Friday, August 16, 2013

Debts & Diarrhea

[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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