Saturday

Saturdays can be a bit of a pain here, as funerals dominate. Today it was impossible to get a car to town. Fortunately, after 40 minutes of standing at the junction, our water tanker passed and I got a ride into town. I went out for an early dinner with Joe and his friend Richard, which was really nice. Although it was a bit awkward: we went to a restaurant that I’ve been to a few times. It’s good, but a bit expensive. Rich called me last week and invited me to go and here, if you invite someone, the implication is that you pay. Rich suggested this place cause he knew that I’ve been there (he never had) and I don’t think he realized how expensive it was. He and Joe just had drinks, but I was starving, so I ate. Rich tried to pay for me, but I refused and it’s no big deal, but I felt a bit guilty about the whole thing. The realities of the Third World can hit you pretty quickly here and it helps you realize how good we’ve got it in Canada.

Today I got a call from my parents’ friends’ son, Ben, who is here. He called me over Christmas and said he was planning on coming to Ghana, as he’d been here before with his high school and there were some things that didn’t exactly work out with the charity work they did and I think he wants to sort them out. Just this morning, I was wondering when or if he was coming, and then he called.

The timing of his call was perfect, as I’d been thinking about travelling to Northern Ghana next weekend for four or five days and didn’t have anyone to go with and that’s where he’s headed. He’s supposed to get into Kumasi on Monday, so we’ll meet up and figure things out. I’m pretty excited, as the north is essentially a different country, from what I’ve heard. It’s predominantly Muslim, and more of a savannah, whereas I am in a Christian forest! Knock on wood that I don’t get sick again. I really would like to see some elephants.