Adventure Time

First of all – Dad, I always thought it was gross when you opened bags with your teeth. No longer – this shall be explained in due time. (see how I give you a little tid-bit to keep you reading? Strategies, strategies…)

So, yesterday Nisha, Kaivan and I went on an adventure. We were tired of staying in Labone (fairly ritzy neighborhood right outside of Accra) and wanted to take a tro-tro (vanish bus type things that transport loads of people between designated spots. I use ‘designated’ loosely – the only maps we had were the gracious words of locals bestowed on three lost-looking Obrunis [term for white person/foreigner]. Think 1960’s hippie van – most are Mercedes-Benz or Volkswagens – and think of something that looks like it’s from the 60’s) to explore the greater Accra area. Explore we did! We took the first tro-tro that showed up to a place we now know to be New Town. Here we just started walking – there were little street stands and plenty of people, until we came across the mobile phone district, apparently. Then there were a bazillion people and phones everywhere. We just kept walking down streets that looked interesting. We stopped at a chop bar (little, really cheap food place) for a drink and a break from the sun. We drank fanta and sprite out of glass bottles (that’s almost all that’s served here, and you leave the bottles) for 75 pesuos [pess-oo-ays] (kind of like cents) apiece. We walked for a while longer and then decided to take a tro-tro to somewhere new. We came across one going to Accra and got on. These first two tro-tro trips were fine experiences. The bus was nice, not too cramped or crowded and the three of us rode for less than a dollar each time. Arriving in Accra, we went to find a place to eat, and were successful – all three of us had fried rice and chicken plus a drink we thought was juice but was actually just high fructose corn syrup with food coloring. Had to be. Ew. We kept moving and exploring – we found more markets, but best of all, we found Fan Ice.

Here’s the bit about the bags. So, Fan Ice is this ice cream type substance that is packaged in bags. Nisha and I quite enjoy the stuff, and purchased a package of it for 40 pesuos each. The only way to open the bag is to tear it open with your mouth – good life skill in Ghana, I tell you what. Water is also sold in plastic pouches on the street; again, the only way to effectively access this thirst-quencher is to tear the corner off with your teeth. So, Dad – no longer a gross practice.

Continuing on our journey, I bought a bag of tomatoes (about 15 small ones) for 1Ghana Cedi, and some garlic for 30 pesuos for Family Dinner tomorrow night (on Sunday nights, our house cooks and eats dinner altogether – last week was Quasi-Mexican night (we really just had rice, guacamole, plantain chips and French fries), but this week is Italian, and we’ve assigned everyone duties, so hopefully it works out. It was about three in the afternoon by this point, my shoulders were starting to redden (don’t lecture me on sunscreen, please) and we were ready to head home. Somehow. We knew we wanted a tro-tro to Labone. But that was where our knowledge/plan ended. We asked people and walked for about a half hour to another part of town (I think it was Nkrumah Cirlce) to find a tro-tro that would get us to Labone. We found a bunch of tro-tros, but none that were heading our direction until a driver pointed to a little purple one and said “Labone”. Yes! Success! We got in, and waited for about fifteen minutes for it to be sufficiently full enough to go.

This was the most unstable car I think I have probably ever been in. My head almost touched the cieiling, which had the metal bars exposed. We were sitting in the fourth row of bench seats…I’m not actually sure they were attached…as we shifted speeds, the whole car rattled – talk about an experience. It was great. We were safe; if that car was still together, it was going to last one more trip – and so it did. We paid our cedi to ride, played peek-a-boo with a tiny little girl, and got off where we started our adventure. Success! It was a great day – we bought food, took three tro-tros, were in three different locations, had lunch, found ice cream and drank water out of bags for the first time ever. So, so cool.