Life in Accra

I am certainly enjoying my time here in Accra. It seems very familiar to me. It is hot and humid, but my guest house has air conditioning, so 3/4 of the time, I am comfortable. There is a problem with electricity here, so in a forty-eight hour period, the power is off for twelve hours, alternating day and night (one day on, next day off during daytime, next day on, next day off during nighttime). Most places have a generator, but not all appliances can run with the generator. To be honest, I hardly notice the outages because I am always going some place or another, but yesterday I was sending e-mails and the power went out before I was finished.

There has been some discussion about my service here, but nothing is set it stone. There is talk of my doing some teaching about AIDS/HIV to school children and pretty much whatever I can get involved with. The pastor of the church up in Tumu and some SIM missionaries will see what they can do with me. I hear reports that the north (eg, Tumu) of Ghana is different from the south (eg, Accra). I am nervous about going up there, but certainly ready for the vacation to end and the work to begin (not that I mind the vacation). I have been well looked after here. Sherri and the other SIMmers are wonderful.

One thing I doubt I will ever get used to is how guys relate to me (and other foreigners). I have had multiple proposals of marriage and one guy even offered his friends sexual services to me! Also, everyone wants to know my phone number. I tried to lie and give a fake number, but when he dialed and didn't get through, he suggested that I call him so he could get my number. I wasn't quick enough to think my way out of the situation, so now he has my number. Fortunately I have call display on my phone. The actual problem with the guys more has to do with saying "no". Ghanaians never say no directly; you have to say it indirectly and people know that "well, try later", etc really means "no". That to me sounds like an invitation to come back to me, so I never really want to say that when someone, say, offers to take me to the beach (which happened yesterday). I try to say something like, "I don't like that" or "My father does not allow me to do that" which makes me feel better than "not now, come back later". I must say though, nothing outrageous (beyond words) has happened and please pray that it remains that way.

When I am not running about with Sherri, I am usually just sitting on the curb outside the guest house chatting it up with the guard and the neighbours. This seems like the essence of Ghanaian culture: sitting and talking with people. It is always a nice time to talk about dumb stuff, or cerebral matters. Everywhere I go, I see people sitting and talking. It is actually a nice change from the busyness of Canadian life. I try to retire to me room by 2100h because I need time by myself to think and do my introverted things.

God has been very good to me so far; except for a few hours of "traveller's discomfort" everything this week has been great. Even the sermon in church today was beneficial. The speaker (in more words) reminded us that God is capable of more than we can ask or imagine with reference to the story of Lazarus. I felt that that was great way to head into this week since I'm starting to think about the work I have come here to do. I am looking forward to my time up in the north.

I will be living alone up in Tumu near a missionary. Please pray that I don't starve to death (I have to cook for myself, but I am thinking about hiring house help. I'll see how it goes).

My time is up. I will write again later.

Thanks for reading ~*

Akwaaba Ghana!

I will only posting from internet cafes from now on I think, so ...

Well, the travels from Cobourg, Ontario to Accra, Ghana were superlatively uneventful, just as I wanted it to be. The most exciting thing that happened was that I sprayed a man behind me on the second plane with my orange juice when I opened it. He was rather gracious about it, and all was well. The next best thing was my banging my head on the overhead compartment in the tiny plane from Toronto to New York. It hurt only for about ten minutes. The whole trip from Cobourg to the SIM guest house in Accra was twenty-one hours. I slept a wee but on the second plane, but I mostly passed the time reading P + P and talking to some folks also travelling from Canada to Ghana.

My time in Ghana so far has been splendid. I have had orientation with Sherri, the SIMmer in charge of that. Orientation basically means pseudotourist. We rode around the city in tro-troes (transit vans)and went shopping all over. Sherri also has many friends, so we hung out with them during the evenings. They are all nice and sociable, so it always a good time. One her friends has a chicken and rice stand, so we ate there once. It was fabulous. The next day we ate out somewhere and I tried red red, which is just black eyed peas topped with fried plantain. It was good, but it flew out of me some four hours later. I would eat it again though. Friday night we went to watch a play called Traffic Jam. It was about a girl with four boyfriends and she had quadruple booked herself for a date with them and her friends had to bail her out of the "traffic jam" at her house. It was funny, but the theme was surprising. In true Ghanaian fashion, the play started an hour and twenty minutes late, but it was a fun night overall. Saturday, we went to the beach just outside of the city. The waves were perfect for riding on boogie boards (oversized flutter boards). I donned my Ghana swimsuit and I have pictures to prove it. As soon as I figure out how to upload pictures, I will do that. Saturday night, I watched American Idol with some of Sherri's American friends. It was an interesting experience. I don't know anything about North American pop culture, so I really felt out of place with all of them. Sherri says it's her escape to America each week; I haven't been here long enough to need to escape from Ghana. This morning, I went to Sherri's church with her. It was all that I expected it to be. Loud music, cute kids and, friendly people. Her friend, Solomonm translated the service for me (from Twi), so I did get something out of it. Now I am just waiting for the washing machine to finish with my clothes so I can hang them up.

Monday (tomorrow) is my last day of orientation and then early (0500h) on Tuesday, Sherri and I will drive up to Tumu, Upper West Region where I will stay and work for the rest of my time here. That will be two days' drive.

I had a get a cell phone (peer pressure; everyone has one) so if you feel like calling just send me an e-mail and I'll give you the number.

Thanks for reading ~*

Go!

This will be my last post from Canada. I am finally packed and this is my last task before bed.

The four days of training in Toronto was excellent. I met seven other girls who are also going out in the next month. When we met on the first evening, we seemed to click right away. We easily conversed and began to get to know each other. I really felt like I could speak freely with all of them. The seminars were informative and challenging. We discussed everything from spiritual warfare to culture shock, from serving with the poor to relating to supporters. At the end of the week, I felt ready to go. The joke of the week was my arrival with with a box of food. I thought that breakfast was not provided, and many of you know that that can't work for me. I felt like an idiot initially with my big box of food when we were taken to the kitchen and shown the wide variety of breakfast items. I recovered quickly, and we all had a good laugh.

My weekend in Cobourg was busy with shopping and packing and cleaning house for the little going-away party my mom had for me. Members of my prayer team in Cobourg and some other friends came over for supper and prayer. It was a good time, but I was rather tired by the end of the night.

I am off to bed. I don't sleep well on planes, so I need plenty rest to get me through the trials of international travel. I have packed Pride and Prejudice to help pass the time and lots of food to keep my brain happy. Thanks for your prayers.

Thanks for reading ~*