Accra!

"This is Accra" Big says as we get closer to the more densely populated capital of Ghana. The sight is amazing. The major roads are paved and quite good. But as soon as you venture off to some direction, the city transforms itself into a dusty bush village with dirt roads and an intense buzz of people everywhere. Some are doing business. Selling og buying. Chickens are sold alive, but with a quick twist you are sure that they don´t run off after purchase.
There are no shops. Just vendors with baskets og boxes full of completely unfamilar items. I spot huge bananas in one and comment to Big that finally I know something. But alas, they are not bananas but plantane and with a very sinister and dramatic voice, he cautions me never to eat one raw. He is certain that they are poisonous and I promise never to do so. Which wasn´t a difficult promise to make.

At an intersection a women comes over and offers green oranges. Big buys 3 and the women quickly cuts of the outer peel in a spiral. He shows me how to sqeeze the orange over my mouth and drink the juice. It is heaven. I was thirsty and dusty and this did the trick.

Off to the side are beggars. Crippled people of different misfortunes. Big cautions again: "You must not give them money. If they don´t get any, they will return to their families. But if you give to them, they will learn that you benefit from degrading yourself. This is not honorable."
What wisdom in those words. I am speechless mostly because he does not seem stern, but says it with care and empathy in his voice.

It was my first lesson in the humanity of Ghana.