"Obruni! Obruni! Obruni!"

So today Petra and I had to go and get our visa’s extended. For some reason, when you apply for a 3 month visa in Canada, it is really only good for 2 months. Seems silly and pointless to me, but that’s how it is.

So, we got up and went to go and get our passport sized pictures taken at the local “foto” shop. We got to pick whether we wanted a white background or red background. Choices, choices. I picked white. Turns out the girls didn’t think that suited me and decided to switch to red. This involved one of them holding a red sheet behind my head…Maybe THAT’S why they need 5 employees?

One of the girls told me that I had beautiful hair and said that I should take her to Canada so that she could get some like that…I told her that this was my natural hair and that I wasn’t about to cut it off of my head to give to her. She was baffled that hair could grow like this on our heads. Haha.

We got our mug shots and made our way to the trotro station to meet Kujo. He was taking us so that we didn’t get jipped and pay more than we needed to in order to extend the visa’s, and show us how to get there. Thank you Kujo!

We took the trotro to Koferidua and walked to the Immigration Office. It was kind of cool walking through a new town and seeing different places and different people than Asamankese; they have a different market and I am a big observer and people watcher, so new things are always fun for me.

We got to the office and filled out our forms and such, and then found out that “the boss” wasn’t in yet; he hadn’t showed up to work yet today and they didn’t know what time he would be in. The Ghana life. They guaranteed that he would be though, so we exchanged numbers and we went to go walk around Koferidua for a while…

We went to the Presby school across the street from the Immigration office first. Kujo is a teacher in the Asamankese Presby Primary School, so we went to say hi and look around. There were children in adorable blue uniforms everywhere. In Ghana, each school has their own uniform and everyone wears them with pride.

Presby School Visit

My favourite was going to the preschoolers who all shouted “Obruni! Obruni! Obruni!” in a chant to us as we got closer to the classroom, and filed out of the class just to see us and shake our hands.

Preschool Children at the Presby School

Nursery School Naptime!

Second favourite was the nursery school. Apparently children as young as 3 months old are put in there so that their mother’s can go back to work. It was nap time when we got there and they were all just sleeping on the floor. It was hilarious and super cute! I think I am developing a super soft spot for these adorable dark skinned little children. I wanna take a few home with me.

After that, we decided to walk to the bead market. On Thursday’s in Koferidua, they have a bead and craft market. We were told it was pretty close by, so we decided to walk there. It was 40 degrees today before humidity. The walk was about 40 mins uphill. I think it is fair to say that Petra and I were both disgusting once we reached the market…we looked up and down a few aisles and then found Fanmilk and sat down. Kujo didn’t complain and joined us. Honestly, we were soaked. It was gross. And as if I am not dark enough, I got even more tanned today from just walking around. I almost fit in here.

We passed by a guy from America today. He called us an “obruni” as a joke. Maybe I was just overtired, but I enjoyed it and thought it was cute of him.

The trotro ride home was cooking hot. And very bumpy. The road between Suhum and Asamankese (the whole last hour of the ride) is all under construction and unpaved. It is awful for driving. It is super hard on your body and just adds to the exhaustion. I am pretty sure I saw our driver nod off a couple times as we were driving too…surprisingly, this didn’t even worry me. I think I am convinced that IF I am to die in Africa, it will be in a trotro accident. Or maybe Malaria due to the lack of pills…

We got home and Auntie Joe saw us and just started laughing. I was so sweaty that my flipflops just kept slipping off my feet so I took them off as I made my way across the lawn. (Ghanaians think it is the strangest thing when I wear bare feet outside…that is what I do when it is warm outside…).Petra and I both looked exhausted so she told us to go inside and rest. I yelled back that it better rain tonight and she said she would pray hard. It poured 10 minutes later. Oh Auntie Joe, you are wonderful.

HALFWAY POINT IS TODAY!