Day 10: Last day in Accra (January 17, 2011)

I spent today strolling through two different neighborhoods, chatting with some locals over meals, touring the National Museum, and stressing out about my flight to Cairo tomorrow.

In the morning, I walked around Dansoman, the neighborhood (city? suburb?) I stayed in last night. As already noted, it's more middle class, or at least more prosperous, than some other areas I've seen. There were still dirt roads and some small houses, but nothing like the tent cities and shantytowns I've seen elsewhere. It even has some enourmous roads lined with shops and businesses like our suburbs, but I note this as a sign of prosperity and modernity, not to imply I actually like it:

Like Rockville Pike, only less terrible.

After taxiing from one hotel to the other (back to the place I stayed at my first two nights), I walked about a mile to the National Museum. It was fairly small but fairly comprehensive, with an emphasis on decorative household goods (textiles, tools, chairs, etc.). There's a name for that, right? Anyway, I really like exhibits of household goods, because I always imagine my own house filled with such pretty and varied things.

Almost as interesting as the museum was my walk there. I don't think I've mentioned how many people live in the cities I've visited. Well, it's a lot. And they are all outside. All the time. Some of the main roads near my hotel are like New York City, they are so full of people. Dressed in many ways, and carrying pretty much everything imaginable on their heads (a sensible place to carry things, if you ask me). Many are just sitting, watching the world or talking to friends, but there's a lot of movement too. The biggest difference is the pace of the movement: It's glacial. I've forced myself to slow down here, in part because it's too hot to talk at my usual speed and in part so I don't stand out quite so much (probably doesn't work lol). But even at what was by my standards a very slow pace to and from the museum, I overtook everyone. There was one person who walked more quickly than I. I almost stopped him to ask if he was an American because he was walking so fast lol.

Now it's evening and I've repacked my stuff in preparation for my flight to Cairo tomorrow. And I'm worried. Mostly about missing the flight, which is very improbable or about somehow not having a seat, even though I've confirmed my reversation on the web. I'm probably worrying needlessly, but that's how I'm wired. And worrying a little usually serves me well because I think of back-up plans when things go wrong. But what's my backup plan if I miss an international flight? /bites nails/ Sorry, you're probably going to have to read a paragraph like this 13 more times. Or will the threat of more of this scare you away?

Speaking of Cairo, I've been very lucky with my internet access in Ghana, thanks in large measure to my hotel, which allowed me to keep its mobile modem even when I was gone for a week. My hotel in Cairo claims to have free Wifi, so I should be posting over the next two days. But in case I disappear, either tomorrow or in a few days when I head to Tanzania, it's almost surely due to lack of internet access, and I'll post as soon as I can.