Obama is due to arrive tonight...we are catching the 5am STC bus to Kumasi in the morning. There are lots of road closures etc...planned for the Obama visit..as if traffic isn't crazy enough already! Obama is going to have a very well planned visit only seeing the parts of Ghana that they want him to see...you can't hide everything though...I'm sure it will be great for the whole Obama family and Ghana is looking forward to it!
Everywhere you look you see signs of the preparations.
So, we are off to Kumasi. Kumasi is north of Accra and the next biggest city with at least 1.5 million people. It is the centre for the Akan (Ashanti) people so we will hopefully see the Kings Palace and where they weave the famous Kente cloth.
Yesterday we went to Melcom to buy more soccer balls...I love that place...it is chaos but everything is so cheap. When you check out you first go to a cashier to pay for your goods, then you go to a checker who checks what you have to the receipt and then you go to a security guard to have your receipt stamped. If you spend more than 50cedis you get to enter a draw for a car because it's their 20th anniversary in Ghana...wouldn't be cool if we won a car in Ghana! They also have instant prizes and last time we won a 3 piece pyrex set but this time no luck!...laughter...
It is still raining here, it doesn't rain all day and night so it doesn't cramp your style too much but it rains heavily for a short time several times a day and throughout the night. The roads are a mess. Last night we decided to drive at night again, we thought it would be better this time because we now know the way to and from our friends flat...hmmmm...still a huge challenge. Tony has mastered the driving here and has no trouble whipping around like a taxi driver...however, at night you have to deal with rain on the windsheild, fogging up windows, mud, potholes, other vehicles and pedestrians jetting out in front of you...never mind trying to find your turns based on landmarks. It's like a scary amusement park ride that lasts over an hour.
No big surprise that the exhaust pipe was hanging under the car this morning. We stopped by the outdoor mechanic (it's the only kind) and since it was pouring we sat in the car while he fixed it. They have a hole dug in the ground so they don't need a hoist. It took about 1/2 an hour and cost 8cedis (about 8CAD)...when is the last time you got a bill from a Canadian mechanic for only $8!
After the mechanic we headed into central Accra, that's where the driving gets super crazy but it can be fun (if your aren't the one driving). We went to the Cultural Arts Centre, it is a huge outdoor market that only sells Ghana souvenir type stuff, cloth, paintings, batik, clothes, drums, carvings, jewelery etc. This is the place that all the foreigners go to buy souvenirs...therefore the people who work there are quite pushy and eager to show you their booth. I hate shopping there because I don't like high pressure sales and I have never found much joy in bargaining...I did see some cool stuff there but my hope is to find the same items around town and to be able to buy them without the hassle.
Next we visited the National Museum, it wasn't easy to find since the roads have changed since Tony was there last and "nobody seemed to know where it was". We saw some interesting historical items there and Charity and I bought a few things from some art students who were showing their stuff there.
Home we go to get packed now so we can get up early to get to the STC station, thankfully there is one in Achimota so we don't have to go to Accra to get the bus. It is about a 5 hour trip and it costs 12 cedis for the deluxe air-conditioned coach.
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