I-I-I-I'm Still in Line

After a nice night of sleep, we woke up to our last morning in Accra. With the taxi from Cape Coast coming at 11 am, Uncle Cliff, Erin, and I headed out to finally get some money changed and possibly get my phone and internet set up. We got the money no problem, but the phone and internet were a different story. We arrived at the MTN around 9:30. I tried the internet modem Dave gave me last night in my laptop, but it would not work. He told us to go in and play dumb, asking them to get it working. Long story short, I think Dave knew more about these things than some of the employees. It ended up that the SIM card was working fine, but the combination of my SIM card with the hardware Dave gave me would not work in my computer. Dave's hardware with an employees SIM card worked in mine, and the employee's hardware with my SIM worked in his laptop. It went on like this for too long, and when the old song "Staying Alive" came on the radio, I couldn't help but chuckle and think, "I-I-I-I'm still in line. Still in line." Finally, I bought a replacement SIM, got the credits transferred, and got it working. It was about 10:10 at this point. THEN, I made the mistake of asking if I could get my cell phone set up with a SIM card. No problem. And it wasn't a problem until I was told I had to go down the street and get the phone unlocked before it would let me on the network. Well, by now our taxi was supposedly leaving for Cape Coast in 25 minutes. I asked if the guy who unlocks the phones could come to us, and he was even on his way. Unfortunately, we thought it was best to just duck out before we wasted any more time waiting. Even thought the taxi didn't come until 12:30 to take us to Cape Coast, I think it's probably best to just get it sorted out in town tomorrow when we aren't so rushed.

We got back and made peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, grabbed our left overs from Saturday night's dinner, and jumped in the taxi when it came. Getting out of Accra was a bit of a shock - more like the stereotypical third world capital city than the pleasant, fairly quiet neighborhood we had been exposed to. For nearly an hour, we battled our way through bumper-to-bumper traffic, windows down due to the lack of AC, sun blazing, and people everywhere. For a good 45 minutes, each side of the road was lined with people selling anything and everything - CDs, DVDs, shoes, arm chairs, TVs, tires, and even antelope. I even saw a few trucks with caskets in the bed. I didn't check personally, but I doubt they were Marselluses.

We finally made our way onto the open road, which was beatiful. Once out of Accra, everything was green and even a little mountainous. The air was no longer thick with smog and dust, and the breeze whipped through the taxi. Cliff and I sat on the right side of the car, and by the time we reached our destination, our right arms were significantly more red than the left. Athough it was a pleasant trip, everything you have (or haven't heard) about driving in Ghana is true. To sum it up in one word would be "chaos." However, I have never really felt that worried, even when our small taxi was nearly run off the highway by a larger "tro-tro" (shared taxi/van that shoves as many people into it as possible). Due to the fast paced and apparently lawless driving style, the drivers here seem to have a heightened awareness of their own car, and the others on the road. However, there was one questionable moment when our driver decided to pass on the left on a slight upgrade at that. As our little toyota started to creep past the other car, Uncle Cliff pulled out his imaginary canoe paddle and paddled with all his might, making his best Tom Dunlap face in the process. It worked, because we made it past with no problems, and soon found ourselves tumbling out of the taxi outside the Global Mamas house in Elmina. We said goodbye to Cliff, who was staying just down the road in a guesthouse called "Dawson Guesthouse," and drug ourselves and our bags inside.

The house is very large, with at least six(?) rooms. I have met everyone, but there are a lot of people to remember, so I'm going to guess there are ten Global Mamas volunteers (including Erin and me), two fulltime GM staff, and two Ghanaians who switch on and off between day and night positions. Erin and I made our way up to our room - two twin beds, mosquito nets, one fan, two windows, and a large closet/dresser contraption for our things. We share a bathroom with at least two other volunteers. Since the shower head kept falling off of the hose, the staff just decided to leave it "headless." As in Accra, they suggest that we turn the water on only to get wet and rinse off in order to save water. As I found out when I took my first shower, the hose is a little difficult to handle, and would go everywhere if dropped, spraying water throughout the bathroom like a crazy snake. In the end, I resorted to letting the hose fill up the provided bucket, dipped the provided bowl in said bucket, and poured it on myself to rinse off. Although the water was cold, it felt good, and I was feeling much better by the time dinner rolled around.

For dinner, most of the volunteers head down the road to Eli's, and for 5.5 cedis (1c = 0.65 USD) get an amazing, fresh, homemade meal. Although Renae told me she called Eli ahead of time to give her the heads up about my dietary preferences, I just wanted to check with her to make sure it was no problem. When I walked up and introduced myself, she immediately gave me a big bear hug, squealing a mix of, "Amy! Vegetarian! Amy! Vegetarian!" Needless to say, she had everything under control, and was completely cool with the fact that not only do I not eat meat, I avoid eggs, milk, and cheese as well. We ate family style around a large table, passing around bowls and plates of food. Uncle Cliff joined us from his guest house for the meal, which consisted of yam balls (like deep fried mashed potato balls) and egg stew. Eli was kind enough to omit the eggs and throw in extra vegetables for me. We had salad too, which even had some avocado, cucumbers, and tomatoes. I was happy to have some green vegetables! We chatted for a while after dinner, and then made our way back to the house.

Sitting here in Elmina, I can here the crickets, the bull frogs, some local music playing, and the faint waves of the ocean across the street. I am thankful to have made it this far and to finally be settled in somewhere. Tomorrow, I make my way to the Aboom School for the first time. Although I really don't know where it is, I am looking forward to the adventure that lies in finding it, meeting the children and teachers, and finally spending seven weeks there. Tomorrow is a clean slate, and I hope that by the end, the work at the school will resemble a creative, nurtured, and beautiful canvas. Only time will tell.