First impressions : arrival in Takoradi

So one of my goals in coming here was to take more photos and write more, but although I’ve been carrying my DSLR almost everywhere with me, I’m often reluctant to deal with the attention that comes from taking it out. And you can all see how I’m doing on the writing front…

I did eventually make it to Takoradi on Tuesday – the driver was actually there more or less when he said he would be, and he did have all the promised supplies. I was rather unceremoniously deposited with the office just before noon. All my things were off-loaded and then re-packed in another car, and suddenly I was sat at my new work computer reading through programme documents. As transitions go it was all rather quick, and confused through the fog of multiple 5am wakeup calls and missed breakfasts.

But everyone at the new organisation has been super nice, and it’s been interesting trying to figure out the dynamics of a new group of people. I’ve spent most of the week just reading through project strategies and assessments though, so I am eager to actually have something more active to do.

I’ve also been so, so lucky with my new flat. First off, it’s massive, with enough space to fit my London flat, garden included, two (probably three) times over. Everything I could possibly need is here too – AC! a freezer! a kettle! oven! microwave! There are even two TVs, although only one is hooked up, and I’d need to pay for a subscription if I wanted any other channels besides Ghana star. The flats were previously rented at the exorbitant fee of $2500 a month (hello, oil boom) to a German gas company, who quite kindly prepaid enough money for there to be free electricity for the next three to five years. (Definitely a relief, given I’d need to be paying it out of my meagre VSO allowance otherwise.)

The charity’s CEO and the finance manager live in the other two flats on my floor, so while I doubt that we’ll be having lots of Bologna-esque drinking parties anytime soon, it is nice to know that they’re there, and the CEO gives us a ride to work most mornings. (More cost savings success!) From my bedroom, I also catch the odd wifi signal from the hotel out back, so I’m planning to pay their pool day rate one day next weekend and hopefully bring my data usage down. I thought I was being quite sparing with my data, and savvy about using the wifi at the office, but I’ve already burned through more than 2GB in just over a week. Oh, for my 18GB on EE now…

But all things considered, I think I could really like Ghana. There’s a certain beauty to all the greens and browns of the palm trees and dirt roads, present even in the cities, and an odd sort of comfort knowing what the weather will be like every day, and that 4pm will always be high tide. Having grown up in New England and spent a good part of most summers by the coast, this last is also mind-boggling – that life by an equatorial beach requires no monitoring of the tide chart is almost frighteningly freeing. The sun here always rises at 6.15, and always sets again 12 hours later like clockwork, glowing a fiery coral-red in the sky.

The shock of such a regular, benevolent climate (although I suppose it’s also to the benefit of all those nasty bugs, germs, and diseases too) also makes me eager to revisit Guns, Germs and Steel. I began but never finished the book during my days of commuting on the 6.38 Clapham Junction to Milton Keynes every morning. Reading for the weekend perhaps?