There is an American style mall in Accra.  It is large, air-conditioned, has a movie theater, and Apple store, a food court, a grocery store, a number of small clothing stores, and a book store.  It is the place to go and be seen on Saturdays if you are a teenager in Accra.

In fact, everyone tries to look nice when they go to the mall.  If you enjoy people watching you will see the mixture of traditional and new styles.  Men with woven cloth, attached on such a way that one shoulder is bare, walk past groups of teenage boys with Fro-Hawks, skinny jeans, and chunky silver chain necklaces.  Young girls look awkward in their secondhand mini skirts, while older women look elegant in the floor length skirts in bright patterns with matching tops and head scarves.

The stores tend to be empty; people mostly wander the mall hallway.  Except for the grocery store bags, it is rare to see people caring bags of purchases.  I don’t envy the store owners in the mall; I can’t imagine they make a profit.

Accra is 5 degrees N of the equator.  One result is that days don’t vary much in length (they tend to be equal near the equator).  In December or in June, the days are about 12 hours.  The sun rises at about 6am and sets at about 6pm.

This means that there is not a lot one can do outdoors after work ends at 6pm.  No biking, or quick frisbee games or other fun activities.  Streets aren’t always lit, so even jogging after work becomes a dark pursuit.  At least in the warm spring days of northern america, we can take advantage of BBQ’s other sunny activities until 9pm.

But there is a benefit; only in extremely rare circumstances do I need to get up before the sun rises.  I don’t have to haul myself out of bed while it is still dark, get ready under the too-bright glare of lightbulbs, and then make my way into work just as the sun is rising.

If you are interested in looking up sunrise and sunset times around the world, look here

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html

I’ll be going to Carnegie Mellon University in the fall to start a PhD program in Engineering and Public Policy.  I really like school and am looking forward to being a full time student again!  I’m also thrilled to be doing a research program, in which we learn to solve “big messy” problems that are interdisciplinary.

The program should take about 4.5 years.  Yes, this means several more of the northern winters I keep trying to flee.  I guess I’ve had 6 years of reprieve in CA and in Africa, so I shouldn’t complain.  but I will.

I’m back in CA, trying to stock up on all the things I will want when I go back.  It is a bit overwhelming to shop for 6 months in a few weeks.  The main items I’m looking for are dried berries, spices, skin care, etc.  I like food that can last and will remind me of home.  It’s funny how a couple dried cranberries on my oatmeal in the morning really feels luxurious in Accra.
I will start the visa process for Eric soon; we are trying to get the “bona fides of marital relationship”.  That is, we need proof that we are in a real marriage.  This means letters from people who know us, or a lease together (we don’t have that), or proof of sharing finances (don’t have that either, since Ghana is so cash-based).  But we are working on it, and we do not know how long it will take.

In Accra, the main city transportation consists of tro-tros.  These are small independently owned and operated 10-20 seat vans. A driver will have a certain route that he covers, and there are certain known stops where people wait.  So, you as a passenger go to the stop and wait for a tro-tro for your destination.  When they are full, the driver only stops when people need to get off.  During busy times, the tro-tros run quite frequently.

They are rarely more than 50 cents to get from one side of town to the other. Granted, they are very old and frequently uncomfortable.

But compare this to urban public transportation in America.  If there is no metro or tram, we use large buses.  Instead of small vans that run often, we have buses that are plush and come infrequently.  Usually run (or heavily subsidized) by the local govt., we always hear about how it is too expensive to run.  In Palo Alto and Boston, the buses were often mostly empty.

Could more, small buses work in the US? Would this decrease waiting time and travel time (with less frequent stops)?  Could each one be privately owned and driven?  Would this make public transportation cheaper for the passenger and the taxpayer?  Or would insurance and liability issues make this impossible?

Any public transportation experts out there want to explain it all to me?