Only in Africa

(That picture below is of random kids. It just goes to show how we are a magnet for these kids. They all followed us while we were walking to a main road to catch a tro-tro when we were in Kumasi).

Last time I wrote I mentioned we were going to a village for some cultural dancing. Here we are often being honored, and in this case they honored us by giving us a 300cedis (equivalent to about $200 canadian) performance for free! Our instructors 'adopted-son' (Sinbad) from here is a professional dancer and he and his group danced for us for free. These guys and girls were amazing! Loved it! We sat outside in the village and watched with a TON of kids and had a blast. There's always one child who takes the hand of any of us white people and I love it. I sat with a gorgeous girl for a good couple hours. I can't get enough. Taking it all in....

A few days ago Erin and I were walking home from the internet cafe when we ran into this 9year old boy. The kids here frequent this street and there is never a time that we do not run into someone that we met once before. This boy invited us to watch his football (soccer) game so we went and watched yesterday!! I love doing these random things. We didn't know this kid very well, but a few of us made the walk over to the field and watched his game. Oh what was really funny was the cow that gracefully walked across the field in the middle of the play - the kids weren't even phased!! Only in Africa...

Then we were invited over to Sinbad's house for dinner which his Mom made for us. It's called Fufu (spelling?) and is basically mashed yams (the yams here are white - weird!) with a ground nut sauce. You eat it with your hands. It was interesting...not my favourite, but it wasn't too bad! Oh, and I (and others) nearly fell into another open sewer. These are everywhere.

Today we went to the Market here in Tamale looking for some African things. Not all the shops were open so I only bought a couple things but are definitely planning on going back this week! Then we were planning to hit up the swimming pool and could not wait! We got all ready to go and grabbed a cab. We got to the pool only to find a man who informed us that the pool was closed for a few weeks or so, and then proceeded to ask me to be his wife. Sorry buddy, that's not happening. He asked me many times, then he asked all the other 5 girls we had crammed into the cab (there's no rules here - you can fit as many people as you can into these cabs).

After determining that the pool was closed, we tried to drive away and the clutch on the cab was shot. And that road is not frequented by cabs very often. He had to call someone to come pick us up. Poor cab driver couldn't get anywhere! So we sat on the side of the road and waited in the blazing African sun. No big deal. Only in Africa.

Tomorrow we are starting in the hospital. It'll just be a tour for a couple hours. The tour is supposed to start at 9am, but on Ghanaian time that probably means 10am. I'm so stoked to see what it's like!!

I could get used to this lifestyle. Right now we're not living in the poorest of the poor areas. It's so community driven. We run into the same people everywhere and are constantly being welcomed to this country. Random people walk by and say "welcome to Ghana" or "you are welcome". The kids giggle and wave when they see us. We are often being 'hissed' at (it's the way that people here get the attention of another person, similar to us yelling "hey you") by people of every age and sometimes hear "white lady!". The guys who are intrigued by us will join us as we run our errands and ask us question after question about Canada and our perspective on Ghana. Anything goes. Time is of no importance. Just community. Being together. So great. It makes me reflect so much on what life is like in Canada. Our priorities are so different.

I can't even begin to imagine how to 'fix' the issue of poverty. The problem is so big, and the people really have adapted to this lifestyle (I do find the simplicity of their life very attractive). My heart breaks every time I see a child running around with a huge belly (can be indicative of worms, or a diet lacking in protein), coughing like mad (likely a pneumonia, or TB) unable to get medication, etc etc, it's so not right. These issues are huge in the villages (not as common here in the 'city' part). But the situation is so big. So so big. It's mind boggling.

And on that note, it's time to walk home, grab a quick shower, and sleep to get ready for another day in Ghana! Still can't believe I'm here :)