The People...

Ah, people, in Accra there are tons of them. If I read correctly, about 2 million. Ghana is the size of Oregon and Accra is the capital. There are just a lot of people here. Before I came, I did not know what to picture. I did not picture the volume of people. They are everywhere.

When I leave the Eban House and walk to the main road to catch a cab. I am walking the distance of about five homes. I have never walked this stretch without seeing at least 20 people about. People are not in their homes, they seem to all be outside of them selling something, washing something or socializing.

As I look out the window of my guesthouse, I have never looked out once without seeing someone walking down the street. Doesn't matter if it is the middle of the night or raining. People are always in motion here. There does not seem to be a quiet time.

As I heard before I came, the people here are so friendly. Take Augustine, my taxi driver. I called him today to go to the supermarket. He came and picked me up at the Eban House and was so happy to drive me. I asked him what I need to pay him and he said, "you pay me whatever you want". Actually this was a brillant move on Augustine's part as I had no idea what a fair amount was for our drive so I am sure I overpaid him again especially judging by his reaction! I offered to buy him a pastry at the supermarket as in my travel guide, it says they are well known for their pastries at the Koala Supermarket. Augustine looked at me like I was crazy when I offered him the pastry and said no thank you. I again gave him a few cedis to get a drink while he waited for me as I can't ask someone to wait for me and then not give them money to get a drink. This is Africa after all and it is hot!

Another taxi driver was so kind, he must have driven Molly and I before and we had him stop at this little supermarket on the way home as when I got in the car, he immediately said, "where is your friend" he followed it up by saying, "would you like to stop to get some water again this evening?".

Another man ran up to me when I was hailing a cab. He works at the car wash right next to our guesthouse. He introduced himself and wanted me to have a nice taxi. I had to laugh as he shooed about four taxis off before deciding one was good for me. I kept trying to tell him that I am only going up the street and I did not care what taxi I took but he wouldn't hear of it.

One day when Molly was here, we walked to the little chop shop for a coke while the kids were napping. These two men invited us to join them and proceeded to tell us their life stories and ask us about ourselves. One man was from Ghana but lives in Finland and was back visiting. He has a wife and four kids there. I wasn't sure if I believed him until he started producing documents to support his story. We got a kick out of him as he is a "chef" at the airport and was so excited to show us his food handlers card! He really wanted to take us to the beach the following day but he was supposed to leave as was Molly so he was bummed about that. He tried to invite us to dinner. We thanked them but said that would not work out for us. He then said what has given me a chuckle since then, "I have a car but I never drive it because I drink all the time. I do have a younger brother though".

In Ghana, the younger brothers drive their older brothers around. It would be seen as disrespectful if an older brother was driving in the presence of his younger brother so I guess it worked out for this man that this was the custom in Ghana. We enjoyed chatting with these interesting yet friendly guys for the duration of our colas before heading back to the Eban House!

There is something so cozy about having so many people about. What amazes me is that most of them are selling something. As you go down many streets, there are people along the sides in little stands selling something. On the busier streets- especially when there is traffic, people are in the roads passing by your car selling something. I could get some of the following items from the backseat of my car: soccer balls, fish, hankerchiefs, soap, videos, electric outlet adaptors and even the Suzanne Summers tummy trimmer. I don't know how so many people can be selling things and making enough money to live. From what I hear though, they don't usually sell very much- just barely enough to get by if that. That makes me sad as it is like a lottery- who will be lucky enough to make the sale of the item you need. Which person going by will catch you at the exact moment that you need that water or tummy trimmer?

Anyway, this is just another example to illustrate how many people are about. I couldn't believe it until I saw it. To me, it is a miracle that these people are so kind and curteous to each other. In a place where so many people are trying to survive and there are not a lot of police with a consistant policing program like those we have in the states, I have seen little arguing. People just coexist and for the most part, treat each other with respect. Considering the huge amounts of traffic and how frustrating it can be to be in it, it really says a lot for the people here and how peaceful they really are.

I could go on with experience after experience of people being kind and offering to help me out or welcome me to Ghana. The people are just so friendly and even though I am alone, I am comforted by the sheer volumes of people that I am always surrounded by here and the number of people that are just so friendly.

Jennine