[I'm developing a bad habit of writing posts in Word and then not posting them. Have fun keeping track. :P ]
This weekend my program took its traditional trip out to
Kakum National Park to traipse the canopy walk and to Cape Coast Castle to
learn about its history, that of slavery, and the connections between the
two. During the bus ride, we passed
through neighborhoods of varying niceness and completion. It seemed half of the buildings we passed,
regardless of whether in or outside of a city, were unfinished. We’ve learned that this is because Ghanaians
don’t believe in loans. Rather, they
save up a bit of money, begin a project, and then add on to it as their
resources are available. Instead of
seeing this as inefficiency, an incomplete home is a visual goal and motivator
to the people investing in it. This is
further expressed in the abundant use of cash to pay for goods, items, and
services. If you require more than a
cedi or two in change, or really any change at all, you are almost guaranteed
to be asked if you’re sure whether you don’t have smaller bills. A friend of mine recently bought a plane
ticket to fly home and had to purchase it over the phone in order to use a
credit card because buying it in person could only be done with cash. It’s an interesting system and mindset to say
the least.
I had my first true encounter with diarrhea Saturday night/Sunday
morning. Lovely, just LOVELY, you
say. Well, my friend, I’m not sure I’ve
ever been more afraid to go to sleep.
It’s of course prevented me from swimming which is greaaaaat. But the first meeting with the school’s coach
and team is tomorrow and I can’t wait to get in the water! Everyone should take
another look at the picture of the pool posted earlier because it is just that
great. No, really. Do it. Now.
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