Endless Taxi Rides

Before I begin, let me say that our internet here is very unreliable, so sometimes I just have to save and post 2 in one day...oh well, can't be too picky. In a third world country I guess we are just lucky to have internet!

Oh wow! What a day we had today!!! We started out by going to the school that we will be teaching at Monday - Wednesday. There were SO many kids there! I couldn't believe how many they could squish into the compound. Although, I guess it shouldn't really surprise me because here, there are people literally EVERYWHERE!! It is amazing that so many people can fit into the space here. The kids were so cute, and so excited that we were there to teach them. I got assigned to teach the 4th graders, which I am so excited about. They are old enough to grasp the concepts, but young enough to still be kids. Tomorrow is our first official day of class. It is going to be so much fun. The kids loved us. They love getting their picture taken, and will strike a pose anytime you pull out your camera. It is so cute!

This is just a glimpse of the school yard. Can you believe all those kids?

This is a picture of one of the school rooms. They are so run down and everything is dirty.

When we arrived at the classrooms, all the kids would stand up and say, "welcome" and then they would sing us the cutest song! I recorded it, but I don't know how to get it from my camera to the computer yet. When I do I will post it. It was so sweet though. Often, as you are walking, little kids will just come up to you and grab your hands. They just want you to hold their hands and give them some attention. It is so sweet.
After we went to the schools, the real adventure began! We were supposed to go to the orphanage to play with the kids, so we all hailed some taxis and got in. It was pouring rain, and when it rains here roads get washed out, so everyone has to take the main road, which makes traffic so slow. Not to mention, all the pollution. We had to drive with the windows closed today because it was raining so hard and I seriously thought we were going to get carbon monoxide poisoning. It was SO strong. Especially with the cars being so old, they put off a lot more pollution than newer ones.
Anyway, we got into the cab and headed for the Teshie Orphanage, or so we thought. We were just driving along, going about 90 - they don't really have traffic laws here, and if they do, no one follows them - and all of a sudden we here a big PSSSSTTT, and then the car starts shaking! Yup, our tire blew. I should have known it would happen sooner or later, because we always see broken down taxis on the side of the road. So we get over to the side and our driver pulls out his little tire changing kit, and we were waiting for a bit, until he hailed us a new taxi.

This is us, scared white girls with our broken down taxi

Well, we got in with or new driver, and he told us that he needed to get some gas, just around the corner. Well, it wasn't just around the corner. He took us down back dirt roads, through tiny villages to this old, old ghetto gas station. It was so scary! The first gas station we went to didn't work because it was out of gas, so we went to one a little bit down the road. Well, when we pulled in, we were freaked out! It was so scary! There were a bunch of men sioning gas from big gas trucks. I am pretty sure that it was illegal. I couldn't get a picture of it because I was so scared that they would kill us if we pulled out our cameras. But I did get a picture of the first gas station, just imagine the second one much, much worse. EEK!!!

Then, we finally get done getting gas and drive for about an hour and a half in the slow traffic to where we think is the orphanage. It was supposedly by a police station. Well, our cab driver dropped us off at the police station, and here we are, the only white people in a tiny, poverse, dirty little town. We went to the station to ask where the orphanage was, and he told us that we were in the wrong town. Good Grief!! So, we hail another taxi, desperate to get to our final destination before every one leaves us. Luckily, this driver actually knew where the orphanage was, so we finally made it, after 3 taxis and a lot of nervousness. Here are some pictures of the 5 minutes we spent at the orphanage. There used to be about 80 kids, but so many of them have been adopted that there are only about 20 left! They are all a little bit older too, there is only one really little one, and he is about 2. They are all so cute though.

The boys

The girls

I learned today that the capital city, Accra is much more industrialized than the rest of Africa. When we went out into the town, it was a completely different experience. Much more of what you picture Africa to be, or at least more of what I pictured it to be. It was very sad. Very eye opening.