Brothels, parrots and “Ghana Maybe Time”

I had originally started this blog by announcing that I had finally acclimated to my new environment, signaled by the fact I had stopped sweating constantly. However, two nights ago we had a lovely downpour of rain, which really cooled things off yesterday, but today it is ridiculously humid! But the good news is that I am sweating less than I was when I first got here. Another somewhat unpleasant experience I had my first days here was  walking around with feet and calves that swelled to Hobbit-sized proportions due to my not walking around enough during my long flight from NYC to Accra, mostly because I was sleeping. But I happily report those are finally looking normal again, thanks to yoga and acupressure points I learned from Google. They may have normalized on their own without the treatment, but it felt proactive and made my legs and feet feel better. Long story short, I’m feeling a bit more normal.

I’ve also got a routine going now that has helped me settle mentally. I openly admit that I have been overwhelmed at times as I get more familiar with Ghanian culture.  This blog is about how I've been settling in.

First and foremost, home. During the first few days especially, after walking through streets in the heat and humidity with strong smells of wastewater and garbage, no sidewalks, and crazy drivers, I was grateful to come home to my little blue room, as it provided me peace and quiet, a space to process the day, and rest.

All the rooms here at the volunteer house are very pleasant and comfortable, if a bit warm.  We don’t have A/C, but we do have fans. My room has the added awesomeness of being a “single”. While this house can hold up to 20 people, most rooms are designed to hold 2-4 people; only two of the volunteer rooms are single occupancy. How did I luck out and get assigned to this little piece of heaven, you might ask? I read the entirety of my 14-page, single-spaced orientation guide Global Mamas sent before I left the U.S. where the words "if you require a single room..." were buried on page 12.  So glad I read all my homework!

Volunteer House

Here’s our Volunteer House. It normally  does not have an old mattress leaning against it! This picture was taken the day they replaced a mattress. Although I must say given the history of this building, now that I think about it, the mattress is kind of ironic. When I asked our house manager the history, she said it used to being  a well-known brothel at one point. I haven't decided if I'm glad I asked!

Anna and Busua

The balcony on the second floor is usually where we spend the evenings, it’s nice to be outdoors where it’s a bit cooler. The balcony is also home to our resident African grey parrot, Busua (pronounced “BOO swah”). He meows like a cat whenever we walk through the gate to the house, and can mimic other birds so I never really know if I’m hearing the beautiful song of a native Ghanian bird, or Busua! He also says “Hi,” and “Busua,” makes clicking noises, and likes to try to imitate you when you laugh. I’m trying to teach him “Aloha” but no luck yet. It’s one of my education goals to reach before I leave!

Our work location is at the Global Mamas office in downtown Cape Coast.  My commute is about 15 minutes by “share taxi,” meaning the taxi driver may pick up other people along the way until the cab is full. The benefit is that it’s much cheaper than hiring a private taxi, a.k.a. “drop taxi.”  In a share taxi, one way to work is about 75 cents. Here’s a view on the drive to work:

Scene on the way to work

There are usually fisherman out on the water in their giant canoes.  Mornings tend to be misty and overcast.

Street Food Ghana!

For lunch I have been eating street food; I either get a “groundnut” (peanut butter) sandwich, or a Ghanian meal of rice, beans, gari (dried and ground cassava), spicy red sauce and fried plantain (the brown stuff on the right). It's delicious! You need to eat plantains cooked, not raw. The cooking brings out the sweetness; apparently they are not at all tasty if you eat them raw. And sometimes I’ll get an egg for extra protein. Meat sources are scarce and the best place to get it is in a restaurant, usually chicken. I usually get my lunch from a lady who sells it across the street from our office, Hannah. It’s a good idea to get street food from someone you know and trust. One of our volunteers, Sascha from Denmark, has been on a mission to try as much street food as possible; unfortunately, she has gotten pretty sick on a couple of occasions. But I admire her openess.

After leaving the office, me and my co-volunteers usually get a share taxi home together. Most nights I eat in; I might make ramen noodles, or groundnut and crackers with some pineapple or mango. Last night I had an avocado and mango salad with lime juice. Yum! Dinner is pretty light because lunch is huge!

But some nights we eat out. This has given me the opportunity to try my third local  Ghanian beer, this one is called Stone. It’s darker than the Star and Club brands, and stronger. It’s now a toss-up for me between Star and Stone for my favorite beer. 

Coincidentally I have this glass style back home!

The picture of my beer was taken when we ate out this past Friday at the Oasis Resort. The Oasis is right on the beach and all eating and drinking is done outside on a patio, complete with an outside bar. Sascha, Anna and I were at the Oasis to see a performance by a Ghanian drumming and dancing troupe, Nyame Tsease African Traditionals, who performed traditional dances, lead by one of our Global Mamas, Antionette Adwoa Kudoto, Ghana’s only female master drummer.

When we got to the stage to say hello before they started, the dancers seated us right up front. I said, “Guys, I bet they are seating us here so they can pull us up on the stage and dance!” They didn’t believe me of course, until we were pulled up on stage to dance. I am sorry I do not have a picture of this. But I felt relieved as I thought to myself, I’m in Ghana and I’m not going to run into anyone I know!

The performance was off the charts! The drumming went nonstop for almost two hours straight, and the dancers only took a few 5-minute breaks. Talk about energy. Antionette was an amazing drummer. She is a beautiful, strong Ghanian woman, and she just owned that stage. 

Nyame Tsease African Traditionals; Antoinette is third from the left.

After the show, Antionette came over to talk with us. That is when we learned that her dancers and drummers were mostly from orphanages and/or had been homeless. This lovely lady gave them a gift of purpose, tradition and community, and some income. There are truly outstanding people here in Ghana.

The next day we went to a nearby beach for the day. We caught a “tro-tro”, which is really a van that can hold a ridiculous amount of people, up to 20, to a nearby beach/resort area called Ko-Sa. It’s a bit of a journey to get there; you take the tro-tro to a small town, then a share taxi towards the beach that lets you off in a little village, then you walk 20 minutes to the beach. But it was worth the trek.

The beach at Ko-Sa

When we got to the beach, we located three chaise loungers and planted ourselves. Sascha and Anna had been here many times before, but it was my first time, so I took a short walk down the beach. It was gorgeous. The sand nearest the water is not fine but more like tiny, smooth marbles. For a while, on the beach directly in front of the resort, the beach was clean covered with beautiful seashells. But over the next hill away from the resort, it was scattered with trash.

Trash dumped in the ocean makes it's way back

Ghanians ship their trash out to sea, and much of it comes back in with the tide. It’s the way things have been for a long time. By the way, those pieces that look like cuttle bone for birds, the are indeed cuttle bones. Cuttle fish are plentiful here; it’s neat to see them flying over the water, just like flying fish, and back into the sea, making their way from the shore back out to the deeper parts of the ocean.

As I was walking back to my comrades, a local guy walking by holding a beer said “Snap quick picture?” I thought he was offering to take a picture of me with the ocean as a background, so I looked down to activate the camera on my iPhone. When I looked up at him, he was posing for me, and I realized my misunderstanding. But I thought what the heck, I’ll just take his picture. What a ham!

My housemates and I ended up staying at the beach until the sun was getting close to setting. I spent much of my time under a tree in the shade reading “Congo” by Michael Crichton. The day reminded me of my beach days in Hawaii, where your biggest thoughts go something like this: I’m hot, I’m going for a swim. Or I’m hungry, I’m going to get a bite to eat. Or, I think my back is burning a little, I’m going to flip over. Or, I hope that chicken walking this way doesn’t peck my feet. Good stuff.

On the way home we stopped at a Shell station store. It was the first place I’ve been where they sell U.S. brand foods, although for a price. A small jar of Jif is $9, but if you are dying for some Jif, it can be found! On the way out of the store, my housemates pointed out the “Push” and “Pull” signs on the door, sponsored by Fiesta condoms. Being a health educator, I appreciated it from a purely preventive health standpoint, especially if there are brothels in the neighborhood!

Door signs sponsored by fiesta condoms

This place is just full of surprises!

On Sunday, I did laundry for the first time since I’ve been here. Laundry is done in a bucket and hung out on a clothing line. I have to watch the time and get my clothes down before the sun sets. This is not a house rule; it is something you must do unless you want an insect laying her eggs in your damp clothing. I’m serious.  It’s humid here and it takes a while for clothes on the line to dry, so its not unusual to see clothes hanging in the bathroom over night. Life is never boring here in Africa!

The pace of life here is much slower than in the U.S. (except of course when you are in a car), and the time zone “GMT” is also affectionately know as “Ghana Maybe Time.” It presents a challenge if you want to schedule a meeting, or in my case a training, as you have to give everyone a lot of notice, and even at that, they may not show. But, by accepting this part of life in Ghana, I’ve learned to slow down and take things a moment at a time, let go of expectations, and let things unfold. It takes getting used to, and I am still shedding my western ways. In many ways, I think it's a good thing.