"I am coming"

Very quickly, I had to learn that I could either 1) accept that things happen a bit differently here in Ghana, often a bit more slowly, or 2) remain in a constant state of frustration. Fortunately, I’ve picked up the former trait, an ability that all Global Mamas volunteers seem to acquire.

Fast service is rare in Ghana and certainly not a priority. This past weekend, four volunteers and I spent our time at the Axim Beach Resort, about three hours west of Cape Coast. For lunch the day we left, we placed our orders, went up to our rooms to shower and clean up, packed, and started checking out. By the time we got back to the restaurant – wonderfully located on the beach – we waited another 45 minutes for our food. Shortly thereafter, Tyler ordered a pineapple boat; essentially, it’s a cut-up pineapple. It took close to an hour to prepare.

“I am coming” is a common expression in Ghana. If you call someone and ask them if they are on the way, you would undoubtedly receive the response, “I am coming.” This can mean they are coming in 15 minutes, an hour, or four hours. Going with the flow is the name of the game.

Checking out from the beach resort took forty-five minutes. If it ever took someone in the States 45 minutes to check-out of a hotel, the manager would be called and some sort of discount given. But such delays are expected. And it would be very “Yank” of us to complain. Very quickly you learn to slow down, relax, smile, and say to yourself, “When in Ghana…”

But this works both ways. Our taxi driver, who was to take us from the resort to the tro station, waited for us patiently while we checked out, for a commission that was only 3 cedi (about $2.00). And our waiter seemed to have no problem bringing us an endless supply of rolls during each morning’s complimentary breakfast, although I’m sure we took it a bit to excess.



We canoed out to the village on stilts Saturday afternoon, a ride I enjoyed almost more than the actual village tour. Drifting along in a canoe as we went through a black river- the water was naturally reddish when you stuck your hand in it - we paddled through two small “jungles” before we got to the lake that was the home of the village on stilts. As much as it was interesting to see, an awkward exchange with the village chief led us, of course, to leave a donation for the development of the village.



All in all, it was a beautiful weekend. Over three days, I finished a book on the beach, enjoyed extended meals with friends I have come to greatly admire, and “gone back to my [younger] roots” by playing in the sand and boogie-boarding in the Atlantic.



And over the course of the weekend, I continued to meet so many friendly and welcoming people. The volunteer guide was dead-on when it said that Ghanaians are “The Friendliest People in the World.”