To Work I Go!

Ghana is known for its hospitality and friendly, peaceful nature. I find it really improves my day when people take the time to greet me and ask me how I am doing or telling me to enjoy my day. On any given morning when I am going to the office, I greet the maid, the person at the front desk, the security guard, the campus police officer, several women selling food by the side of the road, and any other people who I meet along the way. It helps me start my day off with a positive attitude. I find the walk to work is never the same two days in a row. 

What is consistent from day to day is the traffic chaos and heavy congestion along Madina Road (one of the main roads). I still have not quite figured out how traffic lights work here. Sometimes the traffic will flow in both directions at the same time, sometimes only one direction of traffic has the right of way. I would also argue that traffic signals are frequently merely a suggestion at best - motorcycles will proceed through an intersection even if the signal is red. Almost every morning there is at least one, sometimes three, police officers directing traffic at the entrance to the university (Akpongolo Junction). They do improve the flow of traffic and have helped me a few times cross the road safely. Even though there are pedestrian signal boxes, they don’t work. Ever. So crossing the road can frequently take a while. The black cloud of fumes that rises from the road when the cars start moving is unreal. I would be shocked if any of the cars could pass a Canadian emissions test. I do find it difficult to breathe at times because of the car fumes (and the dust and burning garbage). 

A typical tro tro - broken down by the side of the road

Ghana also has arguably the highest proportion of taxis on the road anywhere. Because I am a female “Obruni”, every taxi driver is convinced I need a ride and always honk or yell in my general direction. I’ve heard conflicting reasons for this. I’ve been told that it is because they assume that Obrunis don’t know the exchange rate and that they can get higher fares. Alternatively I’ve been told that it is because Obrunis generally don’t know what the price of a cab ride is so they can take advantage of our lack of knowledge. As with many things in Ghana, there is the local price and then the foreigner price. Frequently when negotiating for a taxi ride they will propose 15 or even 20 cedis for a ride that should cost less than 8 cedis. What is certain is that constantly having to say no to them becomes tiresome. Frequently I just ignore them unless they are being very persistent. Another fun feature of taxis in Accra is that the drivers never know where they are going despite telling you that yes they know where they are going. It is rare when I take a taxi to a location other than the University or the Mall that they know exactly where I am going. Because of the lack of road signs (among other factors including a lack of house numbers and street names), navigating is mostly done with landmarks or junctions leading to mass confusion about where you are trying to go. Frequently taxi drivers will stop and ask for directions or expect you to know where you are going. This can be frustrating when you don’t know where you are going and neither do they!

The children who I see every morning on my way to the office are very cute. They will wave or yell Obruni or come and say hello to me. One of them even took a picture of me the other day (not really sure why). They are frequently out in the street playing soccer or watching the world go by.

It takes me about an hour a day to walk to and from the office so it gives me time to observe things and interact with people. I even had one of the vendors tell me I was late yesterday (which I was), which I found funny but sweet. I hope I will get more confident in crossing the road and perhaps figure out some of the rules of the road by the time I leave. I really want to improve my Twi so I am able to greet people in the morning in the local language. I’m surprised how difficult it is to get the sounds right. Apparently I have the North American “light tongue” and need to adopt a heavier tongue  to improve my Twi.