When in Ghana...

Just some things I've gotten used to here:

• Cabs aren't metered. You'll have to know the area to estimate how much you'll pay the cab driver and haggle with him for the fare. It's like drama all the time we have to get a ride. They'll give you a price that's 2 or 3 GHC above the rate you know, you'll say THANK YOU and pretend you're walking away to find another cab, they'll call you back and agree to the price you give anyway. Also, there are no airconditioned cabs. Imagine the stench of having to sit in a cab with a driver who's been in it all day. YUM!!!
• Babies are slung on the backs of mothers. I keep forgetting to take pictures of this. They don't usually cradle their babies in their arms when they go around. They have a sheaf of fabric wrapped around the mother and the baby. All the baby can see is the mother's back, unless it's old enough to turn it's head around a lot.
• Women do as much carrying as men. I was told that the TV set we have in the lobby was delivered here by a young woman with the TV on her head.
  Crows and bats are a common sight.
• If we have mayas back home, they got crows back here. They're just everywhere. There's one whole street in the city where hundreds of bats hang from the trees. I was able to take a picture but I don't think you'll see the bats clearly enough because they look just like leaves until you take a real closer look. Vultures are not uncommon either. While I was jogging yesterday, there was one perched up high on the pine tree of a neighbor. Surreal as hell!
• People answer YES PLEASE even if they only mean YES. So if you ask the waiter if they have soda (soft drinks), he'll say YES PLEASE if they have it in stock.
• That gesture we make to tell someone "text text na lang" by moving your thumbs with the rest of your fingers curled is equivalent to the finger. It's supposed to mean FUCK YOUR MOTHER.
• Most of the hair you'll see on women are either hair extensions woven into their natural hair or just plain wigs. Women here don't wear much make-up, but their main vanity is their hair. Unfortunately, Mother Nature has not given them much of it because their natural hair is short & extremely kinky that it would take years to grow it long and have them braided. They resort to the next best thing, weaves and wigs!
• Some of you may know this already but Kwame is as common as Jose or Juan. It's the name of their national hero.

Up next, my rantings and ravings about a nosy housemate...