Sunday, May 22, 2011

Five Things You Probably Shouldn’t Do While Traveling But That I’ve Already Done 5.19.2011

My hair/ongoing Nigerian accent experience has been really amusing this whole trip, so when I wrote the last post I was pleased to see my friends enjoying my foolishness with me. But my friend left me some sobering advice when he suggested that I shouldn’t go around alone in Nigeria like I obviously had done in Ghana. And honestly, that’s probably great advice; one advice, amongst others, that I really need to be following in Ghana. So, to keep you updated on my many blunders, I give you:

Five Things You Probably Shouldn’t Do While Traveling But That I’ve Already Done
1. Leave the Group and Not Leave Your Number
So, the day I did my hair and I was waiting at the cab station for thirty minutes for my friend, a logical person might’ve asked why I didn’t just call my friend. Welp, I had no credits left on my phone because one of the kids on the trip with me used up all my minutes the night before talking to his parents on my phone (mad rude I suppose but I digress). That would’ve been fine as well IF I’d given someone my number to call me. That didn’t happen either, so while I was off being independent with my accent and what not, my friends were worried because they didn’t know where I was and who I’d gone off with since they were with the girl I was supposed to be with and I was MIA. Oops.
2. Sleep Without Your Mosquito Net and Get…a Cold
Our beds don’t have blankets on them, just a sheet and a pillow and a mosquito net. The mosquito net acts as a makeshift oven, however. When I go to bed with the fan on and the window open, I get under the net and I immediately start sweating. So I was like, whatever, my African blood with swallow whichever Malaria wants to enter in JESUS NAME! Lol I’m kidding, but seriously, I was too hot so I just nixed the net for two nights and it rained, so I woke up with it colder than usual. Then I had a cold and I was miserable. The end -_-
3. Pay One Whole Cedi for a Cab Ride Less Than Four Blocks Away
Sigh. This time I couldn’t help but have this happen, even with the accent. We went to visit Kumasi (a larger, busier city about 4 hours from Cape Coast) and we got of the bus and had no idea how far the hotel was from the bus station. As usual, there are people in place in every corner to con money out of foreigners, so the man saw us and was like “Taxi! Where do you want to go?!” We told him, he said 5 cedis (or 1 cedi, 25 pesawas/person). I knew to take anything he said as crap and immediately told him no, 50 pesawas per head!! He was like ah no no no 5cedi, 5 cedi. I said ok 1 cedi per head, for 4 cedis. He said OK. We filled up two cabs and left.
4. Bring Enough Clothes for 4 Days When You’re Staying for 3 Weeks
This was just stupid.
5. Get Into a Cab Alone On the Side of the Road with Four Big Men In It
Again, that day I did my hair, I started out with the group but they needed to go in the opposite direction of me. So they got into a cab and left me alone on the side of the street in Cape Coast, Ghana. What. The Heck. So cabs were passing me because they were filled or ignoring me and finally I flagged one down and there were four men in there. And I thought to myself, maybe I shouldn’t do this. And then, I got in the car anyway and went to Kingsway praying: chukwu nonyere m, ije oma. God definitely needed to be with me and keep my journey safe. (Wink wink to anyone who gets the irony.) Any who, I’m safe and I won’t do it again.

Peace. 

2 comments:

  1. Mom needs to slap u maybe five times for all this stuff, especially that last one, what the heck?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Agreed. I'd slap me too if I wasn't too busy doing these things.

    ReplyDelete