Accra

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Up at 7.30am on Sunday and back to Cape Cafe for breakfast - I'm getting a bit fed up of cold tea and toast but it's better than nothing. I also don't remember the last time I was was in bed after 7am.
After breakfast we headed to the capital, Accra which took about 2/3 hours from Cape Coast. We went to the cultural market which was a bit crazy! As soon as I was off the bus I was being pulled and pushed by sellers desperate for me to buy something from them. There was a lot of wooden sculptures, beads, cloth, paintings etc. I got seperated from the group pretty quickly and it was a bit scary at times. I wasn't sure if I would get out alive! I managed to get the prices down quite a bit, much to the disgust of the market sellers. You just state your price and if they don't agree you walk away - they usually come running after you. It was good to experience the market, but I don't know if I would go back in a hurry and definitely not by myself.
After the market we went to a cafe called Frankies, which serves western food - I had a pizza and chips which was so good. We also stopped at the Koala supermarket and it's the first shop I've seen that you actually walk into. It is just like a U.K supermarket. It must be for the rich in Accra though because the prices were similar to those in the U.K if not a bit more and from what I've seen not a lot of people could afford to shop there. Most things here are pretty cheap - a can of coke is about 25p and the internet only costs about 50p for an hour. The taxis are also only about 50p.
As usual in Accra there were a lot of desperate people and they came up to the bus begging for money, some people even get a bit annoyed when you ignore them or refuse to give them anything.
Got back to the base about 6.00pm on Sunday night and I never thought I would be so happy to see the homebase! I'm even getting used to my bed with the lumpy matress and rock hard pillow.
Back to school on Monday and the kids were asking where I had been for the last couple of days - some of them want me to take them to Cape Coast (and some of them want me to buy them a bike!). The whole school was practising for a parade on the 6th March when Ghana celebrates 50 years of independance. I'll be back home so upset that I will miss it (unless I don't come home!).
The classroom was as un-organised as usual, with half the kids without books or pencils - it drives me crazy how un-organised it is but there's not much I can do. I was teaching moral studies yesterday and today and had to teach them to bath everyday and clean their teeth which is fair enough. But I also had to explain to them if they didn't do this then they would smell and people would laugh at them and not want to play with them! There's no point trying to change it because this is what they will have exams on after I am gone.
The teacher in my class often starts talking on her mobile phone and I know one of the other teachers often has a sleep in class. And yesterday one of the teachers asked me for my watch when I leave! There is no hope for the children......well maybe just a little for Class 2!

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