ghana life

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February 9, 2007

CHANTEL - Today I finish up my English essay, force An to read it over once more and then we head off to the post office to see how to mail things off in Ghana. The post office is on campus and after I stick about a hundred stamps onto the envelope I am informed that it goes in the massive sack full of mail in the corner. I feel slightly concerned about my essay making it to Canada, An and I make jokes about pigeon air mail and writing my professor to inform him that I strapped my essay to a goat and that I had high hopes for the goat making it to Canada. I was quite pleased when I found out that it had actually made it there in one piece within a reasonable amount of time. We head into East Legon with Priscilla and Logan to see about having some dresses made. It is too hot in Ghana to wear anything other than long skirts and I really did not bring a lot of clothing with me so we were on the hunt. Its actually really hard to get clothing for cheap in Ghana, compared to everything else clothing is really expensive. In our first weeks here we commented on how well all the Ghanaian girls on campus dressed. Turns out everything they wear is bought overseas and nobody gets there clothes in Ghana. So getting some loose dresses made is our best bet for now. (AN - I like to call them muu muus) We find a roadside shack with some really nice dressers made up by a small local designer and order a couple in our size - we still have not gotten those dresses but we are patiently waiting as is the Ghanaian way. We then head to the little nearby shopping centre where we discover The Scoop. The Scoop makes the best soy milkshakes ever and plays vintage soccer games on TV. A perfect spot to take a break in my opinion. Priscilla takes us into Woodin, a high end Ghanaian fabric and clothing store. We then find a little French café for dinner with the girls before heading back to campus - I crash super early, life in Ghana is tiring.

AN - One thing both Chantel and I have been doing is avoiding Ghanaian food and finding all these other continental restaurants. I’m really easy going when it comes to food. I love to try new things and sample different cuisine. Chantel… not so much. So, we often find ourselves at places that serve sandwiches, burgers, fries, pizza, etc. I was a little embarrassed when friends wrote asking about the food and I would reply that I have been eating pizza and ice cream in Africa. I’m sure they were expecting me to say, “I killed a zebra today with a spear… we will be feasting for weeks!”

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