An Insane Car Ride I Didn't Think I'd Survive, and Meeting Swimmers in Ghana- June 8

 

Thursday June 8

I woke up with an upset stomach but I was kinda surprised that it hasn’t happened until now. It started as a pretty normal day, we went to the hospital and things in the physiotherapy ward were really similar to the previous days. Today we had mostly younger kids come through and we had kids with autism, Down syndrome, and microcephaly. There were fewer nurses today so we helped a bit with the kids practicing to walk. One girl would touch my arm every time she passed; her mom said she was surprised by my white skin. The exercises and methods today were the same as previous days: stretches, motor skill practice, braces, etc. 

At the end, I asked one of the nurses some questions, and here are some of the answers I got. She said that this clinic will see the kids usually until they’re about 9 years old then they’re referred to a physio ward at another hospital that sees both adults and kids. She said that during covid they didn’t shut down but had to space kids out and see them less often. She said that schools did shut down and have some online classes for about 9 months. She also said that some schools do have special education teachers but there aren’t special ed classes; everyone is together. She said that to work in this ward, she had to get a physiotherapy degree with a specialization in pediatrics. 

I then had lunch at the hospital (today was fish and yam fries) and then decided to go try to swim at the only lap pool I could find (I called and they said they were open that day for me to swim even though I wasn't a student at University of Ghana where the pool is). So, I ordered a bolt car and left by myself from the hospital. It was supposed to be a 45 min drive. This was my first time going out on my own but I felt really safe, especially just knowing I had my phone and people to contact if anything happened. 

Where It All Went Wrong....

Shortly after we left, I realized the driver had turned the wrong way down a one way street and there was a group of police officers who stopped him. He kept saying something like my bad but then one of them got in the passenger seat with us (he wasn’t wearing a police uniform but was wearing a high vis vest so I’m not sure if he was an actual officer or some related position). I wasn’t sure if he was supposed to go with us to the police station or something to fine the guy or what. Our coordinator later told me it is common for police to get into the car when doing a traffic stop and he was probably supposed to drive with us to the station. We drove for about 10 minutes and the driver argued with the officer the whole time, eventually, he pulled off the street into a bus stop area and both got out.

I wasn’t sure I was supposed to get out or what was happening (no one said a word to me and they were arguing in Twi), but after they argued some more, the officer got into the driver's seat. The driver didn’t like this and tried to pull him out but eventually, he sat in his lap, sort of hanging out of the car. I realized he was trying to start the car, the engine was revving. So I figured I should probably get out if he was about to start driving while hanging out of the car. But as soon as I opened my door the car sped off. In that split second I looked at the people in the bus stop who seemed kinda concerned for me and I considered jumping out of the moving car but decided that was probably more dangerous. So I put my seatbelt on and just kinda accepted that this felt like it might end in a car crash; I didn’t think there was anything I could do. I don’t think there’s anything I could’ve done differently besides getting out of the car when they did initially. 

He was driving very very fast and since he was only half on the officer's lap, he was kinda hanging out the door so that door was open (his head was out the window). They continued to argue while the car moved very fast and I thought we were going to crash into something several times, it felt like the driver couldn't see and was barely staying on the road and lots of people honked. The officer tried closing the door but couldn’t. I couldn’t believe this was happening and my phone was open so I started discreetly recording. You can see me put my seatbelt on in this clip, usually, people don’t wear them here and usually all roads are pretty slow but I needed it now.

Driving like this felt like forever but was probably just a few minutes. Eventually, we somehow stopped and the officer slid out. I was of course going to get out but as soon as I undid my seatbelt to get out, he sped off again. So I was just kinda stuck in the car again and I didn’t want to ask to be let out and cancel the ride because that might anger him. I was glad I was wearing my sunglasses because I was starting to cry.

He said something to me that I couldn’t quite understand but it was something about being mad at the officer for thinking he could take his car (our coordinator later told me when watching the video that he was saying that the officer was a thief). The driver was texting and driving and then called some friends, yelling into the phone very loudly, I assume telling them what happened. His friends laughed a lot.

I was silent the rest of the car ride until with about 15 min left, he asked me why I was looking at my phone and not talking to him. He said that we can be friends and I said that I have lots of friends with me already but he said that we would be ‘normal friends’, whatever that means. At the end, he asked me for a picture together. I laughed it off but he pulled out his phone and took a picture of us. So I took one too so I could remember this crazy ride and guy. At least he didn’t propose to me like other drivers. I got out and he didn’t leave the parking lot for a while which made me nervous but eventually, he left.

(I am completely fine and we have laughed looking back at the videos because it’s so crazy. This is not common here. Our coordinator was shocked this happened, he has seen drivers get arrested for going the wrong way but never this. I also haven’t seen a single car crash here despite the aggressive driving all around). 

Swimming Over Cultural Differences....

I walked around the pool to the entrance and saw two white people swimming who I assumed were tourists. But, as I went on to the pool deck, a guy came over (I think he was some sort of pool manager) and told me that the pool wasn’t open. I couldn’t believe it, I had been through all this and it wasn’t even open! I told him that I had called and they said it was open, and we went back and forth trying to understand each other, and I think he said that the pool was just open for U of Ghana students. Usually, I’d leave it but I’d been through all that so I tried to explain myself more and said that I was a swimmer trying to find somewhere to train. He told me to go ask the coach because there were club team practices I could maybe join. He said they were in the evening so I didn’t really think I could make them (this pool is like 45min-1hr 15 min away from our house) but I figured it would be worth it to try talking to him. 

I tried to go into the building where his office was but I guess I looked lost so two guys came over, the pool manager had told them about me. That explained that they were swimmers here and would take me to the coach. His office was in a gym building next to the pool. We went into the office and I explained myself and he said I could use the pool anytime including right now. He was very nice and the dynamic between him and the swimmers was the same as my teammates and I have with our coaches, they were joking a lot.

So, we went out and I changed in the big locker room then got in the pool. The swimmers sat on the side while I swam. It’s a nice 50-meter pool, they said all the pools here are 50 meters. There were several high dives. It wasn’t salt water and I’m not sure if it was chlorine or what. There were a couple of men swimming but the pool was pretty empty. I did wonder if my normal training swimsuit I was wearing was immodest or not, in my research ahead of time it seemed like Ghanaians had relaxed modesty standards for swimming and beaches compared to their normal standard of modesty (mostly knee-length skirts/dresses), but a few women got in the pool wearing tank tops and shorts or a knee length wetsuit. But, they did seem to be leisurely swimmers and not competitive swimmers so I’m not sure what is normal.

I swam for about an hour I think, I didn’t have a clock so I don’t know. I talked to the swimmers some in between swimming. The main one I talked to told me his real name once and when I asked him to repeat it because I didn't catch it, he told me to call him Bullet (he even put that when I was getting his WhatsApp), and I didn’t get the other one’s name. Bullet does mainly longer events, but he said that the main events they have are 50 or 100m and the longest one is 400 IM. His friend is a breaststroker and said that I’m probably faster than him, but I’m not sure because I have no idea what their times are or how competitive their club is.

They said their club team here (the Legon Sharks) is age 15 and up and they’re seniors on the team (they are 20 years old). There are about 7 other club teams they compete against and they invited me to a swim meet this Saturday. At first, I thought they meant for me to swim in, but they meant for me to come watch and they said I could maybe swim in warm up or in between events. I said maybe because we already have some weekend plans and it’s a bit of a drive. 

He did tell me that someone had sadly drowned here and that's why it's closed to the public. They don't have any lifeguards.

They said that they’ve been on the team for about 4 years (they are 20) and that Bullet does take a course at U of G but his friend just works so I guess the club team isn’t totally affiliated with the university. Bullet said that he used to do basketball but chose to focus on swim because there isn’t a serious basketball club, but that he also does triathlon here and that the coach that I met is the National triathlon coach. 

He asked me a lot about university and swimming in the US and he said that it’s his dream to use swimming to go to university in America because he thinks that’s how he will achieve something and he doesn’t feel that there are opportunities in Ghana the way there is in America. He told me about research he did into triathlon in universities and asked me why schools don’t seem to have male triathlon teams so I explained Title IX and how schools need to balance male and female athletes and football takes up so many slots. I did tell him that we swim against a community college that has relatively a lot of international students and he asked me to send him a link to that school so I said I would, I got his WhatsApp which he said is broken at the moment but he’ll fix. 

I definitely recognized my privilege of me swimming mainly for fun and friends, but that for him, swimming is his chance for a better life. 

He and his friend were very nice and I was so grateful they helped me make it work to swim. It was really interesting to hear their experiences and so cool that we were able to bond over swimming. They did tell me I had nice gringo shoes which was interesting because I'd only heard that term for white people from Spanish speakers.

There was also a runner who they were friends with that was in the pool. I changed in the locker room (there was no shower water) then ordered my bolt and it was an uneventful ride back thankfully. 

Everyone including the coordinator was pretty shocked by the car story. We then went to dinner at Zen Garden, a really nice outdoor restaurant with live music. 

Then we went to bed. Today, some others went to see waterfalls in the Volta region and apparently, it was a 5-hour drive with tons of police checkpoints along the way, and even though they didn’t leave the country, they had to show pictures of their passport and visa because they were so close to the border to Togo.