So I realize that I haven’t written much about the actual city I am living in. It’s pretty hard to describe I guess… to really capture the sights, sounds, tastes, colours and smells in words. It is a busy city, starting to boom from newfound offshore oil. We live near the sea, though it is easy to forget when you are in the centre of town. The Atlantic Ocean here sure is a lot warmer than the coast of Newfoundland, that’s for sure!
We are staying in a hostel-esque place called the Worker’s College where people stay when they are passing through for schooling or work placements etc. We are extremely well taken care of, especially by a man named Kujo who works here. I think it’s safe to say he is one of the most kind-hearted, joyful, hard-working men I’ve ever met. He loves to visit and laugh with us and we are hoping to meet his family who live about an hour and a half from here in March. Kujo is the kind of person who makes you realize that there is really nothing so tough that you can’t find something to smile about at the end of the day. For the spirit that he shares with us, I am incredibly grateful.
Despite its size, no one in Takoradi uses addresses to find places. Street signs are merely for looks and the best way to find something is to know a few key landmarks around where it might be. For example, we work at the YMCA Vocational School which is at the first roundabout across from Good News Radio station. The restaurant Silver Pot where we frequent is on the other side of the market circle on the corner across from A&D motors. This vagueness also corresponds nicely to the Ghanaian sense of time. The response “I’m coming” can mean a person will either be there in 5 minutes or perhaps 3 days. Despite the lack of specificity when it comes to places/meeting times, everyone seems to find their way just fine.
Although it may seem to be a sweeping generalization, I think it’s safe to say that Ghanaians are incredibly warm, friendly and generally all-around nice people. It’s funny because one of my favourite qualities in a person is warmth, and it’s not every day I describe people as ‘warm’ back home. Today I noticed that I use ‘warm’ to describe just about every single person I’ve encountered here. So it seems as though I will need a better distinguishing trait…
The market is a busy, chaotic, noisy, yet carefully orchestrated focal point in the city. Through the chaos, people have their stands and their goods and it all just seems to work. It’s a feast for your nose in that market - some great and some not so great scents that take me by surprise every time I go.
Women, men and children use their heads to carry just about everything here. I am quite doubtful that my arms could ever carry most of the bowls or plates of food or goods that they have carefully balanced on their noggins’ as they effortlessly float around town. We have noticed that Ghanaians also have impeccable and gorgeous posture, perhaps due to these balancing acts. This slouchy Canadian over here needs to straighten up.
As we don’t have our own kitchen, we eat out every day. A bit ago we discovered a restaurant called “Harlem Home Cooking” beside our workplace and have been there every day since. Currently obsessed with Red Red, a local dish of beans and fried plantains, it seems as though I’m either getting used to the spice or we’ve found the only non-spicy food in the city. An educated guess would suggest it’s probably the former. I’ve lost all craving for Western foods and could probably survive the rest of my days on Red Red from Harlem. With an Alvaro to wash it down, of course.
The best part (ok, not the best part, but a really great part) about Takoradi is that in lieu of stray dogs and cats cruising around, there are SHEEP and GOATS everywhere! This is very exciting as an avid sheep/goat lover, though my giggling/oo’ing/aw’ing/animal-talk is wearing thin on my housemates. I’m trying to keep it contained but they are just so darned cute! Oh! And this random hot pink chicken? The best!
We are very busy and don’t get to the internet cafe often (as you can tell from my sporadic blog posting) but will hopefully be able to keep posting as the project wraps up. It’s going by so fast!
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