Last post - very sad

This post is a bit outdated - tried to post just after Easter but my computer was having difficulties. Anyways, enjoy my last post of this trip:


This will probably be my last post until my next trip to Ghana. (Yes - I am already thinking about it!) Although I’m doing a lot each day, nothing is very touristy like last year so its hard to write an interesting blog. However, since the last post, there are a few things I could share while I sit here and eat a mid morning snack of groundnuts.

I celebrated my second Easter in Ghana. I can’t remember where exactly I was last year at this time but I was probably enjoying a beach somewhere in Ghana. This year, I stayed in Accra and watched the city shut down. I watched as people poured in to churches on Thursday evening, Friday afternoon, Saturday, Sunday morning and afternoon, and, the biggest day of all, Monday. Church on Sundays is already a very big thing in Ghana but Easter weekend is something of its own caliber. Entire families have new outfits made with children in matching patterns. Women spend hours ensuring that their hair has the perfect curve. Men shine their shoes and polish their belt buckles. Churches are so full that only the very lucky get to sit in chairs. The rest stand along the walls, inside the entrance, and in the street. (Luckily for them many of the churches have never finished construction so they can see and hear mostly everything.)

Now, this is all fine and dandy except for when the time comes to buy something. Sundays and holidays often remind me of Langenburg (small Saskatchewan town for anyone who doesn’t know my families whereabouts) where some stores don’t open on Sundays and holidays. For people like me who live in a house where we have a shared kitchen with multiple other families, I rely on buying food from chop bars and food stalls. On most days I am able to make a quick (30 minute) jaunt down the street and buy some yams and kontomire or rice and stew but on a holiday, especially one as important as Easter, finding food is a big hunt. There was no problem until Sunday came around. The ‘quick jaunt’ became more of a short drive. Most of the places we suspected to be open, were not. At long last I settled on some very fishy jolloff rice (literally, it tasted like I was eating a trout - not normal for jolloff) and a mound of kelewele (fried plantains with ginger and some other mystery spices. You haven’t lived until you’ve tried it.) And then Monday arrives and I am glad I have some bread in the fridge because there was no way I was getting anything that I normally take for lunch. When it’s time for dinner I settle on the Nigerian version of Mr. Noodles soup. This version is nicer I think because the seasoning also comes with chilies to spice things up nicely. I hope you can now sort of picture my holiday struggles. And there are no mini eggs on this side of the world - unless you want to go to Koala (western supermarket) and buy the large bag of mini eggs for more than 30GHc.

At this point in my stay I have the map of Accra down pat in my head. The tro tro system finally makes sense and I can get everywhere I need to go by myself and without asking any questions. I’m fairly certain I can’t be tricked or ripped off by anyone. Being an obruni, trotro mates often try to overcharge me or “forget” to give me my change. Luckily this is Ghana so when I ask for “me nsesa” and the mate still “forgets” to give me my change, half the trotro passengers start yelling at him and I always get it. One of my first times going in to town alone, I ended up somewhere very different from where I wanted to go. Like a good tourist, I asked around for the tro that would go to “Labadi Polyclinic. (a very well known bus stop)” The driver told me which car to get into so I sat down. Just before we left the station, I asked the guy next to me if the car would go past La Polyclinic. After assuring me it would I paid the mate accordingly, telling him “La Polyclinic.” Long story short, I did not go to La Polyclinic, I went to La Paz, a part of Accra on the exact opposite side from La Polyclinic. Thanks mate…

When I’m leaving Haatso for any of my regular spots (Osu, the VA House, my Ghana family’s house in Kanda…) I take 3 or 4 trotros. If I’m very lucky I might get a more direct car, but I usually have to wait 20-30 minutes for one of those to come by my stop. 3 or 4 is a lot, but the entire journey costs less than 1GHc. At night or on a weekend when traffic is minimal, the journey takes about 15 - 20 minutes. During the week, it takes about 1.5 hours. During rush hour when I’m usually coming home, it takes 2 hours or more. If I’m very unlucky, my trotro will break down and I’ll have to wait for them to fix it or try to get on a new car. The best option is to wait for it to be fixed because it never breaks down in a place that’s easy to get a new car. Even if I was at a bus stop, I’ll wait patiently because I know I’m lucky to be on a car. Between the hours of 5pm and 7pm waiting for a trotro is madness. Everyone is trying to leave the city center and go to places like Madina or Haatso (where I live) so each trotro that arrives is stampeded by 15 or more people trying to get on. The sad part is, usually only one or two people get off. Ahh the life of your regular Accra resident.


Last week Poppo had a new orientation group and since Kersten isn’t here, I helped him with the volunteers, giving them an obruni perspective and a past volunteer perspective. I took them to watch Gouda rehearse and they got their first lesson in pidgin English from my friends (ie: you dey? A dey. You go go Ada? No Charley, I wan go Adenta, and my favourite expression: Ooohhhh Char-leeeeyyy) Note: in Ghana, everyone can be called Charley (pronounced more like Cha-lay) or boss. Coming from an English background, it is not always the simplest concept to grasp. You really have to re-learn the English language the improper way. No past, present, future, no proper spelling, no grammar… For those of us who worked hard in elementary school to speak proper English, pidgin English is not something you can grasp in a day.

And there you have it. I’ve shared all that I can think of right now. Since the power is out - again, I need to get out of this sweaty hot room and make my journey to Osu where I can use the internet to post this. Until next year…

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