The Story.

---We had been sitting on the beach eating lunch and playing with babies. Someone came up to sell us something to which we looked up and said, oh no thanks. Well while that someone was catching our attention, his friend was stealing our bag. We got a big search on the beach set up, which presented nothing. We found a wonderful security guard named Pastor, who vowed to find our bag. After much crying and pleading and crying and searching, we found the bag on Sunday. We weren't allowed to get the bag till Monday so we took the afternoon to be shown around the market by a new found friend Isa. We hadn't been in the market for more than ten minutes before Isa saw someone trying to pick-pocket us. (Funny, since we literally had nothing). Isa began a street brawl with the man and it turned out it was 4 men who were in on the steal, all of whom Isa tried to take on. Isa was loosing pretty bad, as he had been up all night looking for our bag, has a bum leg because of a moto accident, and was one against four. The street people told Kaivon and I to run as fast as we could in the other direction, which we did. We sat locked in our hotel for the night, eating avacado sandwiches and planning our escape from Togo the next morning.
---Monday morning we came into the police station to collect our bag and were presented with the responsibility of deciding the thief's punishment. We passed the jail cell on the way to the back office, at which point I saw the 4 men who had tried to rob me yesterday. (Isa's friend had called the police when he saw the brawl and the 4 men were arrested) When we reached the back room of the police station, Harmon, the 21 year old thief from Nigeria was presented to us, naked, having spent the last 2 nights in jail with no food, slightly beaten. Sitting on a couch with Harmon kneeling in front of me I begged the police officer to let me outside and have my "husband" deal with this matter. The whole weekend I was not allowed to handle any business because I was a woman, but now at the most heartbreaking moment I was told to stay exactly where I was and watch. The police captain noticed me squirming in my seat holding back tears, and told the officer to take Harmon back to the cell with the other men. After lots of discussion the punishment was decided. Harmon would spend the next five days in jail and his uncle (who was there to represent the boy) would pay us 20,000 CFA (About $50) for all our lost items. Kaivon and I booked it out of the police station and headed to the border.
---I skipped into the immigration office, happy as a clam that I was about ten steps from being home and out of this cursed country. "Miss your visa is expired. I cannot let you into Ghana. Please go to the Ghanian embassy in Lome and purchase a new visa." what. no wait. what? I tried explaining for about thirty minutes that my visa could not possibly be expired, breaking down and bawling to the head officer that he had to let me into the country. I was a student there! He screamed at me, telling me this was not his problem, it was mine, and to get the hell out of his office. I sat on the back of a moto hysterically crying all the way to the Ghanian embassy. I explained to a women there what had happened and she told me to go see her boss, the Secretary of Ghana. Oh. Ok then. The Secretary of Ghana explained to me that my visa lasted till 2014, so there was no way I shouldn't be allowed into the country, and to return to the border. When I explained what had happened to me there he gave me his card with his cell number on it, and said tell those ass holes to call me if they have a problem with your visa. Well that card made a good impression at the visa as I sat trying not to scream at the immigrant officials who had just sent me on a wild goose chase. The officer who had yelled at me previously was pissed he was wrong, and wasted the next hour of my life yelling at me and making me go through fake procedures. Finally I stomped over the border, cursing Togo and vowing never ever ever to return to the damned country.