To begin I do again promise to upload pictures when I get to some good wifi, this might be on my layover in Atlanta, or back home. But when I’m done there will be so many pictures you wont even be able to handle it :P
Telecentere/Accra
Of course the Telecenter was not exactly the heavenly palace we had idealized it as while in the central region with North Western Eye Centre, but it had AC, refrigeration, juice, and corn flakes so it was definitely good enough. I even got a few minutes of internet connection, so that was exciting. Sadly, our group of five volunteers was mixed up, with two of our number staying in Accra with Crystal Eye Clinic, and three of us, along with my new roommate, setting off for Kumasi to work with the Charity Eye Clinic there.
On the night before we left, conveniently the night after we arrived, we wandered around Accra a bit in a group of eight volunteers, the only time everyone in the program was together. We went to basically the first place we found selling food at 8pm, there were not that many especially around the Telecentre where we could sit. In the spirit of adventure we had burgers. They were alright, there was a bone still in my chicken but as far as i know no one got sick :). Overall it was pretty fun and it was a good outing for meeting those I had not spent time with before and saying goodbye to those I had lived with for four days.
Accra is insane, basically. The roads are confusing there are packs of stray dogs and puddles that boarder on ponds in the road. The drive out was chaotic as best; between the venders walking the street and the pushiness of most all of the drivers, well, as I have said before, I could never ever drive there, I have enough of a time as a passenger.
I blame “Underneath The Turban” for my rating basically everything by how much I want to snuggle with it. This includes a very cute mountain outside of Accra, which I wanted to snuggle with desperately. There is not much else to say about the trip to Kumasi, it was long, at least five hours, and basically I just read.
Kumsi is very nice, it has a large market called the Kaygetia(not sure on the spelling, that is how it seems to be pronounced), far nicer roads than Accra(mostly paved, with signs), and some nice trees and scenery(giving it the name “the garden city”). The Kate Memorial Hotel, where we are staying, is pretty nice. It is has a bit more of a professional, clean feel than the Telecentre, AC, fridges, TV, and one computer with internet connectivity you pay for. You have to tell the manager when you want to use the water for a shower most of the time and when you want to use the computer. There is a restaurant and a bar on the property, the prices are not cheap but not too ridiculous. Our room has windows that do not lead outside, which is annoying when you get up at 6am or want to know the weather(oh wait, hot and sunny, maybe partly cloudy), but at least we weren’t woken up at 5am on Sunday by the church next door like the other room.
Culture Shock
Go figure, Ghana is a lot different from Connecticut or New Hampshire. The language, the “white” or “outsider” status we receive here, everyone speaking Twi, it wears on me. It doesn’t help that I miss people back home so much it hurts some times. The training modules gave us EXTENSIVE review on culture shock, so I do understand it. But that is little solace when in Kumasi in a huge packed amphitheater, and the moon comes out(and for once I need it to fall). So sometimes it is difficult to deal with. A lot of the time I wish i was staying for less than a month, or that I had been able to bring someone with me.
Day Off(socks and celebrities)
The most insane day of my life. Sunday, our real day off since the previous one was spent driving. We had decided to go to the market and to the cultural center. We got a ride from the hotel, of course were severely ripped off, and were downtown in about 15-20 minutes. Immediately on exiting the van, the people around the vender stands started talking loudly and looking at us. Apparently they instantly zoned in on my mismatched red and white socks. This is something I always wear back home and I was unduly surprised at it’s impact. Anyways, We went into the market, strait into the fish and meat section, and the one thing worse than tons of dead fish is tons of dead cow parts, it was not awful but the smell and some of the sights were disturbing. The market I would not recommend to the browser; there is a lot there but it was kind of awkward and troublesome since we had nothing specifically to buy. The cultural center is perfect for tourists, There are craft shops at the relative front with masks and other souvenirs. However, keep walking and there are actual shops where people are making drums or welding trinkets and suck out of bronze. The prices are better here, and best if you can haggle, unlike me. Still I did alright and we all had some nice keepsakes by the end. There is a large amphitheater and we found out that there would be a music and dancing show at 4pm, we decided to wait until then and wandered off to find some dancers in intricate costumes being filmed in the lawn, they insisted that we join them...and now the four of us should be on TV here in two months doing a shuffle dance, with varying amounts of success. lunch was fine, the fish here is alright but I wouldn’t get it again, they come whole and do not have that much meat for the hassle of digging around for it and taking out the bones. Anyways, skip to 4pm, we get back to the amphitheater, expecting a smallish crowd of mostly tourists. SO wrong. The place was packed, not a touristy group in sight. We sat down anyways and saw two hours of inexplicable shouting in twi, people who were probably celebrities and other people throwing cedis at them. If that was not strange enough, an announcer rand up 10 rows at least to come ask us down to the stage. Apparently being awkward white kids made us celebrities, and before I knew it we were on stage. Of course I was the one asked what I thought about the show, and stammered something I’m not even sure what, trying to not offend their twi screaming show. Then we danced to some music and some people threw money at us, then I finally found out what was going on; we had wandered into a record premier/charity show(possibly for some charity called “wind” I’m still uncertain) anyways then we watched the rest of the show from the second row in chairs, with commentary from the nice guy in front of us; apparently the king of the Ashanti region(where Kumasi is) was there, and a lot of other famous Ghanian singers. It was a thoroughly bizarre experience. Oh and there were over 3,000 people there, nbd.
also, the internet is allways difficult here
and ddinner is ready :)
after a wait...welcometo "elastic time"
