The rains have come and they rarely stop and although things have cooled down a few degrees (and I mean only a few), I'm not sure I like this thing called the rainy season. When I first got here, we would wake up every morning to bright sun, blue sky with maybe a few puffy clouds floating by and it was great, well except for the scorching heat. I've come to understand that the rains bring an extra element of chaos to the streets of Accra than there already is. I'm extremely thankful for the four-wheel drive SUV that Guinness has given us because so often Frank and I find ourselves driving through muddy flooded streets. There is not a real gutter system on the roads so basically the streets just fill up with water in a matter of an hour and that means chaos for already crazy aggressive drivers here. To make matters worse traffic lights seem to work less often than they already do. So in order to cross an intersection drivers have to force their way through oncoming traffic which I usually have to close my eyes for. And for even more confusion, people are darting in and out of cars across the street to try to find cover. It seems very few people carry umbrellas. But it doesn't stop people from selling on the street. They just wrap their head in a plastic bag (and maybe their baby's head too who's sitting on their back) and they keep on selling. And if I think I have it bad driving in our nice SUV, consider those (most people who live in Accra) who rely on public transportation (the Tro Tro). Several people have told me that it took them 5 hours the other day to get home because every tro tro was full and every cab was also full. So basically people have to stand in the rain for hours fighting to get on a crowded rickety van.
The other day, before a rain storm came, I was sure that the building going up next to ours was going to come crashing down or debris from the construction was going to fly into our windows. It was a crazy scene. All kinds of things starting flying off the building and the work men were running around like crazy to find cover.
The pool has basically been deserted at the complex and most expats have headed home or for other travels for the summer so things are quiet in expat life. Perfect timing to stay inside during the rains and watch some World Cup football. Football madness has come to Ghana and we can't help but root for the Ghana Black Stars with all this spirit and enthusiasm in the air here. Yesterday, I said to Frank as we were driving in the usually very crowded market area that it seemed quiet and he said, that everyone was inside watching the Nigeria game. And if you listened hard, you could hear the game and the loud drum of those stupid horns coming from inside buildings.
Everyone has put the flags of the teams they're rooting for in their front window dashboard of their cars. We've got one flag for Ghana and one for the US (mind you, Frank picked out the US flag with a big picture of Obama spread across the stars of the flag!). Here you can kind of see it (this picture is before we acquired our Ghana flag).
Then the other day, Frank pointed to a British flag and said "look! another U.S. flag." I told Frank that that was not America's flag but the UK flag and he insisted it was the same flag. I explained it is the same colors as the U.S flag. Then he said, "the UK and America are the same?" At this point, I was reminded that although I think Frank is very smart and has tremendous potential, he's had such little schooling that he has no concept of the world and where countries are located. I find it really sad and frustrating because here is a man with tremendous potential and natural smarts but he was never given the chance to be educated. He worked on his family's farm in the Eastern Region of Ghana and I think only went to 6th grade but even then, I assume he probably did not attend regularly. His family put all their money and support into only one of the children who is now in university and this is very common. The family cannot afford to send all their children to school so they send one child who is then expected to help support the family once he is successful financially. So it makes me wonder how Frank understands all these foreign countries playing in the World Cup as he has no idea where these countries are or what kind of culture or people exist in each country. He just knows that he's rooting for Ghana and any other African team.
The other day, before a rain storm came, I was sure that the building going up next to ours was going to come crashing down or debris from the construction was going to fly into our windows. It was a crazy scene. All kinds of things starting flying off the building and the work men were running around like crazy to find cover.
The pool has basically been deserted at the complex and most expats have headed home or for other travels for the summer so things are quiet in expat life. Perfect timing to stay inside during the rains and watch some World Cup football. Football madness has come to Ghana and we can't help but root for the Ghana Black Stars with all this spirit and enthusiasm in the air here. Yesterday, I said to Frank as we were driving in the usually very crowded market area that it seemed quiet and he said, that everyone was inside watching the Nigeria game. And if you listened hard, you could hear the game and the loud drum of those stupid horns coming from inside buildings.
Everyone has put the flags of the teams they're rooting for in their front window dashboard of their cars. We've got one flag for Ghana and one for the US (mind you, Frank picked out the US flag with a big picture of Obama spread across the stars of the flag!). Here you can kind of see it (this picture is before we acquired our Ghana flag).
Then the other day, Frank pointed to a British flag and said "look! another U.S. flag." I told Frank that that was not America's flag but the UK flag and he insisted it was the same flag. I explained it is the same colors as the U.S flag. Then he said, "the UK and America are the same?" At this point, I was reminded that although I think Frank is very smart and has tremendous potential, he's had such little schooling that he has no concept of the world and where countries are located. I find it really sad and frustrating because here is a man with tremendous potential and natural smarts but he was never given the chance to be educated. He worked on his family's farm in the Eastern Region of Ghana and I think only went to 6th grade but even then, I assume he probably did not attend regularly. His family put all their money and support into only one of the children who is now in university and this is very common. The family cannot afford to send all their children to school so they send one child who is then expected to help support the family once he is successful financially. So it makes me wonder how Frank understands all these foreign countries playing in the World Cup as he has no idea where these countries are or what kind of culture or people exist in each country. He just knows that he's rooting for Ghana and any other African team.
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