Ranting and Raving

Due to better judgment, I took down this blog. However, I have no problem with emailing it to you! Just ask.

The Accra Apartment Tour

For those of you who want to take a peak at my new diggs...





Maya Angelou said, "You know you're the funniest damn person you know." I think she's right.

Soccer Balls

On our way to Bojo Beach, we bought a small soccer ball (or foot ball as they may be called). In Accra, as most busy cities in Ghana, there are tons of people selling all kinds of different items on the street. I often see fruit, toilet paper, power strips and adapters, newspapers, magazines, belts, socks, trousers, peanuts, phone cards, books, candy, maps, briefcases, ice cream, souvenirs, water bottles, pet fish, among many, many other things. We signaled to a man selling the soccer balls that he should come over to the car, but the traffic started to move. Traffic in Accra is atrocious – worse than any traffic I have ever encountered, which includes DC, LA, New York, and India. We had been standing in traffic for five or ten minutes and, of course, as soon as we decide to talk to the guy, we start to move. Luckily, we only moved about 200 feet so soccer guy came running after us carrying is big bag of balls. He told us that a regular sized soccer ball was 25 cedis ($18) which entirely too much. We haggled over a small one for a little bit, with the final decision of 5 cedis ($3.50). Mission accomplished.

This is when someone in the car mentioned that she felt sorry for the man. First of all, he doesn’t have a better job so he is forced to stand out in the sun on a busy road and just hope that someone needs a soccer ball. He’s forced to run after anyone interested. Then he has to haggle with the buyer and try to get the largest sum of money that he can get. Every sale is very important and he can’t afford to let one go.

Personally, I don’t throw pity around lightly. Everything this person said is absolutely true and it would be much better for him if he had a higher paying job that were under better conditions and paid better. There are hundreds of these sellers in Accra doing all that they can in order to make a few bucks every day. But then I think: at least he has a job. We pass people who have been subjected to unkind conditions and are now crippled and have to beg for the money. There are hundreds of farmers whose family is hungry because his crop failed or didn’t produce enough. So do I feel sorry for him? I don’t know. I know I wouldn’t want his job, but there are a lot of other jobs I wouldn’t want to do. How long has he been doing this? Does he or has he ever had other options? Does he like it? Does he only do this once a week to supplement his other, better salary? I need more information before I feel sorry for him.

Maybe I’m naïve. Maybe I’m clueless. Maybe I’m hopeful. I don’t know.

The beach was great though!

Oh, the Bats

So here's the story. Many years ago, a chief in Ghana was received protection from the bats. They thwarted attack attempts by other tribes and discouraged many from even approaching. When the chief grew very old, he was taken to a hospital in Accra - Hospital 37. Since the bats could only save the old chief from outside threats, they could do nothing about his ailing health. So the bats followed him to Hospital 37 where he died. It is said that the night that he died, his soul went back to village. So everyday mill lions of bats can be found in the trees around Hospital 37 and every night they fly back to village to look for him there.

I would like to say this is a true story, but I really have no idea. But this is true: everyday there are millions of bats in the 20 trees around Hospital 37 and every night, just as the sun goes down, millions of bats over the Accra sky. It's really quite pretty... as far as bats go.

Better than Before

Alright, so last week was a tough one. That’s why I waited as long as I did to post this blog – I didn’t want to send enormous bad vibes into the universe.

But Today! Oh, Today! Today was great! I loved Today and I’m pretty sure that Today loved me back. Let’s count the awesomeness (as only a mathematician would do (and yes, I still consider myself one even if some of you have differing opinions)).

1. I woke up just in time to get ready for work. This may not seem like much, but it’s really a miracle since all my alarm devices have either been stolen or went away (phone, ipod, Meagan who would give me a wakeup call).

2. I forgot my lunch at the hotel and had to walk back in the sweltering noon sun. Now you might think that this is unfortunate, but just wait.

2a. I stopped to chat for a minute with Monica who owns a little stand on the street just down from where I work. She sells water and juice and laundry detergent (I really should buy something from her sometime). Sammy, a guard at work, was there as well and he asked me if I have a Ghanaian name. Since I didn’t, he asked me what day of the week I was born. I, of course, like most of you I’m sure, have absolutely no idea, so I told him Saturday. Saturday sounds plausible. So...... my name is Ama. Don’t wear it out, like you did with the other one. This one doesn’t quite roll off the tongue like my Burkinabe name, Wurodelakia, but it is a lot easier to remember.

2b. I got a coconut off the tree!! How exciting is that. This guy, Joseph I came to learn, was half way up a tree and he called to me. I told him I wanted a fresh coconut so he did a little chopping and threw it down. I took it back to the hotel and Toffic, the front desk guy, is going to see what he can do about getting it open for me. I’m sure Martin will help (the waiter).

3. I made my deadline on both papers I was writing!

4. On my walk home, Monica’s daughter, Abina, was just getting home from school and she ran to me and gave me a hug! She’s such a cute little 7 year old. Her adorable 5 year old brother, Goofy (not pronounced the way you’re thinking), saw how brazen she was and followed her in for a hug too. (They now hug me every time they see me. Makes me smile every time.) Their 9 year old brother, Kwasi, has started giving me hugs too. What a great family.

5. Went to dinner with some new friends (I guess they’re all new at this point). It was a fantastic Lebanese restaurant and eight of us around the table. After that we went to a music joint, where they played a little bit of African music and a lot of American music. There was a pretty nice rendition of Over the Rainbow in there.

So it was a good day. I feel like there have been a lot of ups and downs since I’ve been here; makes me want to go home. At least life is stable at home. But at home I wouldn’t have random children giving me hugs nor coconuts being thrown for me from men in trees. I guess I’ll have to go back and forth and hope for the best of both worlds.

Immediate trip to Tamale

It’s a strange feeling being back in West Africa; an unexpected sense of nostalgia. I spent so many years anticipating Peace Corps and several months anticipating Burkina Faso. This trip makes me feel like I was transplanted here: one day I was in DC doing my DC thing with my DC friends in 55 degree weather and the next day I’m freaking hot in 32 degree heat (I hate celcius) and eating Banko (see below). It feels so surreal yet so comforting somehow.

I have also felt like I’m just on a trip away from village and that I need to make sure to eat all the really good food before I have to go back to eating To. The hotel in Accra is really nice, the hotel in Tamale is kinda nice, and both are way way way better than my usual in Burkina (especially in Bobo – there was one nice place in Ouaga). This means that all I want to do is eat and sleep. This is not good since I’m somehow also supposed to work. My first day in the office, I went back to the hotel at noon to take a three hour nap. How freaking wonderful is that? Let’s just hope my boss doesn’t read my blog.

So this is my 4^th day in country. Spent 10 hours on a flight to Accra on Monday then another hour this morning to get to Tamale (after they ‘forgot’ to tell us that our flight was changed from 6am to 9am (yes, we were at the airport at 4am for a 9am flight)), where I will stay until Sunday, when I fly back to Accra. I then spent 6 hours in a car today to visit agricultural district directors in Yendi and Gushiegu and will spend another 5 hours on the road tomorrow when I go to Navrongo. Ugh is what I have to say to that schedule.

Well, I’m glad to be here and I’m glad that I’m very close to having real work to do at work. It’s late and I feel like I should try to get some sleep even though I’m not tired in the slightest (stupid jet lag). I’m going to go find a sleeping pill and watch some hulu. Good night all.

Notes for those less West African than others:

To (pronounced toe) is the main dish in Burkina Faso consisting of congealed flour and water. It is as blah as it sounds, so the dish is FANTASTIC if and only if you have a good sauce to go with it.

Banko is kinda the Ghanaian form of To but somehow with flavor – I’m not sure that’s a good thing. It’s sweeter and possibly a little fermented. I’ve only had it once with really spicy sauce (they call it soup, not sauce, but it’s not soup) – I bet I’ll like it more in the future.

And here's the trip:

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