Our outing today was to the EPP Bookstore in the yet-to-be-completed mall across the highway from the University of Ghana. Actually, “mall” is too strong. It’s more like a renovated 4-story building.
EPP is on the second floor. Supposedly, a grocery store will occupy the ground floor in February, and everything is still under construction. The building itself is “dodgy” (my word) and “sketchy” (Mark’s word). The stairs are uneven, the floors seem too thin (and flexible in some places), there are very few customers, the books are dusty, and everything in the store feels unfinished.
The good news is that we bought five books for Mark, which should keep him occupied for a couple weeks. It’s already working. (See photo below.)
As we left the “mall,” I decided to take a different route home, avoiding the bone-crunching dirt road on which we usually drive. We went North on Legon E Road (N4) with the intent of making a U-turn back to the campus. Not so easy! We drove for 15 minutes before I felt comfortable to reverse direction, thanks to the presence of a traffic cop. The Saturday afternoon traffic was horrible. Oh well. Yet another adventure.
This evening, Catherine saw a large (6-inch) gecko scampering along the bathroom wall as she stepped into the shower. My technique in these situations is to cover the gecko with a colander, slip a folder under the colander, bring the folder-covered colander outside, and release the offender. Tonight, when I jammed the colander against the wall, I accidentally pinned the gecko's midsection beneath the collander's rim. I probably broke its spine; it didn’t move after that. Tears! If we advertise that our flat is perilous to geckos, will fewer invade?
Catherine is feeling a bit better, although her stomach remains unsettled.
—Matt
