Finally at Site!

The journey north to my site was interesting, to say the least.  Thankfully, I was with 2 other Volunteers and didn’t have to go the whole way alone. 

Getting to Kumasi was our first task and that went fine.  But when we arrived and tried to find the cheapest place to stay (as indicated by my travel guide), we discovered that it had been removed recently.  We tried another hotel, booked it and paid, and then were told that 3 people couldn’t room together.  Welcome to Ghana, where important facts like that are often overlooked.  Discouraged, we went to another hotel, booked it and were then told the exact same thing.  After a few minutes of looking pathetic and lost, the worker decided to let us stay in the room. 

The following morning, we got into an argument with staff over a crappy breakfast that was supposed to be for 2 (they didn’t know we all shared it), and then they tried to charge us for the second plate even though it was included in the room price.  We tried to leave the hotel and were literally chased outside for a few cedis.  It was stupid that it was a big deal but after all of the trouble we had with accommodations, we just wanted to go. 

Then we tried to find a bus to take us north.  We chartered a taxi and I bartered the fare.  When we got to the station, we discovered it was only for southern cities.  Then we asked the driver to take us to the proper station and I had to bargain again.  We didn’t exactly come to an agreement because I had no idea how far it was and I didn’t want to get overcharged.  When we got to the station, I tried to pay him with “the only money I had left,” which clearly wasn’t enough.  We ran into a sticky situation where there were people surrounding us, and they were all arguing about the fare situation.  Finally, it was ended when a taxi driver pulled us away and told us he was going to the same place and gave us a fair price. 

We decided to risk our safety and go along with the driver for several reasons:  Much more room, we would get there faster, the seats don’t feel like a plank of wood, it’s a lot quieter, etc…

Thankfully, there were no safety issues with the driver.  He was very nice and did as he said he would.  But, when I was about 1 hour away from my site, his car broke down and we had to get out and find another vehicle.  Luckily, we were stopped at a police security check and the cops stopped another car and pretty much told the driver he had to take us to out destinations.  It was shady, I’ll admit, but it was getting dark and I just wanted to get home.     

When I arrived in Bolga, my nearest city, it was dark and raining.  I called a friend to come pick me up and he was able to get me home safely.  In all, the travel from Kumasi to my site took about 10 hours.  I probably won’t be doing that again!

But now, I am basically just relaxing at my house with Biggie, my cat, and waiting for school to start.  I feel like my sign language is starting to go downhill since I haven’t really used it in about a week or so.  I also don’t know a lick of the local language yet.  I should probably go get on that.