It's Raining, It's Pouring...

Well it is currently POURING here in Accra and I find myself wondering how Andrés (another YEI Intern) is doing North of us in Salaga. There has been massive flooding in the North of Ghana and minor flooding throughout most of the regions, save the Greater Accra Region. It's nice that it is cooling the temperature down, but many people have been devastated by the loss of their homes, etc. in the rural villages.

Meanwhile I sit here on the internet typing about it. It seems so odd to me. I was on a roll keeping a daily account of my activities up until we moved into the Canadian Volunteer Abroad House in Labadi last Friday. Then again, it's nice to be slightly disconnected from the internet. I have been doing more living and interacting since we have been here. Maya & I are sharing a room until Sunday and then I get my own room for most of the remainder of my stay. (I offered to allow volunteers to bunk in with me for their one week of Orientation the second week of every month. In exchange I will get a break on rent.)

Canadian Volunteer Abroad House
This house is incredible. There are 4 bedrooms inside which are occupied by Ann-Kristin (German), Popo (Ghanaian), Ned (British), Darrell (Canadian & leaving tonight), and Maya & I. Then outside, there are 4 additional rooms which belong to Daniel (Ghanaian who works here), Kersten (Canadian, the Co-ordinator for Volunteer Abroad in Ghana), Sam (Canadian), and a couple that we have not yet met. We have one two piece bathroom (toilet & shower) and then two additional toilets and two additional showers. There is a kitchen, a dining room, a common area, an office, and a patio in the front and in the back. We also are enclosed by a gate that is locked at all times. Someone is always home. It is VERY SAFE (this is your indication - you know who you are that requested & needs it)!

My favourite thing about my new residence is the fact that I live 2 seconds away from the beach. Granted it is a very polluted beach front (garbage is EVERYWHERE here), but at night we go to Tawala (an area with a bar, grill, and playground) and sit at a table enjoying our dinner & beer and watching the waves roll in. I love it. The hopeless romantic in me wishes that I had someone to share the evenings with sitting on a park bench watching the waves roll in. Cheesy, I know, but I thought my close friends and family would get a kick out of having a reminder of me & my cheese!

Work at CUA
Work is going well. It is an entirely different atmosphere than back home. The pace of work is much slower. The machinery is MUCH older & slower, although we were very fortunate to have a brand new computer. The photocopier in our office is the bane of my existence. Everyone else seems to get it to work, but everytime I touch it, it breaks. The power goes out at least twice a week which proved to be quite the challenge today since we had to get everything printed off for the Conference we are putting on this weekend. But the people are absolutely wonderful! So friendly. We are in the process of taking Twi lessons (pronounced "Tchwee") so that we can be better understand our colleagues and converse at market and such. They get a kick out of us trying to speak the language. I am sure I am butchering it. It is unbelievable how difficult something such as organizing a conference is here. There are some things that I completely take for granted when planning camp, such as the number and quality of flipchart paper, nametag holders, having registration information complete & ready prior to arriving at the site, etc..

The communication system here is entirely different. There is only one computer at CUA with internet, and 3-4 lines out of CUA house. This makes it challenging to communicate with the schools. Ernest makes a lot of phone calls on his cell, but we also had to visit a number of the schools in person to confirm their attendance. We learn new things every day such as different ways the businesses operate or nuances in how the English language is understood over here.

Marriage Proposals
I have heard "I love you", "I want to marry you", and "Marry me" so often here! I expected it, but I guess not to the extent that it has come. Today at Tema Station (where we go to catch the tro-tro home), a man grabbed my arm and followed me telling me he loved me and that he wanted to marry me. It was a bit pestering. But most of the time it just comes as calls on the street as we are walking by.
However, there is one guy at work named Tony Montana that has also said he loves me and wants to marry me. He calls me his wife to people around the office. I think it is hilarious, but we had a conversation one day and he told me that he wants me to come back to his village in the Eastern Region to meet his family. He asked me if it was a possibility that we get married. I think he might actually be serious. Which is difficult because I like to think of it as joking. We were supposed to go to lunch because I told him that I don't fall in love right away. I have to get to know someone before love will come. So he said I would have to get to know him. Nice enough guy, but I don't think I could see myself living in Ghana for the rest of my life! It would be interesting to date a Ghanaian though. Who knows, still 5 and a half months left. Maybe I will have a Ghanaian date!

Anyways, I am going to make more sporadic posts from now on since I have been busy enjoying the life! Still hunting for the perfect organization to donate the CYLers Snack Shack proceeds to. Not as easy as you would think it would be since organizations are not as easy to get in touch with here. Will keep you posted!

Until next time readers! (I have no idea how many of you there are, but I appreciate your interest! Wish I could take video footage of everything that I see and experience to share with you all!)

First Work Week in Ghana

Get ready for another Monster Post! Here it is in bulk. Enjoy!

Sunday, September 2nd, 2007 - Beautiful Cape Coast University

We got up around 9am and got ready. Archie told us that Sammy should be there around 10am to pick us up. So we went down to have breakfast - some toast and tea - and then went outside to wait for Sammy. Our hotel was up a hill and had a beautiful view of Cape Coast so we took some pictures and walked around a bit. Along the way, we said good morning to a bunch of people and met a young man named Joseph who stopped to talk with us for a bit. He asked us where were were from and asked if we would exchange email addresses with him so that he could communicate with people in Canada. We agreed. He was a very pleasant young man and with that, he was off to Church.

Of course, as per usual, over a half hour after we were supposed to be picked up, we were actually picked up. I think that the lateness here is attributable to a few different factors: late departures, TRAFFIC!, and other various things that may arise. Sammy got us and we went to pick up Archie. They took us to Cape Coast University and we got out of the truck and explored a bit. It is beautiful. There are so many really gorgeous trees and plants here. We took pictures of the various parts of the University that we saw. It even has a Faculty of Education! I was pleased with that of course. It made me wonder what it would be like to pursue a postsecondary education at an African institution. Curious.

Then we went to pick up his mother-in-law and his three little girls to bring back to Accra with us. We all piled back into the truck with Sammy & his mother-in-law in the front seats with Archie’s youngest, Rachel, on her lap. Then I had his middle daughter, Christine, on my lap. Maya in the middle had his eldest, Priscilla, on her lap. And then Archie had Maya’s laptop bag on his lap. We were all crammed in for the hour and a half ride back to Accra. At one point when Archie got out to get some watermelon from a vendor on the side of the road, I took my laptop out of my knapsack that was crammed at my feet to produce some blood circulation again in my legs! His little girls are so precious though, so I didn’t mind it too much. Christine fell asleep against my shoulder. It was really cute. Made me miss Brooklyn & Avery, my nieces. On our way home, we got a phone call on Archie’s cell that our luggage was finally in! So we made plans to go pick it up that night.

After we dropped off Archie’s mother-in-law and his daughter’s, we went to pick up our luggage at the airport. (What a saga! At first, they had called us telling us that they had only located one of the three bags and that it had lost its tag. Then they finally located the other three bags & sent them). Luckily, despite everything being completely messed up inside my big suitcase, everything was still there. We went home, reorganized, and relaxed since the next day was to be our first full day at work!


Monday, September 2nd, 2007 - Traveller’s Woes

Well in theory Monday was supposed to be our first full day at work. Unfortunately, my body decided otherwise and I was up in the middle of the night with Gastrointestinal problems. I tried to get ready and the more I did, the worse I felt. So at 8:30am, I called Archie to let him know that I was sick and should probably stay near a washroom. He asked how Maya was and at that point, she was still fine, although that changed later on. Archie, Miss Gabianu (our supervisor), and Ernest (the permanent Youth Savings Officer) came to see us and Miss Gabianu (who is a professional nurse) gave us advice and offered us some electrolyte mixture to put in our water. The rest of the day was spent sleeping and recovering. Hopefully we won’t see many more of those days.


Tuesday, September 3rd, 2007 - Orientation begins…

Archie was going to pick us up to bring us to work, but Miss Gabianu called around 6:30am to see how we were feeling and to make sure we were okay to go to work. As I assured her we were, she showed up at 8:30am to bring us to work on the Tro-tro so that we could learn how to take it. Tro-tros are kind of like large vans/small buses. They hold two seat next to the driver in the front, and then rows of two to three behind the driver and a straight bench behind the passenger seat that seats about 4-6 individuals. From what I have seen, a full tro-tro can seat as many as 17-20 people. It cost us 20-25 pesoas (roughly equivalent to Canadian cents) to take one tro-tro from Osu, where we are staying, to Tema station which is about a 15-20 minute walk to work.

Once we arrived at work, we were introduced to a ton of new people, beginning with Mr. Darko, the General Manager, and the two Deputy-General Managers. At the end of the day, Maya & I were trying to recall all of the names we had learned. It will take us a bit of time to get them all. I met two gentleman that stood out by their actions: Tony Montana who told me “we will talk later” and later told me that he is my future husband & Papa who told me that I am “very beautiful”. Later I felt really bad when Papa asked me if I remembered his name and I got it wrong! In my defence, we met about 30-40 people in one day.

I was surprised at how young most of the staff is. For the most part, I would say that they are 25-35 years old. I guess in my mind, when I think of the Credit Union Sector in Canada, that isn’t necessarily the case. Then again, life expectancy here has dropped from 62 to 47 years of age because of HIV/AIDS, so in that sense, the staff average age is somewhat reflective of the average age of a worker in Ghana.

At the end of the day, Miss Gabianu took us back to Tema Station and then home on a tro-tro again. The rides to and from work were very overwhelming, but I think we will catch on soon enough. We have been trying to locate a road map of Accra, but they are not as easy to find as back home!

As per our rituals, Maya and I put on a movie and crashed. Thank goodness for our laptops because the TV here has 5 stations and static lines across the top fifth and the bottom fifth of the screen. Not to mention the lack of interesting programming. Although it is nice to get the news in the morning - which consists of the reporter reading the headlines of local newspapers! It’s hilarious. Gotta love it!


Wednesday, September 5th, 2007 - Orientation Continues… (Happy B’day Avery!)

Miss Gabianu picked us up again to take the Tro-tro to work. This time we took a different route (because I wasn’t confused enough with only one! But it was good to have something to contrast it with and to know we have options). This route, the “Accra” tro-tro still took us to Tema station. There we had to walk through the packed, small alleyway of a market. It was slightly overwhelming, but I was starting to get used to being overwhelmed/hypersensitive to my surroundings at this point.

During our second day of orientation, we learned more about the specific positions of other individuals along with more about our specific positions from Ernest and Miss Gabianu. It was nice to get a better sense as to what we will be doing. I will be meeting with Youth Savings Clubs that exist around the country and auditing their books. I will also be working with Ernest to try to create new clubs. The goal is to visit each club at least one to two times a year, but due to funding limitations, that goal may not be met. We travel together with Maya and Miss Gabianu some of the time. Our first big event is taking place on the weekend of September 21st. There is a Conference that we are hosting. We will travel there for the weekend and have to prepare a small presentation for our respective parts. Miss Gabianu suggested drawing on how youth save at home as well (something which I feel we should be doing a better job of encouraging with our Canadian youth). Possible programming opportunities when I get home?

After a fairly packed day once again, we got a ride home. We went to get dinner and then hit up the Internet Café for the first time. No one was online, but I managed to check my email. It was 1 cedi for an hour’s time, which is not bad. I called Avery for her birthday but missed her L because she was heading to the Hilary Duff Concert. Hope it was good! So then I called Mom. Apparently there is some difficulty in calling me because you need to enter something before the country code in Canada to call overseas. I believe it is 011. Will try to double check that and confirm for anyone who wants to call me!


Thursday, September 6th, 2007 - High Commission of Canada & Immigration Office

Since we were sick on Monday and supposed to go let the High Commission of Canada know that we were in the country, Archie picked us up with Mr. Sechi one of the drivers at 8:30am and we went in to finish those errands. We went and activated our registration. We also signed the registration book and were pleased to see that the Governor General of Canada had also signed it in October 2006. We had to leave our cell phones and our cameras at the front which was too bad because it was beautiful and I wish we could have captured the building and gardens on camera.

After the High Commission, we went to the Ghanaian Immigration Office to get forms from a friend of Archie’s who works there so that we could complete all the paperwork to get our visas extended without having to wait in line for hours. We got a letter written by CUA and filled out all of the forms only to go back and find out that we can only apply JUST before our visas expire. Makes it tricky, but we’ll go back closer to the end of our three months. However, we did learn that if we plan to travel outside of Ghana, we need to get permission for re-entry, so that was valuable information.

Since we finished early, we got dropped off early at home and hit up the Internet Café for a while. Uploading is nearly impossible, so many of my pictures & videos will have to wait until later on.


Friday, September 7th, 2007 - First Real Market Experience

Miss Gabianu called us around 8am to let us know that she had not forgotten us, not to worry, she would be here eventually to take the Tro-tro with us to work. Traffic was apparently horrible. She has to leave her house at 6am every morning in order to make it to the office for an 8:30am start. We have learned that people get up very early here. Archie gets up at 3:30am every day. It’s unbelievable! Meanwhile, we have to find a way to train them not to call us at 6am in the morning because we Westerners do not get up at those early hours.

Friday, our first real day of work, was a very relaxed day. We looked through old pictures and notes from past interns, as well as resources that were found in our office. Maya and I will be sharing an office. We are really lucky in that we have a brand new computer and printer at our disposal. The previous interns highlighted in some of their reports the need for a functional, up-to-date computer in order to be able to complete their work so now we are benefiting from that suggestion.

Around 3pm, we left the office with Ernest to go to the Market in search of clothing. I foolishly did not bring any warm clothing aside from a fleece zip up and when we go for the Conference in a couple of weeks, we need long sleeves to keep the mosquitoes away and to keep warm. Try finding a long sleeved shirt that you like in Ghana! It’s not easy!
We also want to purchase some traditional African clothing, so we were off in search of some.

The hustle and bustle of the market is intense. There are people EVERYWHERE. And when they see us coming with the colour of our skin, they assume we have money, so they all want us to stop at their stall. We moved very quickly through the throngs of people. It is an interesting thing to try to manoeuvre your way around people carrying things on their heads or with babies on their backs. These people are fascinating. I don’t know how they do it!

I ended up buying a skirt, a shirt, and a blanket at the market. I never would have thought that I would need a blanket here, but our bed in our hotel room essentially only had two sheets on it and our air conditioner only had one temperature - frigid. So in order to be comfortable, the blanket helps a lot! In the beginning Maya was getting up several times a night to turn on and off the A/C. It’s nice to finally sleep comfortably through a night!

After we finished at the market, Ernest took us to a place on High Street where a group of teens were playing football. Over in a corner, a group of children also had their own little game going on. Fun to watch. It was right by the sea. Absolutely gorgeous. We walked over near the edge and looked down at the sea below. As we were walking over, this little boy who appeared to be three or four years old and had a HUGE smile plastered on his face ran straight towards me and shook my hand. He was precious. He just wanted to come say hello and two of his little friends also came over and shook my hand. As we walked over to the edge and looked down at the water, we could see a ton of canoes anchored there. The fisherman had finished for the day. There was a restaurant right there, so Ernest suggested we go have a drink. We each got a Sprite and then he asked us if we would like a goat kebab. Neither Maya or I had tried goat yet, so we agreed. It was DELICIOUS!! Definitely my new favourite meat in Ghana. Hopefully I can get by on Chicken and Goat and avoid fish…but I know that won’t happen.

Next it was back to Tema Station to grab a tro-tro and head home. Our first tro-tro ride on our own. We came home, had dinner, watched a movie, and fell asleep by 9:30pm. Exhausted!


Saturday, September 8th, 2007 - A Stroll Around Osu!

It was so nice to finally sleep in! We woke up, relaxed a bit and then walked around Osu for 5 hours. Bought supplies to do laundry in our bathtub, another 2 DVDs that have 16 movies on each, lined notebooks, Ground nut butter (very similar to Canadian peanut butter minus the sugar), stuff to make guacamole!

During our stroll, I met a young necklace vendor named Stéphane from Côte d’Ivoire and therefore speaks French. It was nice to have a French conversation. Hopefully I will have more opportunities like that.

We saw Ghanaian soccer jerseys and polo shirts on our stroll. My goal is to get one soon so that I have it for the African Nations Cup taking place in Ghana January 20-February 10, 2008. I am really looking forward to being a part of that!

We went for dinner at a Lebanese restaurant nearby our lodge called Adonis, but it was closed outside of ‘regular’ dining hours. Luckily we had seen another Lebanese restaurant across Cantonment Street (the main street in Osu), so we went there for dinner. Maya & I shared taboule and we each had a kafta sandwich, which is ground lamb meat mixed with parsley, and a sprite. It was really good but expensive. It cost us each 7.50 cedis.

One of the unfortunate things about walking around like that for a few hours is that you get really hot, sticky, and dirty. I was saying to Maya that I felt like I had a film on me from perspiration and then another from the dust and dirt. Every once in a while I would get dirt in my eye. I can’t believe I am getting used to that! So once we got back, it was shower time.

Showering
One thing I haven’t written about yet is the entire shower experience here. There is a switch to turn on the hot water and another hot water controller in the washroom. Every morning, I turn on the hot water. Interestingly enough, there is nothing hot about the water! I told Maya that hot is a relative term here. Nothing wakes you up in the morning like a frigid shower. I have to cover my mouth every morning as not to scream when that first freezing stream hits me. In the afternoons and evenings, however, it is a most welcome temperature. Unfortunately, due to the make-up of my lovely hair, evening showers simply aren’t an option for me. I warned Maya before coming that my hair would grow as the days go on here. She didn’t believe me, but now we have a good laugh every day at the evolution of my hair, especially when I let it go curly. Maybe I will have to do a photo montage at some point.

After showering, we watched Hunchback of Notre Dame on the South African TV channel and made the realization that their 8pm is our 6pm. Then we made some guacamole. The avocadoes are sweeter here than those obtained from Central America. Our guacamole was really good. We had purchased some nacho chips and vegetable crackers to eat the guacamole with. We are still learning about the nature of the food here. In Canada, I would assume that vegetable crackers would be salty. Here, however, they are sweet. We have affectionately started referring to them as vegetable cookies.

After Hunchback, we watched another of our 16 movies per DVD movie and went to sleep.


Sunday, September 9th, 2007 - Relaxation at its laziest!

If we slept in on Saturday, we REALLY slept in today. It was exquisite. So far today, I have been typing up an account of our activities thus far, gotten dressed, and brushed my teeth. Oh, I also had a ground nut butter sandwich and some vegetable cookies. Our plan is to go to get some food for tonight, maybe buy a English-Twi dictionary that we saw yesterday to start learning the local language, and return one of the DVDs that is so scratched up, it’s a wonder any files opened on it at all.


Suggestions/Feedback
If anyone has suggestions about what they would like me to write about in my blog or if you would like to hear more about certain aspects of Ghanaian life, please let me know! I was telling Maya that I have no idea how many people are reading this blog or what they are curious about. At this point, I am trying to make it a daily account of what goes on in my life, but I am open to suggestions! I am going to try to have less lengthy entries as things go on, but now since I am keeping a record for myself anyways, I thought I would include/share.

I love feedback! Hope all is well in Canada and that the beginning of school is going well for all of you students!

The Adventures of a White, Blond Girl in Ghana

Until I manage to have more frequent internet access, pictures and entries will be limited. I am therefore trying to write every day on my laptop or as often as possible. Apologies for the lengthy entries, but I have tried to break them down by date! Enjoy.

Wednesday, August 29th, 2007 8:55pm - The Adventure Begins…

I am currently sitting at the Toronto Pearson International Airport awaiting boarding for our flight to Amsterdam. I needed to charge my laptop, so I have it on and Maya and I are both writing in our journals. Of course, in true Sonja style, I got thoroughly searched coming through Customs. My belt and shoes both set off the metal detector here (no idea why they didn’t in Saskatoon) and I had to take everything out of the bottom of my bag since all of my currency converters (power adaptors), batteries, head lamps, etc. were in the bottom and must have shown up suspicious on the X-Ray machine.

I am starting to get really tired from the long day of training and all of the excitement, but at the same time I am absolutely thrilled to finally be getting to Holland. Even if it is only for a 2 hour layover at this time. In March when I fly home, I will have 7.5 hours there and am going to try to get out and see a bit if I can, although I hear that there is not much around the airport.

I am of two minds right now. On one hand, I am really excited about the opportunity to see another part of the world and truly experience their culture. On the other hand, I am terrified of what I am going to see and the impact that it is going to have on the rest of my life. The threat of HIV/AIDS is very real presently in Ghana and I cannot even begin to imagine the toll that it must have on the lives of the men, women, and children who live there. I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it must be to lose friends & family to AIDS. The next few months are certainly going to be challenging. But they are also going to be filled with hope. Hope that the youth in Ghana will take the messages that Maya and I are bringing to them, either directly or through the peer education program, and that they will live their lives by the safe sex practices and co-operative values that we instil in them. If they take these messages to heart, not only will they have a future, but it will be a bright one.

Hopefully I can find the balance in all of this and not be too overwhelmed. I look forward to meeting the people, finding out what makes them tick, and hopefully participating to the fullest in Ghanaian life. I cannot believe how blessed I am to be able to partake in this program. I have a sense of what lies ahead of me, but I feel that I will still have much to learn, much to overcome, and many surprises to face. Luckily, I have a great new friend in Maya and I will not be alone in this scary yet exhilarating opportunity.

Thursday, August 30th, 2007 - Stalling…guess we’re already on African time!

The interns on their last day at the Saskatoon Airport very early in the morning!

Oh the joys of travel! We departed Saskatoon at 4:15am on Thursday for the airport in order to catch our 6am flight. Everything went smoothly from there until we got to Toronto. Of course, having a 10 hours layover in T.O., Maya, Andres and I could not check our luggage in until 6pm. We arrived at the desk around 1pm. So luckily, we had thought about this ahead of time and knew there was a place around there where we could store our luggage until our flight. So after paying $6 for my backpack, and $8 for my massive suitcase, I was good to go. I definitely spent a good 15-20 minutes repacking my stuff in the airport to ensure that I would be under the weight limit.

I called Sarah around 2:30pm to see if she could still come get Maya & I to do a little last minute shopping and to be able to leave the airport for a while. Luckily, she was still free - the godsend that she is! So we planned to call her again after all of the interns, aside from Andres who had already left, went for our last meal together. We ended up going to Swiss Chalet in the airport. Then Sarah picked us up and we drove to a UPS store in a mall and did some other running around.

Sarah dropped us off again at the airport around 6:30pm ( I can`t remember exactly the time). Then we went and checked our luggage in at KLM. With my second carry-on in my big suitcase, it was over the weight limit, but the girl at KLM was really nice and let it go. My carry-on back pack was also too heavy, but since my laptop was in it and I only had one at that point, I was rockin’. Whew saved $50! After that. We met up with one of Maya`s friends and with Andres again and went to eat. We lost Andres for a bit who went off in search of a People`s magazine for the intern he will be taking over from. Maya & I went through security and of course, with all of the metal in the bottom of my knapsack (all of my converters, battery chargers, headlamps, etc. were in there), I got stopped and the girl thoroughly examined the contents of my backpack. Luckily she was pretty friendly and chatted with me about where I was going while she did it. Maya & I set up on the other side of security to begin keeping a log of our activities/journals. Just as people started getting called to board our flight, Andres showed up. He had been talking to his wife who he will be leaving behind until she joins him in Salaga, Ghana in November.

Once boarded, everything seemed like it was still going smoothly… WRONG! We taxied out to the runway and awaited our turn for departure. After a while, the Captain came over the speaker in Dutch. When he began to translate we understood that there was no information on why we were held up but that they would communicate to us whatever they knew as soon as they received some information. In the second message from the Captain, we learned that there had been a security breach in terminal 3 (where we were departing from), and that all aircrafts were being held until things got cleared up. 2 hours later, they finally cleared up that the breach had been with another airline and we were permitted to line up for take off. The funny part? Our layover in Amsterdam was 2 hours and it now appeared as though we would either be running or miss the flight entirely. Maya & I were really hoping that we would get delayed in Amsterdam for a day with a complimentary hotel room, but after 7 hours of flight which included some sleep and whatever individual movies we selected on our individual screens on the back of the seat in front of us, we arrived in Amsterdam 5 minutes after our original take off time to find that our flight had been held.

Once on our new flight, all three of us pretty much fell asleep immediately, which was fortunate for us since this flight had technical problems and was delayed about another 2 hours and there were no individual screens on this flight. All problems aside, KLM was incredible and I would definitely fly with them again. From the delicious multi-meals to the damp, warm toilette to wipe your face & hands, it was excellent in-flight service with delightful staff. I look forward to my flight on the way home.

We arrived in Ghana around 8:40pm to slight rain getting off the plane. Of course since we had to speed walk to our flight in Amsterdam, our things did not arrive. We were given a baggage claim number and informed it should arrive in 24 hours on the next day’s flight. We cleared customs and went outside to find a card with Andres’ name on it (which was nice since we were unsure if anyone would be meeting him), and then all of a sudden, Maya’s name was called out by Idrissa (the intern previously holding Maya’s position) and Archie (Mr. Acheampong who holds a position in the Management Information Systems). Mr. Saky, the driver, was also with them. We were taken to the Confort Inn Guest House where we are to stay until September 14th when we will move into the Labadi House (where the Canadians Volunteer Abroad is hosted). This was news to us, but at this point, we were still in good humour, rolling with the punches and laughing about the ridiculousness of it all.

That first drive is a bit of a blur. There was so much activity in the streets and I was trying to take it all in - from Shaggy playing on the radio to Céline Dion blaring in the streets; it was all so amusing and odd to me.

Our new home until September 14th.

We arrived at our room and Archie and Idrissa both came in to see it. Archie asked us if it was okay and we said it was fine. He arranged to come pick us up the following morning at 9am to bring us to CUA and then to the airport. We sat down on our bed and then Maya & I just burst into laughter over the events of the past 24+ hours. Figures we had no luggage. Luckily, Mom taught me well and I packed a complete other outfit and my toothbrush and a small tube of toothpaste, along with deodorant in my carry-on. Absolutely exhausted, we started Harry Potter which Maya had on her laptop and fell asleep pretty much immediately.

Friday, August 31st, 2007 - Introduction to CUA House & All of Our New Husbands

On Friday, we were picked up at 9am by Sammy, Archie’s driver, and Archie. When we went out to the truck and met Sammy, Archie informed us that he is the one who “admires Maya the most”. Maya joked with him that he was her new boyfriend. They took us to CUA house to meet Mr. Ahli, the Deputy General Manager of Finance & Administration, along with some others who were in the office that day. Archie told me that Romeo was the one who was most interested in me, but he was afraid to meet me. Too funny.

Mr. Acheampong (Archie) then took us to a Forex bureau to exchange money. It was this little hut with a man sitting in a corner and a man standing in a booth with a glass window. The exchange rates for that particular day were posted on the wall. That day $1 US got us 93 cedis.

We then went back to CUA House and Archie asked Alex, who works in Risk Management, to come with us to assist us in purchasing cell phones(EVERYONE has a cell here). If anyone wants to call or text me, email me and I will pass on the number to you! . We went around the corner to a little store and checked out the selection through the window. They asked us what kind of a phone we wanted and what we wanted to pay. I said that I wanted a flip phone. They showed us a couple and of course I chose the pink & silver Motorola. Surprise, surprise! Maya chose the same one. I think we were both a little overwhelmed by how fast everything was going. Probably not the best idea, but so far we haven’t had any problems with mixing them up.

We took off from there back to CUA House and then off to pick up Archie’s wife, Angie, from the hospital where she was being discharged after the birth of their new baby boy, Junior John, three days before. It was incredible to meet his wife and his newborn all at once. He is absolutely beautiful! Such a neat experience. It was then that I learned for the first time that women in Africa are not as reserved as those in North America when it comes to breastfeeding. There is absolutely no shyness about it. (A few days after this on our way home in the tro-tro, I saw a woman sitting on the median with her 2-3 year old next to her breastfeeding amongst all of the pedestrians and traffic. It still surprises me!)

Finally, it was off to the airport to try and sort out the situation with our luggage. We went to the KLM office and Archie managed to get us 50 cedis for our travel since we were going to be in Cape Coast when our luggage arrived and would have to travel back to get it. We then went into the airport and gave them phone numbers so that they could contact us when our luggage arrived.

When we went back to the office, most people had already had lunch. Since Archie does not eat in the afternoon, he arranged for Diana (a young woman who works down in accounting) to take us for lunch. She and Ernest (the permanent Youth Savings Officer at CUA) took us to this little sit down place. We had our first African Meal: Talapia (fish), Banku (this dough-like thing made out of maize), and pepe (spicy, similar to salsa). It was very good. The fish is cooked whole, which was a bit of a challenge for me since it still has all of its bones and eye ball intact and I am not a big fan of fish to begin with, but it was still pretty yummy. Coca-cola and sprite are the big drinks here along with Fanta and water. We had Cokes. I feel as though I am never going to want to see another coke when I get home!

At last, we headed back to the Comfort Villa Lodge for the remainder of the day to rest up and get to bed early since we were to depart for Cape Coast at 6am the next day in order to not miss any of the festival activities.


Saturday, September 1st, 2007 - Cape Coast, Here We Come!

So as we had been warned and were beginning to get accustomed to, Sammy arrived at 6am “African time” on Saturday morning. It was closer to 6:30-6:45am when he got to Comfort Villa Lodge to pick us up. We went from there to pick up Archie at his house. Since we had not yet had breakfast as it isn’t served at our lodge before 7am, we went to pick up something to eat at the Total gas station on our way. There we met CUA’s general manager, Mr. Darko. He was all dressed in a traditional African robe. It was gorgeous. He had just gotten in from Kenya the night before and was on his way home.

Back on the road again, Sammy played his Bob Marley tapes (yes, tapes. They have functional tape decks in all of the vehicles we have been in here!) and we drove in the rain to Cape Coast, with our fingers crossed that the rain would stop by the time we arrived in Cape Coast.

Once we got there, the first thing we did was to locate lodging for the night. Archie’s main concern was getting a room for Maya and I. He would take whatever he could get afterwards. We tried a couple of places before we found a room at Prospect Lodge for the night. It was 36 cedis for the night, so 18 cedis each. Not bad. We paid and then went off to Archie’s brother’s place. We met his family and watched some “football” for a bit. Then we went to his mother-in-law’s and met her and her mother.

After our visits, it was time to go and find a good spot to watch the “procession” aka parade in the street. The streets were pretty packed and we got there just in time to catch the beginning. There was dancing, singing, chanting, and cheering as the procession passed. From flag throwers to masked characters to village chiefs hoisted on people’s shoulders, it was absolutely incredible. So colourful and lively. Every once in a while a gunshot would go off as well. Archie warned us so that we wouldn’t be concerned, but it still made me jump every time it happened. I got a lot of pictures and some video footage from the procession and will try to post it as soon as possible (probably on the 15th once we are in our Labadi House with wireless internet).

That whole day was absolutely incredible. I feel as though there are not enough words in the world to adequately describe what I saw and how I felt. Just overwhelmed in a good way I guess. Children would pass us and point and chant “Obruni, Obruni”. Many of them were just happy that we were there and beam or come over to say hello. I have gotten in the habit of shaking their hands and asking their names.

After we finished watching the procession on the street, we went to another part of the city and watched it again from the upper story of an old, rundown building. When we were there, Maya took some pictures of some of the children and showed them on her digital camera. The joy they got from that was so cute. We began taking more pictures of them and some of them ran to get their friends or siblings to bring back so that they could get their pictures taken and look at them. When we left there, we proceeded up to another part of the city where there was an outside bar and a gathering of people. There was a group of children and as Maya & I walked up the steps, you could see the smiles appear on their faces. I don’t want to sound egotistical, but the children here make you feel like you are a celebrity and it’s hard to convey it properly. Often as we walk in the streets, they will stare and some will smile & wave and if you wave back, you can tell that they get excited. It’s a very surreal feeling. Since there was still music playing in the streets and from the procession, I began to dance a little bit and the children joined me. Next thing I knew, we had a bit of a dance party going on. It was a blast. I asked all of the children their names and Maya began to take more pictures (my memory card was full). It was a blast. At one point, the mother of a couple of children came over and started dancing with me too. What a blast. That is a day I will never forget.

After all of the excitement and fun, we went back to our hotel to drop off our stuff and order supper for later on. Then we went for drinks at a little pub. For the festival, they had a large stage and dance area set up outside with loud music playing. It was really neat. Everywhere we drove in Cape Coast, there was people. One area was absolutely packed and there was not a single parking spot to be had. We moved from the pub to Archie’s neighbourhood where he grew up and had a beer there. Star beer: brewed in Ghana. It wasn’t bad. It was very interesting to order alcohol because we ordered it basically at a window and were free to take the bottle and wander the streets, unlike in Canada where alcohol must stay indoors or within a confined outdoor area. We ended up wandering around a bit and went into a backyard of sorts and sat in some patio chairs. Archie asked one of his friends for some fried fish that was somewhat breaded. We tried some of that. It was almost like dried, salted, cured fish, but it was still a little mushy. (Thanks for that appetizing description, Maya!) It actually tasted quite good.

We were just about to leave there when Maya and I decided it would probably be wise to use the facilities before departing for the hotel. Had we known what awaited us, we probably would have just “danced” all the way to the hotel. But we are both always up for an adventure and thank goodness we are fairly open minded. We asked Archie if there was anywhere we could go. He told us to go back and ask one of the ladies there who spoke French if we could use her facilities. Once we finally got the message across, she agreed and directed us. When we stood in front of the door and peered inside, Maya said she thought she could wait. We both looked at each other inquisitively wondering if we should actually go through with this. In front of us stood a stall. It had a door, four cement walls, and a mud floor. That was it! I looked at Maya and said, “I’ll do it if you’ll do it. We might as well fully participate in Ghanaian life!”. And so we did. It is one of those once in a lifetime opportunities that I hope I never have to face again. But boy did we laugh.

Back at our hotel room, we had a good chuckle, turned on Harry Potter which was on one of our laptops and fell asleep. What a packed day!