Accra, take 2

I've been in Accra for almost two weeks now, and it is speedily approaching the end of the ISP period. May Day is actually a holiday here, which is nice for everyone who gets off work, and sucks for those of us in search of cheap food for meals since many places are closed today. Oh, well, kebabs and pb'n'j never tasted so good as they do now when they're being had on a shoestring budget.

There are 4 of the 7 currently in Accra. Leigh, Kelsey, Anna, and I are staying in the Lemon Lodge, located in a neighborhood called Asylum Down. Not really sure what the origin is there. Anyway, it's a very nice place to live for a couple weeks. Two of the three main political parties in Ghana, the NPP and the CPP, have their headquarters within 2 blocks of the Lodge, and the Burkina Faso Embassy is literally right next door. Someone may have thrown a banana peel over the barbed wire divider, but I'll never tell... the security guard that stands between angry, rebellious Burkina Faso haters and the Embassy is one of the most jovial men I have met in Ghana. That speaks well of their citizens, but makes me worry a little for our new friend if there were to be any tensions with the francophone nation to the north. Fingers crossed! The Lemon Lodge itself is an adequate accommodation, and for 20 cedi a night one could not really hope for more than a clean bed, personal bathroom facilities, a semi-working tv, and a fan.

Transportation in Accra has been, surprisingly, fairly cheap. Trotros have become my travel option of choice, and at 35 pesewa for a 20 minute ride in traffic to the Accra mall, why wouldn't it be? They're efficient, fairly speedy, and make me constantly grateful for the kindness of strangers. I've only once (err, twice...) gotten on the wrong trotro and was 45 minutes on my way to Tema, the next town over, before the mate (the driver's right hand guy who shouts where the trotro is headed out of the window and collects the fare while the driver navigates the slightly scary Accra traffic) realized he didn't know where "ministries" was, and two business people in the back told me to get off and set me on the right path. Ah, well, such is the adventure of traveling.

I can't believe it's May. I can't believe I've been here for three months.

My ISP research is done, I just need to think and type and print and bind three copies before 4pm on Wednesday. I'm about a third of the way done with the typing bit, so... yeah, it's currently looking manageable. Don't worry, Mom, I swear this blog will be my last act of procrastination today.

In fact, I should get to typing. I promise at least two more blogs before I return. I can't believe the end of it all is so near!

Thinking of you all,
Emily