Accra, Ghana - Day 37 (06/21/11)

Maria Booker

This week has been relatively busy in terms of academic advancements. I had been working with Dr. Alsharif in defining and redefining my proposal, so it was finally a relief to begin working on my research results and discussion. I ascertained in an earlier post that the malaria numbers needed better refining, but wasn’t allowed to refine them by doing a survey of the population, because I needed IRB approval, which I didn’t have time for. After discussion with Dr. Alsharif, we decided that I could get estimates from the reporting hospitals, so last Friday involved me navigating Accra to speak with biostatistics officers from four different clinics and hospitals. This was not an easy task, and I got the run around on more than one occasion.

First of all, traffic in Accra is worse than rush hour traffic in any other country – even the U.S. Sitting behind a steaming and stinking solid waste truck for over 45 minutes in the afternoon heat was not my idea of making progress. I was reminded of the massive traffic jam in China that they said would take 7 months to clear…. what ever happened that?! And when traffic finally did clear, I immediately wished that I was at a standstill again; drivers in Accra are crazy! They don’t use their mirrors or blinkers, and simply just honk their way through lanes of traffic, there also doesn’t appear to be any kind of speed limits and pedestrians have NO rights on the roads. I am a really bad back seat driver at the best of times, but my imaginary brake doesn’t even get a consideration in Accra.

Thinking that I would be beating the traffic on this day in particular, I skipped breakfast (which I later got yelled at for) and left my guest house before 7am, but I didn’t miss rush hour! The first clinic was relatively easy to navigate and I got the information I needed within 20 minutes of being there. The second clinic was not so easy. I was told I had to wait for the hospital administrator, and after an hour, I was told she wasn’t coming in, and I had to speak with another department. I seemed to get the run around for another hour, and then I was finally told that I needed to get permission to access the information from the Metro Health Directorate. The permission meant another taxi ride to the Metro Health Directorate, and after getting there, I was told the director wasn’t in. When I explained what I was looking for, an hour long discussion ensued in the local dialect (of which, I have no comprehension), and I was simply told to wait. Finally it seemed that someone else was able to grant me permission, and I went back on my merry way to the clinic. Information flowed a lot easier after I got the permission, and I was able to interview all of the necessary stakeholders for the estimated populations as needed. I felt great by the time I got back to my room. I had a pounding headache from all the smells, fumes, and heat of the city, but I had a weight lifted off of my shoulders, and I had done it by myself. I felt like a real grown up, ha ha.

I spent the next two days putting all of my work into the final thesis template that Randy emailed us. And by Sunday afternoon, I had a first draft of my thesis! What a weight off of my shoulders. I emailed the draft to my host, whom I haven’t seen or heard from in a couple of weeks (she told me to email/text her, and I haven’t been receiving responses from her) and Dr. Alsharif. I am hoping that my research is complete, so that I can focus on the grammar and development of the conclusion, but both of them may have other ideas, and thankfully I have a week left to allow for any last minute interviews or conversations I need to have.

Other than that, I am still really homesick. I really miss my daughter, my husband, my sofa, REAL COFFEE, and also being able to walk down a street without being hassled to buy something. The locals street vendors really don’t care if you don’t want something, they just want you to buy it whether you want/need it or not. The same lady stops me every day and asks me to buy pineapple – I hate pineapple, and I tell her this every day. I hate the taste, texture, and look of it, it makes my skin crawl, and every day she comes back to me and asks me if I would like to buy some. It’s the same with beads, necklaces, art, shoes, masks, bracelets, and sunglasses. You literally can not walk down a street without someone trying to force you into something, they think that giving you a good price means you still want the product.

As for the coffee situation, I had a tear in my eye when Joy said that her wonderful husband sent her a coffee maker. My husband lost brownie points for not doing the same. Sometimes in the morning when I am tired and sore from my awful bed, the act of tearing open an instant coffee packet and stirring it into my hot water makes me sob in anguish. I think I miss coffee more than my child.

Internet is another hardship. I have gotten so use to the world being at my fingertips, that I spend many hours glaring at my mac as if it can do something about the speed of the page loads. I think my connection rate is about 900kb/sec, which makes me what to hang myself!

What I will miss about Ghana is the amazing food. My favorite dish is beef kebab, and boy is it delicious! There is a kebab spice here that isn’t quite spicy, but has an amazing kick to it. I will miss that very much! I will also miss the hospitality, the same lady serves me every time I go to the local restaurant for dinner, a lady that works in the guesthouse restaurant even invited me to her church (and I went). And everywhere I go, people are always smiling and saying good morning or good afternoon. I live in a nice neighborhood in St. Pete, but I can honestly say that I have spoken to my guesthouse neighbors more than I have spoken to my own neighbors in the five years that I have owned my house. It is nice to feel that everyone is kind of looking out for you as you walk by (especially with the lack of side walks and crazy motorists). It is intimidating being here by myself, and as much as I think I am a seasoned traveler, I’ve never done it by myself before, and like Joy – I hate eating by myself. Sometimes, people will come join me while I eat. I did meet an interesting lady, who had her own window awning business, and it was nice to hear her perception of Ghana and it’s issues. The problem with people coming to join me at dinner is that it is a practice that I am not used to, and it makes me uneasy. As much as I feel lonely at the table, there is something threatening about being in an empty restaurant and having a man pull out a chair and inviting himself to eat with you, it’s a little bit forward for my liking. I am trying to overcome that though, because I like to meet interesting people and see what other people’s perceptions of the issues are. That being said, I only have 8 more dinners to get through, and then I will be back on my own turf with my Tempurpedic mattress, Keurig, and even my own car. So, I am going to enjoy this last week as much as I can, before it is back to the ‘daily grind’.