First Day in Sekondi-Takoradi

So today I try my hand in blogging.  I’m sitting in my hosts’ living room, watching The Food Network, which feels very familiar.  It’s 8 AM and already very humid.  My hair is already dripping wet.  Perhaps I should have taken a shower this morning.  The shower is only cold water, which I never thought I’d say I’m fine with, but in the heat, there’s no need for a hot shower.  The shower I took last night was very invigorating. 

My doxycycline alarm just went off so I took my daily anti-malaria medication, however stupidly I took it on an empty stomach.  Now I’m fighting nausea and eating some bread and jam. The loaf bread is different here, sweeter and very soft. 

My flights were long and miserable.  I waited for 7 hours in the waiting room in the Accra airport, which felt like forever on these terribly uncomfortable seats.  I don’t really want to re-count the experience because it was exhausting. 

The Ghanaian accent is a bit difficult for me to understand.  When my host speaks to his girlfriend quickly, I can’t totally follow.  When someone talks directly to me I can lip read a little bit and I’m basically able to understand, but if I can’t look at the person talking, it’s more difficult. 

This weekend I’m hoping to explore Sekdondi-Takoradi.  I suppose I should take this time to explain the city I’m staying in.  The NGO I’m working for, Hen Mpoano, is located in Takoradi, however the home I’m staying in is in Sekondi.  Although they are technically different cities, according to Cephas, my host, “You can’t see the divide between the two, you wouldn’t know its two cities.”  I asked if “Sekondi” means “second,” because it certainly sounds like it.  This amused my hosts, who explained that Sekondi is actually the elder of the two cities, and still the seat of power in the Western Region.  However, at one point the rail system collapsed and Sekondi began to whither, and Takoradi became more of the metropolis.  Even though Takoradi is the larger city, the administrative buildings for Western Region are still located in Sekondi. 

Flying into Seknodi-Takoradi, I was fascinated by the way the city unfolds into the jungle.  From above, there are large swaths of green jungle, and patches of housing areas, not in any sort of grid, which are lined with roads of the bright red Ghanaian soil.  In the Accra airport, I was amazed at how red the soil is.  You see it in pictures but honestly nothing does it justice.  It’s amazing and vibrant.  Leaving the airport, Cephas asked me if I’ve ever been in the tropics before, and that was the first time I actually realized that I’ll be staying in “The Tropics.”  Months and months of planning and that didn’t dawn on me!  From the large (screened-in, of course) back yard balcony, I can see jungle.  From the quiet bathroom in the middle of the night, I could hear sounds from the jungle, bugs and frogs going about their nightly rituals.  On the drive from the Takoradi airport (the smallest airport I’ve ever seen, pictures to come) we went from a very busy, vibrant market place to a jungle lined road to the area where the house I’m staying at is. 

Well that’s it for now.  I’m nervous about my first day at Hen Mpoano, I hope I don’t disappoint them!  Luckily I have two days between now and then, and hopefully I can get over my jet lag and get my normal apatite back from them.

Final note: I’ve learned that Ghanaians say “take” to mean “consume.”  “Do you take coffee in the morning?” I was asked.  “We take a large lunch and a light dinner,” and “do you take beer?” are things that have been said.  I’m still a little thrown by this language quirk, but I’m sure I’ll become acclimated.