Before leaving for Ghana we got our International drivers licenses so we could drive immediately upon arrival. Since it is good for 1 year getting a local drivers license is not a priority. However, when stopped by the police they seem to be more accommodating when you show a Ghanaian drivers license. It’s not unusual to wait ten months before getting the license. Well I (Steph didn’t get one, as she does not want to drive) had a chance to get mine earlier because there were others who were near the 1 year mark needing to get one. Kofi, our local fleet manager, gathered up a group of us and got an expeditor to help with getting us through the process. Just like the airport unless you have someone to walk you through the process and grease the skids, your changes of getting a license very quickly are very slim. Not to mention there are no direction on where to go for what and in what order. The first couple of pictures show you the area where the DMV is located. It kind of reminded me of some of the buildings we used when in the Air Force stationed in Kaiserslautern, Germany.
While Kofi did some initial paperwork we sat in the car and waited. After about an hour he brought us some forms we needed to sign. The above picture is Kofi pointing out on the form where we needed to sign.
We then followed him into the below building and up the stairs where we stood in the hall waiting for directions on what was next. In the picture is the Director of Temporal Affairs, the Controller and the Public Affairs Senior Missionary. The hall was lined with people but does not show that in the below picture.
I thought the signs on the doors of a couple rooms we went into were funny. The picture out of focus is fitting. Funny that I took it with a flash. Without the flash it was at least clear. All the rooms were quite small – 9x12 and pretty full of people.
Most of the people there had an expeditor but it was not clear how they determined the order for who was taken next. It was a bit perplexing. It took us about 4 hours to get this done. There was no driving test since we already had drivers’ licenses and the written test was verbal. The following signs were posted on the wall with a number next to each. The person would pick sign number at random and would ask you to explain the sign. Most of the signs are logical but some of the signals seem a bit behind the times for us. Below are the signs and signals we were encouraged to study.
It was an interesting experience and one I would not like to do on my own. I might still be there in line.
The Senior sister missionaries including the area presidency wives, the wives of the temple presidency and other Church employees, and any interns visiting from the states, or sisters from the nearby US Embassy, meet for an hour in Sister Study Group on Monday mornings. We take turns leading the discussion. Right now we are in the Book of Mormon. This happened to be taken on my week to teach. We meet in the Area Presidency’s Conference Room, a nice facility which is part of the Area Presidency suite where our office is located.
It is the rainy season here. We get some rain just about every day. It is nice because there is less dust in all the villages and on all the side roads which are dirt, even in the city, and all the green things are so happy! As are we!
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