One week down

Friday was spent primarily in pursuit of a mosquito net. 90% of malaria cases could be prevented with a mosquito net used over the bed at night, so I figured it would probably be a good idea to get one. One of the drivers for World Education, Augustine, was the unfortunate one who got roped into this adventure. First he found a particularly smelly mechanic who would install the hook from which to hang the net. Then we went off to the local hospital to purchase the net. I felt lucky to see the clinic in a situation where I wasn’t in need of medical attention. The waiting area is outside and there are little booths, kind of like voting booths, against a wall that are curtained for doctors to see their patients. The clinic informed us that they were all out of nets, which was a bit worrisome. The next pharmacy that we went to said that they did not have any either, but they called someone else who said they would bring one in about 30 minutes. I am beginning to learn that minutes here are quite longer than they are in the US. 30 minutes in fact actually meant 2 hours.

We ran another errand for another World Ed staff person which included bringing him to a funeral to get the director’s approval on some budget items. I felt lucky again to see a part of Ghanaian daily life without the drawback of actually knowing the person who passed away. At the same time though, it seemed very strange to interrupt a funeral to get someone’s signature on a few documents. Couldn’t it wait? We arrived at Christ the King Catholic Church of Ghana and much like other things in the city, it was pretty chaotic. There were cars parked inside, taxis waiting outside and people selling ice cream and water to funeral goers. I quickly learned that funerals here can easily last three hours. Also, they are very well attended. The church had set up a hundred chairs outside in shaded areas for people to sit who could not fit in the church and they had speakers outside so that they could hear everything. We walked around looking for Susan or her driver to no avail. There was also a chicken walking around, so while I didn’t feel comfortable photographing the funeral attendants; I took some shots of the chicken. While we were on our way out, a little girl about two years old walked right over to me and stood toe to toe with me while looking straight up at me. I waved and she didn’t blink or smile or anything. I crouched down to get at her eye level and a minute later she copied me and crouched down as well. It was very funny. There we were, crouching together. Her family noticed what she was doing and smiled at me. Ahhh, kids are cute everywhere.

After the net was finally purchased and installed, I headed to the W.E.B. du Bois Center for a late lunch. It was a beautiful spot to eat with bamboo fencing under a grass roof. The chairs were cute too with red cushions on bamboo chairs. I twice ordered things that the waiter returned to say they were out of… this is also something I am learning about Ghana. Rarely is everything available on the menu. I finally ended up with something called Jolloff rice (spicy red rice), grilled plantains, some kind of bean that is light with a black center, and breaded fish. They like to eat the whole fish here, so it came with the tail and head intact. A man and a woman sat down next to me and were told that they were all out of rice and out of fish. Apparently I got there just in time. The woman turned out to be from Boston and had taught several African Studies courses at BC. The man was a delegate from Benin and invited me to visit his country.

Today (Saturday), I went to La Palm Beach Hotel. They call it “The La Palm” here. The pool area was spectacular, especially after struggling with bathing this week. The pool was lined with white beach chairs with blue cushions and palm trees. As soon as I put my head under water I felt all of the craziness from this past year, melt away. It was heavenly. Prices are no joke here though. Bottled water costs $3, swimming for the day costs $10, my sandwich with fries was $10 (it was supposed to be $9, but I never saw the change). But, like in the MasterCard commercials, I day spent at the pool after a week of cold bucket baths really was priceless. The pool was visited by primarily expats from Europe. I met one guy from London and another who was working at the World Bank. One of the pool employees offered to be “my friend” which was very nice of him. He quickly moved to a group of three teens from France who seemed much more interested in his friendship. I ended the day with some peach sorbet from the gelateria there and got a driver to take me first to get a smoothie for dinner and then drop me off at the hostel. The city is getting very excited for the African World Cup of Football which starts tomorrow. I saw someone painted head to toe in the colors of the Ghanaian flag. Tomorrow should be pretty interesting. I am also going to see if I can find a bar that will have the Pats game on. There must be some other people in this city interested in real football…just kidding. Oh, speaking of which, I get asked on occasion why American sports teams call themselves “world champions.” I don’t feel like I have a good answer to this question.