Chocolate or chips…
chocolate… or… chips?
This weekend has really been one of two halves; mainly
caused by the weather. Saturday saw
sudden, and torrential downpours of quite scary ferocity, so much so that being
caught out in them resulted in physical pain.
Thus the day started slowly and very much undercover and shelter, by
this I mean that on hearing the rain outside I was very happy to leave my PJs
on and continue to read, safe in the knowledge that not much was going on in
the world outside- other than my slight (but ever increasing fear) that the
swimming pool might flood. It does often
occur to me, and more so lately, that my life is more than a little skewed when
this is one of the troubling thoughts I have.
After a nice lunch last week at DeliFrance it seemed like a
reasonable location to try again as the weather dried up, albeit staying gray
and overcast. It is certainly a
pleasant enough spot for people watching, one is sure to spot at least one
familiar face, has good service, and an amenable ambiance, to say nothing of
the authentic French food. The only real
issue is that the price reflects the real imported prices. And then when it started again- the
rain!
I am more than a little concern about how much my mood seems
to swing depending on the weather and the color of the sky. Last week I was singing the praises of cute
little bars and soccer playing children, as the sun beat down in golden streaks
through a cloudless corn flower blue sky, yesterday, it was back to shacks and
miserable piles of tires and squalor as the clouds continued to hang gray and
heavy. It isn’t just the appearance of
the buildings but the fact the color seems to be sucked out of everything.
I am pleased to say that most of Sunday has been bright blue
skies and very little in the way of clouded interference. The whole city seems brighter, color seems to
flood everywhere you look and I feel more upbeat about the cracked walls, the
holes in the road and missing roof tiles.
To take a little detour back in time- Wednesday was also a
bright and sunny afternoon, so much so that drinks in “The Mainland” after
school were in order. This was doubly
delightful, because not only was the weather great, but Wednesday are early
finishing days. Lessons end at 1:10pm
and the kids all head out on service learning trips or sports activities,
meaning I can get jobs done, attend meetings and still be out of school by
3:30pm. “The Mainland” is a bar/
internet café type establishment with a roof deck; it comes equipped with a
fridge, a speaker attached to a TV- but no screen, and a few picnic tables and
chairs which are liable to break should one sit too fast, too long, or too
awkwardly. Until last year these tables
had fixed umbrella style shades, it was an open roof after all and some form of
shade was needed in Ghana. Now however,
they have invested in a covered construction, a few rough-hewn timber supports
and some corrugated iron hammered into place to form a more permanent
roof. What makes me giggle on an almost
weekly basis tho, is that the umbrellas are still in place. Rather than removed the fixed umbrella tables,
they have simply built a higher area on the roof and gone straight over the
top.
With a sunny Sunday, a trip “Next Door” was on the
cards. Not literally next-door, although
the neighbors are great (Italian/ German couple down the street; and I will be
partaking of their hospitality in a few weeks for book club), but a beach
resort outside of Accra and on the way to Tema.
The beach itself is not so much a beach at this point, but more rocky
and less sandy but still gives great opportunities to see the sea crashing, and
for more people watching. It also gave
me plenty of opportunities to watch large lizards doing press up, and crabs the
size of my hand running over the rocks.
I am more than a little concerned about these lizards. They are actually pretty large, well a good
8/9 inches and they sit in the middle of any surface one might be about to step
on, and skillfully blend in. The number
of times I have failed to spot one and then just as my foot is about to land on
it the ground has moves, and shot out from under me, causing me to lose my
footing is getting immeasurably large. I
just end up looking like I have stepped on a roller skate and I flail my arms
in a windmill fashion whilst I try to regain my balance. It is like tripping over a small dog, or a
child. The crab was more fascinating
than likely to cause me a sports injury until I decided that it was more Aragog
like than Sebastian style and too many evil arachnid images followed for
comfort.
Which brings me to heading for today. I have discovered that this country can do
two things rather well, one is chips and the other is chocolate, both of which,
or indeed together these items form my staple diet, throw in some diet coke- or
coke cola light and you pretty much have my meal plan for the week. There isn’t much I can say about the chips,
other than these are English style chips, proper chips not fries and fast food
like, but proper home cooked chips, and they are readily available everywhere! As for chocolate- well, really Cadbury… not
only can you get English Cadbury bars in the super market, but you can get
South African and Middle Eastern (I think they come from Saudi- but I might be
wrong) versions too. These taste pretty
much the same BUT have so many varieties I have never even heard of. It is like Cadbury heaven here. I am guessing there must be a slight and
subtle difference somewhere tho as prices tend to vary. Today was the turn of coke. Diet Coke from the UK in cans with regular
western style tabs that tuck into the can, and cost 49p in a multipack (not to
be sold separately) can be purchased here for the bargain price of 74p
individually, if however, I decided to go for the Coke Cola Light written in
Arabic with the early 1980s style ring pull that leave s the can entirely and
looks like an exclamation point, one of those that you know you have cut
fingers on multiple times in the past, you know, when the circle part pulls off
and leaves the can sealed, and you start jabbing your finger in to try and open
the can… well they are even more of a steal at 56p a can. Having tasted both- and I will say there is a
slight flavor difference, the main different does appear to be how easy the can
is to open, and how likely you are to slice your finger. But chocolate, chips and coke cola light-
there is no doubt about it, this is a country that is on the up.
Having decided that the nearly flooded pool and books were
calling, the last hour of fading sunlight was spent at home, just chilling.
Miss ya. A :-)
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