Jason Shim

Vees and I, after wandering around Jamestown, a suburb of Accra, for a
couple of hours.

Vees pointed at a building with two lions out in front and said that was
where the king lived. Really? Yes. And does the king receive visitors?
He said that the traditional gift to bring to a king was a bottle of
foreign schnapps. And where can I get some schnapps? Well, there’s no
liquor store around here, but a bit of cash will do. Well, let’s go meet
a king then!

And I was brought to a man sitting at a table reading a newspaper. He
asked me to have a seat. So why have you come to see me? I’m interested
in learning more about you – are you really a king? He responded that
his father was the king and that he was a chief who presided over civil
disputes in the community. I had always thought that people had to speak
to royalty in Ghana through an interpreter? A common misconception he
informed me, if I speak English and you speak English, it would only be
natural to speak in the same language, right? Interpreters were used in
the past when not everyone spoke English. From there, he proceeded to
give me a history of Jamestown – it was built in 1642, and the palace
was built in 1673. First harbour was built in 1872. When asked what his
biggest challenges were, he said drinking water, peace, shelter,
education, health care and financial liberation.

The entire experience was sort of surreal.

And from the top of the lighthouse, I saw black smoke billowing up from
the beach in the distance. What’s that? Vees replied that people were
cooking goats. Can we go see? And so he took me closer. Blood and
entrails decorated the street as vultures circled overhead looking for
an opportunity to feast. The charred carcasses of goats were being
scraped by young men before they were loaded into the trunks of taxis
and taken to the market.

As we walked closer to the place where the goats were being cooked on
the beach, I saw why there was so much black smoke. Tires were being
used to fuel the fire. At first, I thought about all the toxins that
must be released into the meat (and the air), but then I had to pause
and really think about it – was it really all that different from all
the preservatives I consume on a daily basis back in Canada?

As soon as I opened the door of the cab, he appeared and insisted on
showing me around. No thanks, I replied, and continued walking. But he
was persistent. How much are you charging? Nothing! I just want to show
you around. I knew he would be expecting some payment when the tour was
finished, but since I had nothing otherwise scheduled, I figured, why
not? He introduced himself as Vees, but his nickname was "Nice One" as
he gestured to the back of his shirt. Indeed, he had the words "Nice
One" on the back in big letters and as we walked through the town,
that’s what everyone called him.

The lighthouse gave a spectacular view of Jamestown and the surrounding
area. He pointed at his house where a pair of neon green shorts hung on
the clothesline. We later visited his place and a old woman outside
offered me a small fried red fish no bigger than the palm of my hand. I
tried to politely decline, explaining I had already eaten, but she insisted.

It was absolutely delicious.

I thanked her in Twi and I asked Vees if I should offer her some payment
in return. No, he responded, she just wanted to give you a fish, just
say thank you.

I celebrated April Fools’ Day with the dreaded blue screen of death. No
problem, I reasoned, it’s just a glitch. Then it happened again… and
again… and again. Then my laptop wouldn’t even boot up. Then it
started working again, sort of. It would crash every time the laptop
moved or shook slightly. Then this morning, it completely zonked out.
And so I headed to "La Circle" in Accra, purchased a shaving brush and a
set of screwdrivers and went to work. I completely disassembled my
laptop, swept out all the dust and reassembled it. It limped back to
life, but was still giving me random crashes. Finally, after much trial
and error, I determined a certain area of the motherboard that was
causing the error when I pushed down on it. So, I cut off the end of my
toothbrush, wedged it inside against the problem area, screwed
everything back together and everything seems to be okay, as long as I
don’t jostle the computer or make any sudden movements it is happy. I’m
pretty sure it’s a loose contact somewhere, but it’s doubtful I’ll be
able to get my hands on a soldering iron with a superfine tip while I’m
in Ghana.

Though I stood in front and spoke, I had much to learn as well.

Let’s go coconut hunting! And so we clambered over hot rocks until we
found one lying hidden behind a log. I gave it a shake. The swishing
sound was what we sought. Now how to get it open? We must have been
quite a sight, smashing it against the rocks, but sure enough, the husk
grew softer and it eventually gave way. The layers slowly came off to
reveal a brown spherical nut. After a sharp blow against the edge of a
rock we held the coconut high above our heads and enjoyed the milk of
our whimsical victory.

We returned to the beach and sat on the sand. As the waves washed over
our feet, we munched on our coconut prize, happy and content.

Here’s a writeup from the YCI website on the workshops that we were conducting this month.

When I stopped wearing a watch years ago, my life became more relaxed.
No more furtive glances at my wrist as I went about my daily life… for
a little while. I soon realized that my cell phone had a clock and I
simply began checking that instead. And the clock on the bottom right
hand corner of the computer screen.

Since arriving in Ghana, my perception of time has changed. There are
less minutes and more moments; time is paradoxically fast and slow. When
will the food be ready? When it is ready. When will someone be arriving?
When they arrive. Where will I be going for the next two weeks? Wherever
I end up.

Finer details on the past week will have to wait until a future post.
The workshop in Takoradi went well and I just returned from a weekend in
paradise near Axim. Everyone else has flown back home and I’m in Accra
for a few days doing some writing before doing some more exploring. I
realized last night how much I missed everyone’s company upon having my
first meal alone in a month.

Another audio phonepost!

While in Accra, I a woman carrying small bundles of sticks and asked her
what they were. "Chewing sticks" was the response. How much? 50 pesowas.
Sure, I’ll give it a try. I pulled out a couple of sticks and handed one
to Nat and stuck one in my mouth. It was pretty bitter. Are you sure
we’re doing this right? You’re supposed to chew on these? They don’t
taste very good. Hrm. I thought they would be like sugarcane or
something, but it’s like chewing on a random piece of wood. I think I
have splinters in my mouth. Maybe chewing sticks is a euphemism for
something else? Are we supposed to be putting these in our mouth?

We asked one of the men at the YMCA what exactly these sticks were and
he confirmed that yes, indeed, they were chewing sticks, used for
cleaning teeth. So it’s sort of like a toothbrush, but in stick form.

Wherever I go, there are a handful of memories that are particularly
powerful. Waking up early at the Wli Falls Lodge will be one of them for
my time in Ghana. We all enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, a gentle breeze
and a beautiful view of the hills in the background.

Among the things I did not expect to see in Accra was a polo match. It
was pretty neat to watch, but it is definitely a sport for the well-heeled.

I’ve acquired the nickname "new shoes" during my time here in Ghana
because of my misfortune with footwear. I brought a pair of ratty
sandals to Ghana which disintegrated soon after my arrival and I met the
man above in the streets of Accra. When I asked him for the price of a
pair of flip-flops he told me 100 cedis (100 CAD), which is absolutely
ridiculous. Nat, who was with me, said 2 cedis, and then the man went to
90, then 80, then 70 and when I could do 5 cedis, he accepted without
any hesitation. I realized that I should have taken Nat’s advice and
stuck hard to 2 cedis, because that’s what they were probably worth, as
they broke about a week later when we were in Koforidua.

I picked up another pair of sandals in Cape Coast and I watched Mai work
her haggling skills. She combined my sandals with a couple purchases of
her own and proceeded to slowly work the price down and then walking
away, at which point the shopkeeper accepted her final price. Hopefully
these shoes will last me a while.

For my own future reference:
100 pesowas = 1 cedi = 1 Canadian dollar
Bag of water – 5 pesowas
Beer – 1.50-2 cedis
Flip-flops – 2-3 cedis
Fanta – 50 pesowas
Fan Ice (ice cream) – 30 pesowas

Another audio phonepost!

Another audio phonepost!

Another audio phonepost!

On the day we went into Kokrobrite from Wli Falls, we had a late lunch
and we spent a while in traffic near Accra. Our stomachs were rumbling
and while there are no drive-thru food places in Ghana (at least, not
that I’m aware of) there are always vendors outside on the streets with
an assortment of goodies like plantain chips, fan ice (ice cream),
donuts, oranges, bananas, bread, pineapple, chocolate, peanuts and
street meat, all of which are 50 pesowas (50 cents) or under.

If you would like something, it’s a really fast transaction. You have to
have your money ready and the vendor runs up to your window, you quickly
state what you want, they grab it and you swap. There were a few
occasions when the tro-tro we were in had to start driving away before
the vendor could pick out what we were looking for. That night, we ate
dinner inside the tro-tro and while they were likely not the most
nutritious things we could have eaten, they were quite possibly the most
delicious given the circumstances.

In the picture above, in addition to food being sold on the streets,
there are an assortment of other things that are available including
sponges, phone cards, super clue, pink rubber boots, hangers, shirts,
pants, shoelaces, jumper cables, the complete works of Shakespeare, and
business suits.

This might be posted sideways. If so, just turn your head.

This is one of the other guides that was with another group. At the end
of the long hike up, he just casually walked up to the base of the falls
and sat there taking in the cool mist.

This is our group at the top of the Wli Falls. (L-R) Mai, Nat, Jamie,
Jeremy (our newfound friend from New Zealand), Me.