Hello Kordei,

Thank you for replying my letter, it is always nice to hear from someone. You mentioned you have stopped eating kenkey because you are on a diet, my sister, eat well cause you cannot come and kill yourself.

Well, since I doubt my eurotrip will come on, that is because I have just one year, the best I can do is visit as many cities as I can. So I took a trip to Hamburg. I am sure you have heard about it, the original Ghanaian ‘Borga’ hub. And believe me, this is not a lie.

I took a bus to Hamburg, that is an hour and half from Bremen. The ride was smooth and I enjoyed every bit. An hour and a half is sometimes a daily work commute in Accra depending on the distance from your workplace to your house. So travelling with no potholes and traffic is a walk in a park. My days of trotro have prepared me for this.

Back to describing the ‘borga’ hub. It is a big city, the first thing I noticed was how busy the place was and the architecture there is lovely. Now, for the three days I spent there, I definitely heard someone speak Twi in the morning, afternoon and evening. Is there a whole mini Ghana nation here or something?

One thing I really found confusing was the underground trains. If I had not met up with a friend from Hamburg, I would have probably slept at the main station. Come and see your confused friend at the station. But as usual, I love how fast and efficient it was.

There were so many places to see in Hamburg and so many things to do. I could not finish though, but it was really great, from visiting Hafen city, to Elbtunnel, climbing the St. Michaelis church tower. It was fun and as usual, I wished you were there. I just realized I did not eat a Hamburger in Hamburg. I missed the chance to pull off a great pun! I definitely have to do that. Yep! Adding it to the list.

I know in my last letter, I praised the hospitality of Bremers, I was happy about Hamburg too. People approached me to ask if I needed help with direction at certain points, which was rare. But my last night in Hamburg left a sore taste in my mouth. We decided to see the nightlife of Hamburg. Well, after walking and talking, we stopped at a cool club, looked lively and kind of our scene. We decided to give it a shot. The bouncer did the usual, searched our bags and said we could go, just when we were about to enter, another bouncer who he claimed was his boss emerged and said we should go and we were not allowed.

Just when we were about leaving, a group of white people came and he allowed them in, another white person stepped there and was allowed. I peered in the club and noticed there was not a single black person visible. Really!! It is 2019 for crying out loid. My friend from Hamburg tried to ask for an explanation and the rest of us calmed him down and decided to let it go. We moved on to the next place that was so welcoming. We will not let one myopic person spoil our night.

Hopefully, I will get to visit Dortmund and tell you about it too. I will meet the other volunteers again! I know I have not told you much about the introductory seminar. As the name implies, it was introductory. The fila will definitely flow after my visit to Dortmund.

                                                                                                          As always,

                                                                                                          Emefa.

Lexicons

1. you cannot come and kill yourself – It is a general saying when people are tired or exhausted or they give up
2. Borga – Jargon for someone who lives abroad. It can be used as a verb and a noun. I am guessing it originates from the German word Bürger which means citizen.
3. Trotro – one of the public means of transport in Ghana. A small bus which is usually overcrowded and takes quite a while to get to your destination because of the various bus stops.
4. Fila- jargon for information, mainly for gossip