Day 20

After a successful teacher training session on Tuesday, I was also looking forward to today's. I got up extra early and made oatmeal with the oats and soymilk I splurged on yesterday. I sat out on the balcony and worked, enjoying the cool breeze that has been with us all week. I am currently working on a handbook, which will basically be a reference for the teachers if they have any questions about the program when I leave. Also, in the likely event that positions switch hands at the school, new teachers will be able to teach themselves how to lead music lessons with the students.

By now I have figured out that it is nearly impossible to have an uneventful taxi ride in Ghana. This morning was no exception. Trying to get a cab after the "rush hour" when people are going to work can be difficult. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't need to be at the school until 10:30. Prepared for a long wait, I headed out to the highway to wave one down. It's become habit to point behind me toward the ocean (the signal that you are heading to Cape) as soon as I see the yellow 'Taxi" sign coming towards me. As soon as the taxi, which was now slowing down to pick me up, came close enough, I wished I hadn't found one so quickly. Out of the trunk stuck at least 3 feet of wooden poles - there had to be 8 or 9. The Ghanaian in the passenger's seat was holding another one out the window. Surprisingly, once inside the taxi, I kind of forgot they were even there... until they nearly clotheslined (definition #1) a poor kid on a bicycle that we were passing. The thing that got me the most, though, was the fact that when the passenger in the front seat got out, he only took the pole that he had been carrying. It wasn't for another five minutes that the rest of the poles left the trunk along with the guy sitting next to me in the back. I honestly don't think the two "woods-men" knew each other. Just a regular taxi ride in Ghana.

I got to the school (unscathed) only to find that Mary was in Accra for the day. I was willing to go ahead with the teacher trainings, but the other teachers said they would prefer for Mary to be present at all meetings, which I can understand. So, almost as soon as I'd put down my bookbag, I put it back on again, heading out into Cape. I decided to make the most of my ride into town and went hunting for fabric, which is not hard to find. The hard part is choosing which fabric to buy! I picked out a yellow and black pattern, bought two yards for $4 (6 cedi), and headed over to the seamstress shop where my dress was made. I took a picture with me from our October 2010 edition of Cosmo to help them get a sense for the A-line skirt that I wanted. She asked me to come back Wednesday to pick it up and bring a little over $5 (8C) with me for the labor. Gotta love handmade clothes.

I picked up some lunch and headed back to Elmina. Although this taxi ride was not quite as interesting as the first outwardly, the dynamics inside the taxi reminded me of the 14-days my family spent inside our Ford Windstar minivan road-tripping it to across country to Colorado in 1999. The driver was on his cell phone, yacking away. The guy in the passenger's seat kept making a snorting noise, like a pig, in the attempts to clear his throat - I think? Occasionally he would spit out the window, and even went as far as to use the bottom of his yellow cut-off to blow his nose. As Tom Dunlap would say - hello nasty. Meanwhile, I was kickin' it in the back seat with the peanut man, who, in the midst of going to town on his peanuts, managed to hit me in the face with a handful of shells that he was trying to throw over his shoulder into the gutted trunk area. I'm not sure if I've ever been more grateful to see the sign for the Elmina Beach Resort looming in the distance - my visual cue to pay the driver and tell him to stop.

This weekend, or July 1st to be exact, Ghana celebrates Republic Day. The fact that this holiday coincides with the Fouth of July hardly makes me feel like I'm missing the 4th at all, which is nice. Since tomorrow is a national holiday, the girls don't have to go into work, and we plan to take off for a weekend trip to the Volta Region, which is the region that borders Togo. Our friends went two weekends ago, and said that we are in store for a full day of traveling (10 hours) each way. I'm not sure exactly what is on the agenda, but I know we will be stopping at Wli Falls, located just outside the village of, yes, Hohoe. I would also love to stop at Mount Afadjato, but we'll have to see if we have time. I am not taking my laptop, which will make for a blogless weekend. But I daresay there will be enough going on in the U.S. this weekend to make up for it. Happy 4th!