Weekend #2

So, this weekend was pretty good. Saturday morning, we got up and headed into Accra, which is the next town over. We had a driver, Daniel, from the school who has driven us a few other places before. He took us on a quick driving tour of Tema, which has a large shipping port. We drove by the fish market. It appeared to be very intense. There were fish all over the place and you could see people bargaining. It was neat! Then, we drove along the beach, stopping to take pictures and and touch the ocean. Daniel then pointed out that there was a fishing boat down the beach a little ways. We drove down there and walked down to watch then bring in this boat in. When the boat got to be in waist deep water, the men jumped out of the boat and fought the current to bring it in. We seen one guy on shore holding a rope, which we thought was connected to the boat. We soon learned the rope was actually the fishing net. One guy was holding it while the rest brought the boat in. After the boat was brought in, the men all came over to the rope and started pulling. We were able to jump in and help! It was such a neat experience. The guys were do a chant so everyone would be pulling at the same time. It was so interesting to see all this man power at work. From the boat to the fishing net, the men did it all with no outside power. After we helped the men for a while, we got back in the bus and headed to Accra. We did a few other stops and then went to lunch. In the streets here, there are SO many people selling things. You can buy so many things. I bought some yam or plantane chips (which are amazing) and  little Ghana flags. It was pretty cool buying stuff from the window. We also stopped at this famous coffin place. It was on an Amazing Race episode, which aired right before we left. We were all pretty excited to see this place in real life after we had all seen it on TV. The guy showed us two coffins that were going to be used in the next week of so. Pretty creepy. The coffins are one of a kind. Pretty much if you name it, they can create it. We seen a coke bottle, a lion, a cow, a fish, a camera, an airplane, a beer bottle, and a pineapple.We also got to see some of the guys making coffins. Then we went up this stair case in this half broken down building to see more coffins. We were all hanging on and walking REAL slow. The guy showing us around ran up the stairs like it was no big deal! We were all starving at this point. Daniel suggested this place called Frankie's. As we pulled in, we noticed a lot of white people there. We found that to be pretty exciting. Then, we got inside and looked at then menu. They had burgers and fries! It was amazing. We all, expect for Daniel, had burger and fries. We were all stuffed after that and headed over to view some of the historical things of the city. Many of the statues and things cannot be photographed. We still got a chance to look at them. We went to go to one outdoor garden with some statues, but it turned out to be too expensive. We looked from the outside, which was fine by us. Then, we got back into the bus and headed to a different market. This was crazy. It was nothing like the Kumasi market. It was simpler and more like a mix between an indoor and outdoor flea market. As soon as we got there, Daniel gave us some much need pointers. He told us to check things out before we bought then and bargain! So we get out and were bombarded with people! It was crazy. They ask your name and then suddenly they are telling you how you are friends. I would go into one shop and come out and my new friends David and Moses were waiting for me. At first, we all went into one shop. We were leaving and Connie, Liz and I were left. Connie and I start to walk out and Liz is being sucked into buying something. We are calling for her to leave, but she doesn't here us. Then Connie's new BFF, Cofee, starts yelling for Liz. It was quite entertaining. Finally Moses said he would come back. I was like yeah sure. We kept walking through. We ended up in the back corner of the market with, Connie's BFF Cofee. We are in his shop and she is bargaining, which she did a pretty darn good job at, and I hear my name. Sure enough, I look up and Moses is there telling me we are friends and I said I would come to his shop. So, Connie, Liz and I headed over to his shop. He kept telling us our brothers were over there. At first, I was thinking that I do not know every white person here, but, much to my surprise, Moses knew what he was talking about. The two guys from our group were in there. Moses and his friends were trying to sell me a drum, which, I really want but they were getting a little crazy. Finally, Connie, said BACK AWAY, BACK AWAY and they did! It was great. We told Moses we had to go get more money from out teacher and took off. As we were walking back to the van, my friend David found me. I ended up buying two bracelets. They are pretty cool, but not what I had in mind. Finally, we all made it back to the van in one piece and, for the majority, only making purchases we could see a use for. Then we headed back to the village. We got there and dinner was pretty much ready, but no one was really hungry. Most of us went to dinner, we were all feeling guilty Evelyn cooked for us. We didn't each much, but we had some. Then we went back. Everyone was going to take a nap and then go out to the maybe the Jazz Cafe. Well, our naps turned into a full nights sleep. Some of us slept 13 hours! I guess we were tired. Sunday morning was our first day to sleep in! We were all up by 8 or so. It is very hard to sleep in here. The sun is bright and beats into your room and heats it up! So we went to breakfast and then headed to the pool. Got to the pool and it was closed. After walking around and trying to figure out what time it opens, we learned it opens at 11 and headed over there. We were there for and hour and a half to maybe two hours. I am FRIED CRISPY. Guess I will have some color. Then we went for lunch, which was rice balls and peanut or peanut butter soup. I think Evelyn said it was a traditional dish, and it was pretty good. The rice balls didn't really taste like rice, it was interesting that it was a soup but there were whole pieces of chicken with bones in there. We were only given spoons. Hmmm...we have all noticed that much of the culture eats with their hands. Some of us ate the chicken from the soup with our hands. I guess I can now say I ate soup with my hands. Then we all took naps and were just lazy for a few hours before getting ready for dinner, which we were going out for pizza. We all got ready and went out to get taxis. We talked to the taxi drivers and they really didn't know where we were going. We called the pizza place and they tired to tell us. Then the taxi drivers said it would be 40 cedi to get there! That is a bit much. We decided we would go to the other pizza place we went to last week. We get there and they are closed! So off to Evergreen (supermaket) we go. We had no idea what we would cook. We have only a propane burner. We were not sure what kind of pots and pans there were. We were going to make pizza but then we came across pancake mix. We had pancakes which were pretty darn good. After dinner, we went out to the pavilion and played some games and talked for awhile. Very nice Sunday. Around 10:30, I headed to bed. It stormed again last night. I am starting to get sick of the storms. I love the rain, but the thunder and lighting need to stop. It keeps me awake, and I need my sleep! So far today has been pretty cool compared to the last few days, but it is pretty muggy and overcast. Tomorrow is my first day to teach! Pretty excited about that!