Saturday, June 07, 2003

 
I lied. Here I am! Ah, how plans change. Let's see.....Im going to backtrack for a second. The day before Jeremy left, we celebrated our anniversary since he would be in MN on Friday. It turned into a comedy of distasters. It took 20 minutes to find a taxi. Then the driver refused to actually drop us at the hotel because traffic was too bad. We proceeded to get into a screaming argument with him before leaving the cab pissed off. (Oh how I wish I would have called him some names....) When we arrived at the restaurant, we learned that it was closed for a private party. Then we walked to the road to catch another cab and it started raining. By now, my blood sugar was crashing and I was trying not to cry. Thankfully, a stupid radio program about Frytol cheered me up and we settled on dinner at the Niagra Hotel's restaurant, a mediocre drab place that didnt charge us a corkage fee for bringing our own wine. The food was plentiful and fine and affordable. By the end, it turned out fine...reminding me yet again that even when life seemingly goes down the crapper, Im thankful Jeremy is by my side. Everything swings back up again...and he's a great companion.

Then Jeremy left...which was strange. We've gone to the airport so many times to say goodbye to our friends, but its never been us before. But this time...he was the one to walk through the doors and wave from the second story windows and take off. I returned home to pack my own suitcase....to clean the house....to sigh at that big empty bed. The next morning I left for Tudu station to catch the 7:30 bus to Aflao. When I got there at 6, the 5:30 am bus still hadnt left, so I bought a ticket for that one instead. Thirty minutes later, when it had filled, we left. Bumpy, crappy road. Cant imagine doing that in a trotro! I arrived to Aflao, this crazy, muddy, aggressive border town crammed with screaming black market money changers and taxi drivers and people who dont speak a lot of English (mostly Ewe or French, which I still SUCK at). Heather met me for lunch and we tried to adapt to each other's rhythms. Its weird...Ive never travelled without Jeremy here.....we're such good travelers together and share the same patterns. Now I have to switch twice...once for Heather and once for Erin. But we did fine and returned to Heather's village where she lives and teaches AIDS education and sex ed. First we dropped off my bags, then I had to use the lovely pit toilets. I refused to go in the ocean by the Aflao bar...still cant do more than pee in the sea. Heather's village, by the way, has no electricity, no running water and no phones. How's that for intense??? We started at the school, where I was introduced to all of the JSS teachers and some students. They peppered me with questions, a few hit on me and we just sat there until school ended. Heather was preoccupied with some kid who had been bitten in the face by a bug a few days ago. He'd gotten worse and now his face was completely swollen on one side. He could barely open his eye and it looked like he'd packed a baseball into the top of his cheek. So, in her duty as an emissary, Heather and I and the kid went to the hospital. While he was being admitted, we chatted with a few of her friends at the hospital. (She'd been there so many times for her thyphoid that everyone seemed to know her.) He gave us a free malaria test (negative), we watched some guy get his blood type tested (interesting) and I weighed myself on a real scale for the first time in over six months. Heather fetched him food and finally we went home. From there, I was led around the village to meet everyone there. Heather's friend, Bright, gave us a tour. I'd never actually gotten to SEE a village other than the ones we drive by on our way to somewhere else. Most folks lived in mud huts with thatched roofs, surrounded by big plots of dirt and rocks. Sheep and chickens and kids ran around, and most people didnt speak English. Some ladies didnt wear shirts. I saw a baby playing with a big machete, which I tried to take a photo of. His sister decided that she had to be in the photo too and threw a plastic ball at him. Heather tried to move the ball and of course, the baby started freaking out. She is one of a small, small, small handful of white people that they've ever had there and white people = scary! Then the cook, who didnt speak english and didnt know how to cook for a vegetarian, brought us supper. (Plain rice, a small dish of tomato paste sauce with dirt in it and two cut up oranges.) Yum!!!! We played cards, drank warm beer and watched the mosquitos suck us dry.
By 8 pm, that village was DARK. And quiet. Whew....I felt like we were in the middle of no where. Wow...village life is intense. I tell you....if Jeremy had decided to study Ghana in some remote village, I think I would have really really disliked my time here. It would have taken me ten times longer to adjust....it wouldnt be so bad, but I tell you...when its 8 pm and Im cursing the room because its damn hot (theres no fan), its too dark to read (theres no lights), i cant call anyone (theres no phone), and I have to pee again (which means I have to walk outside into the mosquito filled darkness with a flashlight into the outhouse like shed to pee in a pit and put the toilet paper in a second canister and hear/feel the flies and bug buzz against my ass and my ears and behind me.) Its INTENSE!!! I am not cut out to be a villager. I can deal with a lot, and I can deal with my above list (plus bland crappy food) for a short time. But when this is my all day every day for a year, I cant do it. I know myself well enough that village life is fun to visit but I wouldnt want to live there. And how fortunate I am to have the luxury of choice....when millions of people dont get the chance to go somewhere else...not even to the next big town....their ENTIRE lives. I know how lucky and thankful and rich I am. Trust me, folks. I KNOW.
We woke up this morning intending to go to the waterfalls north of Ho. However, the rains did not agree with our plans. Heather needed to change money so we had to go back into AFlao and catch a trotro to Ho from there. It rained the whole way, but what a great road! So smooth and unmuddy......small pleasures. When we got to Ho and checked into the Freedom Hotel, we were too tempted by the cable tv (six channels of movies, sports, news and music videos from around AFrica) and the fan and the flushing toilets. We decided to stay in Ho today and go to a different mountain tomorrow on our way back to the village. From there...I meet Erin in Aflao on Monday morning before we cross the border into Togo. The border has been open since the 3rd and I havent heard of any problems. Should be fine...except that darn French. Ive been trying to practice off and on today, but it doesnt want to stick! Je parle un peu francais. (I speak a little french.) Je voudrais une chambre bon marche. (I would like a cheap room.) Combien le billet? (How much for a ticket?) Je suis vegetarienne. (I am a vegetarian.) That should get me around. Well, that's it for now. No idea what emailing will be like in Togo, although I bet all the keyboards are French versions.....so I will blog when I can. Au revoir!
posted by Julie Dorn 10:06 AM

Tuesday, June 03, 2003

 
Wow...busy morning already. Woke up to walk with Steph at 6 to 7 am, then bugged Jeremy until he woke up at 8ish, ate breakfast, then walked to the bank. Waited in line for 30 minutes and got to the window, only to hear that the system was down and she couldnt do anything for me. Whatever. Took 500,000 out of the ATM and then headed to the ForEx to exchange it for CIFAs. Expensive little critters they are....then taxied to the unmarked Togo Embassy to apply for a Togo Visa. It was quite painless and cheaper than I feared....just had to fill out a form and copy it twice, give them three passport photos and 10,000 CIFA and come back in 3 hours to pick it up. Wow...hopefully crossing the border will be just as painless. Togo just had their on June 1st...things have been relatively peaceful, but anytime things get funky, Ghana closes the border. We still havent heard the results of the elections, if you can call them that. I dont know how Togo can be a democracy, when the president/dictator has been in power for over 35 years. Apparently, opposition parties are squashed should they get too big to challenge the current president, and after the elections there were a few locations where they claimed voting was fraudulent. I'd hate to get locked into Togo, in which case we would have to travel up to Burkina to cross back into Ghana. No matter...I will bring my credit card and can apply for an emergency VISA should that happen. It should be fine. Ive never heard of any violence against foreigners in Togo, unless of course I take a photo of any military installment, and then I could be beaten. Whoo hooo!!!!
So after I pick up my VISA and passport, I need to head to STC to buy m y ticket to AFlao when I visit Heather. Originally I was going to go on Thursday afternoon so I could take a class all day on Friday. Ive since changed my mind. I feel really weird about leaving Jeremy on our anniversary and making him go to the airport by himself, and while $40 for the classes would be nothing back home, here it seems like soooo much. Besides, the times Ive tried to do Ewe dances, where you basically flap your arms like a chicken and squat and work your back like a madman, Ive been sore after five minutes. Dont think I could survive six hours straight. Instead Im going to try to go on Friday morning and just plan to see the doctor up there and hang out with Heather. That works for me.
I may or may not email or blog tomorrow, so in case I dont, I will write when I come back next week Thursday. Happy birthday Susan!
posted by Julie Dorn 4:24 AM

Monday, June 02, 2003

 
So heres the good news...Jeremy received the Fulbright Hayes award...in addition to the Fulbright he already got. Now he has to decide which one he wants. Its a bit complicated, as he already booked a flight home so he could attend the Fulbright conference in D.C. and they would reimburse him for his costs, and while the F-Hayes is more prestigious, the Fulbright offers more perks. Ah, decisions, decisions. Its exciting though...he went from no grants last year to receiving the two biggest grants this year. Hooray for him!!
Last night we had some friends over for a lentil chili dinner. I felt like shit all night...barely got any sleep...tossed and turned with a big fiery fist in my ribcage...and it finally went away around 11 am today. Skipped french..I cant concentrate on anything but my phsycial discomfort when I feel that way. When I felt better, I went with Jeremy to the cultural center to buy some last minute gifts. He leaves this Thursday, as do I, so we need to get our stuff together. Tomorrow has him packing and reconfirming his ticket, and me getting a Visa from the Togo embassy and booking my bus ticket to Aflao to meet Heather. Im a little nervous, but it should be fun.
Tonight Erin makes lasagna for us...we're bringing bread and wine and leftover brownies from last night. Wednesday is our anniversary day....early, but we're still planning a day together with a nice dinner out. I think we will eat at the Labadi beach hotel...one of Accra's few five star restaurant. They have two vegetarian dishes and some good desserts....and all in all it will be cheaper than our last trip to L'arco, our pre-favorite restaurant before their food starting sucking. So I may not be on blogger for a bit...Im out of town as of Thursday and wont be back to ACcra until next Wednesday or Thursday. I will email when I get back into town.
posted by Julie Dorn 7:48 AM