trip continues...

After leaving Tenzug we headed back to Bolga to catch a tro on to Wa which is on the other side of the country. We decided to travel through one of the most remote and underdeveloped parts of Ghana. A tro to Wa was going to take about 8 hours so we decided to break up the trip and spend the night in Tumu. Which was only about 5 hours away. It was a good thing we did this because after waiting on the tro for a couple of hours for it to fill we immediately began our trip on one of the worst roads in Ghana. Padding on tros is pretty much nonexistent so five hours on a washboard road is torture. We also had horrible seats with no leg room at all. We were basically squatting. On top of that the dust was so bad that we had to wear bandanas over our mouths and noses. By the time we reached Tumu our hair was red from dust.

Not much exciting about Tumu. Not really many people visit there especially white ones. It was just about dark when we found a place to stay. After that we looked for food to eat. There really weren't too many options. Fufu and groundnut stew. My least favorite dish in Ghana! I ate it after much gagging. Fufu is made from cassava, plantains or yam (but not the yams we know)it is peeled, boiled and then pounded in a big wooded bowl with large sticks until it becomes a starchy ball of goo. You then pick off small pieces and dip it in a stew. You are not supposed to chew fufu as it is considered rude to the cook. Fine with me...gets it out of my mouth sooner. After eating we headed back to the room. On the way there I saw a white woman sitting in front of a store chatting with people. We exchanged glances and I did not think much of it. Funnything is that a few weeks ago I met a Peace Corps volunteer here in Accra who is stationed in Tumu. I told her I was there once and asked her if the person I saw might have been her. She got excited and said she remembered the Day that two white guys walked through her town. She said she was so desperate to speak with someone knew and almost chased after us to talk to us. We finally got to sleep and woke up at 5 with the Muslim call the prayer blasting all over the city. We headed out to find a tro to Wa and ended getting the last to places in the back of a truck sitting on an unpadded bench the truck. In a truck smaller than a standard bed pick up there were 17 people crammed in there! At this point in time, we knew this was going to be one long trip, but there were no other options. We were right. We did get a break, however, when it broke down. Gladly, I got off. Fortunately, the people found a van to put us on and we finished the journey in seats with slightly more padding. A few hours later, we arrive in Wa and eat another egg sandwich.

More to come.

my apartment

I recently moved into an apartment in the busiest part of the city. It is near one one the main transportation hubs for buses and tro tros. All day long you can hear over a loud speaker a guy saying, "Koforidua Mountain!" over and over. He does this to attract people going there since there really is no structure to the stations. You just have to ask around where the tro tro to wherever is leaving from.

The neighborhood is safe, but I am pretty much one of the non-Africans living here. I live on a dirt road (calling it a road is a stretch). It has huge rocks in it and puddles. I kind of reminds me of the set from Blackhawk Down. Cars rarely drive there and taxis generally ask for more money if you have them drive there. People are friendly and things are much cheaper in this part of town.

I share the apartment with 3 other people and one of my best friends is moving in the week. We have a pretty constant supply of water which is not always the norm. We also have a guy that cleans, does the dishes and laundry. It is a nice life. I will post pics soon.

why i have not written

I knew this would happen! I never seem to follow through with these writing things. At this point in time I really just dont know what to write about. Things are so everyday for me now. I figure why would anyone want to hear how a woman on the street screamed at me because I walked between her and the bananas she was selling? Or I had malaria again?

Anyway, I did move into an apartment. It is a cool place, but the neighborhood looks like it is straight from the set of Blackhawk Down.

I have less than two months left. I cant believe that I went from hating it here to not wanting to leave. I have really made a life for myself here and live at a different pace. I speak Ghanaian english which will have to end very quickly. I think that I am going to have a hard time readjusting to the US.

I promise to post some pics soon.