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Published: December 2nd 2008
11/30/08
All I can say is that the last two weeks have been a blur. I am emotionally and physically exhausted. I guess I’ll just pick up where I left off last time. As most of you all know, I made a short visit home to go to my Grandma Viv’s funeral. My flight was supposed to leave Accra at 10:30 am on Wednesday and I was supposed to get into Seattle a little before midnight that same day. Things did not go as planned though. We boarded the Delta flight on time and just before we were about to taxi from the gate the pilot said that there was a problem with the satellite communication antenna and that they were going to reposition the plane to try and fix the problem. After moving the plane the problem still wasn’t fixed. We then had to unload the plane and go back to the terminal while the engineers checked all the connections and called Atlanta to figure out what to do. After sitting in the terminal for 4 and a half hours they finally cancelled the flight. Up to this point I had been patient and calm from my month of training in the Peace Corps. When they cancelled the flight I began stressing out. Delta informed us that if they received the necessary part from the U.S. that there could be a flight out on Thursday. It didn’t take long for them to realize that wasn’t going to happen, and that the flight would leave on Friday after the plane was repaired. Leaving Friday was not an option since I had a funeral that was the sole purpose of my trip on Saturday morning. I also found out that this was not the first time Delta has had this problem before. A lot of people said they would rather be on the ground then have the plane crash in the ocean, but I said that planes have been flying for years without satellite communication and that the plane would have no problem staying in the air. Whatever happened to radio and Morris code?
Everyone was in line waiting to talk to the only person at the Delta counter to try and get a different flight. All the Delta personnel were trying to get everyone onto shuttles to a hotel and said that they would contact us if they got us on another flight. There is no way I was going to leave that airport without a concrete plan. I was halfway back the line and moving nowhere fast when I decided I needed to take things into my own hands. I looked at the departure board and saw that there was a KLM flight to Amsterdam leaving Accra later that night. I got on the phone and called my mom to see if she could get me on that flight so I could make it home in time for the funeral. Within 10 minutes I got a call back and had a new flight itinerary to Amsterdam and then straight to Seattle. I spent 15 hours in the Accra airport before I even started the 16 hours worth of flying to get home. I also had a 7 and a half hour lay over in Amsterdam that I did not take full advantage of due to no funds and no knowledge of Amsterdam. I wasn’t about to increase the chance of more travel problems by leaving the airport. With only a few hours sleep I finally arrived in Seattle on Thursday afternoon. It felt great to be home.
When I got back to Monroe if felt like I was just coming home from college or getting back from a long vacation. For the most part everything was still the same. There were a few new stores here and there, but nothing groundbreaking. I hung out with friends and family and tried to make the most of my limited time in the States. The food was overwhelming and my digestive system didn’t particularly like the extreme contrast to Ghanaian food that it is now used to. Jenny also travelled up from Cali for a quick, one-day trip for the funeral. I was bittersweet to come home for Grandma Viv’s funeral and get to see all my family and friends. I was emotionally overwhelmed with simultaneous grief and joy. It’ll be nice when I have more time to relax and visit with everyone when I come home for Christmas.
My flight back to Ghana left Seattle at 6:30 am on Sunday morning. After only a 2 hour lay over in New York; my final flight landed in Accra at 8:30 am on Monday. My lack of sleep finally caught up with my and I slept for almost the entire 10 hour flight over the Atlantic. I went straight from the airport and got on a tro for a 5 hour bumpy and uncomfortable ride back to Akrokerri. Although I got some sleep and I had only been sitting for previous 24 hours, I was physically exhausted when I got back to site Monday afternoon.
I continued my travelling nightmare on Thursday when I went back to Accra for Thanksgiving with the Ambassador. To clarify from my previous blog entry, I actually had Thanksgiving dinner at the Ambassador’s Residence, not the Embassy. The new Ambassador is very laid back and easy going. He was very welcoming and made his rounds to have a chat with all the guests. It was nice to see some of the other PCVs from my training group. The food itself was awesome. The turkey and probably all the other food was flown in from the States and tasted amazing.
While I was in Accra I stayed the night at an American couple’s house. They met in the Peace Corps in the Ivory Coast and have been living and working all throughout Africa for the last 30 years. She works for USAID and he works for the Dutch equivalent. Their house was absolutely amazing. They had satellite tv, fast internet, hot water, air conditioning, a stunning garden, and 24 hour security guards. If I had a house like that I think I could live in Africa too. Don’t worry, I’m not planning on staying around after my 2 years of volunteering, but they have had an astounding life.
I woke up bright and early on Friday so I could get back to site in time to teach my last 2 classes of the day. On my tro ride from Obuasi to Akrokerri I witnessed something very interesting. Traffic was extremely congested and there was one particular taxi that was only making things worse. The taxi started by cutting my tro off and subsequently stopped to pick up a passenger. The taxi then proceeded to stop in the middle of the main intersection. Just as we were about to pass the taxi he cut us off again. Our driver used the horn generously to let the taxi know he was not pleased with his driving. We might have bumped his rear left panel but I’m not sure. The taxi had obviously been in a previous collision though because there were unpainted repairs to the rear left side of the taxi. At this point the taxi driver got out of his car and started yelling and pointing at his rear left panel as if we couldn’t see it hadn’t already been damaged before. Then the taxi driver hit the passenger door of the tro and this is when things got really interesting. The tro driver didn’t like the door getting hit at all and he got out of the tro with a fury. I was seated in the middle of the front row of the tro and had a clear view of the fist fight that ensued. The tro driver was much larger and had a reach advantage over the taxi driver and consequently landed the best hits. Both drivers had the hold of the other’s shirt and were jockeying for better positions for the next blow like a hockey fight. All of this took place in the middle of the busiest intersection so a large crowd quickly formed. A police officer arrived but he did little to restore order, even with an AK-47 strapped to his back that I am fairly certain isn’t loaded. The tro driver walked away with a torn shirt, but the taxi driver was still enraged.
Despite the travel delay, I made it back to Akrokerri in time to teach my last 2 classes. On my way to teach the first class I noticed that all of the students were out of there class rooms and I asked a fellow teacher why this was. I was informed that since there was a PTA meeting on Saturday that the last 2 classes of the day were cancelled so the students could clean up the school. I woke up early and rushed home for nothing.
Next week is the inter-house athletics (better known as track and field in America) competition. As the House 1 Master I have been organizing with my House Prefects collecting house dues for refreshments and picking who will participate in which events. Now that I understand the house system a little better I feel like I am much more prepared for this event. It would have been nice to know about the competition a month ago though so that the students would have more than just one week of training. In the following terms I am going to try and organize inter-house competitions at the beginning of the term so that I have adequate time to prepare my House.
The PTA meeting on Saturday was scheduled for 9 am so in typical Ghanaian style it actually started at 10:30 am. The entire meeting was conducted in Twi so I really had no idea what was going on. There was an agenda for the meeting but the items were not addressed in order. I finally called it quits after 3 hours so I could go to Kumasi for a second Thanksgiving at KSO. Once again, the food was great. The biggest difference was that all the food at KSO had Ghanaian origin. I also had a few packages waiting for me. I think it is safe to say that I get the most packages of any PCVs in Ghana. Thank you very much to everyone that has sent me mail. I am well stocked on a number of snacks, propel, and books to read.
Back by popular demand, here is another poop story. When I returned from the States I was greeted by 2 little piles of lizard poop on the top of my water barrel. It seems like the lizards have become more intelligent and are able to pass in and out of my veranda when they please so I expect that the droppings on the water barrel will be much less frequent. When I returned home from going to Kumasi for my second Thanksgiving I found a truly remarkable scene. As you may know, my kitchen is located on my veranda. I have a bottle of Frytol vegetable oil to cook with on my table, and I was flabbergasted to find fresh lizard poop on the cap of my Frytol bottle. The Frytol bottle is only 1 liter and the cap is the size of a standard water bottle’s. The lizard poop was the length of the radius of the cap. I can’t fathom how a lizard large enough to lay a poop that size could manage to lay his pile precisely on top of the bottle. The physics behind the act are truly mindboggling.
My rollercoaster continues this week with the inter-house athletics (track and field) competition followed by the all volunteer conference during Ghana’s presidential election. Tune in next time to see how I’m holding up.
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Scott
non-member comment
Planes and Poop
Andrew, it was so great to see you (and of course Jenny)!! I'm so sorry that it had to be at the loss of your Grandma. I must say that the pictures you shared with me of your school, village, and living quarters gave me a very clear picture of the life you're now living in Ghana. Not many people could take on the challenge; I certainly don't believe I could. Stay well these next couple of weeks, and we'll see you on Christmas. Best, Scott