Accra

Sister Regina left this morning. :( I’m quite sad because I really like her. She always treated me so sweetly. She asked me to visit her at school one weekend, and I told her I would. In the meantime, I only have one remaining dinner-time ally: Sister Dorothy. How will I survive until Sister Juliana comes back in March?

I needed to get away from the convent, so I spent today wandering Accra.

I had five objectives: to browse a bookstore, to buy postcards, to buy a map of the world for my classroom, to eat non-Ghanaian food, and to visit the art museum.

I found a few bookstores, but they pretty much sucked. The majority of the books were school textbooks, like what my students have in their backpacks. There were large selections of Christian literature, which isn’t exactly what I was looking for, either. The only non-Christian, non-schoolbooks they sold were second-hand, mostly trashy romance novels and those best-selling thrillers that I despise. I realize that it may be 5 months and 21 days until I can lose myself in a real bookstore... the thought makes me want to cry.

I asked around for a map of the world, but everyone was out! Dommage! I guess my students will just have to wait a little longer. I really want a map of the world for my classroom, because I’m constantly talking about different countries or cultures and I desperately want a nice map to show them what I’m talking about.

I found a few people selling postcards... but they were way overpriced. I will either keep looking or just print my own pictures, which is close to the same cost.

I found a Chinese restaurant! I ate fried noodles with egg and drank chocolate tea milk. It was a tiny place, on the second story. Oh, isn’t that the wonderful thing about China? China is universal. Chinese food is the one international food that can be found in every country. As I sat on a little plastic chair at my table overlooking the rooftops, I wasn’t in Accra; I was in every big city. Mmm, mmm! Eating non-Ghanaian food left me quite satisfied.

I wandered around Accra for a bit, trying to find the museum, but before I could, I found the Art Centre. It was this community where artists and craftsmen live and sell their crafts, mostly to tourists, I think. There was an art gallery with modern paintings, and I must say I was surprised by how much I liked what I saw. All the other “art” I’ve seen in Ghana so far has been very tacky, so I was impressed by how wonderful the paintings here were. There were also shops selling bright African clothes, drums and other instruments, wooden carvings, and wooden masks. I wandered around the Art Centre for a while, and then, finally...

I found the museum! I didn’t go in, though. It cost GH¢6 for non-Ghanaians to enter. I had planned to leave Accra a half an hour later, so I decided to save the museum for next time. Now that I know where it is, I’ll have no trouble finding it again. Next time, I can go and spend as much time as I like there!

I found a trotro going my direction right away, and from the time I sat down to the time I walked into the school compound, almost an hour had passed. So, while I didn’t complete all of my objectives, and while Accra wasn’t all I dreamed it could be, it was still nice to see a change of scenery and get out of Haatso for the day.

PS: I’ve been here for four months. Strange! It feels like I’ve been here for so much longer!