Day 1 in Ghana

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AN - The next day, we decided to call Reuben once again. We had tried the night before, after checking into the hotel, but there was no answer. Reuben had picked up after the first ring, which we found out later that that was quite lucky, considering that Reuben had told us that the phone in which he picked up our call on has not worked in ages. Reuben informed us that he would come by to pick us up from our hotel. This was quite a relief for Chantel and I. We were preparing ourselves for the trek down to the campus with our six enormous pieces of luggage in search of Reuben. Thirty minutes from our phone call, Reuben was at our hotel with a nice Nissan pick-up truck, equipped with a driver. I assumed that the truck belonged to the school; it had a medium size sticker that read, “Reduce HIV/AIDS Stigma by Education” on the car doors.

Reuben Aggor: Reuben is the Director of Adult Education at the University of Ghana. He is also in charge of the Ghanaian end of SFU/UG CIDA funded project “Reducing HIV/AIDS Stigma by Education in Ghana.” He is also our “go-to” person in Ghana and has basically made it his responsibility to look after us in Ghana.

University of Ghana, Legon Campus: The oldest, largest and most established University in Ghana, Legon Campus is our home and where we spend the majority of our time.

CHANTEL - We had figured that making contact with Reuben was the first step in getting organized so we were both thrilled that he was going to come and rescue us from our hotel. After being told at immigration that no one is ever issued a 3 month visa to Ghana (he crossed out the 3 months and wrote in 60 days…I did not know they could just do that but it was late and who were we to argue at that point), after the absolute gong show with the mob of men trying to “help” us at the airport and aggressively insisting that we give them a “good tip”, and after the scene at the bank where we tried to exchange $200 USD and were rewarded with a massive stack of cedis, AND after trying to cross the massive six lane highway while getting smacked in the bum by a beggar in a wheelchair - well lets just say we were very happy when Reuben showed up. Reuben has since proven that he has and will more than live up to his promise to Marilyn to take care of us in Ghana.

AN - When we go the university, we had stopped by the Adult Education building, where Reuben’s office is located. He had called on two more men to ride in the back of the pick-up with the luggage. When we arrived at our dormitories that Reuben had set up for us, called International Student Hostel 2 (aka ISH 2), all four men helped us with our luggage. Once we go to our rooms, Reuben said he would be back at noon, so we could all go for lunch.

International Student Hostel 2 aka ISH 2: ISH 2 is the newest of the International dorms and was built in recent years to accommodate the rising amounts of international students attending the university.

AN - Our rooms were nice. Two beds, two wardrobes, two nice chairs, two single person coffee tables and two desks. There was also a balcony too. Our building had a lot of international students, also known as obruni (what Ghanaians called a non-black person). However, in our building there was also a lot of Ghanaians that reside their as well

CHANTEL - and quite a few Nigerian students as we would find out during the Ghana versus Nigeria soccer match.

Obruni: According to Ghanaians an Obruni is anyone who is not Ghanaian and who is visibly foreign.

CHANTEL - Our room was definitely better then expected and exactly what we needed - plus from what we understand it is in one of the most secure dorms on campus and the strictest on security rules, totally fine by us. The building is set up like an apartment complex and is fairly bare bones and basic by western standards but will definitely be a good set up for us.

AN - While walking to the main entrance of our building a girl stops us and introduces herself as Toyoko, another international student from Venezuela, but her origins are Japanese. She asks us where we are from and how long we’ve been in Ghana, in which we reply, “Two days.” We find out that she’s been living in Ghana for five months now, followed by a reply, “I love Ghana.” Tokoyo finishes the quick greetings with inviting us to a traditional Ghanaian Dance performance tomorrow night. Both Chantel and I excitedly agree. We are happy to make our first friend.

It was noon and Reuben was outside our building with his driver, and the pick-up truck. We drove out of the campus into Accra. We ate at a place called Country Kitchen (CHANTEL - funnily enough when we mentioned that Reuben had taken us out Shaheen asked if he had taken us there - must be a favorite of his). AN - It was interesting to us that Reuben’s driver stayed in the car while the three of us went to have lunch. Chantel and I decided it wasn’t time to be adventurous with food just yet, so we had chicken and fries, and chicken and rice for lunch. During lunch we were discussing which places we could go to buy some household items we didn’t pack. Such as a broom, a wastebasket, some bread, peanut butter, jam, etc. To our surprise, Reuben accompanied us to all the places we needed to go to, which meant we were driven around town. These places included supermarkets, cell phone stores, and department stores all across town.

CHANTEL - We later learned that the driver is Reuben’s driver full time while he is in his office and Reuben lends us his driver to take us around on a regular basis without us ever having to ask - a nice little luxury that has made life a lot easier, and also the reason behind the fact that we had been here almost a week before we had to take public transport. I don’t care what anyone says - there is no way you can get used to being comfortable in a tro-tro.

Tro-Tro: A tro-tro is any passenger vehicle that is not a taxi or a bus. In our experience a tro-tro is a big van with as many people packed into it as physically possible, the cheapest way to travel but definitely the least pleasant - especially in the heat.

AN - Approximately four hours since lunch had ended and we found almost everything we needed, except for a few minor items, we were finally done. Reuben and his driver dropped us off back at our dormitories. By the end of it all Chantel and I were exhausted. Thank goodness that Reuben had helped us out so much. Chantel and I recognized that if we had to accomplish what we had accomplished today without Reuben’s help, it would have taken at least a week to do, and it would not have been nearly as enjoyable as sitting in the cab of an air-conditioned truck.

CHANTEL - We have been told that it takes at least a week to get anything accomplished and to get organized as a new student on campus. There is no way we would have been able to get anything done because first - we had no idea where to go for anything, second we were still having difficulty (and still are) figuring out what people were saying to us and third things move extremely slowly in Ghana and our fast paced western ways (mine especially it takes all my effort not to spaz out when things are not getting done but mother nature and the heat are definitely doing its part in getting me to slow down and relax) are seen as odd and even offensive to Ghanaians who figure that for the most part everything will figure itself out if you give it time. And that is what I think our first lesson in Ghana has been. Slow down and just let things work out; there is no point in stressing over it because an Obruni can’t make things go any faster. PATIENCE is key. The second major lesson - slow down and listen to what people are saying to you. This was difficult because for the most part in other countries when people ask you something on the street you just shake your head, brush them off and move on. Here that is sometimes necessary but for the most part they are asking you where you are going (because we often looked lost) or how we are doing or simply just saying hi.

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Comments

[marilyn]

welcome to the 3rd world
These enties will be perfect fodder for my 3rd world development course this summer, as I start with 1st impressions and feelings of otherness. Just crossing the road from airport view motel was an "other" adventure. Funny, how all our automatic p.c. conditioning becomes unglued in such circumstances. Reuben is a saint, and, personally, my solidarity with the common people tends to evaporate fast at 40+C and 90%+ humidity. i.e. I will embrace the car and the driver without compunction. Dorm sounds perfect. is security a problem in general? Did you take your lap tops with you? I forgot to ask if you have digital or mini casette tape recorders for interviewing?