Day 4

So I made it here ok - bags weren't lost, planes didn't crash. So far: completely different lifestyle from anything I've ever really experienced. There are a ton of little daily things that are really unusual from a North American perspective. I'll talk about a few later.

I got into the country friday evening and had a nice welcoming from a man named Nyame who's with Projects Abroad as well as Ian's girlfriend Gifty. He gave me some things to give to her and also a phone I could use, because you have to do some weird stuff to unlock a home phone to use in Ghana. I got a SIM card right away from Gifty though.

Staying at the projects abroad office in Accra was a little strange though. Very minimalist introduction. Basically this young man named Francis was like here's your room, here's some water (which comes in these 500mL packets because the tap water isn't drinkable. kinda weird the first time to tear it open with your teeth and drink it but you get used to it). The next morning I was taken by a man named Michael to Cape Coast. We had to wait like 3 hours because the bus we wanted was full. Waiting is one thing you get used to over here - people wait for pretty much anything and everything. I guess it makes you more patient. We talked about soccer for most of the time though. People love it here, especially the premier league. Most people are Chelsea fans, I guess because of Michael Essien - who seems to be one of their national heroes more or less.

Got to Cape Coast, and met my host family very quickly and was shown around the main city centre. It's kind of confusing because there aren't really names for streets or frequently used numbers for buildings. Basically every square kilometer or so has a name, so that's more or less the only way to tell a taxi driver for example where you're going. The rest has to be by memory - landmarks are helpful!

My initial impressions reminded me of Cuba and Venezuela - essentially things common to third world countries. Lots of shacks and shanties, goats and chickens running around everywhere (that apparently belong to SOMEONE so don't try to steal them!), etc. Generally I've gotten used to not being surprised by crazyness.

Taxi drivers - another whole story. People drive pretty wildly here. Taxis are basically the best form of public transportation - because the other option (trotros) are like super squished large vans that can fit like 15 people maybe. The taxis are more expensive but basically super cheap compared to Canada. For the types of rides that I'm taking no a daily basis, I wouldn't have to pay more than 50 pesewas (50 cents), which is about the same value as 50 cents canadian. Things in general are relatively cheap but everyone is trying to such as much money as possible out of the obruni - 'foreigner'. That has become a very frustrating thing for me but it is understandable. People get by here doing whatever they have to do really. A lot of little odd jobs and such, selling things on the street is the most common. You'll see many a skillful ghanaian balancing a huge bowl or 4 foot high box on their head. I have not had one person beg me for money though, which is interesting.

It's also pretty hot here - the first couple days were really rough but I'm starting to get used to it. It's also the rainy season which actually means its generally cooler than other times of the year. There is a clash with it being hot and trying to avoid mosquito bites - which lead to the infamous sickness of malaria. I have already met two volunteers who have gotten it. One of them was taking all of the precautions to prevent it! So hopefully luck is on my side. I set up a pretty ridiculous mosquito net above my bed which is basically like a circus tent. Most people just have these little blanket type things they put over themselves so I think I've got it made.

I've already met most of the local volunteers in Cape Coast. There is a pretty good network of the projects abroad people. On Saturday night I went to this local club/outdoorsy kinda thing called Oasis, where most of the volunteers meet up. Some pretty nice and interesting people whom I'm sure I'll get to know quite well before I leave. There are about 15-20 of them I believe. More are coming and a few will leave in my time. Most of the people are doing 3 month projects (compared to the 1 month I'm doing).

Right now I only have one roommate - his name's James and he's quite an interesting character. He just finished his last year of medical school at Oxford (yeah, Oxford). And he's kinda got the air of it. But we seem to get along well so far.

My host family is really nice. When you first meet someone in Ghana, they don't generally seem very enthused about your introduction. But when you talk to them more, they seem to warm up a bit and become very friendly. My hostmother is Millicent, who has a few kids including Jo, Angela, and Kwesi. They're all super nice and awesome - Angela came out with us last saturday to Oasis. She also has a 2 year old kid named Pique who's really cute and a huge bundle of curious energy. Everyone seems way younger than they actually are. It's pretty strange.

Today I went to start my placement at the University of Cape Coast hospital. After waiting about an hour for the nurse manager to get back to his office, I found out with my projects abroad representative Kweku that the national PA manager hadn't agreed on a PRICE for me to start my VOLUNTEER work. The man who we needed to speak with was at a meeting so I have to come back tomorrow and hope for the best.

I'll repeat that again: they hadn't agreed on a price for me to volunteer there. I'm pretty angry about that, for obvious reasons, but mostly that the national manager couldn't have worked this out before I got here. Things are generally disorganized in Ghana and I don't think this kind of thing is really all that unusual. I am curious though whether them being payed will make this more of a learning experience than simply a volunteering experience - where I might be asked to do monotous, uninteresting things all day. We shall see. I'll hope for goodluck.

For now I leave you a taste of the oddities that I've experienced here while they're fresh in my head. Likely in a week I'll be used to them and won't remember to update people who don't have any idea about the day-to-day differences in Ghana. By then I'll probably be talking about more exciting things.

Hoping everyone is well back home,

Sean

Time to go

I'll be leaving for the Detroit Metro Airport in a couple hours. Everything's looking good. I've got an entire bag full of stuff to give away - toys, shirts, soaps, toothbrushes. Hopefully they'll be appreciated.

I should be in Accra by about 7pm on Friday. See you on the other side!

Leave in 2 days

I've gotta get ready. Gotta get my hair cut. It's gonna be hot!