Greetings, everyone. Long title means lots of stuff to talk about. Go
get your coffee now.
Let’s start with my trip to Kumasi. I went to Kumasi last week
Wednesday to pick up my medication, buy some computer parts for my
school, set up my internet service, and spend some time with the
friendly folks at the Kumasi Sub-Office (that’s KSO for those of you
playing the Peace Corps Acronym game at home). I spent Wednesday
travelling, and got into Kejetia late on Wednesday afternoon.
Kejetia is technically part of Kumasi, due to the fact that it’s
pretty much right smack-dab in the middle of Kumasi proper. However,
it’s pretty much its own thing, and as such deserves its own
paragraph. Kejetia is the largest transport station in Ghana. It’s
literally the size of a football stadium, and there are private taxis
and trotros leaving for all parts of Ghana and surrounding countries
at all times of the day. If you go about a block to the east, you can
find the larger MMT buses that travel to the larger cities in Ghana.
If you step about a meter outside Kejetia, you’re part of a giant
market that surrounds the station and stops for nothing. There are no
fewer than 100,000 in and around it at any given time. In the middle
of the day, I would be willing to say there are a quarter million
people in the vicinity of Kejetia. The place is so big, it has its own
post office and police station.
So, when I say I got into Kejetia, you can interpret it as “I pulled
into Times Square on New Year’s Eve, just as it happened to be joining
the Pacific Coast Highway and the Tri-State Tollway for lunch at the
Super Bowl”.
Anyway, I got into Kejetia, found the car that would be able to drop
me by the KSO, and signed in. I spent the evening getting food,
enjoying a beer with one of my colleagues, and staying up waaaay past
my bedtime because the internet came by to visit and just wouldn’t
leave me alone.
The next morning, I got up, showered (Yep. KSO has a shower. And the
water pressure is like bathing with a firehose. It’s awesome.), and
went back into Kumasi with Mike, our PCVL. Mike is the guy who runs
the KSO — all around awesome guy who is always willing to help us out
however he can. He also knows Kumasi like he’s lived there his entire
life. He showed me around, pointed out some of the key stores, helped
me find the computer parts I was looking for, and then sent me along
on my very merry way.
About 30 seconds after parting company with Mike, I promptly got lost.
As my father and his Norwegian partner-in-crime are fond of saying “We
may not know where you are, but you won’t either!” I spent the rest of
the afternoon wandering around, which gave me a much-improved idea of
where things are in Kumasi. Computer parts in hand, I headed for
Kejetia and went back to the KSO.
That night, while sharing a feast of home-made tomato soup and grilled
cheese sandwiches, I expressed my interest in finding a bicycle. Mike,
who just so happens to be an expert in all things bicycle, tells me
that he has a nice GT mountain bike that he would be willing to sell
me. Thus, I took ownership of a bike, which is pretty much the only
thing I can drive for the next two years. It’s sitting behind me right
now, patiently waiting for me to get a repair kit and spare tube
before I take it any farther than the school.
On Friday, I packed up my bag, bid everyone farewell, and headed back
to site. On the way, I stopped in Sunyani to set up monthly billing
for my internet service. Somewhere between Kumasi and Berekum, I
managed to pick up a fun case of strep throat. Thus, for the last four
days, I have been pretty much spending most of my time in bed,
watching episodes of House, Heroes, and Firefly on my laptop.
Yesterday, after playing phone tag with the Peace Corps Medical
Office, I managed to get a prescription for some amoxicillin. I now
feel right as rain.
Well, that brings us to the end of our wonderful weekly report.
