Easter Monday

Easter Monday is a holiday here so we got our paperwork all together with the letter requested by the Immigration Officer, copies of our return ticket and lots of money and headed into Adum.  This would be our 3^rd trip and already our frustration was showing. 

 

When we arrived and climbed up to the 3^rd floor, Fred asked to see a more senior officer than the ones we had been seeing, so we waited outside on wooden benches with everyone else.  When it was our turn we went into a crowded office with many desks and tables and sat and showed him the letter from the Volunteer program we had to have sent from America.  He said this was not required and we needed a letter from someone in Ghana.  This was directly opposite from what we were told before.  We had sent to America for this letter especially and now were into April so another month’s penalty will have to be paid.  So after many more explanations he crossed off some of our reasons for being in Ghana on our request form and had us write we were there to test the environment for future business.  This was acceptable to us and so we did.  Also the prior officers had said we could only get an extension for 60 days and he gave us 90, for extra money, of course.  So we left having paid our $280.

 

It was now after lunch, in the heat and Fred, who has not been feeling well, is not well enough to drive.   I am hot and hungry and do not like driving down town in the heavy traffic.  We get to the very first traffic light and there is a policeman directing traffic.  He looked over at our car and then walked to us and said our road permit has expired.  I know we have insurance until April 21^st, so we so not know what he I talking about.  Their insurance is not tied to the car license, we found out, and ours had expired March 24^th.  He climbed into the back seat and directed me to the police station.  They have me park and take us in and we sit on a wooded bench and wait.  The policeman had told us that our car would be impounded and we would have to come to court tomorrow.  Fred is very ill by this time and I am frazzled.  I do not have enough money for this because we had to pay so much more than we expected at the Immigration office.  So I sit there and a few tears trickle down my face.    A long time goes by without any paperwork being filled out, just threats of what will happen.  I think that because I do not clue in to what is happening anther policeman comes and asks me if I want to go to court.  When I say No he says for me to tell the officer why I should be dismissed and finally Fred rouses enough to say, What is the fine?  So a $30 bribe later we are dismissed to go to the License office, about 10 km away.  We head straight there.  

 

On our way we are stopped at another intersection and a young policeman spots our expired sticker.  We have had no license for almost a month without anyone noticing and now we get stopped within 15 minutes of leaving the police station.  After our exclamations of how we had just left the police station having paid our fine, he believes us and tells the older officer with him that there is no problem and he waves us on.   We have to ask directions several times on how to get to the license station and when we get there it is 3:04 and they close at 3:00.  You have to pay at the on site bank and the bank closes promptly. We must return in the morning.  Every intersection has policemen directing traffic because it is now the rush hour and I am so tense at each one that I arrive home with a headache, not having any lunch or water for a long time has not helped.    Fred is very tired and he has a nap when we get back home. 

 

The next morning we decided that he has been ill long enough and has taken the medication we brought from Canada and it is time to see a doctor here in Ghana. So after we are finished with the license office we will go to one of the small hospital clinics near by.  Our pastor host has graciously consented to be the one to actually drive the car through the checkpoint because we are sure they will treat him differently than we would be treated.  The car passes with flying colors and we pay our $8 for the fee and $3 for the reflective stickers that are required.  And on to the hospital.

 

After a blood test we now know Fred has malaria.  This is a big shock because we have been faithfully taking our anti-malaria medications.  Apparently you can still get malaria even if you take the drugs but his parasite count was in the hundreds instead of 2 or 3 hundred, so he has a mild case, no fever or headache, just diarrhea and extreme tiredness. 

He has to stay at the hospital for 8 hours for 2 bottles of intravenous drip into his wrist and 2 shots, one for each buttock, and we must come back for 2 more days for a shot per day.  So I arrive home around 2 pm to take back some water and food for Fred because again we haven’t had lunch as well as his reading glasses and book. 

 

The unexpected admittance to the hospital means that I must phone Fred’s appointment and arrange to meet him and give him the payment.  So I have to go to the hotel parking lot where we have agreed to meet.  I waited for about 1 ½ hours for him to arrive.  Here in Ghana it is only approximately an appointment for a specific hour, so I have learned to take my book with me and find somewhere to sit in the shade.  Luckily, you can buy sachets of water at every intersection. 

 

The last 2 days have me harried and Fred napping.  But today he started to get his strength back, although they say it will be a long haul.

 

Sunday, April 5th

 

            Since it has been 2 weeks since the last blog, I won’t try to catch up on everything.  God is faithful and we have been well and without any sickness at all except for some sore muscles from our regular exercise.  It is the power that has been sick.  Apparently there were loose wires left when this house was wired, perhaps in preparation for some wiring in the upstairs that currently (no pun intended) is not in use.  At any rate the electrician that solved our problems said that one of these wires injected an extra 250 Volts into our system and that is what blew out the chargers for our computers and all the lights that were on.

            My charger has not been easy to get parts for and I have had it to charge the computer and then return it to have another part put in and will still have to return it one more time to get a proper case.  It is taped inside a makeshift box at the moment and tomorrow will get a different makeshift box that will allow it to run cooler.  It is running at 15 volts instead of 16, but does the charging job just the same.  Marlayne’s runs cooler but goes out for spells to catch its’ breath.

            Some of this blog will be pasted from emails that have been sent.   We have been to the same church twice now and I like it quite a bit.  The Pastor's English is very understandable to us and the singing is okay, also the announcements are only about 15 minutes.  Announcements can take up a large portion of the service here in Africa.  They include funeral notices, special offerings given by individuals for specific reasons, mail that has come to the church for people who do not have their own mailing address, wedding bans with the future bride and groom standing in the front of the church, and long introductions by those who are visiting the church for the first time telling us where they are from and who in the church they are visiting, as well as long lists of meetings for the week.

            And: “We have had power problems in the town and with our house for over 3 weeks now.  We thought is was just the usual problems with the city power coming and going and being very up and down as well.  A power surge burned out both our computer charging units.  The computers were fine but the little black boxes were toast. So we found a man who could maybe repair them and we used Fred's computer as little as possible while we still had some battery power left.  He would start it up just to get mail and then shut it down again.  My computer just has games on it and doesn't have email so it was not as important and I just stopped using it.  We sent out a message saying we were conserving computer time but I don't think that message got to you.  And of course, Fred was not wasting any of our precious power on something that wasn't urgent so we didn't update his Blog.  

 

And then one night we were the only house that had no lights.  The electrician came the next day and spent hours going over things.  The wiring here in Ghana is BAD at the best of times and this house had open live wires just hanging and in the wind something must have been intermittently touching.  First the power was like a brown out and would go up and down and then it stopped altogether.  So we went to bed in the dark and then in the middle of the night we woke to all the bulbs in the house sparking and hissing.  Apparently the live wires touched again to make double the power and it burnt out all the bulbs.  We didn't have anything plugged in at the time (basically everything was still out for repair) but the pastor lost his cell charger again and this time the TV was toast, but the old fridge that has the freezer broken and Fred cannot fix the light and the shelves are missing from the door - this old fridge didn't die.  It is still out there as ugly as ever.  One thing you'd almost wish to break and it is just fine:)

 

So at this point, Fred's charger is somewhat fixed.  It is taped together because the tidy plastic cover had to be cut off and new insides put in that are just temporary.  It over heats and then has to be unplugged to let it cool off.  But his computer can at least be charged and then used.  The repair man couldn't find anything wrong with mine but it just quits every now and then and  cannot leave it plugged in either.  So I plug it in until the unit stops and then wait for a while and try again.  Not perfect but definitely better than nothing.”

            We have not renewed our visas yet.  I am still refusing to pay the penalty for overstaying and don’t know where that will lead.  Neither have we re-scheduled our return flights.  Our contract for lumber was FOB Takoradi by April 2^nd.  The supplier assured me it would be ready ahead of time in March.  The logs are still coming to the mill and have not been cut into lumber yet.  It is hard to know how much more time we will need.

              

My exhaust system that was poorly repaired started to come down again on the bad road from Obuasi, so on our way to the ‘net we stopped at the repair where we got the A/C done and they are working on the car right away while we sit in the shade.  The welder was obviously a body builder and had arms like tree trunks, so I challenged him to arm wrestle for the cost of repair.  It was 12 GHC.  I think he was the first Ghanaian to beat me.  Many of the men are in the 50-70 Kg. range.  This last paragraph changes tense because it was current when written in the email and past when added to in the blog.

Every time it rains, cars are unable to make it up the hill by our house.  Rainy season approaches and I am making enquiries into a Toyota Tacoma 4 wd pickup.  It is a gas guzzler by comparison but likely will not leave me where the Carina would give up all hope.