Tro-Tro expert to be!

Above are some pictures of Ama from when we visited the school. The man holding her is Kingsley, who delivers the Amend program to the schools.

This weekend we found a little piece of heaven called the Shangri-La Hotel pool. After calling around to the various hotels that let non-guests use thier pools for a price, we became increasingly frustrated by the high prices we were being quoted. We called the Shangri-La and were pleasantly surprised to hear that they only charge 8 cedis, compared to 15 at most of the other hotels.

Although the grounds weren't as spectacular of those at Labadi Beach Hotel, the atmosphere was much less snobby and way more inviting. They had a very small Ama-sized kiddie pool, separate from the main pool which was perfect for her. We were able to actually RELAX, and we even regretted not bringing our books (we had assumed that we would both be chasing Ama the whole time!)

Ama made friends with some nice Ghanaian kids, and Mom and I relaxed. We fed the 3 of us, had 2 large beers and paid the entrance fee for less than we paid to just access the previous pool. Shangri-la, I will be coming back!








I started to actually work this week, although yesterday was filled with a lot of waiting, but that is fairly normal here. I visited a school today and plan to implement a survey for teachers and get into the program a bit more. University work is also getting done, and I am actually ahead for once in my life!

We met Afia, the nanny, yesterday, and today is her first actual day. Hopefully it is going well. She and Ama are with Mom today and tomorrow. Afia has a baby girl also named Ama (big surprise) who is just a bit younger than Ama and very cute. It will be nice for Ama to have another child around, assuming she is going to work out.

In the past couple of days I have began to learn how to take Tro-tro's, which is a somewhat confusing experience. Yesterday my trip from the Amend office was fairly straight forward, however my experience to get to "Pig Farm" School today was not. Can you imagine a school name like that?
I thought that I could take a Tro-tro from where I was to Circle-the major transport hub, but it turned out I had to go to "37", another Tro-tro station. Once I got there, I had to walk some way to find the Tro-tro to Circle, yet they were all passing by full, so I took up the offer from a taxi driver to go with him.

Once I got to "Circle" I was completely confused. I was supposed to meet my colleague Tom there, but it is a giant and sort of arbitrary place. Tro tros are everywhere, not in a defined station like "37" or "Tema" station. After walking through a sea of very annoying men yelling "Obruni come here" I found one nice fellow who directed me in the direction of the Pig Farm Tro-tro.
I was also able to find Tom, and we went on our way.

An excessively nice man on this Tro-tro insisted on paying for both of our fares, and then walked us the whole way to Pig Farm school. He then invited us to his cultural dance practice on Friday. I have noticed that many people will go out of their way to get you to your destination, perhaps since it's very obvious I have no clue where I'm going (ever).

I also took the Tro-tro back from there and to Osu, where I am currently enjoying AC, wine, and wireless internet at Frankies. The key to life is balance, right?

Mom will probably add more later, and I will also put some pics up soon. Bye for now!

from Lorrie:
Monday was a pretty good day for Ama and I as we met a nice German family here and their small boys joined Ama in her new wading pool - 4 ft diameter. It afforded them a couple of hours of afternoon enjoyment plus they joined us on the deck for shaded toy time. Later Karen and I were enjoying cold water on the deck and re-hashing our day when we noticed a horrible smell coming from a truck labeled "cleansing service". We weren't sure if they were picking up garbage or flushing open gutters. It turned out to be the former.

We decided to go out for supper and as we walked two blocks to the restaurant, the smell was everywhere. Luckily once we got to our destination, it was gone. The restaurant located in the Mahogany Lodge was really good and we shared an American style chicken dish and some Chinese noodles. Wonderful service, excellent food and reasonable - well,by North American standards. We'll be back. Oh, the weather is the same every day here - 35 and humid. I might be getting to like it!! I am still white as a ghost though.

Fufu anyone?

From Lorrie:

Yesterday Karen had the day off (life here is slow) so our big adventure of the day was twofold – check out a nearby nursery school and go the really big mall.

The nursery school (Twinkle Tots International School) was delightful. Ama was keen to run in and start immediately. It was well outfitted with toys, sand, climbing things and had well equipped classrooms which were air conditioned no less. They welcomed us on a tour and then Ama played with the outdoor toys while Karen checked the cost. The cost was pretty steep – a $700 joining fee was the big deterrent as well as the fact that the hours were pretty rigid. With the traffic here that could be a problem. The traffic is insane – there are different rules here than we are used to and the horn is an integral part of driving, Back to the school – Karen will keep this as a back up plan in case the nanny her colleague Kingsley has lined up is unsuitable. But best case scenario is that the nanny will care for Ama here at the guesthouse while Karen works.

Part two was a trip to the Accra mall. It could be in any city really – pretty upscale and was anchored by a Walmart like store on one end and the grocery/general goods Shoprite on the other. It boasted a good food court and several movie theatres. It's quite the contrast to most of Accra, and it feels a bit weird to be inside. We bought new pillows, a wading pool for Ama and a few other small things. New pillows that only I will sweat on – luxury. The ones provided - cases are clean, just don’t look inside!

On our return trip the cab driver thought it was important that we see where our embassy was so we did a drive by (it is quite close to here) and it looks basic, sits on large grounds, flag flown proudly. The US emabassy is also close – looks like a big jail – max security and formidable facade. Cannot take pictures of embassies – I didn’t know that.

Today Ama and I were invited on a school presentation for Amend. Ama was swarmed by the kids who all wanted to touch her – wonder if perhaps they want to see if her white skin feels the same. I was shocked to see the teachers teach with a cane in hand and use it to wack those who misbehave. There is a lot of clapping in a particular pattern. The kids were pretty interested but the class was huge – I am guessing 200 kids squashed into that room – 6-12 yrs approx. They do split off by grade for most of their classes as far as I can tell. The school was in disrepair, no glass in the windows, dirt playground, no play equipment and the desks looked like those from early 1900s. Nevertheless the kids seemed keen and welcomed a diversion from their regular class work.



After school we took a cab to a vegetarian restaurant near the guesthouse and had quite the lunch. A plate of rice with veggies – delicious. A bowl of palm soup (I think) with foo foo. It stunk and was the vilest tasting substance I have ever had in my mouth. We laughed and laughed and vowed never to eat foo foo again. (Although we are pretty sure it was the actual soup part that was so gross)






The afternoon brought Karen’s colleagues Jeffrey and Tom for a meeting to discuss the project and Karen’s role and we spent a very pleasant time on the deck with them. Now they are at a soccer game – Ghana vs Ivory Coast (at a local bar; not live ) Apparently they are big rivals so I am sure it is wild.

From Karen:

Ghana definitely lost the soccer game, and it rained to much to go to the original "local" destination, but it was still fun!

We went to the Makola Market, which is a huge and crowded outdoor market that sells everything under the sun. We put Ama in the backpack and once again were grateful to have it! We were quite the spectacle though, and most people laughed and laughed as we walked by. Many people were eager to talk to Ama and touch her, and she did remarkably well with all the attention. If someone went to touch her hand and she didn’t want them to, she just smacked them-good job Ama!

I found the priced at the market to be very reasonable, and I don’t think anyone even tried to overcharge us. People did however try to make us buy way more than we could possibly need, or additional items that we did not want!

Besides the crowds there was nothing totally offensive at the market, except for the guy that tried to sell me a dead rat like animal hanging by a string. No thanks my friend...

It’s seems to be difficult to take pictures in the market, so we couldn’t capture the true insanity of it, but we did manage to get a few.

First School Visit

My first school visit was VERY interesting. The school was actually called "Pig Farm" and I have pictures to prove it! The school grounds left much to be desired, as you can see in the pictures, yet the kids were nice and seemed glad to have us there.

Although I didn't expect that an African school was going to be the same as Canadian schools (I've seen many before), this trip was still very eye opening to how lucky we really are. We have schoolyards free of giant wholes in the ground and burning piles of garbage, among other things. It's SO different (unless you visit one of the many very nice international schools around!)

The presentation was very good and the kids were quite well behaved. Kingsley the presenter is very animated and the kids like him a lot. Even in a tough crowd he was able to get them laughing and participating.

Many of the children were staring at the 5 Obruni's (white people) for most of the presentation, which was slightly awkward. It got more awkward towards the end of the presentation when the speaker suggested that they should feel special in the presence of 5 Obruni visitors. I'm not sure that this is at all true! We are no more special than them, their parents or their teachers, especially since all we did was observe.

We got a picture with the Audi that was driven all the way from France (crazy, I know!). It was pretty funny trying to get them positioned and I was a bit worried that a fight might break out between all the kids fighting for the front!

This is going to be very interesting work. I go to another school on Friday, and then meet with both director and Africa director to hash out the details of the project.

Hope everyone is enjoying getting back to school, work or whatever!

Tomorrow?

We finally have our shower fixed! For those of you wondering, I think tomorrow in Ghana talk=about 8 days! But hey, it works, can’t complain!

We apparently have breakfast included in our price of our stay, who knew? Advice: When travelling in Ghana obtain very specific information as to what is included, because it’s likely they might not tell you!

So far I like most things about Ghana. People are nice, life is relaxing and generally stress/rush free. But one thing I dislike is the burning of Garbage-or more specifically the smoke that comes wafting into the bedroom in the early hours of the morning. It makes you really appreciate the pick up at the door garbage/recycling service that we have in Calgary!




On Monday we went on yet another grocery shopping adventure. This time, both taxi and driver left much to be desired-including knowledge on how to get to where we were going! At one point he seemed angry with me for not knowing where to go, when clearly we are not from Accra! After threatening to get out of the car and find a different taxi, he succumbed to asking for directions. Lesson learned, it’s not just a North America thing that men don’t like asking for directions!

Now going in the right direction, we turned onto a very busy street that brings to mind the Accra I experienced before. We moved inch by inch, and sellers walked up and down selling the most random items imaginable, including etch- a-sketch’s and screw driver sets. I must admit that I was very tempted to buy an etch-a-sketch to stop Ama’s wonderful wailing (she was saying what we all felt), as well as the mini soccer balls that went past. I restrained myself, which was a good thing since we nearly ran out of cash at the grocery store. It's a strange thing not having your mastercard to save you at any given moment.

For anyone visiting Accra, the MaxMart was a significantly more enjoyable (and cheaper) experience in Western style shopping than the Koala market. I even found some not outrageously priced diapers-hopefully Ama actually comes home potty trained!
We decided that since we weren’t actually that far we should walk home and take in the sights along the way. Fortunately Mom was wise on insisting we take our wonderful backpack to haul Ama in, who slept the majority of the walk home.





We are quite a site to the Ghanians who carry their little ones on their back using a sheet like cloth. They stare and smile and say something that sounds like surprised "hey?"

The walk back was interesting and mostly uneventful, besides the one fairly crowded part where a persistent beggar lady wouldn’t stop grabbing my arm-she then sent her 5ish year old to follow us. Not very pleasant-but harmless

We passed by a tro-tro station on the way home, which to a non-Ghanaian looked like a chaotic mess-the rules and happenings of the tro-tro system are something I look forward to learning...(Kate, Rachel, Barb-I hope you are having fond memories!) To anyone who hasn’t been to Ghana, a tro-tro is local transportation in the form of a big van, where the goal is to cram as many people in as possible (think big). Car pooler’s in Canada have a lot to learn...




On Wednesday we explored Osu (the touristy part of town) with 2 fellow Canadians. We ended up at Ryan’s Irish Pub (very UN-Ghanaian) for refreshments. Luckily we were the only one’s there, and Ama was able to play with “bo” the yellow lab who belongs to the owners. We the made our way to Tribes for dinner ocean side. I would definitely recommend this place! We shared some palava sauce and rice, which is a local and very tasty dish made from spinach and other tasty things. They also serve many dishes not from Ghana which also looked yummy.










I went to a school today, and it was an awesome experience-I will write more about it in a different post as this one is getting long and I am getting tired. Bye for now!

Love hurts

The past few days have been pretty relaxed and enjoyable, apart from Ama having some sleep issues at night. She has not yet discovered the concept of body heat, and wants to sleep 100% on top of me despite the 30 degree temperature! That’s love I tell you!

We've explored the neighborhood a bit more and been for walks. Ama just LOVES all the goats and chickens running around. I wonder what she'll think of monkeys and elephants!

To cool off from the heat and relax a bit we decided to check out a nearby pool that George the driver had recommended. For some unknown reason George took us to a different pool, at The Labadi Beach Hotel, but assured us it would cost the same-roughly 8 Cedis/person. We were delighted, briefly, as this was a very nice place.



When we went to pay, we discovered the price was nearly double that, but we decided to suck it up and pay. We had an excellent time, despite the fairly elitist atmosphere of the hotel. Ama seemed very content to play with toys and sit in the water, and for the first time in a week we felt cool! Swimming will be a regular weekend event, especially on those weekends where we stay in the city, but we will have to find a cheaper location.






This week I have started to familiarize myself with the Amend program, and met Kingsley, who delivers the program to the schools. He seems to be very nice and helpful, and went out of his way to buy me a cell phone (email if you would like the number) as it would cost more if I went to get it (figure that!). He also has a friend who might be able to watch Ama, which is great news!
This week should pick up for the work side of things, as Jeffrey the director arrives and school holidays end. I’m looking forward to getting started!

Two is trouble....
From Lorrie: managing a two year old is quite a challenge. She is fast, knows her own mind and is not open to reasoning but luckily she is mostly happy and well behaved as long as we feed her on time and she gets some rest. The harness is being used regularly and next time we venture to town centre, we plan to use the backpack so she is safer and up higher to see the many sights. Just like east Africa, Ghana shops are really shop fronts, outside on the sidewalk – even things like lingerie are hanging there and ready to be bargained for.

We said goodbye to the Ghanaian/Dutch family we met and spent some time with. They are doing work in Northern Ghana . It started out for them as mission work but ended up more providing services. So far they have started a nutrition centre and a school. Feel free to check out their website – Project Share. They have 2 adorable girls who came to play with Ama and her toys over the past 3 days. We learned lots about the town they live in and their way of life – kids tell you everything. They had the most interesting accents – mixed African, Dutch and British. While they were visiting Accra, they bought some furniture and other supplies not available outside a city and piled it all but the couch frame in their VW SUV . All the couch cushions and the lazyboy chair, luggage, kids, groceries, and who knows what else were jammed in our on top of their car, it was quite the mission to get packed up! Good thing they won’t be travelling at high speed.


Today we met a young couple from Canada who are here teaching fire fighting. She has malaria and is quite sick. We are taking them supper as since it is Sunday, not much is open around here, and they seem very greatful!

Looking forward to an interesting week-will fill you in later! Hoping to get more pictures of what Accra actually looks like-been too busy to take pictures!

Getting Settled

We have had a great couple of days here even though Miss Ama’s clock is still on Canadian time. We finally got our baggage on round 3 at the airport, and have settled in nicely at our apartment. It’s starting to feel semi home-like, and Ama now cries out “Ama house” when we arrive.






We had a very successful outing yesterday to change money and go shopping. George the driver was extremely friendly and helpful, although he did take us to the very expensive Koala market where we probably won’t shop much. I checked out the prices of such luxury items as diapers and cereal, 2 items we won’t be buying (small box of cheerio’s runs at 15 cedis=about 10 dollars).

Ama was a trooper yesterday and even made friends with two hilarious little Ghanaian-Dutch girls. She tuckered out while shopping and became quite the spectacle for fellow shoppers. We probably should not have let her nap, since she refused to sleep most of the night. She slept half the day away today, and will hopefully be on almost Ghanaian time by tonight.

Today was pretty relaxing. We ventured out for a walk around the neighbourhood, which is a different side of Accra than I had seen before. The streets were quiet, and are lined with huge luxury gated homes and the occasional embassy. We did see some international schools and a Montessori school that we may check out as possible child care options, and we have also gotten a few leads from the people here for childcare.

We went for lunch at Home Touch, which was a nice restaurant serving African food. We shared some Jollof rice and Kelewele (delicious fried plantains). Ama ate at least a third of the rice, which is an enormous portion of food! The price of the food was refreshingly low, and Ama was able to run around and play with the beaded curtains that surround the restaurant.






On the way home we bought a beautiful had made basket to store Ama’s toys, and Mom tried (unsuccessfully) to carry it on her head like a local woman. The ladies at the guest house at a very good laugh about this! The woman at the basket stand told us to watch out for men on motorcycles who occasionally rob people, which was well intended yet frightening advise that we will take note of.

Overall we are getting much more comfortable with being here. I am finally able to relax and enjoy our lovely deck and garden. I think Mom is even beginning to relax a bit, although it takes her longer! Our shower is still not fixed, which means that we have to have bucket showers. They said that it would be fixed tomorrow yesterday, but I suspect we will here tomorrow for several days or weeks. We still need to figure out basic things like laundry, cleaning, and what the giant blue bucket by the kitchen table with water in the bottom is for, but overall we are beginning to settle into our Ghana shoes quite nicely.









The above pictures are of our apartment and yard.

We made it!

It took 3 of us to get Ama and all the luggage to the airport check-in – many thanks to Marilyn for the ride and the assistance. The first leg of the trip to Amsterdam was tough – crowded plane, tight seating and increasingly tired travellers. That being said, the journey went far better than we anticipated. We were late arriving in Amsterdam so we had only time for a pit stop and the trek to our gate.

Amsterdam to Accra was significantly better – more room and Ama slept a good portion of the 6 hour journey. Interesting ride – lots of Africans visiting, standing around – a festive atmosphere and loud! When we got off the plane we were met with a wall of heat, at least 30C and unbelievably humid. I can’t believe I complained of the cold as the heat is at least as oppressive at first, but I’m sure we will get used to it soon enough!

Customs was total chaos, and poor Ama was not impressed about waiting the hour or so we stood in line. Big surprise-only half our luggage arrived. That was probably a blessing in disguise since the vehicle our hosts brought to take us to our apartment would never have held it all! So tonight Karen will return to the airport to collect the rest, while Ama and I avoid the chaos of the airport in the comfort of our balcony. Our apartment is fine – relatively clean and has the basics. By Canadian standards I am not sure it would rate any stars but it is secure (guard at the gate) and friendly. The best part is the large balcony off our apartment and the large yard that Ama can run around in.

There is also internet and AC in our apartment (for a daily/hourly charge) that we will have to restrain ourselves from using excessively!

Ama was up a great deal of the night since her body thought it was daytime and she was sweating like a beast, but we managed to get some sleep despite the crowing of roosters and the early morning sounds of Accra life. There is a dining room to buy meals if you don’t feel like cooking or if you have not changed your money yet and you cannot buy at a restaurant till you do! This afternoon we will get the driver to take us grocery shopping and to the FOREX so we can change money, and maybe the bank. Fun times!

Pictures to come, the cords for our cameras are still in Amsterdam!