Turned Lil' Miz Daixy Into a Giggling Idiot.
So a couple of Months ago, my buddy Tetekai over at Lyrix Chronicles wrote about "Wanting a TsooTsoo Train". She bemoaned the lack of what we've come to recognise as a "proper train". Thanks to our childhood books and cartoons/movies, a lot of us (myself inclusive) seem to think of trains as engines with carriages; ergo the disappointment at seeing a ratty old cargo train.
Well, I've already said this to her, but can't keep from telling everyone else that I saw a real live choo choo train!
So umm....a friend kidnapped me Friday evening to go get my hair fixed at "Melon Salon" at Dzoworlu (you really need to check this place out). Let's just say, I really needed a proper trim. Anywho, I was waiting for my turn when I heard this alarm and ignorant moi, asked "what the heck's going on out there?" Well, my buddy just turns to me and says, "Oh that's just the train".
Just the train? Just the train?!!! Never in my entire life living in Ghana, have I ever seen a train. Not even the snarly cargo thing that Tetekai saw. So what did this grown woman do? I ran out of the salon to stand by the roadside, yelling for him to grab a camera. Lo and behold, there really was a train and it was loading passengers. "The train moves to and from Tema" my friend says and all the while, I'm asking ridiculous questions he can't possibly answer. "How long has it been running?" "You mean to say it's been running since we were kids?" "Oh my gosh, how big is it? How fast can it go?" I was truly blown away by the fact that Accra has a running "train". This one, in fact.
Yes, I waited out there for the train to finish loading and then watched it finally pull out. I counted six (6) carriages! Did I mention I was holding my friend's hand the whole time? (Poor guy didn't get why I was so excited, lol) My mind must have swapped with that of a four year old or something because I really did giggle, gasp and laugh with obvious glee as the red, gold and green worm snaked it's way out of my sight.
And then I called Tetekai to scream about it, like the excited schoolgirl I am inside! It didn't end there though. While pinned under the good old comb and scissors, the train passed by on it's way from Tema. I forgot to ask where in Accra it ends. You'd think I'd have my fill of trains after that, right? No way! As we were driving from Dzoworlu into Osu, we were stopped right before the train tracks. Why? The train was passing through, AGAIN on its way to Tema. Of course, that had me on the phone once more, rubbing it into poor Tetekai's face (or ears, if you will) that I'd seen a real train.
I'm not joking about this. Forget the subways in New York and such that I've seen and been on, I have NEVER set eyes on any sort of train in Ghana (unless you count the kiddie trains at the Efua Sutherland Children's Park).
Now all that remains for me to do is take a ride on Accra's CHOO CHOO TRAIN!!!
Happy New Year!!!
~Daixy~
PS. I know it's so very American of me to say "choo choo" instead of "tsoo tsoo" but until I heard Keteke's Tsoo Tsoo in 2000, I had no idea ghanaians called it that lol.
... thank God I saw the picture when they got commissioned. I can therefore safely ask you what the fuss was all about. :)
ReplyDeleteLet's start a "Get Daixy on a Tsoo Tsoo Train" Fund! All proceeds go to getting Daixy on a Tsu Tsu train! Let's have your donations and sympathies sent to Lil Miss Daixy's account! (You'll have to help us with the details, Dai.) :P
L@er!
OMG i am too jealous! wish i saw it too....
ReplyDeleteSeriously?
ReplyDeleteYou sure excessive heat from the hair dryer didnt induce a brief hallucination? :-)
This is really cool! This train must be nice, comfy & uncrowded since few people seem to know about it.
I'd be excited too, seeing how colorful it is.
Happy New Year!!
Mike
I saw the news item about the train on TV, I am yet to have a ride on it though. I am interested in seeing the stations, are there underground like the ones I use in London?
ReplyDeleteRegards
Albert Yaw Opoku
www.albertopoku.com
I am all for planning a trip to Tema on that train. Does it run on weekends?
ReplyDeleteDaixy, how about it?
Anyone care to join? :)
@ Will, I doubt that the fare is so steep that I can't afford it lol. Making the time to drive to the station, now....THAT's the problem. I'm purposefully ignoring your question though, and sticking my tongue out in sheer defiance :P
ReplyDelete@MzTay, chica get your butt back to GH and maybe I'll take you on my trip on the thing lol
ReplyDelete@Mike, I didn't go under the dryer. Remember, I said I'd hacked off my long hair? There's not much left to curl onto a roller and stick under a hair dryer :P
ReplyDeleteHappy New year, suga and many blessings for 2011
@ Albert, I don't know how credible I am as a source but as I see it, we do not have a single subway in Ghana yet. I have it from a reliable source that were using the same old tracks from the colonial era. Other countries have moved on to wider tracks. Whoever did the rehabilitation should have figured out that supporting the old tracks will not last long and simply moved us on to the new standards.
ReplyDeleteNow that China has decided to sink 10 billion smackeroos into our metro system, i'm hoping we'll see positive change :)
@Tetekai, Huzzah for the TRAIN TRIP!!! I doubt it'll take us more than an hour to and from Tema. Let's do this on Saturday. I'll grab a camera and dress like a tourist ;)
ReplyDeleteOooh yes. People SHOULD join in. I think my buddy M would tag along, since he introduced me to it. He's gotta make sure I don't overdose from excitement LOLOL
Good luck on that. Count me in! :)
ReplyDeleteOoooh Thanks Enyonam :) (heads on over to looksie)
ReplyDelete