Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Moving on to bigger and better things...

Yesterday was pretty chill---JUST HOT. But chill. I went to the grocery store for the first time. It reminded me of my job at Raley's Supermarket. When Erik paid for the groceries, he was concerned about being overcharged for the yogurt, so I offered to do a price check. I miss bagging and all that other good stuff...

Drum lessons were so much fun. Morgan, Richard, and Kojo were at the house waiting. It was difficult at times to keep the rhythm, especially when the combinations got more complicated. Haha. I left during the middle and fell asleep...

THE ANGRY POLICE OFFICER
TELL ME WHY I ALMOST GOT TAKEN AWAY BY A POLICE OFFICER?!?! YES!!! WE WERE OUT HEADED TO LUNCH. I ONLY HAD ONE MORE SHOT LEFT ON MY ROLL SO I DECIDED TO TAKE A RANDOM PICTURE. MY SISTER JUST GOT HER HAIR BRAIDED SO I WANTED TO TAKE A PIC OF HER. SOOO STUPID OF ME!!! I DIDN'T LOOK AROUND TO SEE IF IT WAS SAFE TO TAKE A PICTURE, AND I HAPPENED TO BE POINTING IN THE DIRECTION OF TWO POLICE OFFICERS. IN GHANA, THEY WILL ARREST YOU FOR TAKING ANY PICTURES OF POLICE STATIONS, MILITARY BASES, AND OTHER IMPORTANT AND GOVERNMENT RELATED PLACES. ONE OF THE OFFICERS TOLD THE CAB DRIVER TO STOP. THE GROUP WAS IN TWO SEPARATE CARS. I WAS WITH NAOMI, ERIK, AND JAMIE. HE CAME UP AND POINTED RIGHT AT ME AND TOLD ME TO GET OUT. I TOLD THE DRIVER, "YOU NEED TO TELL HIM THAT I WASN'T TAKING A PICTURE OF HIM." WHEN THE CAB DRIVER TRIED TO EXPLAIN, THE OFFICER JUST SHOOK HIS HEAD AND GESTURED FOR HIM TO MAKE A U-TURN AND PULL OVER. THE CAB DRIVER KEPT TRYING TO TELL HIM, BUT HE WASN'T HAVING IT. THEY YELLED AT EACH OTHER FOR A COUPLE OF SECONDS, UNTIL OUR LIGHT TURNED GREEN. THE POLICE OFFICER SAID SOMETHING IN GHANAIAN AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE DRIVER SPED OFF...I DON'T REALLY KNOW IF HE WAS RUNNING AWAY FROM THE POLICE OR IF THEY LET US GO. GHANAIANS DON'T PLAY- THEY ARE VERY SERIOUS WHEN IT COMES TO THINGS LIKE THAT. MAN...I GOT SOOOOOO LUCKY. JAMIE ALREADY EXPERIENCED GETTING HER CAMERA TAKEN AWAY AND BEING DRAGGED TO THE JAIL WHERE SHE ALMOST GOT ARRESTED. NEXT TIME I'LL BE A LOT MORE CAREFUL!!!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Bethany,

Yes you have to watch your back. Third world country
officials don't play.

love,

mommy

Unknown said...

Wow! What a story to tell! Please be careful!

With Love,
Heather

spiderrico said...

wow, beth, you had some "ghana drama" going there!Thank God it ended like that! be safe!
praying for you guys,
mosiula

siamack said...

What a great lesson!
What happens if you photograph a policeman in U.S.?
What happens if you photograph a policeman in Ghana?
What happens if you disobey and yell at a policeman in U.S.?
What happens if you disobey and yell at a policeman in Ghana?
There are a lot of nuances to life in any country that you can only learn by living there. Please be careful.

Don Anderson said...

Bethany, please don't get arrested. We need you back at RayKo in the fall. You are a natural born story teller. Keep them coming

5h4d0w said...

You heard 'em. Keep those stories coming.

-Daddy