Monday (July 6) came with an early wakeup call at 5 a.m. The night before we had laid out giant rat traps for this rat that some people had seen scuttling around the kitchen. We were really hoping that we'd caught him before we were going to leave, but no such luck. Here's hoping he has been caught in our absence! Michelle was right on time with the van to pick up us and our luggage. We rendezvoused with the boys at Lee and Michelle's, and we departed Accra shortly after 6.
We were told to expect a 12 hour drive. While most of those from the US wouldn't balk too much at a 10 hour road trip, our friends from the UK definitely do. Rachel (one of the UK interns) had done a long road trip before, but John (the other UK intern) had not and as a result spent much time mentally and emotionally preparing for the drive. We passed the time by listening to (and singing along loudly) to a variety of music, talking, and napping. Lee (who was our driver the whole way) was a champ! He sang along with us, and picked out a few of his own songs like "Bleeding Love".
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| Our fearless leader! |
There was a good chunk of the trip when we girls were telling first kiss stories (I know, I know) and we encouraged the guys to share as well. Chad absolutely refused, but John's turned out to be the best story of anyone's in the van! And Chad rewarded us a while later with a smashing story about an unfortunate pick-up line experience. Lee shared about how he proposed to Michelle also, which was fun to hear!
One of the quirks of Ghana that we've noticed is that every now and then a bag of crackers or box of biscuits (especially imported ones) will be in some state of staleness when it is purchased. I experienced my first stale biscuits on our road trip, when I bought some Digestives on one of our stops.
Besides
our few stops for fuel, snacks, and toilets, we chugged along with no
interruptions and ended up taking only 10.5 hours to complete the trip. Oh, I forgot
to mention that the doctors, Michelle, and a few other staff people flew north
instead of driving with us. So they had all had a late wake-up call, a short
plane ride, and an afternoon of relaxing at our hotel by the time we reached
our destination. But they’re the ones who really missed out! Our road trip
really was fun, and it was sort of a unique thing to be able to experience
Ghana by vehicle like that.
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| I think by this point we've all lost a little sanity. |
After
everyone was settled into their rooms, we had dinner (all of our meals here are
served by the hotel), and then one of Lee’s friends who lives up north came to
introduce us to this part of Ghana and give us pointers on how to act
respectfully. One of the main things he spoke about was how to act properly in
the presence of a chief. Most of the villages we’d be visiting would have a
chief (likely that we’d be seeing in the clinic), so it was important
information to learn. We haven’t yet been formerly introduced to a chief, but
we learned that you’re never supposed to have your head above the chief’s, so
it’s proper to squat in his presence and to clap very quietly. Chiefs don’t
speak to people, they talk through a linguist who is always with them. The
chiefs we’ve seen thus far have seemed (to me) to be a bit relaxed on some of
these rules.
It was
ironic to hear Lee’s friend talking about how to act towards a chief, because
he then revealed that he’d actually been made a chief recently in the area that
he lives. Lee jokingly calls him “the Great White Chief of the North” because
he is literally the chief of all the white people that live in and come into
that area.
After
the talk, the interns came to Meg, Helen, and my room to hang out together for
a while before heading to bed. It really is crazy that we’ve only known each
other for a week and a half. It really feels like we’ve all been friends for
quite a long time. Things that happened last week feel like a lifetime ago. On
the other hand, some days it feels like I just arrived in Ghana yesterday. I’m
really taken with this place, and the people I’m experiencing it with. Ghana is
captivating to me. The Ghanaian people, the land, the “quirks” like stale
biscuits and powdered milk, the goats and sheep, everything here seems to draw
me in a little more every day. I’m so thankful that I’ve been given the opportunity
to have this experience and to make these memories.
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