Day 34

Hands down the best day I’ve had yet. I woke up with all the intention in the world to do my laundry because I barely have any clean clothes or sheets but because we stayed up so late last night I couldn’t find the energy to wake up early. I just got ready and headed to the station with Cassie to meet Vicky to go to KUMASI! Seriously my favorite place ever. We first went to Agona and made it there before the other girls so we got in line. The whole back seat was empty in one of them so we got in and saved a couple seats but after about 5 minutes the driver started the car and started to drive off before we started yelling stop stop stop we need to get out! Everyone was laughing at us because we looked so silly yelling get out get out once he started up the car. Right then the other girls came and we all climbed into a second tro tro. We all had plenty of room which is very uncommon. We kept telling Vicky how unusual this is and she should be prepared for a more crowded bus ride home. We spent the next hour talking back and forth about different things with Vicky who I absolutely adore. In Kumasi they dropped us off in shoe village. I had no idea where we were but the people were very friendly directing us in the right way each time. We made it to the bank alive, we had a couple scares and shovings but we made it. Barclays was closed and their ATMs weren’t working so we went to the bank next door. The ATMs show you your balance in cedi, which makes me feel like I actually have money. We went to Okopuku market first. I bought jam, crackers, powder milk, pasta, twix, ramen, and milo. It wasn’t my healthiest trip but this junk food will last me till the end of the month I hope. We left to go to the shopping street and ran into a man named Emmanuel that knew a BYU professor. We talked for a while and he wanted to show us his artwork after we were done shopping. The next hour or two was spent bartering for souvenirs and gifts for friends and family. Lauren bought a gorgeous patchwork backpack that I am so jealous of. Emmanuel patiently waited for us to finish shopping and then showed us all of his paintings, which were really impressive, but definitely the missionary souvenir kind of stuff that makes you wonder why you bought it in the first place. They were all really cool paintings but I didn’t have any use for them in my apartment. Cassie, Jackie, and Lauren were eating them up. The ones they picked out were pretty cool and carefully thought out. I wasn’t too interested until he pulled out his big paintings. He had huge paintings of lions, giraffes, villages, and elephants. I asked if he did custom paintings and he said he would do 2 custom paintings for me of my choice so I paid him for half of it and when I return to Kumasi I’ll get to pick them up. Later we went to an obruni restaurant and we had never seen so many obrunis in one place in a while. They don’t ever seem to care but we always get so excited. We all got the same burger and Vicky got a pizza. Vicky said that we can go to this place again and I’m not opposed to it at all! We were stuffed from our meal and went around the corner where there were a couple more shops. We saw Emmanuel there and thanks to him we made it back to the Tro Tro station where all the madness began. We waited in one line and watched as people began violently pushing their way into the tro tro. Then with only about 10 people in front of us it was our turn to get on the tro tro. Fail number 1. People were throwing elbows and getting pretty violent over getting into the tro tro so we backed off. Then we tried for the second time but the line ran from behind and got into the taxi before we did, fail number 2. It’s funny how particular they are about their spots in line but once the tro tros arrive it doesn’t matter if you’re 1^st or 30^th. We were all pretty ticked off at this point and determined to get on the next one. It began raining but we stayed out in the middle of the market hoping that this will give us a head start while the others are a few feet away taking shelter. Everyone was staring and laughing at us as we tried to stand under Vicky’s umbrella that she so conveniently packed. This time we thought we were going to make it for sure and started to climb into a tro tro but it wasn’t going to Agona. We stood back in the rain and waited even longer this time. We getting drenched and just in time another tro tro came by. Same thing happened and we getting elbowed and punched trying to get on. We saw that the window was open in the back and a very nice man who had watched us attempt to get on the other tro tros told us to throw our bags in through the window. We weren’t sure if our bags were going to guarentee our spot and the door was more crowded than ever. Our only option was the window. Cassie was the first one in. Then it was my turn to climb through and it wasn’t as hard as I thought. Vicky was after me and Lauren literally picked her up and lifted her into the Tro tro. I’m pretty sure this isn’t how we envisioned our nice evening in Kumasi to end. We all made it into the tro tro safely packed like a can of sardines. This particular van should fit 15 but we counted 30 in the van. What an experience. The rest of the way home we didn’t talk much because we were pretty wiped out from our long day. We took a taxi to Wiamoase and said goodbye to Vicky as Cassie and I walked home. It looked like the rain was about to hit Wiamoase so we started walking quickly until we ran into the head master of Okomfo Anokye. He was very nice and friendly, very unlike him. That’s when we realized he was drunk. He invited us to sit down and talk to him over a drink. Cassie got a malta and I ordered a fanta. The conversation was pretty awkward because he asked me on a date and Cassie to go to Kumasi with him alone. We quickly sipped down the rest of our drinks and left right as the rain started to begin. We both had our bags that we didn’t want to get any more wet so we took shelter under a shed with 2 other girls. Once the rain let up we ran back home. It was pretty late by the time we got home but I needed to do my workout so I just did a quick 15 minute workout before making some pasta for dinner. In the middle of making dinner our power went out. My computer was practically dead so I could only pray and hope it would come on in the morning. 

XOXO
Natalie