The internet has been down since Thursday so this is my journal entry from Saturday.

February 23, 2007

Today I had my tro tro adventure! A tro tro is the public transportation system in Ghana. They have similar ones all over Africa but in Ghana its called tro tro. It’s a 15 passenger van that a man owns and then hires someone to drive it and then someone who is the mate of the driver. The mate sits in the seat behind the driver on the passenger side and yells out the window where the tro tro is headed to and if there is room on the van for any more passengers. There has been a big change in the past few years when it comes to tro tro laws. Used to be they would cram as many people on a tro tro as humanly, and sometimes not so humanly, possible, so now the law is there can only be four across on each seat. They are older vans and do not last too long after being used as a tro tro. I am (as usual) getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning of my journey.

This morning around 8:15 Dennis came and picked up Rob and I to begin our adventure into Accra. We walked about a mile to Kotoku (the village behind our little village) and then caught a taxi to Medie Junction. This is probably not that exciting to read about I know, but next time I will video tape it because everything done here in Africa is so insanely funny! This taxi ride was like none other! It was only about a 4km trip but took forever because the little taxi has to dodge all the 5000 pot holes up and down Kotoku Road because if it does not the taxi could easily be swallowed by a pot hole. So we finally made it to Medie Junction and then caught our tro tro. We were at the very back of the van which was nice because no one had to climb over us and we got a lot of air! The tro tro was actually a really nice one, we were really lucky. I have seen so many times tro tros turned over on the road on fire so I was glad that this was a newer one. You know thinking about it, I probably should not have included that last sentence, but hey that’s life in Ghana. We took the tro tro to Achimoto which took about 30-40 minutes and then caught another taxi to Shangri-La Hotel. Libby, Joy, and the other Sarah took the car into Accra and we met them at Shangri-La.

Shangri-La is my favorite hotel because of the shopping. I have so many friends there. I walk into the little art market and people walk to me saying “Oh Sarah, you have returned!” and then we talk about their weeks since I have seen them last. I have a really good friend there named Yaw and when I went to talk to him he gave me a painting that he did for me (no charge) that included all my favorite colors. It was really nice. People here in Ghana depend so much on their daily income that people do not usually give things away. It is so beautiful. I have become an art collector here. Paintings in the States never really interested me, probably because you do not ever get to meet the artist and if you do they are so aware of their talent that its disgusting, here its not like that. I love talking to people about their art and the process they go through to complete it and where they get their supplies to do it, and who buys it. I just love to talk and so do Ghanaians therefore, we get along great!

After our quick stint at Shangri-La we (Libby, Rob, Sarah, and I) took a taxi to the Arts Center in Accra. The Arts Center is a market of paintings and original cloth, jewelry, machetes, t-shirts, etc. OH MY! There is so much. Mom, its like Canton only newer things and in Ghana! People are always on you to buy something all the time and sometimes you do and sometimes you don’t. What I like to do is find a vendor that I really like and can talk to and then purchase from them because a lot of the stuff is the same as every kiosk?. When we got to the Arts Center this guy came to Rob and was all over him talking to him about being an African child and where are we from, it was really weird from the get go. Anyway Rob, Libby, and Sarah went one way and then I went to another part of the market. The guy that was all over Rob decided to follow me. He followed me and talked to me for a little. He was really short, like my height and rather gruff looking. Like I said he was a little weird and I tried to get him away from me but it was not working. Well I found a jersey stand because I wanted to buy someone a Black Stars football jersey (not saying who). I was looking at some jerseys and this guy was still talking to me. Before I knew it this swarm of men surrounded me like hippos do to their young. I was in the middle of this circle of men and they were all yelling. I was not scared just a bit confused. Finally, one man turned around to me and said, “Do you know this man?” and pointed to the guy that was following me. “No, he just followed me over here.” Then the yelling continued. Finally I saw the guy running away and fast. An older gentleman turned to me and placed his hands on my shoulder and said “That man is a hooker. He was just trying to rob you. We saw him with you and knew he was going to rob you and that’s why we were around you. We did not mean to scare you.” I thanked them all generously and then bought my jersey. I have never been nervous about my surroundings here, I watch out for myself and do not let my guard down, and that’s why. People here do not take stealing lightly and because there are very harsh punishments for those that do steal not many people do. So that was rare but I thank God that he put those men around me to protect me.

I walked around the market and did not find much that I could not live without but found some things that I knew other people in my life could not. Needless to say, I made some purchases. I finally met back up with the rest of the gang and we met so many interesting characters! I need to write a book about the people of Ghana. They are so amazing and so funny! One man I met was really amazing. His name was Yosef and he is 23. I met him while I was eating my coconut. He just came and stood by me and helped my figure out how to eat my coconut and we started talking. The rest of the time he followed me very closely and we talked quite a bit. We were on our last leg and he looked at me and saw my cross and said, “Sarah, do you go to church?”
“Yes, please. Every time I get a chance I go to church. Please, do you go to church?”
“No, my father is Islam.”
“Are you Islam?”
“I try not to be but my father is. I hear so many things about Jesus.”
“Yes please, Jesus is our Savior.”
“Please, white people they come here. They watch us dance and make our drums. They tell us we should follow Jesus but never tell us about him.”
“Please, I will tell you about Jesus.”
And I did. He seemed a little scared to be talking about it and I do not blame him. There are very big consequences for those Muslims who are caught talking of Jesus. We did not get to pray but I told him I would pray for him and he gave me his email to email him more about Jesus. It was so exciting but still I worry about him. If his family finds out it won’t be good for him.

On my journey with Yosef I met a woman named Felicia. She was an older woman but she was so beautiful! She was sitting under a tree on the edge of a wall looking out to a football field. I saw her profile and immediately asked her to take a snap of her. I could not resist. She was so gorgeous. Something about her really grabbed at me and made me go to her. I sat with her under her tree trying to convince her to let me take her snap. She kept saying she was ugly and old but laughing and blushing the entire time. Her family was teasing her a bit for all the attention she was drawing to her. We talked for a little and she showed me some jewelry that was gorgeous! Probably the most beautiful I have seen since being here. She asked my name and then told me I was her new daughter. She hugged me and kissed my forehead before I got up to leave. I got three beautiful photos of her. Two of just her and then one with me in it. I showed them to her and she was so amazed that I could show it to her that fast. She just kept saying, “That’s me! That’s me!” It was so cute. I have the links at the bottoms for you to look at.

After that we hopped in a taxi and went back to Shangri-La, met with Dennis and Joy. They stayed at the hotel and swam in the pool. Then we all hopped in their jeep and headed home.

This morning I said good-bye to Susan. I ran out of the house quickly after hugging her to avoid crying. Then when we got back we were happily surprised to see that she had not left yet! I got to hang with her for another hour. However, the last good-bye was not as smooth as the first. I cried big. Then when we went for dinner the kids kept asking me “Madam Sarah, where is Madam Susan?” I told them she had left and they were really sad. They knew she was leaving, they wrote her all cards, but I think knowing that she actually left was difficult for them. Then they just kept saying, “Madam Sarah, you are not leaving yet are you?” I have really grown attached to these children as you can probably tell. I’m so attached to them that its easy to get on to them. I know them well enough to tell them what to do and what not to do. At dinner Prosper looked at me and said “Madam, I really like you. Please don’t go.” I reassured him that I still have three months left so I was there for a while longer. He seemed pleased because three months to a five year old is a long time. Sad thing is that it isn’t long at all.

Well, enough of my Saturday adventures. All my love.

Sarah

Some of the pictures at this link you have already seen and some you have not. I hope you enjoy them.

http://uwyo.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026370&l=2591d&id=45200525