With each day in Accra I have been met with exponentially more adventure and today was no different.Hello Hello Family,
I found the director of my volunteer organizaton, Mr. Kenneth Nortey-Mensah today. In the back of the WWOOF booklet were extremely vague directions to the office so I hired a jovial Rastaman of a cabbie, who ended up being my guide for the day, and we went on a wild goose chase for Mensah. After asking about 6 people for directions through the many back roads of Teshie (some of which resembled ocean waves they were so worn, others were washed out 3 feet on the sides) we came upon the Ave Marie School, from where a young student brought us to Mensah's house.
Ibrahim, my cabbie, and I came across Ken taking a Sunday afternoon nap on the couch in his boxers and were greated to both his confusion and his apologetic delight. He said that if I told his boss in London that he did not pick me up at the airport then he will be fired so he was more than willing to cater to my every need. He said that he will pick me up from Accra whenever I call his new cell # and that the $680 I calculated as payment for the program was far too much. He projects $10-15/wk in food expenses and less in program fees that I had thought. Exxxxcellent.
Outside his house were the cutest little kittens (maybe 2 wks old) but, ever-mindful of the Vieques Hospital experience this summer, I did not touch them. The best word to describe Teshie is "squalor" but the WWOOF house is actually quite nice with indoor plumbing, tiled floors, two bedrooms and a tv. No women live in the house though so it's not exactly tidy, but by all means an improvement from the surrounding area.
Right now there is a German living at the house, whom I did not meet, but he will be staying there to create a farm behind the school for the children to have. I would like to work with him on that at first so I will know another obruni, at least for a while.
Ibrahim was more than helpful today and showed me a side of Accra I have yet to see. Being from Accra, he is well connected within the city and it seemed there was always someone of his acquantance around to help us. It appears that the main taxi gas station in Accra accidentally switched Diesel with regular fuel today, so taxis across the city were breaking down with gunked up fuel injectors. We stopped 3 times as a result of this problem, but it only added to the adventure of the day. In the end I sent him off with $25 for about 5 hours of service, much of which consisted of him showing me off to his friends and family as we stopped in obscure spots throughout the city. All were eager to greet the obruni at their local drinking hole (owned by his sister), market (where we met his other sister), drum shop (owned and operated by his childhood friend) and chop bar. Ibrahim is now convinced that he will come to America and I will be his guide. I guess to buy that plane ticket he will have to guide many-an-obruni, but should he succeed I will greet him with open arms.
I am checked-in at the hotel president right now, but their power has been shut off for the night (resuming tmrw morning b/c the hydro-electric dam water level is too low). They are currently working to get the generator up and running, but for the night I will have a fan but no A/C at a reduced rate (about $16).
If I do not find Dr. Nyako within the next two days I will most likely move into the WWOOF house and begin working at the school. Hopefully we will be able to connect, and that is why I stay in Accra another night.
Off to find a Lebanese restaurant in the Niagra Hotel, near to my new accommodations. Bye for now
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