In Ghana:
My flight: I left with a few hugs and kisses. My mom, dad, brother Ryan and little sister Vanessa all came to the airport to see me off. After i received my boarding pass, and passed security, I was on my way to Amsterdam. I had to wait only about 45 minutes before i boarded my plane and was off.
In the air, i was treated very well, to my standards anyway. Immediately I was given a choice of drink. I choose water, but quickly i asked the stuartess if i could get a beer even though i was under 21. She cocked her head and said “Is that how it is in the states?” I said, “Yup, you have to be 21.” Then she asked me how old i am, and i told her 19; she said, yeah, you can get what ever you want, just not too much. So the next time around, i got a heinken. Yeah! Hehe. So silly, but i had too.
Then, quickly there after, they brought around lunch. I got a very good little meal of noodles, salad, and snack, and another heinken. Then they came by about ever couple hours to see if i wanted anything else. I drank water all the following times.
The airplane ride to Amsterdam was cool. I say next to a kid that just graduated High school and was accepted to a technical school in Texas, who was traveling to India to visit his family for the summer. We chatted a bit, and it was really relaxing to have someone I could relate too. Then we both read books for a long time and he slept for a couple hours.
I read 150 pages or so out of my book, and choose not to sleep at all because i figured i would just sleep on the second leg of the trip from Amsterdam to Accra.
The plane had a pretty interesting feature. There was a video monitor that displayed a map of our planes course (tracked on the fly by GPS i imagine) and it had all sorts of other information like altitude, temp outside, distance to destination, local / destination time, and a few other bits of information.
Once i hit Amsterdam, i started out to look around. There was all sorts of cool little shops. None caught my interest for a purchase though. And i woosed out to even ask about leaving the airport to check out the city.
I wish i had now, and i am thinking that if i have 6 hours lay over like i did this time (the way to Ghana) i will definitely leave the plane because one of the other volunteers which i met when i arrived in Ghana, said that it was very easy to leave the airport and explore the city. I just did not want to take a chance. So, i instead, just explored the airport, and ended up finding a little isolated area and played hacky sack for an hour or so, and read for a couple hours. The rest of the time i just walked around.
When it came time to board the plane from Amsterdam to Accra, i just jumped in the line and waited until it was my time to board. It happened painlessly, just as when i left from Houston.
As a matter of fact, I rode with the same airlines as i did from Houston too. So, i got the same cool video information feature and all the same services.
I thought i was going to be able to sleep on this leg of the trip, but damn was i wrong. For some reason i just could not get comfortable, and the person i was sitting to was not very talkative (neither was i though….this time around) So, ultimately, the entire 36 hours period…or more, i ended up sleeping for about 3 hours.
When i arrived in Accra i started to get nervous for the first time. It was about 8 PM Ghana time (about 2 PM back in Houston) and i was pretty tired. I had no clue what was about to happen. Luckily, again, everything happened very smoothly.
I got into the “Others” immigration line and began to wait until it was my turn. Then, because the Ghanaian line for checking passports/visas was emptied so quickly, half of the line i was standing in was directed to stand in the empty line. So, i was gotten to within about 15 minutes as opposed to the probably 30-45 minutes i would have had to wait otherwise.
The main reason things went smoothly is because i filled out the two forms i received on the plane right before we landed correctly, and of course because i had a valid visa and passport.
After i was cleared there, i went and claimed my baggage. Then i went through customs and got my first impression of the ’seemingly’ typical Ghanaian.
After i was cleared through customs, the agent who cleared me asked me if i brought any food with me in my bags. I was like…uhhh….no. He was like, are you sure you don’t have any food….because i am very hungry. Hehe! He was asking me to give him some food! I was like, whatever…and left.
When i left, four or five taxi drivers immediately asked me if i needed a ride. I said no, thank you, because i knew (though….) i had a ride waiting for me, and i did!
My boss Ranae and her husband Dave were waiting outside with the hundred or so other people, holding a big sign that said “CHRIS WARD” on it and i was like YEAH!
So, that was that. I felt so safe! I gave them both big hugs and they welcomed with to Ghana! We walked to Ranaes’ car and started driving into town.
It was pretty dark outside, so i did not get a chance to really get the feel of the environment around me, but i definitely knew i was in Africa because everyone I saw was African! Who happened to all speak English rather well!
Ranae and Dave asked me how i was feeling, and fortunately i was feeling very good. So, they asked if i would like to stop and get a drink, i said sure.
We went to a small little pub called Dunkins Pub., owned by a guy named…du du du da! Dunkin! I drank a local Ghanaian drought beer called Star. It was very good!
Quickly i was introduced to a couple of locals and a good friend of Ranae’s, John. (one of the volunteers i was to meet later, called him “crazy john” but i do not know why….yet. Maybe i will someday in the future) He was pretty cool. He runs an Non Profit organization in the Accra area that is trying to promote building an alternative transportation infrustructure (mostly bikes) because of pollution levels in the city are very high and it is much cheaper too.
After one drink down, and a few new faces to remember, i was introduced to Dunkin himself. He was very excited to see me. As a tradition for any new WIP volunteers, i was told to go to the bar and choose two shots of anything they had and they would make me a drink out of it, on the house. I could not refuse his generosity. I went inside and asked for a couple shots of Vodka and a bit of lime juice. It was good, and i quickly got drunk.
One of the first things i began to notice on that night was that music is life in Africa. I found myself conscientiously dancing in my chair as the music bumped in the background (which hearing music around you, wherever you are, turns out to be an extremely common occurrence). One of the customers noticed my groove and invited me to dance with him. Hehe. So i was like, sure, why not! So we went inside and he showed me how to dance how ‘the ghanaians dance’, which could have been true or not, i have no clue. But whatever, it was fun.
Then, after dancing, i went out and had another star and 3 other volunteers showed up to Dunkins and introduced themselves.
Let’s see…their names were Sarah, John (another…’crazy john’), and Karen. Sarah and John are partners, and they left the next day to travel to some villages in Ghana (Toga), they left for nearly a week. Karen also had plans to stay in Accra and meet with a few people about some business, instead of going back to Cape Coast with me and Ranae.
After we hung out for an hour or so, and it started to rain, we decided it was time to go and we left to the house we would be staying at overnight in Accra.
Upon arriving to the house we were going to stay at, my mouth feel to the floor. We drove up to a high walled, gated, man guarded gate door. I said something like, “Is the door going to open automatically?” because i did not know there was a guard, and it started to open. I was like, wow! It is…then i saw the guard and laughed. “That’s semi automatic at least.”
Then, after we parked, i grabbed my bags and we walked into the house. Oh my gosh! It was amazing!
Apparently, the house we were staying was occupied by the British Ambassador for Ghana. It was no surprise then that the house was so nice. (i am not going to give a description, just think, big (6 rooms), beautiful, with lots of neat stuff inside!)
As should not be a surprise, i slept very well that first night in Ghana. When i awoke the next morning around 8:30, i went straight to the shower. The unfortunate thing was that i took a shower right after 3 other people, so the water was not warm anymore, but i figured what the hell, i might as well start getting used to the cold showers, so i just dealt with it.
After i was up, (everyone was up) we sat around and talked for a little while and then we went to eat breakfast. The restaurant we went to was very nice, relative to what i would have imagined for being in a developing world, and the food was very good too.
We were in a little bit of a rush because Ranae had a meeting to get to and I had a Technology Conference i was going to attend with Dave. So, we ate quickly and Renae dropped me off at this 5 star hotel that the conference was at and i sat and enjoyed seeing all the interest in technology amongst the local Ghanaians. But overall, the conference was pretty boring. In short, it was a vendor called Moonbeam, who resells NEC computer products. They had all the
latest computer technologies laid out and explained about it all to the attendees.
Then, after an hour or so, Renae came and picked me up. We went back to the house, picked up my bags, and left to Cape Coast.
Driving out of Accra was pretty bad because there is truly a lot of pollution. There is no emissions regulation so many cars and big trucks are pumping out some really nasty stuff into the air. But, after we left the city, things got a bit better in regards to air quality. But, the scenery, housing and roads got worse.
Bumpedy Bumpedy Bumpedy. The entire ride was about 3 hours, and the roads are all pretty freaking bad all the way until the last 30 minutes of the ride to Cape Coast.
Along the way, there are many markets on the streets where vendors are selling all sorts of stuff like water, ice cream, toilet paper, Ghanaian junk foods (fried plantains, apples, nuts, plantain chips, and more) and more! These were a very interesting site for me. Ranae bought a few things from a few of the vendors on the street. Each time, she would bargain with them about how much the items were. It was very funny to me to watch, as we were stuck in traffic, someone buy something in the middle of the freeway. When the traffic would move up, if the deal had not been made, usually the price had not been decided, the seller would run along side the car with his arms in the window. We would stop again because of traffic, and the transaction would be completed.
The houses are in extremely bad shape all along the route to Cape Coast. Most were falling apart, with rusted tin roofs; everyone seemed to be very poor, as was expected
As i got closer and closer to Cape Coast, the scenery became very beautiful. The houses all but disappeared. There were hills all around, covered with many assorted types of trees. Then we got to an area where we could see the ocean, and of course it was marvelous.
But that changed as we arrived in Cape Coast. Everything quickly turned back to looking like…well…like i was in Africa. :-)
We passed another major street market, and had to travel through the town a way before we made it to the final destination.
When i arrived, i met the guard, Obu (or something like that….) then i was showed my room. It’s pretty big, has a nice fan inside, and an acceptably comfortable bed (much more than i had anticipated!). Actually, i was completely surprised by the entire house. It is huge! There are like 8 rooms or something, and 5 are rented out by WIP for the volunteers. I am throughly impressed.
After i put my stuff in my room, i went to meet the rest of the volunteers and my new host family. For my own sake, i am going to write their names and say who each of the family members are, as well as the other volunteers that are living in the house.
Mom is Abra (spelling on all these names are likely to be wrong….very very very likely), father is Wallace (american name….his african name must be way to hard to pronounce for us bruni’s—which means white person, or foreigner in the local language, Fante). There are like 7 kids in the family, 6 live at the house still. The oldest daughter that is living at the house is Gifty, i made a Ghanaian meal with her on the second night i was there. The oldest brother, Erramess (like air-ras-mes). Next is their younger sister Maivous (like may-vous). Next, a younger brother Desmond. Next another younger brother Atoe. Then, the youngest brother, Kojo.
Also living alongside me are 4 other volunteers. There is Lisa, born and raised in England. Samantha (we call her Sam) from Virginia. And Tyler and Francine, from…well, i do not know. The latter three, Sam, Tyler and Francine all arrived at the same time about one month ago. Lisa arrived only 3 days prior to my arrival. Both of us were learning the tricks of the trade for how to live in Africa from the other three, and both of us are adjusting very well.
They are all really cool. On Friday (day…4?) me, Sam, Lisa, Maivous and Errasmess went clubbin’. Maivous and Errasmess told us that we shouldn’t go until after 10 because the party never starts until then, or sometimes even later. So we left around 10:30 and arrived at close to 11. (Here’s the first idea of what the prices are like here). The entry fee was 20,000 credis, which the US dollar equivalent to that is about 2 dollars and ten cents! Not much to my surprise, I have come to find Money goes a long way here. Even better, it was ladies night, so the girls got in for free.
When we walked in, I was surprised to see that there was only about 4 other individuals in the club, but the music was pumping! I thought, damn, how lame….but as we were told, the party doesn’t start until late. So, I went to the bar and got a Star beer (damn! Their beer bottles are big. Atleast the Stars, which are 1.5 liters in volume) for 7,000 credis (about $.75) and started to drink a bit. Quickly, even before i started drinking i hit the dance floor by myself. I really miss dancing. And i believe i was quite the site, because the couple which was sitting in the corner was giggling to themselves, and i would imagine I was their humor. Whatever. I have already come to terms with the fact that i am a Bruni and will get these types of responses while i am here, no matter what. So, i ignored them and danced for a song or two then went and sat to have a drink and wait for the people to pile in. And boy, did they ever! My host brother and sister were completely right about the party staring late, because within only 30 minutes, the entire dance floor was packed! The jams were rouring and the people were hip-hoppin’! I think i can speak for all of my group when i say, this night was really fun. And brought all of us a little closer, kinda broke the ice.
Then Saturday, the same group of us, plus the youngest brother Kojo went to one of the many beach fronts in the area. I took some pictures of this beach, called something like Brenu-Ackyn. It was very beautiful, and the weather that day could not have been better. It was very overcast, and well, the sun could have been out to warm things up a bit, but i think it was such a nice day compared to the cold days i remember of Maine, and the expectations i had of the hot African sun. We all played in the sand. Some of us swam in the great ocean and battled the tough waves. And well all walked around and checked out the locals while they launched their huge fishing canoes for a run in the sea.
After we left from the beach, Lisa and I alone, went to an Ashanti Dance Theatre premire (Ashanti is one of the local peoples of the area).They put on a spectacluar dance performance, which resembled many aspects which Oscar (my dance instructor) had incorporated into our performances. These young men and women were extremely talented instpirational. The show was free, and one i am very glad i did not miss.
On Sunday, Maivous took Lisa, Kojo, and I all on a tour of one of the many Castles which dot the Ghanian Coast. This particular one was owned by the British, and was a cove for the slave trade as well as a fort for protecting their interests in the countries natural gold reserves. As I toured through the slave dungeons, i was struck by awe at the senseless minds that acted with such haste (there is no correct word to discribe this insanity) to partake in the slave trading activities of the day (and of the present times as well). Immediately upon leaving the dungeon i was greeted by the smiles and laughter of young children playing football (soccer) on the beach, just below the towering castle walls. As well as the spectacular crashing of the ocean current against the jagged rocky coast, only yards away from us all.
Then, after we left the castle, we went right next door to a restaurant and grabbed a bit to eat. We ended up staying and chatting for a couple hours at least. I enjoyed it very much. I got to know Maivous and Lisa a bit better, and they got to know me the same. I respect them both a lot! And could not have hand picked a better couple to be living with!
Once we got home, we all sat down in the living room and starting watching the Euro Championship Football (again…soccer) match with the family as we had been for the past few days. This has been pretty delightful too. It’s been a great way to relax and spend some quality time with Abra and Wallace.
The next day, i began to feel a bit queezy. I knew it was only a matter of time before i would get the runny tummy, and i was right. That night, i had the runs pretty freakin’ bad! As a matter of fact, so did Lisa. I suspect the reason why is the food i ate at the restaurant.
It was also the first day i rode in the taxi’s to and from work all by myself. “Abra!” 800 credis ($.09) for about a 10 minute drive. From Abra, to “Town – Aquarium” 1,000 credis ($.11) for about a 15 minute drive. What i sweet deal, huh? I don’t imagine it can be much cheaper than that. Even with the fact that they usually queeze 6 people into a 5 person car (including the driver), it’s worth the ride! The taxi’s will take you practically anywhere in the town for less then 1 buck; outside of the town, 2 bucks. Then there are STC’s (State Transport ???somethings??? mass transit buses) which will take you the entire 3 hour drive from Cape Coast to the city Accra for about $3 bucks!
Moving out of chronological order of events for a bit now. I want to give an idea of the cost of living here. 1 US dollar is exchanged for 9,200 credis. So, when i exchanged $100 when i got to Ghana, i quickly became a credi millionaire. Here’s some examples of the cost’s of common goods. Water, which comes in 500ml bags (interesting….but
one quickly gets used to it) costs about 300 credis per bag ($.3). A big bottle of water costs about 5,000 credis($.50). Beer costs anywhere from 3,000 credis (at a pub) to 10,000 (at the club) ($.35 to 1.10). A full meal (with drink) at a restaurant costs about 18,000 credis to 40,000 credis ($2.00 to $4.15). To cook for yourself at home costs about 10,000 – 20,000 credis ($1.00 – $2.00) Ten rolls of toilet paper costs about 15,000 credis ($1.50). A pair of light, handmade trousers (cloths here are practically all handmade) costs me 65,000 credis ($6.50). And…well, all common goods are very cheap relative to back in the states.
At work, i have already met nearly all of our 6 client organization owners. They all seem very nice and i anticipate to not only start working closely with them, i hope to purchase some cloths from them as well.
So far, while in the office, i have already found myself of use to the other little worker bees. I have helped configure the Internet to share from the server to the other computers. I have fixed a number of minor error’s on few of the computers, and i have have troubleshooted a printer for Zilla (another volunteer who lives in the other volunteer housing unit). Soon, i will be taking over Sam’s teaching duty because she is leaving very soon. Which, that job consists of tutoring a couple of our clients on the basics of computer operation and management.
Speaking of other volunteers, there are 4 others which i have not mentioned yet. They, as i mentioned above, live in a separate housing unit, which sits right on the coast, and has an awsome ocean front view! The names of the volunteers are Zilla, who is from the Netherlands. Britinany, who i do not know where she is from. Tamica, who is from Ohio (i think…) and there is Ashley. Which, it just so happens that Ashley is from Bar Harbor Maine! What a small world! Her parents are still living there, right near my school!
Posted by drpooville_Admin as General at 8:44 AM PDT