Before I leave Ghana, I have found that there are things that I appreciate about the place, even though I initially had a tough time with the place, so I thought I'd share a few of them:
1) I love the kids here, they're adorable and sweet (and so eager to go to school!)
2) There are cute little baby chicks running around everywhere
3) The local English has a great music to it, although I'm entirely tone deaf when it comes to comprehension
4) I like how the mosquitoes don't give me huge angry reactions like the ones back home
5) I really like getting marriage proposals from total strangers. Who knew I was so darned desirable??
6) I love the beauty of the land here - if the environment gets taken care of, this place has a shot at becoming official Heaven On Earth
7) Everyone here loves Obama as much as me! Maybe more! I love that!
8) I love the traditional dresses the women wear around here. They're so brightly colored and feminine. And they wear them with such flair - the dress would wear me if I wore one, but they own those things like nobody's business
9) I love the crazy signs with odd turns of phrase on them...and "clone brand" stores like Redd Lobster and Khinko's copy center
I'd do 10 but I'm out of internet time!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Last Day in Ghana
So here I am on my last day in Ghana and I'm surprisingly bummed about it.
I was just starting to get an appreciation for the place and now off I go. I'm filled with bourgeois self-loathing, too, because I've spent the night in a nice hotel with a bathtub, hot water, and a/c, and which cost me a relative fortune when compared to the average of $5 a night I've been spending for lodging for the rest of my time here. M.D., who came by to enjoy the AC and unrestricted access to CNN, adjudged the place "luxurious," which made me feel like a jerk because it seems pretty basic to me. Then I was washing all my laundry in the tub and he cracked that I'd just doubled the hot water bill of the entire nation of Ghana. A joke, sure, but something to think about. I wonder what he'd say if he knew how much I use back home...
When I think of how he and 95% of the people in West Africa live, I can't help but look at my own lifestyle with a little dismay. It's not that I never knew that people go without things I take for granted, but to see it and live it for a while (showers out of a bucket, for example), it gives a person a whole new sense of perspective. I'm filled with a profound sadness as I turn my back on this place to continue my trip and blow a street vendor's lifetime earnings on five months of self-indulgence.
On a totally unrelated note, I have decided that the reason I've been sick since I got here is not, in fact, a reaction to stress or local germs. I think it's my malaria pills. It's not horrible enough to skip them, but it looks like it'll be a long 5 months of a constant low level of queasiness. On the up side, not being hungry keeps my food budget down, so maybe it's not a bad thing...and maybe when I get back those jeans that "must have shrunk in the wash" will fit again...
I was just starting to get an appreciation for the place and now off I go. I'm filled with bourgeois self-loathing, too, because I've spent the night in a nice hotel with a bathtub, hot water, and a/c, and which cost me a relative fortune when compared to the average of $5 a night I've been spending for lodging for the rest of my time here. M.D., who came by to enjoy the AC and unrestricted access to CNN, adjudged the place "luxurious," which made me feel like a jerk because it seems pretty basic to me. Then I was washing all my laundry in the tub and he cracked that I'd just doubled the hot water bill of the entire nation of Ghana. A joke, sure, but something to think about. I wonder what he'd say if he knew how much I use back home...
When I think of how he and 95% of the people in West Africa live, I can't help but look at my own lifestyle with a little dismay. It's not that I never knew that people go without things I take for granted, but to see it and live it for a while (showers out of a bucket, for example), it gives a person a whole new sense of perspective. I'm filled with a profound sadness as I turn my back on this place to continue my trip and blow a street vendor's lifetime earnings on five months of self-indulgence.
On a totally unrelated note, I have decided that the reason I've been sick since I got here is not, in fact, a reaction to stress or local germs. I think it's my malaria pills. It's not horrible enough to skip them, but it looks like it'll be a long 5 months of a constant low level of queasiness. On the up side, not being hungry keeps my food budget down, so maybe it's not a bad thing...and maybe when I get back those jeans that "must have shrunk in the wash" will fit again...
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Things are moving
My tour operator in Tanzania finally got back to me with the exact date of departure, so now I'm going to scramble to get myself to Moshi for the 15th. Much to do! Gotta call the airline and then arrange transportation from Dar Es Salaam to Moshi. Very exciting!
Had a very cute game of cards with some of the local kids today, and a really good political discussion with my Liberian friend M.D. He's led a fascinating (and scary) life, and if he does get to be president someday, Liberia will be the richer for it. He was in a documentary that I can't access from this very slow net connection, but if you google "World Refugee Day Buduburam Refugee Settlement" supposedly there's a clip of him when he had to go underground after organizing a demonstration for Liberian refugee women. You should try to find it, he's got some incredible stuff to say.
Gotta go!!
Had a very cute game of cards with some of the local kids today, and a really good political discussion with my Liberian friend M.D. He's led a fascinating (and scary) life, and if he does get to be president someday, Liberia will be the richer for it. He was in a documentary that I can't access from this very slow net connection, but if you google "World Refugee Day Buduburam Refugee Settlement" supposedly there's a clip of him when he had to go underground after organizing a demonstration for Liberian refugee women. You should try to find it, he's got some incredible stuff to say.
Gotta go!!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Mission: Accra
So I had to go all the way into Accra today to get cash - an all-day proposition with traffic - because my ATM card, which I'd kind of been counting on being able to use, is a MasterCard, and apparently no bank in Ghana accepts it. Ooops. Thank heavens for traveler's checks. This just doesn't get any easier does it?
On the up side, I managed to eat some popcorn today (pretty harmless on the stomach and full of salt for replacing electrolytes), and my stomach is feeling a bit better. Plus, I heard a rumor that there is one hidden flush toilet at Big Milly's, so life is looking up.
And that's about all I have to say because I have nothing to do in Ghana but wait around for my Kilimanjaro connection to come through. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
On the up side, I managed to eat some popcorn today (pretty harmless on the stomach and full of salt for replacing electrolytes), and my stomach is feeling a bit better. Plus, I heard a rumor that there is one hidden flush toilet at Big Milly's, so life is looking up.
And that's about all I have to say because I have nothing to do in Ghana but wait around for my Kilimanjaro connection to come through. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
Monday, September 8, 2008
Big Milly's Not-so-lobsterfest
I arrived at Big Milly's without incident, and have found it to be a hippie paradise, which has its ups and downs. I dipped into their book exchange and blazed through John Grisham's King of Torts, just for a little escapism. No lobster, alas, because it's totally western pricing. Plus, I'm really nauseous for some reason. Probably the combination of not eating very well and the malaria pills. I ate a cookie and some water this morning and wanted to hurl, so no more food for a while. But that's kind of good because as far as I can tell the toilets don't flush.
The dormitory is an open-air deal with mattresses on the floor and mosquito nets hanging from the ceiling. One of the other residents there is a Liberian who wants to run for president of Liberia someday. He's led a fascinating life working with Liberian refugees in Ghana, and loves to talk politics, so we had an animated conversation last night and I look forward to many more.
Well, off to figure out what's next on the agenda. The Kilimanjaro tour guy is being cagey (there's no group...oh wait, yes there is, but we don't know when, but send us your money and we'll tell you), so I think I will have to scramble to get someone else.
The dormitory is an open-air deal with mattresses on the floor and mosquito nets hanging from the ceiling. One of the other residents there is a Liberian who wants to run for president of Liberia someday. He's led a fascinating life working with Liberian refugees in Ghana, and loves to talk politics, so we had an animated conversation last night and I look forward to many more.
Well, off to figure out what's next on the agenda. The Kilimanjaro tour guy is being cagey (there's no group...oh wait, yes there is, but we don't know when, but send us your money and we'll tell you), so I think I will have to scramble to get someone else.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)