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).