because I had layovers in Paris and Amsterdam, a bit of a detour. My layovers were rushed and hectic, and I nearly missed my connecting flight to Accra. I flew KLM from Amsterdam to Accra, which is easily the most wonderful flight I’ve ever had. Big seats, loads of leg room, comfy headrests, good TV, great food, excellent service, and large bathrooms. I arrived in Accra exactly on time, though my luggage did not. It was still in Amsterdam. I arrived at 7pm, and was surprised to see it was already dark. Turns out sun sets at about 6:30pm, year round. Another surprise was the sign at customs declaring that all paedophiles and “sexual deviants” (homosexuality is illegal in Ghana) must leave for their own good and the good of others, for penalties are harsh. I met Heather, Davina, Robin, and Sara in the airport, and Joha, a Ghanaian man who has connections to Queens, chaperoned for us. He drove us to our hotel. My first day in Ghana I spent in Accra driving around with the team and Joha seeing the city and running errands. The heat was unbearable, but I’ve gotten used to it now, sort of. We got set up with cell phones, money, ate at restaurants, and eventually got to pick up my luggage. In Ghana, it is illegal to take photographs of government building, so many of the attractions, such as Independence square, I was unable to take photographs of. The traffic in Accra is crazy. On a normal day, it takes about 2 hours to get out of the city, and it took us all day to do just a few things, as we were perpetually stuck in traffic jams. When we finally got back to our hotel we went to the outdoor bar and had a couple of drinks with Soloman, the bartender, who played guitar and sang for us. He even made up songs which each of our names, which was quite sweet. The next morning we took the bus to Takoradi, where Sara and I are staying. Again, traffic was crazy, so we didn’t arrive in Takoradi until late. Hilda, my host sister, picked us up at the bus station to take us to our home. We were welcomed very warmly, especially by Georgina who is a neighbour who was at the house when we arrived.
My home in Takoradi is quite large, though simple. Although there are facilities for running water: sinks, toilets, and showers, there is no running water, so we wash and flush with buckets of water. Sara and I share a room, but both have our own double bed, and we share a bathroom between the two of us. The family is quite large, and I haven’t quite gotten a grip on the family tree yet. There is Alice, the mother, Uncle Tony, another woman, six children, who are Hilda’s cousins, and Emmanuel and George, who are her brothers, and like Hilda, are both in their twenties. The children are very shy of Sara and I, though we managed to get a couple of the boys to play cards with us, and the girls often smile back. Hilda cooks for us, and cooks a lot for us. I am never able to finish what she makes. So far we have eaten a lot of rice with spicy sauce and eggs, as well as pasta, various meats, beans, and pancakes. The food is much spicier than at home, so I drink a lot of juice and water, or tea at breakfast. We are excited to make and try Fufu! Once Uncle Tony ate with us, and tried to teach us Twi. I have learned that Twi is a very tonal language, so if you don’t say a word with the right tone, it doesn’t really make sense. Luckily, all the adults speak English (and I’m not sure if the children can’t, or just won’t, because at times they seem to understand us), especially Emmanuel and George. George is closest to our age it seems, so he took us out our second day here to meet his friends and go to some bars. Luckily for me, I didn’t pay for a thing, men are very insistent that women do not pay. The bars are all outdoors, and seem to operate and are lively all times of the day. The first pub we went to was called “Queen’s Pub,” which is also a popular pub at Queen’s University, so Sara and I really enjoyed that. We then went to a bar and club on the beach, which was not only beautiful, but very fun. They played mostly hip hop and rap hits from about ten years ago, as well as some Justin Bieber. George’s friends were very sweet, and very welcoming, as we’re planning on hanging out with them again next weekend.
On Monday we started at Friends of the Nation. The office is about a 30 minute drive from our home, so we take a taxi each way. We have negotiated a pretty good price with a taxi driver, David, who will drive us every day. He is quite sweet, and has already taken us on some errands. The office is surrounded by gardens, and behind the building is a road that goes up a steep hill to a secondary school. Sara and I adventured out for a bit, but got stuck in the red clay before too long. Sara and I have our own office, which is large and sunny. The people at work are incredibly friendly and sweet. They go out of their way to do stuff for us. So far, it’s unclear exactly what we’ll be doing, but it seems that I’ll be working with Kyei (pronounced Chay) in Natural Resources, and Sara will be with Kwesi in Population, Health, and Environment, perhaps doing some work in reproduction and maternal health. We have mostly been reading so far, and I have learned a tonne, and I mean A TONNE, about fisheries in Ghana. I especially love that as I read I recognize concepts and organizations I have studied at school. I feel so in my element, and I am both applying my degree and learning new material about natural resources in Ghana and fishery issues. Kwesi also had be edit a proposal for a program on Child Labour, as everyone in the office has English as a second language, which I really enjoyed as it kept me busy and I learned about the issues as well. Lunch at work is awesome. A woman comes with buckets of rice, salad, pasta, hard boiled eggs, and so far either chicken or fish. For only 1 cedi (66 cents) I get a large plate of rice, salad, and an egg.
After work today, David took us to Georgina’s business downtown, which is a small hut at the end of an alleyway. She works as a seamstress and has offered to make us traditional African dresses for church. She took our measurements. Sara and I are so excited, because we’ve noticed many women wearing the dresses, and they are both well-fitted and beautiful! I’m excited to be part of an African-Christian church service, especially since my outfit will match the others!
Random observations so far about Ghana:
The dirt is red and often the consistency of clay. It’s beautiful, especially when the roads are all red dirt. But there are an awful lot of potholes. So many that one wheel of the car is always in a pothole, and you can only drive about walking speed. It is very bumpy. This is only on smaller residential roads where most people walk or bike, bigger roads are always paved.
There are a lot of foul here. On the streets, in the yard, and roosters always wake us up around 6:00am. There are also a lot of goats. The baby ones are really cute and they jump over the sewage ducts at the sides of the streets with a bit of struggle and sometimes trip. They also play and fight. I want to keep one as a pet.
Names of businesses are often religious, as the people here are quite Christian. Examples are “Christ in You Chemical Storage,” “Seek Jesus Computers,” and “Bless You Realty.”
It seems that panelling and plywood for homes and businesses are sponsored by corporations. A lot of shacks and umbrellas are logoed with MTN, vodaphone, and glo, which are all local telecommunications companies.
Women carry things on their heads, and do it very very well. You’ll see just about anything on women’s heads, the most impressive so far have been piles watermelons and eggs on trays. Some have big wooden boxes with mesh sides with bread or fruit inside. They can walk quickly like this, and do not need to hold on with their hands, and some of them sell their products on the sides of the road. In traffic jams, snacks and water are quite handy.
Keep Smiling!
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