The here and now.
Trip Start
Aug 09, 2009
1
22
25
Trip End
Dec 20, 2009
Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
1. The constant, incessant and unnecessary honking of taxi cabs no longer phases you.
2. You forget that cherry pepsi exists.
3. You turn your head in the direction of the person who is hissing like a snake.
4. You are not angered by the person standing in front of your hostel with a megaphone yelling about Jesus. (on the contrary you go out onto your balcony and watch them)
5. You call someone out for trying to sell you something for the “white” price instead of the Ghanaian price.
6. Buying a pair of pants out of a backpack or a muffin out of a clothes basket is borderline normal.
7. You know that if you are thirsty and in a car going somewhere you just yell pure water out of the window and will have that thirst quenched in about 2 seconds.
8. You are never in a rush to go anywhere; leaving at 7:00 means that you will leave no earlier than 8:30. (Clearly it’s just the way things are, you can’t get angry about it because then you are just the out of control foreigner who needs to seriously calm it down.)
9. Sucking water, rice, yoghurt, porridge, ice cream, juice, beans (pretty much anything) out of a bag is the way you eat things and it no longer semi-disgusts you.
10. “Flashing” becomes a daily activity. (A flash is when you don’t have any phone credits so you call who you want to talk to and hang up after it rings once)
11. You understand that when someone tells you that you are well fed or fat it is considered a complement that you should thank them for instead of getting upset about it.
12. Patience has overcome you. (it may just happen to take 5 hours to travel 100 kilometers. That is clearly just how it is)
13. Flat, smooth, paved roads seem like a thing of the future.
14. You have accepted the fact that you will only feel really clean for about 5 minutes after getting out of the shower.
15. Hot water does not exist. ever.
16. You can forget the last time you showered and or brushed your teeth and be okay with yourself.
17. Seeing a naked child running around does not seem out of the ordinary.
18. You prefer yam chips to French fries.
19. You have acquired the skill of eating soup with your hands.
20. At least once you have been in the middle of showering when the water cuts off and you have not taken the proper precautions of filling up a bucket before hand leaving you a big soapy mess.
21. You have tried to breathe fire by taking a drink of apateshie and then breathing into a lighter to try prove that apateshie is not liquor, it is rubbing alcohol in disguise.
22. In addition to that, each time you take apateshie or palm wine (Ghanaian alcohols) you share some with the gods by throwing some on the ground.
23. You become really seasonally disoriented and forget that in other parts of the world they are celebrating things like Halloween and cursing things like snow.
24. You no longer worry about the 10 or so ants that are also occupying your bed at night.
25. After trying it, you come to the conclusion that carrying things on your head is a way more effective way to do things.
26. You start calling people on the phone (at least once a day) for no reason but to say hello and ask how they are. (this used to really irritate me and I have now realized that I am doing it too)
27. You realize that there are good and bad internet days and you fully take advantage of the good days because they are certainly few and far between.
28. You celebrate things like the return of water and electricity to your hostel.
29. You are not scared and barely phased when the car you are in comes within inches of another car.
30. You have started saying hello to get people’s attention.
31. You shower at least twice a day (some Ghanaians seriously shower about five times a day)
32. Your meal choices are rice. Yam. Chicken. Fish. Or soup and dough. And this doesn’t really bother you that much.
33. instead of saying ghana you prefer to use the phrase "this is GH baby"
Comments
I am so proud of you, Renee. Good job with carrying your home on your back. :)
I love this blog! Also, I miss you. Hope you have a good week filled with good internet days so we can talk!
I totally love this blog!
happened to find it whilst searching for something else..
Am a Ghanaian linving in GH ! :)