Post for Wed, 21 July 2010

Today was our first day touring Accra.
Breakfast was pretty good. It consisted of a boiled egg, sausage, bread, a sweet roll of some kind and a choice of two kinds of porridge, oats or rice. I tried the rice porridge which was pretty tasty.

We started the day with a schedule change. The tour of Parliament that was supposed to be later in the week was moved to this morning. Not so bad because we were told last night and we could dress appropriately. We drove for quite a while and although we weren't told so, I am pretty sure the driver was lost since at one point we double backed and when we arrived at Parliament it was at a place we had already passed. Once we passed though security we entered the building and were briefed by the staff there. Unfortunately, they weren't allowing pictures in the chamber. When we went in the chamber we sat and waited quite a while before anything happened. In the meantime, the escorts were asked to speak with a reporter from a Ghanain TV station. It was a short interview. Again, back inside and we waited some more. Finally, the ceremonial mace was brought in with the speaker of the house. We watch the debate for a while and then were brought out and briefed by the Public Affairs person about the structure of Parliament. After the tour, back on the bus.

We then proceeded to the Ministry of Education where we met the National Cadet Coordinator. He went over the schedule for the week and what we should wear each day. I already have a couple of recommendations for next year's kit list, lol. After a light lunch there we left and walked to the Independence Arch. We walked around there for a bit and then boarded the bus.

They drove us to a nearby currency exchange for some of us to change money. On the way and at the location, there were many, many street vendors. Some of the cadets and myself were badgered to buy things. They just wouldn't take no for an answer. In some cases the cadets bought things and our Ghanain hosts tried to ensure that we were getting fair prices. We then drove a little bit further to a market area where everything under the sun was being sold on the street from shoes to jewelry to fake designer sunglasses to food to dvds and anything else you can imagine. It was really crowded and crossing the street was hazardous to say the least. This walk through the market was not my favorite part of the day.

Then we headed back to the University to have supper and the evening off. I went down to the little market to buy a sim card for my phone so I could pay local air time rates to call home. Incidentally, I paid 1 Cedi for the sim card (less than $1 CAD) where they cost about $45 CAD at home. Now I just have to figure out how to work their system, lol.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Sent from my wireless handheld device / Transmis de mon appareil portable