White hot

It was 7:30 in the morning but it was already very hot; my breathing was shallow and shirt sweat-stained as we climbed into the tro-tro and slid into the back seat. It became even more stifling after 20 people had squeezed into the van, which couldn’t leave the yard because it was hemmed in by other tro-tros. I turned my head to the left and my colleague Renee had stuck her head out the window, gulping for air. I turned to my right. The man beside me had a woman sitting on his lap. I began to feel claustrophobic, and pulled out my book to try and calm myself down.

It didn’t work, and I began to feel more anxious, cramped and short of breath. I stood up and announced that we had to get off the bus. A man in the front motioned for me to sit down. Everyone turned around to look at me but no one got up to let us off. “We have to get off NOW!” I said, and started to push my way past the couple on my right. Everyone then got up so we could get out.

Outside the bus, Renee squatted close the ground with her head buried in her arms. I felt embarrassed by my outburst but thankful to be outside stretching my legs and catching my breath. We only agreed to get back on the tro-tro when we were given seats near the front by the window.

I sat down beside the man who had early urged me to sit down. I smiled sheepishly, and then laughed along with the people who were amused by the “obroni” who couldn’t take the heat at the back of the bus. The man turned to me and said, “The black man is strong,” he said. “Yes,” I said. “The black man is strong!”

A month ago, I had a similar meltdown on a tro-tro and we had to get off and board another one. I felt silly and worried that I had insulted them, leaving the impression that I found the conditions of the tro-tro (the heat, the overcrowding) unacceptable and beneath me.

I’m not one of the obronis that wants to blend in here, to be treated like a Ghanaian. But I am sensitive about the way people perceive me. I want them to respect and like me, and I try to do the same with them. I was glad that we were able to share a laugh over my hysteria on the bus, and move on.

- Mark