Accra Quest - June 9th 2012

June 9th, 2012 - Accra Quest

Well I wasn't sure if I'd be able to go on the Accra Quest this morning because I spiked a pretty high fever last night (101.5 F) and was having body aches and stomach cramps. Luckily the Ibuprofen I took did wonders, and I felt much better in the morning. So we left to catch the tro at about 6:45am, but we didn't get picked up until about 7:45am. My group had four destinations to get to: Busy Internet, Neoplan Station, Kwame Nkrumah Circle, and OA Station.

            We didn't have any problems at all with the first one, but after that we decided to walk to Neoplan station because we didn't think it was that far, but that may have been a mistake. When we were in Neoplan two men offered to help us and they essentially became our personal tour guides. They walked us all through the stations and stopped other people from pestering us. We discovered that the circle is a hugeeee shopping center and you can get clothes, shoes, shampoo, food, and really anything else at all that you may want.

            We got called "obrunis" by many children, which means foreigner or white person. It is not an insult necessarily, but it does get kind of annoying. They are all very excited to see us, and they are happy. One little girl, maybe three or four years old, waved at me and as soon as I waved back she grabbed onto my hand and walked with us for a while. I didn't want her to get too far away from where she was so I tried to let go of her hand and say bye, but when she realized I was trying to leave her she clung to me for dear life and entwined herself in my legs. After a few bystanders saw me struggling to get her off they helped me by pulling her off. It broke my heart, but made my day at the same time. Maybe she will have a PC teacher someday. We had a little trouble with the tros on the way back, but made it back safe and sound.

            In the afternoon we learned a little bit more about how our home stay families are selected, which is quite a rigorous process. We also learned about how to support each other through the difficult times that are up ahead.

            In the evening we did a talent show. People sang, recited poems, juggled, did magic tricks, and many other things. My partner and I decided that since we had no necessary tools to do any of our current talents that we would learn a new talent. We chose balancing the baskets on our heads like the people do in the city to sell things, and all over the country as a practical means of carrying objects. I found that I'm actually really good at it. In no time at all I was walking around Valley View with a basket of water sachets on my head. The staff members were very impressed. We ended up turning it into a little skit, and my partner was tossing items into my basket. We had a few more discussions in the evening and then did some team bonding exercises.