Getting out of Accra...

This weekend Trish, Shanika and I headed northeast of Accra to Ghana’s Volta region. [SEE BLACK LINE ON THE MAP FOR A VISUAL] Unlike our friends who had gone a few weeks back, we were somewhat less prepared. At one point it was actually acknowledged that of the three of us, I was the most organized… right, so you get the general idea then. Interestingly enough though, I think it was our lack of preparation that made the trip fantastic. Our trip began with Shanika receiving a phone call from her boss, informing her that two of the volunteers she looks after (oh that made TPA - Teaching and Projects Abroad - sound like a babysitting service… it's not, sorry-o!) are at the Trust Hospital because they thought they had malaria. On a side note this seems awfully common… people ending up at the hospital because they think they have malaria… I don’t think you could pay me enough to sit in that place and WAIT for six hours while probably exposing yourself to loads of other ACTUAL illnesses, when you probably just have a bad case of the flu, but hey, that’s just me I guess. So Trish and I hung out at the food court, Bradt guide in hand [best guide to Ghana ever, with fabulous commentary], contemplating what we should do, or rather, where we should go.

After some deliberating, Shanika arrived and we set on checking out this “Eco-Lodge,” which was described in the Bradt guide as somewhere you could relax, swim and enjoy the beautiful surroundings… sounded rather perfect actually. We made Shanika call the lodge to make sure there was availability (in retrospect it’s kind of hilarious we did this). They assured us that they could accommodate us, and explained where we should catch the tro from to get there. We headed over to the ‘long-distance’ tro parking lot, elicited loads of intrigued stares and with virtually no problems found our tro, paid our fare (1.90 USD), inquired how long the ride would be (2 hours) and found some seats on the relatively empty tro. Now it is necessary to explain that tros here (short OR long distance) wait until the very last seat is filled before departing (well usually anyway)… this meant we waited for what felt like an hour before we departed. That wouldn’t have been the worst thing, but it was absolutely sweltering outside… so you can imagine how much worse it was on the tro. Let’s just say we’re officially Ghanaian now, because we each have a handkerchief (read: sweat rag). Still aside from being hot and sweaty, it was a decent ride, and I think the fact that this older lady grabbed Trish’s arm when she came on to the tro and said: “You are welcome!” made it that much better… I love the small niceties in Ghana. Sometimes I think they even make up for the hissing and honking! :)

So a few hours later, we realized we didn’t know where we were getting off (this would have never happened to Naureen et al., I’m just saying, ahaha). So with the help of virtually EVERYONE sitting around us and the Bradt guide we determined that what we thought was one town, Anum-Boso, was actually two separate towns. When we pulled up in Anum, we hummed and ha’d for a bit, and decided to get off in the next town, Boso. This was a huge mistake, because Anum, as we found out later, has a regular taxi service, whereas Boso… not so much.

When we got out of the tro in Boso it was very apparent we were no longer in Accra. This was small town Ghana… and we were pretty sure no one had ever seen an Obruni before… let alone three, looking rather lost and toting backpacks. After refusing to pay 40,000 cedis (4 USD) for a taxi to the Eco Lodge (we thought it was 30,000), we wandered down what appeared to be the main road in hope that we might come across another taxi. How wrong we were.

After a few minutes of reveling in the silence of the town, we came upon a porch where a few guys hanging out. We decided to inquire about the taxi situation, since things weren’t looking too promising for us. A lady wearing funeral garb (black and brown/black and red) explained that there was no regular taxis in Boso, only Anum, but that we were welcome to wait on her porch. We were quite taken aback when a few of the guys brought a bench for us to sit on and wait… We began chatting with the lady, who it turned out lived in London, and was in Ghana for two consecutive funerals. She was absolutely lovely and after a few minutes of waiting told us we should go with her driver who would take us to the lodge. You can imagine our surprise… we had just met this woman! We tried to refuse her generous offer, but she insisted, saying that we shouldn’t pay her (when we offered), but we could tip the driver. It was one of those moments that makes you remember Accra is somewhat like many other big cities: cold and impersonal… it doesn’t necessarily reflect Ghana very well at all.

TBC tomorrow…

Mid-week update

I think I have officially decided that Nescafe instant coffee must have a very small fraction of the caffeine than in an Americano. I have an entire thermos of it sitting in front of me, and it is honestly not cutting it AT all.

I’m somewhat comforted though, as tomorrow the countdown begins:

14 days until real coffee.

And family. Obviously not in that order…

Our new apartment is working out very nicely, and once a few more things are added, such as a second bed, and stove, we’ll be set. This evening we’re having quasi-housewarming/hair dying party. There will be pizza. I’m excited.

Current challenges in our new place include: trying to strike a balance with the AC at night. Funny how a fan keeps the room at the perfect temperature for sleeping… but I think after a few mishaps (freezing and then boiling the last two nights) I’ve finally figured out how to maintain a reasonable temperature. The first night it was so cold I needed a duvet… unfortunately Lindsay’s suggestion of using a towel seemed hardly adequate, ahaha…

My hair is back in corn rows after attempting to put up with it for a good two weeks. Clearly I have forgotten what an insane task it was to take out, AND how much hair I lost last time… but for now, I’m much happier! I kind of like that from the back I can fool people…

Last night a few of us went to this Tuesday evening event called “Friskies.” This couple (and their son) host a movie night each week. They have an amazing venue which consists of a huge screen and covered space outdoors, with loads of couches and other comfy seats. It was quite lovely actually, and we watched “Water,” a Deepa Metha film. It is amazing if you haven’t already seen it… I’d highly recommend it. The only problem was that we were all pretty exhausted. I think trying to fit everything in, everyday, is taking a bit of a toll. I think it was accentuated this week as a result of the current challenge at our gym: 5K in 25 minutes… attempting this is enough to seriously kick your ass, especially after a long day at work. Anyway, not complaining, just really beginning to recognize that I need to take it easy this weekend!

This weekend Shanika, Trish and I are heading up to Akosombo. It is about three hours northeast of Accra, and hopefully will prove to be very relaxing (after the three hour tro ride of course…). A few of the other girls went a couple weeks back and said it was quite beautiful, so you can expect a whole slew of pictures… eventually.

After a three month hiatus (August pretty much consisted of eating twizzlers and Subway far too often, I blame the thesis), I’m finally cooking again! I must say, it is much more exciting to cook when you are not the only person eating! Although I have a long way to go to fill my father (and mother’s) shoes… I feel like it IS in my genes, and well, just plain fun really!

Anyway, hope it isn’t too cold in the rest of the world… although November in Edmonton? Yikes… if there isn’t snow, it’ll be a first.

Good luck to all you uni kids writing papers and midterms…

Namaste

This weekend was quite eventful as far as weekends in Accra go...

We finally made it to the Arts Center, which is THE place to buy ANY kinds of crafts, art, material, carvings, jewelry, and the list goes on...

For some reason I seem to be obsessed with art. There are so many fantastic paintings, I kind of can't help myself. So far I have resisted buying a drum though... although the thought has crossed my mind a few times. So, the market. It was absolutely hilarous. It is quite a bit more touristy than any other market we've seen, which would probably explain some of the hilarity... Now I am quite used to people yelling "India" at me... for obvious reasons, but this experience was far more entertaining! In addition to random shouts of "India," I heard (as you might have gathered from the title of this post) "Namaste!" I think I probably would have burst out laughing, if I hadn't been in semi disbelief... Absolutely hilarious. This was topped off by another random and frequent comment I received regarding my nose. Right, my nose... Oddly enough I had a bit of a complex about my nose in my younger years... here however, it seems to be very well liked! I kind of shrugged it off when the first lady told me she liked my nose. I mean yes, odd, but whatever, she could have said she hated it... But then the next person asked if I had had surgery to make it look this way! You can imagine my surprise! I think in total I had about 5 separate people comment on my nose. And that is not including the guy Trish ASKED if he liked my nose. It was rather random, but kept me entertained enough to forget about the fact that I was literally dripping with sweat as it was insanely hot in the market. Don't lie, I know you needed that visual.

That day we also hit my absolute favorite restaurant in Accra, Sunshine Cafe. I recently discovered how to get them to make me an Americano, my barrista friends would be proud! Anyway, it's got real coffee, amazing cake and a huge menu with loads of veggie friendly options... kind of amazing really!

Sunday was quite productive. We spent the morning at Golden Tulip (Hotel - there is a pool, and you can read in the lounge), I read for a couple of hours straight which was amazing, and long overdue...

On a more exciting note though, we moved! Lindsay and I found a two bedroom apartment in our friend LindsEy's apartment building, and after a few very stressful days of back and forth with the landlord who is in Malta, things finally came together on Friday, and we moved in last night!

I will post more pictures soon, I promise!

You know you've been in Ghana 9 weeks when...

You see a woman with a baby bjorn (one of those front baby backpack sort of devices) and wonder why on earth she wouldn't just use a piece of fabric tied around her back...

You begin to add 'o' on to random words... "Sorry-o!"

You why people in Canada don't use water sachets, when they are so much better than water bottles...

You adopt incredibly odd intonation, which makes all of your friends think you have a British accent... [ahaha, this is a hard one to explain]

You find air conditioning uncomfortably cold, and randomly step outside into the sweltering heat for a reprieve...

You start incorporating the word "small" into every sentence...

You forget what other food groups exist aside from breads/cereals/starches...

You find yourself getting annoyed with the power outages only because they haven't bothered to follow the schedule: "There is a schedule for a reason you know!!"

You go to a quiet beach (read: Bojo, NOT Labadi) and think to yourself, where the hell are the vendors selling plantain chips when you need them??

You actually begin to enjoy (?) Nescafe instant coffee (sigh)...

You start to believe you might actually BE married... since you've said you are SO many times!

You start yelling "OBRUNI!" out of the taxi window at random foreigners...

You wait half an hour for your food to come, and commend the waiter on his prompt service...

You wonder why the chickens are on the road eating garbage, when they could get much more from the gutter...

You expect that you should be able to buy gum, toilet paper, ice cream or handkerchiefs while in a taxi...

You scream "5000!" at the mate in the tro-tro for change...

When people hiss at you, you hiss back, only louder!

You remain absolutely unphased when you politely ask the taxi driver to please mind the goat, and his family...

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Well I hope that was at least mildly enjoyable. I'm planning on writing a real post soon, and posting some pictures too, including one of me in traditional Ghanaian attire... yeah if that won't make you check for an update, I really don't know what would...