Dancing in the Streets

Another eventful week in Ghana has gone by and I cannot believe that I have already been here for a month!

I had my first Accra Mall experience last week – there is only one mall here and it was built last year. Quite small, but modern and it has everything you need: supermarket, food court, clothing shops, bookstore and cinema – all at western prices. We indulged in a film (though on Mondays they have a great deal where you get a movie ticket, popcorn and coke for 10$) – the only thing playing was Prince of Persia which I did not want to see but the urge to see a movie overcame my better judgment. Since I had such low expectations, however, I was actually surprisingly satisfied with Disney’s latest offering. I also found granola and yogurt in the supermarket and had to restrain myself from doing a happy dance right there and then.

In Montreal, when the weather is at its worst, the cab drivers seek to benefit the most. Such is not the case over here which we reluctantly discovered last week. As we were exiting the British Council, having just seen a depressing movie on climate change and adaptation, we were caught in a torrential downpour. Torrential meaning that you are soaked to the bone in less than 5 seconds whilst you hopelessly clutch your umbrella. You cannot call cabs to come pick you up so we were stranded helplessly waiting in the rain trying to flag one down. Forty-five minutes later (and just as we resolved to complete the hour-long trek home on foot) we finally grabbed one. Whenever we don’t need taxis they are everywhere and eager for clients so we wondered, why the drastic change when it rains? The taxi driver told us that in the heavy rain it is difficult to tell where the crater-sized potholes are hiding and if your car falls in one, it could be damaged so severely that it is more financially sound to wait out the rain rather than driving around customers.

A highlight of the week for me was watching the World Cup kickoff concert at a local sports bar – the mood was infectious; everyone was getting so excited. We played trivia afterward (I was all over the “food and drink” category but sadly our team’s lack of World Cup knowledge held us back) good fun all around.

You can buy anything from a car window here (top-up cards for your phone, plantain chips, mentos, flags of countries from around the world, suit jackets, ties, shoes, water, nuts) – Ghanaians are very entrepreneurial. I have challenged myself to find the most unusual item being sold on the road. So far: a stretchy elastic band used for exercising sold in a box that clearly indicates the item was fabricated in the 70s.

The strength of the women and children here never ceases to amaze me. They carry pounds of goods on their heads, weaving in and out of traffic, often with babies tied onto their backs as well! Last week I saw a woman dashing across the street with 12 dozen eggs on her head – no joke. These women are hardcore.

Friday we were given permission to leave work a tad early so that we could head west on our trip to Cape Coast. We stayed at a guest house recommended by a friend called Sammo’s. It was in the ‘shoestring’ section of our guide and shoestring it was. No sheets on the beds, shared washrooms for everyone and best of all – no running water! We were offered the chance to shower with a bucket but no one seemed too into that idea…
Our trip was action-packed. It was the 4 usual suspects (CLA interns) plus Amanda, an NYU law student and Nicola, an Italian who lives with us in Accra. We woke up bright and early to visit Kakum National Park. We didn’t see any animals unfortunately (who makes a tourist site out of a park with nocturnal animals?!) but we did do the canopy walk (designed by Canadian engineers I might add) with breathtaking views of the surrounding landscape. It was also extremely pleasant to be inhaling such fresh air and listening to the never-ending birdsong. Our guide, Ben, took us on a nature walk informing us of the medicinal value of many of the trees and plants we saw. We stood by a tree that was 350 years old and one that you can make black pepper out of using its bark We then passed by an ostrich farm and couldn’t resist the urge to go visit these strange beasts. They remind me of dinosaurs. It was fun feeding them until one went at my head and I ducked just in time.

We spent the afternoon touring Elmina’s St-Georges Castle and Cape Coast Castle. Both were used to hold slaves before they were shipped across the Atlantic. It was a sobering and educational experience. I was particularly struck by what the tour guide told us about the female slaves. They only took a bath once during their captivity and this was just before they were displayed and chosen by the “Gentlemen” to serve as their mistresses. The babies born as a result of rape were taken care of and educated in the Castle school – the mothers were then shipped across the ocean without them. If the women were discovered to be pregnant on the journey overseas they were simply tossed overboard for two reasons: a woman who had just given birth couldn’t work as hard and the British didn’t want the outside world knowing what their (mostly married) men were doing to the slaves. We saw a group of African-American teens from South Carolina visiting the Castle. I couldn’t help wondering how they must have felt being direct consequences of the slave trade themselves.

We ended our day in a lighter manner with a delicious dinner by the oceanfront with some other foreigners we met during the day. One of the loveliest meals so far: fried plantain to start, veggie pizza and a pineapple crepe for dessert! Yum.

Sunday morning I made everyone eat at this vegetarian café I had spotted the day before which promised fresh fruit smoothies and crepes. We somewhat regretted our decision when it took two hours for the food to arrive. I had been warned before I came to Ghana that the experience at restaurants is not quite the same as back home. What perplexed me the most was why it took so long for 4 crepes and an omelette to appear. We were the only people in the entire place and even a semi-competent cook could whip that up in under an hour. At least we knew our food was fresh~ we were so hungry by the time it arrived that it did taste fabulous.

We witnessed quite an amusing scene on the minibus ride home. No one wanted to sit in the seats situated above the tires due to the lack of legroom. But every new person who mounted the bus was initially drawn to that seat, later rejected it and tried to get the next person to sit there. Meanwhile we had the driver and the “mate” peering through the bus windows to evaluate the amount of legroom available as if this was the very first time this had ever happened. It was like something out of a play.

On the journey home we were not treated to a Nigerian film (read in a hint of sarcasm here) but to the radio commentary of Ghana’s first World Cup game in Twi. Even though we had no idea what was going on we were clearly made aware of the winning goal by the sudden deafening cheers coming from inside and outside the bus. We actually whipped home to Accra in record time – there was no traffic because everyone was watching the game – and witnessed a celebration that could rival any Habs victory in Montreal. People were ecstatic, dancing and singing in the streets.

World Cup games (and the irritating South African horns that sound like mosquitoes buzzing) now provide a soundtrack to our workdays and we are already looking forward to watching Ghana take on Australia next Saturday. GO BLACK STARS!!