Curio Sellers, Church and House Hunting

There are three things that have reminded me that I'm not in Sydney anymore: curio sellers, church and house hunting. I think this is because if I choose to participate in these activities my whiteness becomes ever more exposed. By the way if you haven't already guessed the word O'Brunei mean White Person!

Curio Sellers


Many of you well travelled people reading this blog have interacted with the curio seller before. But for you who haven't they are salespeople who sell their goods beside the road (mostly wooden carvings). How does this vary from a friendly shopping at Paddy's Markets you may ask? Well for starters they don't have shops they call them castles, they are extremely territorial and when walking past you are made to feel immediately obliged to inspect and buy their goods... and you should fell bad if you don't. You will be shouted at, abused, grabbed and possibly thieved from...But this is apparently what builds character. Also it's the best place to find cheap souvenirs for your culturally deprived friends back at home... which will probably be confiscated by customs when you reach your home turf anyway. So far we have found these guys pretty hardcore, they will go in for a handshake but will hold on to you tight and try to say whatever they can to persuade you to buy from them. One time we turned one down and even when we had crossed the street he started shouting across the street GET LOST WHITE PEOPLE!! GET LOST!! Still that is pretty extreme...He was saying it like he had just learnt to swear.

Church


Now this is a much more fun topic to write about.We have only been in Ghana for a couple of weeks but we have done our best to get along to Ghanaian church where we can. The 2 dominant faiths in Ghana are Muslim in the north and Christian in the south. There are Advertising boards everywhere with Christian messages and info on the latest "In" evangelistic preacher. The one I liked best was an ad for the Power Miracle Chapel which had a minister who looked like Mr.T in Camo Gear flexing his muscles. Most of the Tro Tro's and Taxi's have bible verses written on the back of them. Many of the roadside shops have also taken a Christian themed business name such as the "Rapture Barber Shop", "Grace Tailoring" or "Truth Mobile Phones". Traffic in Ghana is at a minimum on Sunday because most people are attending Church. The majority of services go for about 3 hours and start at 8am. We luckily found one that starts at 9:30am. The service we attended last week had a healthy mix of traditional hymns, big African ladies in colourful moo moo's dancing up the front and extended praise drum solo's due to power outages... obviously not power-of-the-gospel-power outages. We are yet to find and attend a bible study. I hope my video below gives you an idea of what to expect :)

House Hunting

This has occupied most of our time since we flew into Ghana and I can confidently say that there is no better way to get to know the local area than by going house hunting. Now I know house hunting is a pain in Sydney...but to make you all feel better here is a list of things which tend to turn us off some of the houses we have been shown.

-Bright pink paint
-No paint at all
-Toilet in the kitchen
-Radio tower in backyards
-Greedy real estate agents (no different from Sydney I know)
-Possible Very...very long commutes by Tro Tro in order to find appropriately priced accommodation
-Roaring airconditioners
-unreliable water or power

I mean really would you really live in there?? Ok maybe some of you would...


These are just a few of the things that have turned us off. However I will say this for real estate in Ghana... What buys you a clean one bedroom apartment in one of the wealthier suburbs of Sydney will buy you a house here with barbed wire fence, a security guard and possibly reliable water and electricity.   In short get a job if you want to live here...

Peace out.  


    

Planes, Tro Tro's and 20 cedes? ooooooo, no no! 5?!

Prelude 


As promised here is our blog to keep you all up to date with our doings while in Ghana and beyond. If any of you are not already familiar with our schedule here is the brief. Tara has taken her fragile worker for NSW Health form and has morphed herself into a bright burning star for peace, justice and health reform  known as an AYAD (Australian Youth Ambassador for Development). With her newly found paladin like powers she seeks to make an impact on Ghana...which is no small task as the name Ghana means Warrior King! As for me I have taken the glamorous role of househusband which includes, but is not limited to sitting on my behindus all day... Now moving on!!

Getting there is half the fun!

Our Adventure... well Tara's adventure begins in the Qantas departure gate as she waits for her flight to arrive... very well knowing that if she is even delayed 30 minutes she would be more than likely to miss her connecting flight in Johannesburg.... Which she did. So In Johannesburg.... Ok she can type this...

"We'll after many negotiations with different airlines it was decided that we Aussies were an inconvenience and no one wanted to deal with us. Luckily I met three other Aussie volunteers in the same position and together we somehow survived a 48 hour stop over in the airport (spending most of our time sleeping on couches and in the dingy transfers lounge without any hotel or meal vouchers - still in my bad books qantas!)"

I personally am a Qantas fan though... that is where my adventure begins! So anyways I rock up to the Airport in... let's say a nice vehicle courtesy of a certain family member (you know who you are you non-internet-user fiend you!) and headed on over to the check in counter having of course checked in online, so totally skipped like 100 people. Got on the plane first because I was in premium economy and just strolled over while the other first and business class losers were just a little flabby to get up for boarding. Having heard of Tara's slight inconvenience I asked if I may be able to get off the plane a bit earlier so they said sure we'll just upgrade you to business class...awesome... Got off the plane first and you know there is always a line at the international transfer desk so because of the tight connection I went to the platinum desk and asked them to make it quick, so they processed me and I walked straight on to the plane to Ghana! Tara hates me a lot right now...

AKWAABAA


Akwaabaa means Welcome in Twi (or as tara is now explaining is a language derived from the Ashanti people who are one of the dominant people groups from the Central Region...but she's not sure...yeh) and is the first sign you see as you get off the plane. By the way when you fly in it just looks like the city goes on forever. We had a driver at first but there are really 3 ways of getting around Accra; Tro Tro, Taxi or walk...a long way. The Tro Tro is the public bus... although a better way of describing it is a half broken, overcrowded, rusty, no seatbelts, non-airconditioned death trap...for public transportation... most public buses have some form of sign indicating their destination/route but they have traded that in for a crazy man hanging our the window who yells at you while making wild hand gestures of his route such as CIRC CIRC CIRC (to Circle station) drawing big circles with his hands or DOWN DOWN DOWN(to Hatso Downs)...obviously pointing down e.t.c. and LEGO LEGO LEGO (to Legon) this is of course all a bit overwhelming when you first get there... The upside of this transport though is that it costs like 50c to get anywhere in Accra.
    
The Second alternative is to get the cab...If you are O'Brunei the conversation often goes like this. Where you go? Accra Mall? 20 cedes! Oooooooooh no no I got there for 5 this morning! ok 15 just for you! no no maximum final offer 8... get in!...The locals pay like 2...Still we get are proud of our bargaining prowess.


Finally when it is too hot, the Tro Tro's are too full, the traffic is terrible or the taxi drivers are getting greedy you walk....a long way... but you walk...with dignity... Sweating... like a fat husband who's just left Mosman...

That is enough for this post however there is still so much more to tell in this adventure...