Tag Archives: Ghana

What I don’t miss about Ghana

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What do I NOT miss about Ghana?!

As much as I miss Ghana (it is a lot), there are many things that I truly do NOT miss about living in West Africa. Lots of things in life are bittersweet, but for now let’s take a look at the bitterness that I’m quite content to have left behind.

The weather: True, it has been a “rough” summer (according to most), and the weather in the Midwest has been pretty HOT and HUMID. But, it still is more pleasant than it was in Ghana. Even the days when the weather is comparable, people aren’t outside NEARLY as much (around me at least) as they are in Ghana. People complain about how hot it is, when the only time they have to go outside is the 30 seconds spent in their car before the air-conditioning works, then the 2 minute walk in the parking lot from their car to their destination (which is most likely air conditioned). I’ve noticed my body can handle warmer temperature than most people, and that I get cold easier. It also gets cooler at night in the Midwest, so it’s much more tolerable at night. It’ll be 95 degrees here and I’ll go on a run at 4 pm and my friends will think I’m crazy. They’re right.

Slow Restaurant Service: I’m still shocked every time I go out to eat when my food arrives so quickly. It makes me so excited I feel like I end up eating more!

 

Mosquitoes with Malaria: Mosquitoes in Minnesota and Wisconsin don’t have malaria! THEY CAN BITE ME ALL THEY WANT! They’re not as sneaky anyways. It’s nice not having to sleep with a mosquito net, too.

No Air conditioning: That’s just something I’ll always appreciate. It’s so beautiful. It feels good. It sounds pleasant. It keeps mosquitoes away. It keeps me cool. And, best of all, it’s almost everywhere: restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, airports, libraries, coffee shops, trains, busses, bus stations, malls, movie theaters. They all have air conditioning (for the most part). What a great invention!

Being responsible to provide your own soap/toilet paper: I’m almost over this luxury, but the first time I got off the plane, I went to the bathroom. After I finished my business, I drank the tap water, pocketed some free toilet paper, and washed my hands with WAY too much soap. It was quite epic.

Sunlight from 6am-6pm: It’s great having sunlight until 9-10 pm. In Ghana, it was basically pitch black by 6 pm. I think it’s rainy season now, so it might even get darker sooner, but it’s nice to be able to do stuff outdoors as the sun is setting. I’ve gone on a few bike rides and jogs at 7 or 8 pm, or even later (after the sun set). It’s nice and cool, still light out, and the streets are nice and paved. Also, I don’t have to worry about…

Obruni Traps: The open gutters in Ghana are often referred to “Obruni Traps”. I don’t miss walking around and worrying about slipping and falling into one. I do miss watching my fellow obruni’s fall into them or hearing stories about their accidents. Just kidding! (Kinda)

Hand Washing my laundry: Don’t get me wrong! Hand washing your clothes can be good exercise, a good way to catch a tan and do something outdoors, and a great way to bond one on one with your clothes and feel accomplished. However, having someone do your laundry (love ya MOM AND DAD!) is much easier, and having a machine do the washing is easier, too. I’ve hand washed a few times since being back, but has been nice having a machine do most of the work. I’ll admit it, though. It does hurt me a bit deep down knowing that I was just learning how be good/decent job at hand washing my clothes, and then it was time to leave. But, when I recall how BAD I was the first few times, it’s nice to know I don’t have to be embarrassed anymore.

Aside from that, there’s not much I can say. Even if I complain about the things that I had a hard time with while I was in Ghana, the positives CLEARLY outweigh the negatives.

Despite the list above, I would GLADLY go through all of it if it meant I could wake up, sweaty, in a room with no air-conditioning at 7 am covered in bug spray from the night before. Then, go to the bathroom with soap and toilet paper in my bucket. Then, take a seat outside and attempt to hand wash my filthy clothes. Then, avoid the open gutters during my walk to a restaurant where I’ll order and not know how long I’ll have to wait for my food. All of this would be worth it to me, just to speak Twi, eat a big bowl of fufu and meat for $2, and dance azonto as the locals smile and laugh at me.

Oh, Ghana, how I miss you so!

Love Always,

Jeremy Kwabena

P.S.

Stay tuned for: “Things I do NOT NOT miss about Ghana”

Altercations in a Different Language

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So…….

picking up where I left off….we just left a crazy festival with spectacular drumming and dancing. Here’s an AMAZING video to refresh your memories: https://vimeo.com/46101983

 

We took a taxi to go back to the cape castle restaurant. About 2 minutes after getting out of the taxi, my friend, Ryna, realized his wallet was missing! We looked everywhere, asked everyone that was in sight, but still couldn’t figure out where it was.

 

We asked everyone in site; still no solution. Our friends, Wonderboy and Ben seemed to point the finger at some guy who had a bad record and was known as a thief. We debated going to the police, but Wonderboy said the police could only help us if we told them who stole the wallet (we didn’t know), and if we gave them a gift. Then, they would go and try to retrieve it.

 

Wonderboy confronted the boy and accused him of stealing Ryan’s wallet, though he denied it. They went back and fourth yelling at each other in their tribal language. Ryan explained to this boy (in English) that he was not accusing him, but I think Wonderboy was putting words in his mouth. Wonderboy suggested that we go to the Voodoo man with the boy and ask the Voodoo doctor if the boy was lying or not. If we did that, the Voodoo man could solve all problems. But, we would have to pay him a gift to achieve such result. We didn’t think that was necessary.

 

After 5-10 minutes of progressive arguments, the boy walked across the street to what appeared to be his friends/family for their help. Next thing you know, Wonderboy is yelling and screaming at 5-10 Ghanaians. We had NO idea what was going on and what they were saying. Have you ever been a bystander of a huge altercation taking place in a different language, but their arguing ABOUT YOU!? We were so lost, but we could tell it was getting intense.

 

Ryan kept explaining that he wasn’t accusing anyone. Everything hit the fan when the boy grabbed a full bottle of soda, held it up, and started screaming. He opened it and started dumping out the liquid as he roared. We assumed he was casting some spell of some sort, but who knows? He then, shattered the bottle on the ground and continued to yell.

 

At this point we were pretty shocked and freaked out, so we decided to cut our losses and move on. Wonderboy apologized to us and said he swore that he knew the boy was a lying thief, but we all wanted to drop it. We scurried across the street and grabbed a taxi and made our to the Elmina Slave Castle.

 

We asked Wonderboy what a good price was, and he negotiated with the driver in their tribal language. The price seemed to be a little high, but we didn’t know how far it was from where we were. He charged us about $6 USD, which was WAY TOO MUCH. I knew we got ripped off when I saw the taxi driver give Wonderboy a cedi. “EVERYDAY I’M HUSTLIN!” It was hurtful to know that Wonderboy had scammed us on a cedi, especially since he had been so helpful and nice during our stay there.

 

That was always an issue when meeting awesome while traveling people in Ghana. They want to be your friends and love to show you around, but they find ways to make money off you, or make you pay for their food/transportation. Sometimes it was straightforward, i.e. “Can you please give me some small money so I can take a taxi home”. Other times it was subtle.

 

We got to the castle and joined a tour with some other foreigners. We had already been to the Cape Coast Slave castle a few months before, but the tour of this castle was known to be a different experience….

A sad one in that, so stay tuned for the next post. I’ll warn you, it might be a bit gruesome.

 

All love always,

 

Jeremy Kwabena