Ghana

On Sunday, we made port in Takoradi. It was hot and humid and there was a very distinct smell in the air. Sometimes the wind blew and it smelled like shit, but I couldn’t be sure. We got into the Mercedes bus that had very upright seats. They weren’t the most comfortable thing in the world for sure.

On the way to Winneba, there were brush fires along the side of the road. One was only a few hundred feet from a gas station. People were carrying stuff on their heads too, very much like pictures and movies. There were people who had nothing but shacks. When we stopped to pass certain boarders, people would try to sell us bagged food and water from outside of the bus.

Once we got to Winneba, we gathered at the welcome center where we had a greeting party of people. Included were members of the local government and a chief that did not speak English. A libation in twi was made in our honor to make sure we had a safe time in Winneba.

The hotel that we checked into was a lot better than the surrounding dwellings of people. There was only one bed and there were 2 of us to a room. The voltage of the outlets was 220v so we had to use a converter. Dinner consisted of spicy rice, chicken, French fries, and chewy salad.

After dinner, we went to the south campus of the University of Education at Winneba. Once there, we were greeted by the mayor of Winneba and a choir that sang for us. The lecture hall had what looked like seats from movie theaters. Throughout the whole time there, students sang and danced for us. Then, a group of older men in what looked like green togas played for us and people from the school began dancing. After that performance, students played what they call highlife music, which every student from SAS got up and danced to. Music is very much a part of their culture and entertainment.

When we left the lecture hall, we got to talk to the students that went to the school. There was a small barrier of communication because their English was not the best, but I understood that the guy’s name was Kofe and he seemed pretty cool. After we got back to the hotel, people were looking for a place to watch the super bowl. A guy at the hotel said that there was a bar down the road which turned out to be really awesome. We got a bus ride there, and the bar had a 30 foot projection screen which was unbelievable to find in Ghana. Their porch was outside and the weather was impeccable.

The next morning, we had breakfast across the street from the hotel. They had crepes and omelets which weren’t bad at all. After eating, we were taken to a different campus of the College of Education at Winneba. This part specialized in arts and theater, again, the students there performed for us and danced. I was grabbed by the hand to dance with a girl who later gave me her email address and phone number. After that, the group of us went to the market which was about two minutes walk away from the campus. I saw a group of people trying to get a picture with someone’s small girl, and they loved it. After that, we all walked back to the bus and it took us back to Takoradi. It was a tiring couple of days.

The past two days were pretty fun. Yesterday, Mike and a group of his friends decided to go to the market, so I tagged along. On the way out of the port, we were followed by people trying to make and sell us things. One pair of guys followed us for a solid 10 minutes before I said my name was Wilbert and he could make a bracelet for me. It was scorching hot outside that day. I was sweating pretty badly. When we finally got into town, we all wandered through the market. People seemed to be selling the same thing at every other stand. Beans, fruits, nuts, peppers, everything. I had one lady call me over because she saw my camera and then she asked me for money. I only said I had my camera, and she asked me to give her that. She started laughing after that of course, but I still felt bad for her.

After leaving that, we were a bit confused trying to find the way back to where we came from. We must have passed the same people at least three times. Many of them were friendly, waving, and asking if we were from America. I think there was a general assumption that all of us were rich because we were white and from America. We went to a grocery store where I could finally get water because I was dying of thirst. After that, we all tried to go to an internet café, but the taxi we got took us to the wrong place. So after getting a van, we were taken to the Vodafone main café where it was air conditioned and very nicely set up with about 30 computers. When we were there, this little girl tried to pull a chair up next to me when I was video chatting with sister. It was really funny; sister wasn’t sure if she was a girl a guy and kept calling her he and him. Of course Mike took plenty of pictures.

As for today, it was a really good time. My friend Scott was wiped from last night though. I got on the bus and saw him in the back laying down and I could tell he had a rough night. This bus was at least air conditioned, unlike the bus to Winneba.

Once we got to the community center, people were already drumming. We got there and 7 people were drumming while one girl was dancing. After they stopped, we clapped and because it was drizzling, everyone moved under a sheltered area. We were then shown 5 traditional African dances. One of which required the men to dress up and dance like girls. It was really funny, but apparently they do it help girls become beautiful when they reach puberty. Another dance was a simple rain dance, but it was still pretty amazing. During one dance, a guy came out walking on his hands and he did some pretty amazing things. He could do a split and walk around on his hands with his legs open, and he could easily stick his leg behind is head when he was standing. After they were done performing, we learned how to dance and sing they way they did.

Locals were watching us from outside of the gate and some were dancing with us while others were smiling. We learned two songs, one incantation was jelly-goobera-san-wan-man-na, that was the one I liked the most. After learning and practicing, the drummers did one more song and I was once again pulled to dance by some girl, except we were the only two dancing for awhile. It was a lot of fun, but it was exercise.

After dancing, we went to lunch at a hotel nearby. I had rice and chicken, which didn’t seem like a typical meal in Takoradi, but I didn’t complain. When we went back to the community center, we learned another song and how to drum to it. Kids ended up coming in from outside and singing with us. It looked like a scene from an SAS video. One that you never think would happen, but it did. They were very welcoming and let us take pictures of them. In the end, we got to dance and sing for them. After that, we got loaded on the bus and headed back to the ship. It was a lot of fun and even though I was required to do it, I had a really great time.