Three transportation stories

A couple of weeks ago, I was waiting for a trotro towards the Embassy (I take one to 37, and walk from there). However, I was meeting Leslie for lunch, and did not want to be late; additionally several people were also waiting for a car to 37 who had been there before me. I hailed a taxi and negotiated a price to the Embassy, then told the driver that we were taking these four people to 37 (which is on the way to the Embassy). I sat in the front, they piled in the back, and off we went. We dropped the other passengers off where they wanted to go en route. After the last one had exited, the taxi driver said to me that in Ghana, this is not done - if you are waiting for a car (trotro) with a friend, you have enough money and decide to take a taxi, people will leave their friend waiting for a trotro even if they are going the same place. I replied that it seemed silly for a nearly empty taxi to leave 4 people who were going the same direction standing waiting for a trotro that might take a long time to arrive (I have waited up to 45 minutes for one to 37). He told me that he had asked the 4 other passengers (in Twi) if they would had done the same thing; they had all laughed he stated.

Yesterday, I was once again waiting for a trotro to 37 (I have to get over my dislike for and unfamiliarity with the Achimota station, it hinders my easy movement around Accra) to go to dinner with friends. I have been waiting about 30 minutes when a woman told me that "the white car is calling you". I did not recognize the vehicle as belonging to a colleague, but I walked over. There were two young women and a child inside. They asked where I was going, I replied, and they said they would take me. I asked if I knew them (I do not know all the teachers at my school, or their family members), they said no, they just wanted to give me a lift, but if I was uncomfortable they understood. I got in (two women with a baby seemed innocuous enough). Portia (the driver) is a student at one of the universities and is studying banking and finance, her sister Yvonne had lost her job when her company closed and is staying home as a full time mom for now. It turns out they wanted to set up me with their brother who is currently working before going back to school to study law. I was flattered, but declined. They dropped me at my destination, I gave them an Obama pin I had in my purse, and thanked them profusely. They did not ask for my number, and went on their way.

Something else I have never done in the US I experienced for the first time last weekend. Leslie and I went to Lome, the capital of Togo (which is just across the eastern border with Ghana). One common way of getting around the city is by mototaxi (moped). A first for both of us was taking a mototaxi (no helmets) to the market to wander around. We had been told that it is considered cowardly to hold on to the driver of the mototaxi, and although I am not one to let peer pressure get in the way of my health and safety, I held on to the sissy bar in the back for the duration of the ride. I enjoyed it, but think I would enjoy it more a second time.