Avy and I headed to Accra for the weekend yesterday morning because I needed to renew my visa. When you arrive at the airport, they stamp your passport so it’s good for a 60 day stay. If you’re staying longer, you have to go to the immigration office and extend it. I’m here for 80 something days, so I had to extend mine for a month.
Randomly last week, Rudolph (our friend who gave us a ride on our way to Ada Foah) was driving by the house and stopped to say hi. He said that he could give us a ride to Accra, and we made some plans to hang out during the weekend. Since our house is pretty far out of his way, Avy and I took a tro to Kpong, and he met us there. We got there about half an hour before he did and went on a search for shade because it was HOT, and the sun was brutal. We were creepily loitering in an alley next to a store for about 5 minutes before some guys came and insisted that we sit inside. We protested that we were fine, but they didn’t really give us a choice. It was really nice of them, so we bought some ice cream from the store to say thank you (and also just because we wanted ice cream).
After Rudolph picked us up, the rest of the trip to Accra was so typical Ghana. It’s like time doesn’t exist here, and there’s no sense of urgency ever. We planned to get to the office around 2, but Rudolph had to stop to pick out some car tires for his friend Phillip, then Phillip got lost on his way there so we had to go find him, then we went back to the shop and got the tires, then finally we were on our way and Rudolph realized that he left his phone charging at the shop, then we stopped and told Phillip to go back and pick it up, and then we actually were on our way. Avy and I probably should have just taken a tro all the way to Accra… We ended up getting there at 4:00 which is about when the office closes, but there was still just enough time to get my form filled out and passport turned in. Phew. Glad that is over with.
We met Phillip at the mall to get Rudolph’s phone back and then went on what felt like a world tour of hostels trying to pick somewhere to stay for the night. Avy said, “this must be what people did before there was the internet”. But TIA (this is Africa), so that’s what we did. It’s a good thing Avy and I had no expectations for the weekend and were happy to just go with the flow. It ended up being pretty fun, though if we were hoping for some big exciting day, it would have been disappointing.
That night, Rudolph and Phillip took us out to experience some Accra nightlife. It was fun but weird for two reasons: 1) there were other yevus (white people) around and 2) the nightlife in Frankadua consists of going to this one bar in town, sitting at plastic tables outside, and hanging out while the TV plays very dramatic and poorly executed Ghanaian soap operas. The nightlife in Accra actually resembles something you would experience in a city in the US. I felt like a girl from the village experiencing the big city for the first time. Hello culture shock!
Today we’ve just been recovering from the few hours of sleep we got last night. Avy has been in touch with a past VCO volunteer, Leela, who spends a lot of time in Ghana now, and we relocated to the hostel where she helps out when she’s in town. Guess what the room has? AC AND running water AND a hot shower!!!!
Don’t worry though, it was impossible to forget that we’re in Africa because when we were laying in bed relaxing, lizard poop (as identified by Avy) fell out of the AC unit and onto Avy’s neck. She handled it incredibly well and just brushed it off and said matter-of-factly, “oh, that’s lizard poop”. Oh yeah, no big deal.
A little later, she was about to get onto the bed and the AC started making a weird noise that lasted maybe 30 seconds before a DEAD LIZARD FELL OUT ONTO THE BED. And Avy said, “I guess that’s the lizard” while meanwhile I was letting out little panic screams every couple seconds. Can I just say this one more time? Avy was about to get into bed, the AC started making noises, and A DEAD LIZARD FELL RIGHT WHERE HER HEAD WAS GOING AND SHE HAD NO REACTION. She’s been here for too long, I think. Needless to say, we pulled the bed away from the wall to avoid any more potential surprises.
Tomorrow, Avy and I have a day of luxury planned (yes, even more luxury than AC and hot showers, and hopefully no lizards). It’s going to be awesome!