Making the right move...

Sorry for the overload of entries but I need to get a bunch of my chest that I wrote these last couple of weeks and haven’t had the opportunity to post because of work and moving…speaking of which…

I’ve moved! After two months in the suburb of East Legon, my roomies and I have moved to Osu, just a mere two blocks from our office. We’ve wanted to move for some time now, but were in circumstances, which did not permit us to move. The main road out of Accra, towards Legon (where we used to live) is two lanes and goes down to one just before our exit. So often times it would take hours to get home. Many of the tro tros would make grand detours through the back roads just to avoid the congestion. We’ve also had to come into work late and leave early so we could avoid traffic, meaning we’ve been working shorter days. We are now able to walk to the office and everything else we need is close by or a short tro tro ride away.

Caitlin and I are sharing a two-bedroom apartment and Jody is upstairs in a single. The apartment complex sits in a compound with small cottages around the perimeter. Everyone that lives there is a foreigner and so far we are mainly comprised of Germans, Dutch, Danes, Canadians and one American. It has been interesting getting know everybody and learning from each other about our experiences. Another bonus about this place is there will always be someone close by to travel with on the weekend or someone to have dinner with should you find yourself home alone. We are also a short walk from the Irish pub and the live music bar Bywel’s (not that that’s what sold the place to us…you all know me better than that…wink, wink)

These last couple of weeks have had many highs and lows. I managed to get out of the city last weekend, which was a high. As the pictures show I visited a beautiful beach called Kokrobite. I bought some batik cloth from a Rasta on the beach from Togo. Even after speaking in French with him I still couldn’t manage to barter properly. I also required some more batik this weekend at the major market in downtown Accra, called Makola. I’ll be getting a dress made from the fabric and will probably have some left over for another piece.

Last Sunday, the girls and I went to the Botanical Gardens in Aburi. We left in late afternoon and spent a few hours there before the grounds closed. We realized we were going to be heading home in the dark which had us on guard. We had taken two tro tros to get there and new we would have to stop in a town called Madina to transfer to another one. Unfortunately as we were getting from one tro tro to the other, we came across a drunk man that wanted to show us what tro to take and was trying to take our hands and guide us. When our tro tro came, a lot of people were rushing it to get one. The drunk man pushed Jody into the tro tro, seemingly trying to help her. However, after we’d driven off we realized that he had slit her bag open with a switchblade and taken her camera and phone. The experience was shocking and disturbing. We’ve been so careful with our bags and keeping our guard up, but still something like this happens. Fortunately for us we have the most amazing boss, Ebenezer, who came to our aid. He brought us to the police station, which I knew would yield little results. The best scenario they could offer us would be to stage the theft again and hope that the man would come to us and attempt his next move. I would never have considered such a situation, but in Ghana when there is no trust in the authorities, the public takes justice into their own hands. The police do not discourage this behaviour either because they know people want justice and they lack capacity or are too overwhelmed to be able to respond to such thefts.

The incident has reminded all of us of how blessed we are. We were protected that night from much worse, if the man had been knocked from behind, who knows where that blade would have ended up. We are also reminded that we are vulnerable in this country and it requires constant vigilance and awareness of our surroundings. I know Jody is still struggling with the loss. She had memory cards in her camera case with some irreplaceable photos on them. I think we are all determined to move forward from the situation though, as I wouldn’t want the incident to mar our experience or image of Ghana.

p.s. Had a special Canadian moment at kareoke the other night. A Ghanaian man got up to sing "Ironic" of all songs. To our surprise, the whole bar started singing with him and everyone was just screaming the lyrics. It was surreal. I'd much rather have Ghanaians rock out to Alanis than to Nickelback which unfortunately surfaced later in the night.