On Transportation

Transportation

I used to be intimidated when I traveled to New York City, mostly due to the traffic. Well, I can safely tell you that NYC has nothing on Accra. Come with me for a ride....

This one particular evening we went to see the US Ambassador of Ghana. He was very gracious to invite us PCT (Peace Corps Trainees) to a evening at his house. It was very nice, an open bar and finger food. He and his wife were very nice and his welcome speech was very heartfelt. He told us that the majority of the Ghana administration can remember the name of the PCV (Peace  Corps Volunteer) that went to their village when they were young. I thought that was pretty cool. 

Now, for the ride home. Picture a two lane highway; sometimes paved, sometimes not. Either way, on these “roads”, there are holes. I would say pot holes but that would be an understatement. These holes will swallow a small car. On the road are people, bikes, motorbikes, small cars, vans, and large buses and trucks. From what I can gather, there is a hierarchy. People yield to bikes, bikes yield to motorbikes, motorbikes yield to small cars, etc. Oh, and these roads do not have pull over lanes, and they get very, very congested. So, back to my story. We are on the way home from the Ambassador’s house. It’s after 8 (it gets dark around 7ish) and they tell us that we should not be out at night. Many vans get robbed at night, so they want to rush us home. As I look ahead of us there is a major traffic jam. We are going north, and it is completely stopped. The traffic headed south is stopped as well. There are vendors and people all in the road; it is completely impassable I think. Well I was wrong. Instead of stopping, our driver decides that we should drive in the opposite lane whenever there is a break, heading directly into traffic. As we were flying down the road I know a head on collision is imminent. At the last minute, our driver swerves onto the opposite sidewalk. Horn blasting, we continue on our way while people are scrambling out of our way. We go through yards, driveways and every other inch of space we can find to continue forward. I is unlike any other thing I  have ever done. I do not know how or why we made this hour long trek without getting killed or shot at. When we safely arrived back to our compound, I think we all kissed the ground. I found out later that because we are Peace Corps, we have special license plates and we can drive however we please.... go figure. 

Bus rides

I went up North to a small village to visit Larry, a PCV who is doing what I will be doing. I spent 3 days with him and I learned a lot about what I will be doing. Larry is a great guy and I was fortunate to have him as my mentor. Actually to get to his site, I spent over 15 hours on a bus, then ended the trip with a canoe ride to cross a river. The first leg of the journey home included a very interesting bus ride. There was a group of folks waiting to get on the bus when we arrived. Most of them were women with babies. To me there seemed like there was going to be plenty of room, there was probably 30 of us. But, the women did not think there would be enough room. When the bus arrived, complete chaos erupted. Instead of waiting for the people to get off the bus, they were bound and determined to get on the bus ( which was full). People were crawling over each other, yelling and screaming, pushing and pulling. I couldn’t believe it, because these were the nicest, sweetest people in the world.... until they want to get on the bus. When I finally got on the bus, there were no seats left, but plenty of standing room, so I thought I would make the best of it and just stand. I was wondering why we were not leaving then I noticed huge bags (like 100 lb. each) of grain, corn, charcoal, and God knows what else being loaded on. Any extra space got swallowed up and now everyone was cramped.  Of course there is nothing to hold on to, and as we took off it was hard to stay on my feet. After about twenty minutes we came to a station and I was thinking “cool people will start to get off and I will have room again.” How naive of me. At least 20 more people got on board, with all their boxes, bags and baskets. I now am sitting/squatting with my back against a very hard metal pan. At my feet, or more accurately on my feet are three Ghanian women, all with babies. You can not imagine how packed this  bus was. Oh, did I mention that the bus doors were broken? They were half closed, and to open them you had to kick/pull/push your way through them. I became very self conscious of myself as everyone was looking at me. Not only was I the only white person on the bus, but I was wearing shorts. Wearing shorts in public is very taboo. I don’t know what I was thinking. Feeling uncomfortable in many ways, I look around and find that most of the women are breast feeding their babies. So here I am feeling very embarrassed about my naked knees, when there are all these boobs bouncing around all over the place. Breasts and not considered sexual here while legs are... Oh well, more cultural things to learn for me... At the end, I made it safe and sound back to training village where I will spend the next 10 weeks, learning all sorts of fun stuff.

Cheers,

Wayne

June 6 2009 Downtown Accra

Today is the day we went took off from our nest and went to ourselves into the capital of Accra. Accra has a population of 3 to 4 million people in it, it has little or no  public sewage and lots of unpaved roads; although it is a growing city. Black outs occur often in the outskirts of the city, and when that happens the water stops working as well. It was a little intimidating, but luckily just about everyone speaks English and most everyone is extremely helpful. 

We broke out into groups of five, and headed on our ways. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to get into the heart of the city. The tro tros (taxi or mini vans) are an adventure into themselves. They don’t like to have an empty tro tro; in the States we might fit 11 in one of these vans and it would be cramped. In Accra, 15-17 people, really- I’m not joking. Oh, did I mention there is no air condition? And the temp on a cool day is in the upper 80’s? And throw the idea of car inspections out the window. One of the groups van had to pull over and the driver was working on the brakes. It was held together by a screwdriver. Oh yeah, now you are getting the picture. And every time you stop at a light  the street vendors come running at you to see if you want to buy something from them, like fried plantains, or candy or water. It is quite entertaining to say the least. 

There is a lot of new building going on in sharp contrast to the extreme poverty. In the market area, garbage is piled everywhere, raw sewage runs in the gutter, combine those two things with 95 degrees, and you get a very unique smell. It’s wall to wall people, walking around, shopping, selling their wares, sleeping. I think the whole day I might have seen less than 12 white folks that were not associated with the Peace Corps. You would think that would be intimidating but like I said Ghanians are some of the most kind people I have ever met. For example, in one group, they asked a stranger for directions. Instead of explaining where the place was, the person took them to the place, which was a 45 minute walk, made arrangements with the taxi driver and made sure that they were all set before leaving them. This happened time and time again with other groups. I was not the least bit afraid to be in this city as a minority. That does not mean we didn’t  get lots of looks. In the group there were two guys and three ladies. I was one of the younger people in my group, two were in their 60’s and one lady is 78! She is an amazing woman to be doing this in these conditions. We all made it back safe and sound.

The food. OK- when I came here I heard some rather interesting stories on the food. So far, I am incredibly impressed with what we have eaten. Fried plantains, rice, pasta, bread, fried chicken, ground nuts (peanut butter) are staples. We also have has things like hush puppies (corn meal with other stuff then fried), a yummy tomato based sauces to go on the pasta; sometimes it has meat in it but I don’t know what it is and am afraid to ask. One really unique dish is this stew with onions, tomatoes, and spices served with a uncooked corn dough that has been fermented. You pick a piece off with your fingers dip it into the stew and eat it. It’s messy but yummy. Unfortunately there are no desserts here...heavy sigh. And no good coffee, just instant. 

Well that is it for now, I’m getting up early tomorrow and washing my clothes- by hand of course!

Cheers!

June 4 We have landed!!!

After 2 hours of sleep the plane started to come alive, 5:30 am Ghana time. We landed in Ghana at 7:30 (an hour ahead of time) and walked off the plane onto the tarmac. Although it was hot it wasn’t as hot as I expected, but of course it was early in the morning. Walking into the airport and going through customs could have been like any airport in the States. Things went quite smoothly and as we walked out of the airport we were greeted with cheers and applause from PCV that are already in country, as well as the country director. It was very thoughtful and made us feel very welcome.

As we were driving to the PC HQ, we where surrounded by cars coming at you in every direction, and vendors selling their wares in the middle of the street. How someone does not get run over is amazing. The women had huge baskets on their heads, carrying anything from very large bunches of bananas, peanuts and several gallons of water, it was way cool to watch them not only walk and balance that on their heads, but also weave in between the racing cars passing few feet away from them. We arrived  and were welcomed with fresh pineapple and coconut juice. Very refreshing! After we had a brief opening ceremony including prayer from a Muslim priest, Christian Pastor and a Priest from the local religion. We then got up, introduced ourselves and had a shot of what tasted like some type of whiskey. This was followed by more instructions, paperwork (there is TONS of paperwork but this is the government) and a chance to walk around. We went to the market, where you can buy anything from shaving cream to all sorts of foods. Imagine an open air grocery store set up like the Fryeburg fair. Every vendor wanting to sell you something, the smells of food wafting in from every direction, wall to wall people and intense heat an humidity. It was in the 90’s by then and extremely humid. Complete chaos, I loved it. 

The afternoon was filled with more meetings and getting our gear into our hotel style rooms were we will spend the next few days. Dinner was simple pasta with a meat sauce some veggies,  and rice. I am now back in my room it’s 9:00 and I am gonna crash, having only slept a few short hours the last few days. Tomorrow we wake up at 5:15 and start all over again. 

June 4 We have landed!!!

After 2 hours of sleep the plane started to come alive, 5:30 am Ghana time. We landed in Ghana at 7:30 (an hour ahead of time) and walked off the plane onto the tarmac. Although it was hot it wasn’t as hot as I expected, but of course it was early in the morning. Walking into the airport and going through customs could have been like any airport in the States. Things went quite smoothly and as we walked out of the airport we were greeted with cheers and applause from PCV that are already in country, as well as the country director. It was very thoughtful and made us feel very welcome.

As we were driving to the PC HQ, we where surrounded by cars coming at you in every direction, and vendors selling their wares in the middle of the street. How someone does not get run over is amazing. The women had huge baskets on their heads, carrying anything from very large bunches of bananas, peanuts and several gallons of water, it was way cool to watch them not only walk and balance that on their heads, but also weave in between the racing cars passing few feet away from them. We arrived  and were welcomed with fresh pineapple and coconut juice. Very refreshing! After we had a brief opening ceremony including prayer from a Muslim priest, Christian Pastor and a Priest from the local religion. We then got up, introduced ourselves and had a shot of what tasted like some type of whiskey. This was followed by more instructions, paperwork (there is TONS of paperwork but this is the government) and a chance to walk around. We went to the market, where you can buy anything from shaving cream to all sorts of foods. Imagine an open air grocery store set up like the Fryeburg fair. Every vendor wanting to sell you something, the smells of food wafting in from every direction, wall to wall people and intense heat an humidity. It was in the 90’s by then and extremely humid. Complete chaos, I loved it. 

The afternoon was filled with more meetings and getting our gear into our hotel style rooms were we will spend the next few days. Dinner was simple pasta with a meat sauce some veggies,  and rice. I am now back in my room it’s 9:00 and I am gonna crash, having only slept a few short hours the last few days. Tomorrow we wake up at 5:15 and start all over again. 

Fire Alarms and Flight

June 2/3 Fire Alarms And Flight

The night before the Big Day, Chris and I stayed in Portland and enjoyed a very nice last supper at Joe’s Boat house. The weather was perfect for eating outdoors. As the sun was setting the rays light up some overhead clouds in a beautiful display of colors and patterns. For an appetizer we had some mussels cooked in a garlic saffron wine sauce and dipped our crusty bread in the delicious sauce. Sipping my Tangaruay and tonic, I kept on thinking about the last times.... last time I’d be in Portland, last time driving a car, the last time I would see my loved ones for 27 months. We walked around the Old Port for a bit after dinner and called it a night. Morning would come early, I planned to be up at 6 and at the airport by 8; my flight was 9:15.

However, I did not wake up to the sound of the alarm clock. At 5 am, the hotel’s fire alarm went off jolting me out of a sound sleep. I decided that instead of gong downstairs and outside for who knows how long and risking missing my flight, I quickly jumped in the shower, and rushed around packing like a mad man to  bring everything down to the car. I just finished packing, when...the fire alarm shut off. I then repacked my bags and we left to have breakfast at Becky’s Diner. It was chilly outside, in the lower 40’s and I was enjoying the brisk refreshing breeze on my face knowing that I won’t see that temperature again for a long time. 

After a teary goodbye with Chris, but knowing that she has great friends and family to support her, I boarded the plane and left Maine excited about my journey, but a little apprehensive about what it is going to be like in Ghana. I met some other Peace Corps Trainees at the Airport and, while waiting for the van to pick us up, the fire alarm went off in the terminal. It was kind of funny, because even though lights for flashing, the alarm sounding and a recorded voice was saying that there could be a fire in the building and we should exit, everyone paid no attention and continued on like nothing was happening. Turns out that it was another false alarm and we got to the training in Philly with no hitches.

Most groups that train together range from around 30 to 50 people. But, to cut costs, the PC decided to combine the spring and fall groups into one large group. My training group has 67 people in it. It was fun to meet some of the folks that I have “met” through Face Book, and meet all the others. There is a wide range of ages; from early 20’s to late 60’s and even 70’s. Most of the group, I’d guess 80% are in their 20’s then there are maybe 5-7 50 and older. I think there are two of us in our 40’s. It’s a great group of folks and everyone is excited about this new adventure. 

Our meeting the first day lasted until around 7 or 8, and I was pretty tired. I had a quick dinner and a beer then headed off to bed. I did check my Face Book and was overwhelmed with the kind words and support everyone wrote. That means so much to me and I want to thank you all for encouraging and supporting me through this. 

It’s funny, since I don’t know what to expect, I am thinking of the worst case, so, if it is better than that, I will be pleasantly surprised. For example, living with no electricity or water, sharing a group latrine, eating all sorts of weird and slimy things. But after talking with some folks that have been there before, I am hearing that Ghana is a beautiful place, with wonderful people and culture. Oh- and I did hear that they are supposed to have pretty good tasting beer!!! YAY!!! 

Day two was up at 5:30, then off to the clinic for our yellow fever vaccine and malaria meds. Whahooo!!! From there we took a bus to JFK and left for Ghana at 5:30. It’s about an 11 hour direct flight and I am writing this from the airplane. We are supposed to arrive at 9:30 am I think (Ghana time) and hopefully have a chance to shower and rest before another busy day. By the way, the time difference is 4 hours.

It’s 11:30 EST right now so I am going to try and get some shut eye. Good night!