When You Are Sitting Around Bored at a Hotel on Thanksgiving

No, they do not celebrate Thanksgiving here. But I have good news! I went to the doctor last Friday for a blood test and the results are in: No more malaria! The doctor wants me to stay till Monday (tomorrow) so he can make sure I am on the mend. I guess it will take a few weeks before I am all better.

As soon as I hear the news that I am going to get better from some illness, I always expect that I’ll wake up the next day and feel completely 100%. Of course, it ends up being a gradual thing and then one day you realize “oh, I guess I recovered”. This does not help when you are an impatient person like me. I just want to get up and be able to run a marathon. Well, maybe more like 10k.

Well, since I do not have a lot energy to run around, I thought I would write more about my experience here.

Photography

Ghanaians are really anal about being photographed. Either it is because they are worried they will be put on the net in some demeaning manner (at least according to my one Ghana friend), they see it as an opportunity to make some cash (from my experience), or the building is sensitive (prisons, military, etc.).

If you are to photography someone, the etiquette is to ask them first. In the case of buildings, you ask someone nearby if it is ok. Even if you follow etiquette, you can still get into trouble from what others have told me.

I personally haven’t run into any problems but that could be because I have been really carefully. I try to avoid taking pictures of people unless I have their permission. I have found that photographing buildings and landscapes won’t get you into much trouble if you are quick about it. That is fine with me because as many of you pointed out that is what I take the most pictures of. After taking a photo, I try and move on as quickly as possible. Some people will argue that you caught them in the photo and in turn expect some money. But I just call their bluff and say they weren’t in the frame. Also, if you have an official/unofficial guide with you, he will back you up if you are taking photos in return for some cash at the end.

Also, Africans are really hard to take a photo of with their dark skin. If you don't let in enough light, they look like dark blurs. Hard to get a balance with a light background.

Transportation

Transportation in Ghana is surprisingly cheap and effective. You can get to almost anywhere you want if you inquire. Getting around ranges from buses, to tro-tros, to taxis.

Buses are run by the government and usually take you between the larger cities. You can get dropped off earlier if you want but you still have to pay the full fair to the final stop. The cost from Kumasi to Accra is a mere $5! I have not taken one yet but they are known to be the safest mode of transport.

Tro-tros go to almost any village, town, or city. The ones I am used to are vans/mini-buses that carry about 16 people. However, I guess there are others like big buses or trucks that could be called tro-tros. They are very cheap but are crammed full of people, not very comfortable, and not the safest way to go. I took one from Korforidua to Accra.

Taxis are really interesting. I’d say every fourth car is a taxi in Ghana. I think this is because there appears to be no public transport (exception of intercity buses) in Ghana. You can either get a dropping taxi or shared taxis. The dropping taxi is like in Canada where it picks you up and drops you off where ever you want. However, they are relatively more expensive ($1 to $5). Shared taxis are like public transport and run the same route. They pick up different people along the route for a fair from as low as $0.20 per person. Kind of interesting jumping into the same taxi with people you don’t know. From what I understand, dropping and shared taxis are the same car depending on what you want. I wonder how that system would work in Canada? Hmm, seems to clog up the roads in Accra.

Time Management

I have heard a lot of theories about how people conceive time in Africa. One person described it as circular concept versus linear like in the West. Well, leaving oddball theories behind let me describe a few situations.

I went to a workshop about two weeks ago and we were supposed to leave by 9pm to get to Agogo. I get to the office at 8:30, ready to go. Well, it ends up that the flip charts are still being written up. So, 10:00 rolls around I am thinking, how embarrassing is this for the District Assembly to arrive so late? We finally leave at 10:30 and arrive at 11:00. When we get there though, not even all the workshop participants have showed up!!! Guess this is normal as the workshop ends up going ahead without a problem.

Another example. The development planner one day has this rush job to undertake. So, I am thinking he will not be taking any appointments that day in order to get the job done. Then a few people show up and want to speak with him. He spends a third of the day with them before they leave. He notices that I don’t get it. He says that some people come from a long distance to see you and you cannot just turn them away. I guess people do not make appointments here.

Finally, I arrived to a meeting that was supposed to be at 2:00. I show up five minutes late thinking that everyone will be there already. Well, I am the first one and the rest of the crew does not show up for another half an hour. We have the meeting and at the end of it, everyone gets paid $3. I guess it is tough to get people to go to meetings.