Things that will surprise you about Ghana.

It only took about 2 weeks of me being here to finally shut up about and become used to seeing some of the  backwards ways of this place. For instance, their drainage system here are roughly 3 foot deep ditches that look like a miniature half pipe of concrete. These ditches are seen everywhere on the side of the asphalt roads. This may not surprise you, but the purpose that the drains are used for certainly will. Because the ditches are open to the air and easily accessible, they also serve as a "garbage disposal" every morning people get up, walk out to the closest ditch, and dump all of their rubbish and waste into the it in hopes that drainage water will carry it away from their homes and businesses. Here, it seems they have no qualms or concerns for where the trash ends up or how it so greatly effects the cleanliness of their environment and water system. Get this, not only do the ditches make great garbage disposals, they also are used as toilets. That's right, you won't see people getting arrested for public urination/public indecency around here. In broad day light both women and men urinate in the drains and sometimes defecate there right beside the street! Now remember, from all the trash piling up, also comes rats and other animals which get stuck in the ditch and die, and occasionally trash will pile up and stop the flow of things which means stagnant water that is perfect for mosquito breading. But what happens to the trash and debris? Funny you should ask, after a good rain it all flows right through the drains to the rivers...when you see the rivers after the rain it looks like a river of moving trash. You cannot see the water that moves the rubbish underneath, it is just a sea of moving plastic and dirty rubbish in the process of flowing out to sea. This, as you can imagine is a disheartening sight to see. I'm not even sure if it's a lack of education, it seems to be their way of "dealing" with the problem of waste. The government even stepped in to put concrete slabs over drains on busy roads to help stop dumping, but the people here are so desperate, that they literally ripped up the concrete slabs from the ground, broke them apart, removed the iron bars from the concrete, then melted them down to sell. How can you fix a problem when the people won't cooperate or accept help? Everyday, people throw litter on the ground or in a ditch or defecate on the beach, or urinate in a water source. What can you do? The change for good must start with the people wanting to change if it will ever happen. They don't really have stop signs here either. When you come to any intersecting road, the signal for "I'm coming your way and I'm not stopping" or "hey don't go" is the use of the car horn. I never thought I had heard more car horns than in New York, but here it is just a normal way of saying "stop". If you don't blow your horn at every car that crosses or is about to cross your path, they will not stop even if they see you coming, it is insane. On another note, after leaving Cape Coast the other day, I noticed historic government buildings and landmarks that were a part of the slave trade and city system from the 1700's, inside of them were trash, clothes, and squatters! People are living in historical relics! They just pop a squat and pitch their tent where they please. Ghana has to be one of the most punk rawk places in the world because there are more squatters here than anywhere else I have ever seen. Because people don't really have time limits on their building permits here,( or at least they aren't put into effect) there are giant, empty, concrete buildings that are half built everywhere..and inside of them you will find squatters! The way the squatters also grow their own vegetables and fruit and live with multiple people to one house like a commune would be greatly admired by crust punks abroad. Anyway, I have food poisoning from most likely eating the delicious calamari that was not refrigerated.. :( I will post more later!! Thanks for reading!-Eng