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!
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