Technically this post should have been done on Saturday, but blogging over the weekend is not really my priority..
So one week in, what is Ghana to me?
1. TAXIS
Too many. Apparently each person can own ten taxis to earn money. Though how one person makes profit from operating ten taxis is beyond me. Notwithstanding the difficulty of driving ten taxis at once, these cabs honestly litter the community. Like 1 out of 3 cars is a taxi with another 1 of three being a bigger version of a taxi called the tro tro. And honking is a way of speaking to the community. It can mean anything from ‘Hey want a ride’ to ‘ GET OUT OF THE WAY’ to ‘how YOU doing, obroni‘ to ‘I like my horn.’ Again absolutely fascinating.
2. FOOD
I havent done a food post for a while, primarily because there is nothing new to report. Other than I had a mild case of food poisoning that still has not quite left the building which has resulted me in fleeing to fried rice and various variations of meat. Still relatively inexpensive.
3. WORK
My supervisor Ernest is absolutely awesome who has given me some pretty cool things to do. Im working on creating a Northern Coalition for Child Rights, an umbrella group to discuss stuff like child labour that will probably build up once Im gone. Plus some interesting case work. Also if you’ve been following my blog, there is also an opportunity to go to South Africa to watch the African version of the Jessup Moot (the Lawyers World Cup).
4. UNIVERSITY LIFE
Had a trip to the local university a couple of days ago. Other than being laughed out of the res hall cafeteria (apparently an obroni has never tried to buy food from there), it was a good experience. Major emphasis on greenery in the college landscape, the faculty of law building was in much better condition than I expected (though the library was tiny) and res buildings were very different… Also campus AIDS policy seemed to comprise of abstinence:
5. BARGAINING
So heres the scoop: no price is final. In a place where the competition is incredibly high, producers always suggest a price that is far too high in the hopes that the consumer will purchase. Likely there will be some haggling till either the price is suitable for both parties or the deal is off. To that end, I wish I had the bargaining skills of my mum… then, if i tried hard enough, I could probably get some goods for free.
6. RELIGION
See Post Below
Weekend was mildly interesting. Saturday, went to the National Cultural Centre to look at (you guessed it) national culture. Learnt more about the Ashanthi Tribe, the largest and most prominent tribe in Ghana (which happens to be based in of Kumasi). Really fascinating story behind them… But met some fellow obroni who as it happens were from Toronto…. It was honestly a little refreshing to talk to people who had some similar experiences. Only here for another weekend, we exchanged contact info to meet for lunch Sunday to keep on with the tourist thing…
Sunday was much better. Went to see the King of the Ashanthis with Sarah, Laura and Yoko (the Saturday obroni). While yes we did get pictures of him and yes the environment and atmosphere was awesome, he was not the highlight of my day. Instead me taking a photograph with the royals was far better. On another note, this may/may not have ended up being a national press photo op for the King and Queen with the four foreigners who had no concept of royal respect:
So yea, life in Ghana continues as usual.
