Ghana be fun...

This, that and beyond…

So, this week is turning out well! I have money from the secret bank account, turns out even my school security card wasn’t needed- as long as I knew my own name and could identify it from a list I was good to go! Which was just as well as I needed 100GHC to be able to order some more furniture.

Which leads on to my second piece of good news- the furniture I had ordered has been completed. It took marginally less than the two weeks quoted, and they finished everything in 10 days. It may not look exactly like the Pottery Barn picture I provided but it a passable replica. They have constructed the same frame; they have managed to include the grooves on the drawers, and they have even painted it white as requested. It is possible that they used a high gloss, Dulex style that one might use to paint interior doors and window frames, but these are for bathrooms so gloss will repel water… maybe, possibly… anyway, it was a good enough job for me to order some more bedroom furniture. This should arrive in …. “maybe two weeks, maybe more…” I’ve heard this before!

Saturday has been a bit of a multi cultural day, and is one of the reasons I actually love it here. Breakfast was to be found in a great little French style café- “Choco Pain”, which sold fantastic food, the most amazing baguettes, with a great chicken and green pepper filling, this was finished with a chocolate milkshake made with Belgian ice-cream and a chocolate éclair complete with chocolate cream filling- very French patisserie.

This was followed by a very African/ Ghanaian experience, and in supporting the local economy. I have seen signs around town and heard about a shop called Trashy Bags- a trip here was inevitable. Water in Ghana is sold on pretty much every street corner, up and down the road and in any street side chop bar; it cost about 20 pesewas and comes in a plastic bag. These plastic bags seem to end up in the gutters, the sewers, all over the streets, etc etc. When people have finished with them they just get dropped where people stand. Trashy Bags is a company that collects these and then makes them into new items. I am now the owner of a new laptop case, a pencil case and I have ordered some home storage. They are amazing. They are waterproof, malleable and even woven into boxes and mats. Three guess what you are all getting for Christmas this year… you’ll be in good company, they provided gifts for the MTV Music awards in 2010, so lots of celebrities also own these products.

www.trashybags.org

if you know what you want put your order in early!

A hunt or some cloth to make into a drape to cover a bookcase followed this; a quick trip to a local material outlet led to the purchase of some real Kente cloth. This is hand woven in different patterns to symbolize different ideas and comes in sections about 6-8” wide and sown together to create a longer wider length. It truly is gorgeous to look at, now if I were just rave enough to use it to make something more impressive than a flat drape on a bookshelf.

The afternoon was less about dust and bumpy roads and more about relaxation by the pool. It has finally been a sunny afternoon during the weekend, so I really wanted to make the most of it. It is currently the middle of the rainy season here- and boy when they say rainy season so they mean rainy season! So some sun and some pool time where very much needed and greatly appreciated, it turns out everyone had the same idea it became a social few hours with swimming, conversations and drinks before dinner. I really could have been anywhere in Europe or North America with a bit of sun and a pool and BBQ feel. The only clue it wasn’t was the music from the church over the road and the red headed lizards running around… then again I could easily have been in one of the Southern States.

The final trip of the day took me on a birthday party excursion and yet another continent to explore with food from the Dosa restaurant and a Southern Indian theme.

There really is so many food experiences to have here, if you don’t include the local fare I think next week I will be having Lebanese, Thai, Italian and good old American burger and fries- even if I do have to go to a South African restaurant to get it. This, I am sure will be offset by the fact I have to go to the shopping mall in order to pay my internet bill for next month, get a scratch card to top my phone up, collect some money from the still secret bank- haven’t worked out how that will go yet… and probably do some food shopping for the week.

Luckily I am looking forward to the tennis club in the afternoon, the power hasn’t gone out when I have needed it all week- apart from one time I was teaching, and the generator came on pretty quick (who needs lights anyway?) and the internet has been pretty good (not perfect) all week. All in all I am having a good time, especially now that I passed the furniture workshop today and I can see my new pieces being worked on- they looked really good, so I’m now getting excited about them.

Ghana be fun...

This and That

So, the first big surprise of this week was that the treadmill arrived, on the right day, in the right place and, all is well; especially shocking given the lack of address and the “Africa Time” clock! It has been assembled and it is working great in the spare room. The A/C unit is positioned so it is blowing toward it and the computer monitor is all set up for TV and movie watching while running, all of which means that this weekend I was able to enjoy the morning church service, on the speakers, while getting in a bit of exercise.

I am now really hoping that my next big purchases also manage to arrive on time. I have decided to enter into the African spirit of things and I have ordered some furniture to be made by local crafts man. They have been recommended by some other people and the quality looked good, the slightly unnerving experience came when asked how long it would take to make two nightstand style cabinets for the bathroom… the guy looked around a bit, shrugged his shoulders and said- oh about two weeks… I shall wait and see, there is always the promise of more work to come if these turn out well. The next issue is the haggling over the price… I was thinking that these sounded a bit expensive- but apparently this is there cocoa tax time. This is nothing to do with cocoa but more to do with the time of year. It is an expensive time of year, with schools wanting fees, children needing new uniforms and a general shortage of income, so… they try to cover their costs by upping the money they charge to everyone- not just naïve Obroni.

Obroni is another of my new words to add to my vocabulary, and heard surprisingly often. It is used all over West Africa to refer to any light skinned or Caucasian person, but it really is shouted at you with surprising regularity, across the street, by random strangers, in market places (but then usually to indicate a price hike), or children who just want to know if you can speak, or if they can poke you to find out if you are real. I guess the response is just yelling Obinin back. As long as it is all taken in a non-threatening and non-offensive way. Still don’t think I dare do that tho.

I shall follow this with my journey home from school- it turns out walking on ones own is a little bit of a rarity here. I had hardly got 100 yards from school before a man in a big 4 x 4 (I’m going to guess a Lincoln something or other) pulled up next to me, and asked if I was alright. He was most concerned that there was a problem, was there something he could do, did I need help, got he call someone, did I need him to send for anyone… it took a good five minutes of reassurances from me that actually I was fine and had just chosen to walk before he drove off; only to be replaced, immediately, by a taxi driver who wanted to know if I was ok, was the guy in the car hassling me, did I need any help…. I was half way through my, “no, I am fine, I have just made a conscious decision to walk” speech when people started moving away from kiosks and stall at the side of the road… I think I was the star attraction of the day. I should have started signing autographs and I am sure this must be what movie stars feel like.

I did have a similar experience when carry a bag of shopping down the street. I was very excited at seeing Coke light in a store (they really don’t get the concept of sugar free drinks here)- they have all sorts of soda, just never diet or light versions, so spotting a 12 pack of coke light bottles was exciting. Never one to miss an opportunity, and having learned very fast that you can get pretty much everything you want here- just not necessarily when you want it, or the price you wanted it for, I got what I wanted when I saw it and set off the whole 300 yard walk home. I have never had strangers in the street run the length of the road before, just to offer to help me carry one bag of shopping. I think the problem may have been that I wasn’t balancing it on my head. I’m sure if I could have done that no-one would have blinked at eyelid.

The next hurdle to overcome is the banking. Setting up an account three weeks ago was easy. In fact it was the easiest place I have ever opened an account. No-one asked for id, and I have no address so no-one wanted proof of that, they didn’t even really seem to care if I was going to be paid in to it, in fact I didn’t even need money for an opening balance. They simply filled in the paperwork and that was it. Someone will arrive at school with an ATM card and an account number at some point. Well, I have not out any money into my account and I am still waiting on the account number and the ATM card, however… they have managed to debit my account 3GHC (the cost of the check book) and email me to let me know that a transaction has occurred. How great is that! Unfortunately, they have yet to let me know what the account number is (it is blanked out for security reasons on the email), and as I have no ATM card they won’t let me make a deposit, I would go into the bank and do it, but no card, no account number so not happening. In response to my query (I would like to deposit some money and have a credit balance) “ahh, no matter. Maybe a few weeks” Africa time strikes again J

I am looking forward to seeing what happens tomorrow- tomorrow is payday. If I have proof of id the bank will send a representative to school, they can pay my money into my still secret from me account, and the bank will then let me withdraw it from them as a cash advance, so this money will go from the school, to the bank rep, and then to me… I still won’t know my account number, I will still have a negative balance but I will have been paid! Now, if I can just find some id, the embassy currently have my passport for my work permit… (apparently my school id badge will do- ummm).

Ghana be fun...

East of the Volta

This was the final destination for the weekend, a short over night stay in a lodge, a bit like World Camping Plus for those familiar with BA or Premium Camping for those who prefer Virgin Atlantic, and a trip to Wli Falls. But, I am a little ahead of myself here.

The weekend started with a traditional call to prayer. Ghana is about (or so I am told) 70% Christian and 30% Muslim. I am fortunate enough to be living in a house located between a mosque and a church, which means I have my choice of morning service broadcast at about 300 million decibels, and over a PA system first thing in the morning. The are a few positives I can see to this:

1. I don’t have to get up early to get to church

2. I can listen to a church service while wearing my pyjamas and reading the Sunday papers (online).

3. I don’t have to mouth the words to the hymns- if I choose to sing my neighbor will not be shocked and horrified at the complete lack of tone and tune I fail to produce.

Technically number two is possible in a church, just in my experience it is also frowned upon.

So, whether it was desired or not, I was up early and ready to leave by 9:00am on Saturday morning. David, the driver for this adventure had originally wanted to leave at 7:00am, so 9:00am was a definite improvement. The journey out of the city was fairly uneventful, the traffic was slow, as expected, and the fumes were cloying and chocking- again as expected. This is the country where all the cars come to exhale their dying exhaust fumes. There are tro-tros and taxi cabs ferrying people around that were manufactured before I was even born. When I imported my car from the USA to Canada in 2009 I was told it had to pass an emissions test, the Canadians it seems are more stringent on emissions criteria than the USA, what they would make of these vehicles belching black smoke is anyone’s guess; but I think it is safe to say that when cars are no longer road worthy in Europe or North America they are shipped here and put to work polluting the atmosphere 3,000 miles away. It does however make me laugh to see that they are still sporting German license plates underneath the new Ghanaian ones, or that I can clearly see the farm name and address in Idaho that shipped a truck over here.

Despite the traffic, the continuous stream of people and the sudden swerve to avoid the troop of baboons that wandered from the undergrowth into the road the journey went pretty smoothly. We didn’t have to stop for any police checkpoints, the 4 X 4 handled all the clay, mud and potholed tracks that constituted roads and there was a constant stream of people and villages to be passed by. I should point out that I am using the term “road” and “village” pretty loosely here. Road is merely an area of mud or land that does not have anything growing or living on it, (goats and chickens may skit and run across randomly and regularly) but can be moved on by repetitive blowing of the horn, and a village is a collection of people living in a area marked out by some form of wooden or mud structure. At some points, I really do think time travel is possible- some of these people really are living in huts made of mud and clay with wooden structures and not a sign of plastic, metal or electricity, and they often have the water pump wells stationed centrally. I can only assume that electricity must come to some points in the village as cell phone towers are still prevalent and dot the landscape at regular intervals. I may return to this thought later, but for now Wli Falls…

It is the highest falls in West Africa, although no-one seems exactly how high it is. Estimates range up to about 60 meters, but the general consensus seems to be about 50 meters. It is also located by the highest mountain in Ghana and for the most part of the weekend was surrounded by cloud. Unfortunately there is no proper path up to the falls, it is a real climb and therefore not encourage, in fact is closed, during the wet season; and guess what we are right in the middle of now. So with constant drizzle a climb to the top was not an option. Having seen what they class as safe and reasonable behavior here (motorcyclist wearing shower caps, four people and a shopping basket balanced on a 125cc, tro-tros carrying twice as many people as they recommend, and builders who throw bricks around with out regard for hard hats) I am not going to argue with anyone who tells me it is not safe. So looking from the covered drinks/ food area at the hotel had to suffice. That and a walk to the Togo border… which it turns out was less heavily defended than my house in Accra. The gates to my house are bigger, and greater in number; they are also closed unless someone is coming or going. The guard on duty is also in charge of the gates and has a guardhouse in which to site. At the Togo border they had a barrier, that was propped open (I’m not sure it was possible to close it) and a guard sitting in a shed who called you over as you walked past. If you choose not to go he shouted a bit louder and included a hand gesture; he had no inclination at all to leave his seat which left me wondering what would happen if you just kept walking… I’m fairly certain he wouldn’t actually make that much effort to chase you, just make a slightly more vigorous and possible ruder hand gesture.

The lodge was an interesting place to stay. Run by a German couple, who despite the odds managed to keep it incredibly clean, being rainy and wet meant there was clay and mud everywhere- but not any in the covered eating area or the sleeping area. They remembered which rooms all the guests were staying in (they did only have eight- but still impressive) and the food was nice. Given how remote the area was I am surprised they had most of the things in the kitchen, I certain wouldn’t relish the idea of driving for 90 minutes over some of those tracks to reach a grocery store equivalent. They did have lots of free-range chicken which is why I assume eggs where on the menu A LOT, and a parrot with a cough who was not on the menu at all. Lunch, dinner and breakfast were ordered all in one go at arrival and departure was agreed with the driver for 9:00am on Sunday. This did leave to my mortifyingly embarrassing moment of the weekend… I was up, had eaten my breakfast, had a cold shower (it really was freezing), brushed my teeth and packed my bag all by 8:45am. I was really quite proud of myself for being ready early- quite a novel experience for me, and thought I would wait outside until 9:00am. It was at this point that the owner appeared, saw me waiting and then proceeded to knock on the door of David’s room, while shouting, “Driver, driver, Madam is ready! She is waiting!” The poor man came flying out of his room with one shoe on and a mouthful of toothpaste. I didn’t know whether to tell him not to rush, or point out that I did actually know his name and didn’t expect him for at least another 15 minutes!

By early afternoon I was back in Accra, had a great lunch in Rhapsody, a South African based restaurant and headed out to do some light shopping…. Or in this case some dark shopping, the electricity seemed to spend more time off than on; interestingly tho the music carried on playing, the adverts and TV shows on the wall carried on running, and the internet didn’t go off. Back to Ghana wiring J Home Internet is great this week. New from Vodafone- Wi-Fi that streams at 3-4MB/minute… and touch wood, it has been working perfectly. I am very excited. I think that next week the challenge will be to see if my treadmill, set for delivery on Thursday, actually turns up. I have a few concerns… one is Africa time, and two is the fact that I don’t have an actual address, (the closest to an address I have is Aquatech Place, turn left, second right, house that looks like The Alamo, Abelemkpe, Accra) so I find it amusing that they even offer to deliver it. I will wait with baited breath…

Ghana be fun...

In to Africa...

Akwaaba! It has been a very quick introduction to the workings of this county so far, time has no meaning, or at least it is a reference to “Africa Time”. I learned this lesson pretty much as soon as I got off the plane and joined about 399 other people in the immigration hall. “No, matter” I thought, they have 12 queues here… four of those counters were for the ten or so returning Ghanaians, and I was hopeful that they would allow other people to move over once they had space. It was not to be, the officials manning those desks shut up and left a soon as they had processed their own queues. Having been shunted through various queues by officials who seemed to open and close desks randomly and seemingly at will, I eventually got to hand over my passport, and was waved through into the baggage hall without any hassle at all… apart from mixing up my right and left hand on the finger printing- I’ll learn one day. All in all the hour long wait could have been worse, and on occasion it has been.

The next hurdle was the baggage hall, and while most of the cases had come off a very overcrowded carousel quite easily I was still one missing… fearing the worst I set off in search of it. Despite the odds I did manage to find it. In a corner, by a door, and under a pile of other bags and suitcases that had arrived from all over the place. I have never seen an international airport with so much commotion and so many people. At least not at this stage in the proceedings; despite the controls, immigration, customs, and having to have all bags checked against receipts before leaving the airport non-passengers can freely access everything. Which was a great help when people from the school arrived to help move bags and push carts, but just adds to the chaos and mayhem when people are stood in the immigration hall holding sign boards with names on, or generally meeting and greeting by the baggage carousel, or asking if you would like a taxi as you move through the customs channel. I did however; finally get home, just in time for a shower and a straight to bed.

It was a good job I had a shower as it turns out, because I awoke on Thursday morning to find no electricity and no hot water. I am aware that this is a state often found in Africa, but again I still had my, “No, matter” head on, and naively thought that they security guard would turn the generator on and the water would heat up, and the lights and the fridge would all snap back on…. Turns out he would have done, but there was no diesel for it. Cold shows and unpacking beckoned.

In a desperate attempt to avoid unpacking, I have way too many clothes and pairs of shoes for any normal person… well maybe not, but when you are counting up the amount of clothes hangers and shoe racks you need it certainly starts to feel that way pretty quick- maybe the tally chart was the wrong way to go about it, 220 coat hangers is never going to look good when written in single lines; I went for a run. Well it started off as a run, I was originally going to try and run some kind of a lap around the “block” and I use that term loosely as I can, 1. Because they have very haphazard roads here, and 2. Because I have a very bad sense of direction and even running in circles could b a challenge J I have learned that EVERYONE here is VERY friendly and frequently wanted to have a little chat as I was running. I have never been asked how I am by so many people I have never met before. This could be because they genuinely want to know, or maybe because they are a little perturbed by the random stranger in a bright pink skirt running in circles. Think my money is on the second option; I was more than a little obvious. I have also discovered that it doesn’t matter what country you in, running thru a building site is never a good idea, although these workmen were very polite and chatty rather than the rude ones I have previously encountered, or, at least they were very polite and friendly in English- I have no idea what they were saying amongst themselves, but given how strange I appeared I could make a few guesses. I will be taking a Twi (Rosetta Stone should get one that) for beginners’ class on Tuesday tho, so maybe next week I’ll know what they are saying, then again, maybe I am better off not knowing.

So, 28 hours later and the water and some electricity is back. I am not 100% how the wiring in this house works… apparently it is on two different circuits powered by two different sub stations. This, on some level, makes sense. However, it does not explain why one half of a double socket works and the other half does not, why, if I have three lights in a sequence the middle one is on and the end two are not. Why would you wire a house like that? The dinning room does not work, but the bedroom above it does? The fridge and the kettle don’t work, but the microwave does? It is insane. There is no rhyme or reason to the schematic!

The interesting experiences didn’t stop there. There was the medical, for my work permit… the doctor invited me into the waiting room, and then decided they didn’t have enough seats and asked me to sit out on the step and wait…the fun didn’t stop there …taxis, setting up bank accounts, starting a new job, learning some Twi, the weather… but for now I’ll stop at the very first observation and continue again next week.