I didn’t sleep very well last night and I can pretty confidently attribute it to two things:
- Couldn’t stop thinking about/scratching the worms in my foot.
- I had my first day at The Business and Financial Times of Ghana.
So when I dragged myself to the taxi station early this morning, I was half awake. Therefore I saw no problem with my taxi driver taking a ‘faster way’ around the traffic. I just wanted to get there.
Naturally the route was unpaved and we were being tossed around. It was lulling, really, until I was suddenly brought back to reality when the driver got angry and loudly ‘hissed’ at a car that cut us off. That’s a surefire way to up your heart rate.
SSSSSSSSSSSS
Need to get someone’s attention? Many Ghanaians use this technique. It’s not exactly a cat ‘hiss’…it comes out in that same quick way, but is more of an ‘s’ sound. It’s rarely used in the angry way my taxi driver used it, but never say never.
Leo again. He's actually meowing but it could pass as a hiss.
Another noise used to get your attention is a lip puckering noise. Like someone’s giving you a big, noisy kiss on your cheek.
CREAKING
The suspension on this taxi also seemed to be shot. Not surprising and not a first, just loud given all the bumps we were navigating through. It sounded like bad bed springs, especially right near my wheel.
CLAPPING
My first day at the paper went well, once I finally found my way to their offices. I went with one of the reporters to two press conferences.
First we went to a business conference of sorts in which local companies were having a competition for entrepreneurs to have their business model funded. The speakers offered good insight about Ghana’s growing economy and how to sustain growth.
The second featured a bunch of musicians who were performing a concert tonight. American R&B artist Trey Songz and model Amber Rose were there along with a Nigerian singer and several Ghanaian groups. It was a cool experience, especially since I probably wouldn’t be able to get that close at home.
I’m not a huge fan of either, though, plus Rose said, ‘I’m used to just being quiet and looking pretty most of the time’, in regards to the fact that she was co-hosting the concert and was afraid of doing ‘something stupid’ on stage.
MORSE CODE
For some reason that’s the sound I associated with my tro-tro ride to the taxi station. We sat in traffic for a long time and the hollowed out tro-tro that didn’t seem like it should be able to start would rattle while we were stationary.
In particular the gas pedal rattled and at such a fast speed that, again, I thought of morse code. Then I thought of the movie Balto because I remembered they used morse code in it and from there I’m not sure where my thoughts drifted off. Right now they’re going to dream land. Night and thanks again for the continued support!
Ghana See What I Can See 