Time has sped up here considerably. The first week took ages, the second moved a little quicker, and now I just have my routine and nothing too exciting happens. It's not bad, but it makes it hard to find material for this blog.
My internship has gotten nice and boring as well. I got to spend Tuesday sorting huge folders of correspondance by date. I spent some time sorting old job applications as well, and it was really interesting that every one of them had things like "I am a strong believer in Jesus Christ" near the top. They also listed which church they attended and things like that. People here are very serious about their faith. One of my roommates got chewed out by coworkers for saying she was a Christian but not being able to recite any Bible verses other than John 3:16.
We've bought an absurd amount of movies since we've been here. There are a lot of pirated DVDs around, most of which have 10ish movies, all for 3 cedi, or 2 if you're a good bargainer. So far I have the complete works of Arnold Schwarzenegger on 2 dvds, a collection including all 3 Indiana Jones, all 3 Pirates of the Caribbean, and a few others, and a Bruce Lee/Jackie Chan collection. I know for a fact I'm going to buy a Chun Yow-Fat collection too, I just didn't have the money when I saw it the other day. It's basically amazing.
Finally, I'm currently reading The Second World by Parag Khanna. It's a discussion of how the countries of the semi-periphery must attempt to engage and use the three major powers of the world - the U.S., China, and the EU - in order to pull themselves into the first world. It goes on a region by region basis, and is pretty enlightening. At first I wondered why there wasn't a section on Africa, and then I thought "Oh yeah, it's called the second world..."
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Catching up to today
-My internship has me doing some different things now, which is exciting. On Monday I helped distribute food to a group of people living with HIV that AFAWI (my internship) helps. I measured out 4 kgs of soy-fortified bulger wheat from USAID for each person. Also, I got to watch a sexual health educator show them how to put a condom on a big black dildo. Unlike sex-ed teachers in the U.S. who are always very serious, he was waving it around and making terrible terrible jokes. It was kind of scary. I also got to work on this month's newsletter, and I'll be learning how to update/improve the website on Friday. My boss and I also went over my grant proposal and he said it was "brilliant." If we get the money I'm going to be so sad since I have no idea what I'm doing.
-On Monday, my 50-year-old roomate decided to get black-out drunk at 2 in the afternoon. She then proceeded to pass out, wake up, cry, yell, embarass the hell out of us by ordering our security guard to clean the porch, and generally be incoherant. And then repeat most of those steps a few times. I'd say it was exciting except it was terrible and if it ever happens again I swear to god I'm finding a way to get her deported.
-One of my roomates got chased by a man with a stick for a long ways yesterday on the way to his internship. He's not sure why, but the guy was pretty much trying to kill him.
-I've been jogging and working out a lot with some of my roomates, which is pretty fun. Tom removed part of the window to get into a locked room in our house and turned it into his gym. He even found rocks to use as free weights.
-We cooked some Ghanaian/hippie food on Monday and it was delicious. It was kind of like groundnut soup, which is basically peanut butter and tomatoes plus whatever else, but then we made it into a stew with squash, oyster mushrooms, onions, and carrots. We put it over brown rice, and it may have been the most healthy thing I've eaten in years.
-I finally noticed that people had been commenting, and I may even reply. I have a question though - I know a lot of Alex-es, so next time put your last name, mystery Alex. I think I know who the rest of you are though.
-On Monday, my 50-year-old roomate decided to get black-out drunk at 2 in the afternoon. She then proceeded to pass out, wake up, cry, yell, embarass the hell out of us by ordering our security guard to clean the porch, and generally be incoherant. And then repeat most of those steps a few times. I'd say it was exciting except it was terrible and if it ever happens again I swear to god I'm finding a way to get her deported.
-One of my roomates got chased by a man with a stick for a long ways yesterday on the way to his internship. He's not sure why, but the guy was pretty much trying to kill him.
-I've been jogging and working out a lot with some of my roomates, which is pretty fun. Tom removed part of the window to get into a locked room in our house and turned it into his gym. He even found rocks to use as free weights.
-We cooked some Ghanaian/hippie food on Monday and it was delicious. It was kind of like groundnut soup, which is basically peanut butter and tomatoes plus whatever else, but then we made it into a stew with squash, oyster mushrooms, onions, and carrots. We put it over brown rice, and it may have been the most healthy thing I've eaten in years.
-I finally noticed that people had been commenting, and I may even reply. I have a question though - I know a lot of Alex-es, so next time put your last name, mystery Alex. I think I know who the rest of you are though.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Weekend Adventures III: It's over a week late, but tough
On our final day in Cape Coast, we got up bright and early after a late night to go to Kakum National Forest. It's one of the few chunks of tropical rain forest left in the region, and it's beautiful. The main attraction is a canopy walk - a series of bridges and supports about 40 meters up in the air so that you can walk around the canopy of the forest. The bridges swung around a little while you walked on them, but were clearly safe. It was a lot of fun, and it's apparently pretty unique in the world. 
There was also a nature walk available, but we didn't have time that day. Some of us are planning to head back to Kakum on one of our three-day weekends and go on a long hike and camp. Hopefully that actually happens, because we'd probably get to see elephants, and maybe monkeys.
After the park, we drove back to Accra. We stopped at places on the side of the road to buy pineapples, because apparently the best ones come from the Cape Coast. We also bought kenkey, a sort of fermented corn dough wrapped in plantain leaves eaten with soup. I didn't have any, but apparently it wasn't too good. That might have been from the 4 hours it spent in the hot bus before we had a chance to refridgerate it though. And we bought palm wine, which is delicious. It tastes kind of like Sprite mixed with coconut vodka. Kind of. I snapped a photo of some shops on the street just to give you an idea of what Ghana looks like.
The entire country (that I've been to so far) is basically this. Clothes shops, general stores, food stalls, produce shops, the occasional internet cafe, repeated forever. Cape Coast looked a lot like Accra, although they did have better named shops, including "Blood of Jesus Sewing Supply."
Once we got back to Ghana, George, one of the Aya Centre staff members, had managed to get us tickets to a Black Stars game. They're the Ghanaian national team, and they were playing Sudan that day. The game started late because it's Ramadan right now, so they wanted to wait until the Sudanese players would have a chance to have a drink of water. We got to sit very close to field level about halfway between midfield and the goal. Fantastic seats. And Ghana won 2-0.
The game was very exciting, and the crowd was like nothing I'd ever seen. There were various bands throughout the stadium representing different supporters clubs, along with dancers, shouting, and a number of plastic trumpets that sounded like the apocalypse when the entire stadium decided to blow them at once. We also managed to sit in what looked like the "riot section," with people arguing over seats the entire game and throwing water on eachother and almost starting fights. Ever other section seemed to be enjoying the game, but ours really just wanted to fight. Fortunately I think everyone assumed that we were sitting in the correct seats since we were white, when in fact we were supposed to be up in nosebleeds somewhere. Apparently no one ever sits where they're supposed to, but I think I might if I go again.
Then it was home, where I went to sleep at 9 and crashed.
There was also a nature walk available, but we didn't have time that day. Some of us are planning to head back to Kakum on one of our three-day weekends and go on a long hike and camp. Hopefully that actually happens, because we'd probably get to see elephants, and maybe monkeys.
After the park, we drove back to Accra. We stopped at places on the side of the road to buy pineapples, because apparently the best ones come from the Cape Coast. We also bought kenkey, a sort of fermented corn dough wrapped in plantain leaves eaten with soup. I didn't have any, but apparently it wasn't too good. That might have been from the 4 hours it spent in the hot bus before we had a chance to refridgerate it though. And we bought palm wine, which is delicious. It tastes kind of like Sprite mixed with coconut vodka. Kind of. I snapped a photo of some shops on the street just to give you an idea of what Ghana looks like.
The entire country (that I've been to so far) is basically this. Clothes shops, general stores, food stalls, produce shops, the occasional internet cafe, repeated forever. Cape Coast looked a lot like Accra, although they did have better named shops, including "Blood of Jesus Sewing Supply." Once we got back to Ghana, George, one of the Aya Centre staff members, had managed to get us tickets to a Black Stars game. They're the Ghanaian national team, and they were playing Sudan that day. The game started late because it's Ramadan right now, so they wanted to wait until the Sudanese players would have a chance to have a drink of water. We got to sit very close to field level about halfway between midfield and the goal. Fantastic seats. And Ghana won 2-0.
The game was very exciting, and the crowd was like nothing I'd ever seen. There were various bands throughout the stadium representing different supporters clubs, along with dancers, shouting, and a number of plastic trumpets that sounded like the apocalypse when the entire stadium decided to blow them at once. We also managed to sit in what looked like the "riot section," with people arguing over seats the entire game and throwing water on eachother and almost starting fights. Ever other section seemed to be enjoying the game, but ours really just wanted to fight. Fortunately I think everyone assumed that we were sitting in the correct seats since we were white, when in fact we were supposed to be up in nosebleeds somewhere. Apparently no one ever sits where they're supposed to, but I think I might if I go again.
Then it was home, where I went to sleep at 9 and crashed.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Weekend Adventures II: Little Kids Suck, but the President of Ghana is Pretty Cool
After leaving the crocodile pool, we made it over to this large New Year festival taking place in the city of Cape Coast. We found ourselves in a large parade that sadly reminded me most of the Country Fair, except it was authentic this time. We were following one of the local chiefs who was being carried on his palanquin with drummers and dancers all around.
After this we made our way towards the central area where speeches would be taking place. As we approached the square, the crowd/parade was forced to turn right, and we ended up being crushed together. I had already placed my wallet in my front pocket to be safe, and I had my hand right on top of it. I also noticed a few little kids ducking under people, and figured "Oh, that's nice, they're small so they can squeeze by." Then the crowd opened up, and I noticed my wallet was gone. I was doing everything right and they still got me, so I guess they know what they're doing. I didn't lose too much money, but it was embarrassing and inconvenient.
Here's a picture of a queen mother and her retinue. We weren't really supposed to be taking pictures so that's why all the people are in the way.
This is the president of Ghana. Zarif and Sonny (one of the Ghanaians who works at the Aya centre and accompanied us to Cape Coast) ran out to the "official press area" and acted like they were supposed to be there and got a number of great photos of the president and other people. Sonny even got in the way of the president as he was making his rounds waving, and got lifted up by a security guard and moved. After a number of speeches in Twi, we took off and waited for our bus. I got a picture of this little girl selling bananas. I shoud have bought one too, but I didn't.
There were more bands and music, including some trombones here. It was pretty catchy and I wished I had mine.
That evening we swam back at the hotel and made trouble, then we went to a party at a gas station down the street. I'm not sure why it was at a gas station, but there was a bar and live music, including apparently some of the top hip-hop groups in all Ghana. I couldn't tell what they were saying, but it was good. A couple of the girls from the program, Bethany and Beth, also managed to make their way on stage once a performer noticed them and yelled for them to get up there. I'm not sure what it was about, but I spent my time pretending not to know them.
Come back for part III tomorrow, which I haven't thought of a title for yet, but it involves a rainforest preserve and a soccer game.
After this we made our way towards the central area where speeches would be taking place. As we approached the square, the crowd/parade was forced to turn right, and we ended up being crushed together. I had already placed my wallet in my front pocket to be safe, and I had my hand right on top of it. I also noticed a few little kids ducking under people, and figured "Oh, that's nice, they're small so they can squeeze by." Then the crowd opened up, and I noticed my wallet was gone. I was doing everything right and they still got me, so I guess they know what they're doing. I didn't lose too much money, but it was embarrassing and inconvenient.
Here's a picture of a queen mother and her retinue. We weren't really supposed to be taking pictures so that's why all the people are in the way.
This is the president of Ghana. Zarif and Sonny (one of the Ghanaians who works at the Aya centre and accompanied us to Cape Coast) ran out to the "official press area" and acted like they were supposed to be there and got a number of great photos of the president and other people. Sonny even got in the way of the president as he was making his rounds waving, and got lifted up by a security guard and moved. After a number of speeches in Twi, we took off and waited for our bus. I got a picture of this little girl selling bananas. I shoud have bought one too, but I didn't.
There were more bands and music, including some trombones here. It was pretty catchy and I wished I had mine.
That evening we swam back at the hotel and made trouble, then we went to a party at a gas station down the street. I'm not sure why it was at a gas station, but there was a bar and live music, including apparently some of the top hip-hop groups in all Ghana. I couldn't tell what they were saying, but it was good. A couple of the girls from the program, Bethany and Beth, also managed to make their way on stage once a performer noticed them and yelled for them to get up there. I'm not sure what it was about, but I spent my time pretending not to know them. Come back for part III tomorrow, which I haven't thought of a title for yet, but it involves a rainforest preserve and a soccer game.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
An awesome weekend, Part 1: Slavery sucks
After a fun night of climbing on my roof (not easy, and apparently it wakes up my roommates) we left for the Cape Coast in South-Central Ghana on Saturday. In Ghana, they put speed bumps on their highways. It's absolutely terrible, and as we passed a Ghana Department of Transportation building on the way I considered stopping to complain. Once in Cape Coast, we went to Cape Coast Castle, built by the British in 16?? to do terrible things to slaves. It was an awfully depressing place, but the town nearby was very scenic. I got a few other nice photos. They had some cultural artifacts in an interesting museum, and pictures from the Obama's recent visit. There was a great one of Malia picking her nose (seriously.)
Then it was on to Elmina Castle, which was equally depressing, only built in 14?? by the Portuguese. It included the first church in Ghana, which was kind of cool but not in any way pretty or anything. There was even a sign saying a Bible verse about how God was in the room - the guide explained that it implied that God was not in the rest of the castle, where they were busy killing and raping slaves. We also got a sweet group picture.
Fortunately it was time for crocodiles next. We got to visit a cheesy restaurant built on a croc pond, and had entirely too good of a time taking pictures and being scared by the large, toothy animals. This one was my favorite.
After that, it was on to a big festival in Cape Coast. My com
puter is about to run out of batteries and I can only post 5 pics per blogpost, so wait for part II, entitled: Little Kids Suck, but the President of Ghana is Pretty Cool
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The internship wheels never stop turning
In another sneaky move, my internship has changed again. At about 11:30 the night before I was going to go to internship #2, one of my roomates got a text message telling her to tell me that I was actually doing something else. Something else ended up being working for the Alliance for African Women Initiative - Ghana (AFAWIGH, probably the worst acronym ever.) There, they do things like build toilet facilities in schools in the Northern half of Ghana, along with starting teen clubs were they can talk about sexuality and things like that, and doing research related to those things. That's cool, right? They put me to work on day one filling out an application for an ungodly amount of money from the UN Development Fund for Women. You can check out just how over my head I am here - http://www.unifem.org/partnerships/fund_for_gender_equality/application_guidelines.php
They aren't really doing anything too related to what the fund is asking for, I don't have a clue what to write, and best of all, they went with my idea of what to do in the proposal. Which was training women from underserved communities in Ghana to be sexual health teachers, thus enabling the young women to stay in school and thus be more successful later. It seemed sort of related to what they'd already done, now I just have to phrase it in a way to make the UN give us $100,000 or so. I am so not qualified, although their previous reports were filled with crimes against grammar, so maybe I won't be so bad.
Also tonight I got to go play with the Brass ensemble at the University of Ghana - Legon. It's all music students, but they haven't been playing the instruments for long, so it doesn't exactly sound good but we can get through the music. Mostly chorale type stuff and the University Anthem, which is rousing and kind of fun. I played the bass line in the chorales and was easily the best player, but it's still enjoyable and a good way to make sure I keep playing. Much of what we played was written in Ghana and used hemiola frequently, so that was a challenge at least.
Friday I get to go suck at my internship more, and then this weekend we're going to the Central region on the coast, where we will visit old castles built by Europeans, slave forts, some sort of large festival, and a jungle. Pictures will be forthcoming.
(Also I can't make this unbold, and I'm not sure why. Tough)
They aren't really doing anything too related to what the fund is asking for, I don't have a clue what to write, and best of all, they went with my idea of what to do in the proposal. Which was training women from underserved communities in Ghana to be sexual health teachers, thus enabling the young women to stay in school and thus be more successful later. It seemed sort of related to what they'd already done, now I just have to phrase it in a way to make the UN give us $100,000 or so. I am so not qualified, although their previous reports were filled with crimes against grammar, so maybe I won't be so bad.
Also tonight I got to go play with the Brass ensemble at the University of Ghana - Legon. It's all music students, but they haven't been playing the instruments for long, so it doesn't exactly sound good but we can get through the music. Mostly chorale type stuff and the University Anthem, which is rousing and kind of fun. I played the bass line in the chorales and was easily the best player, but it's still enjoyable and a good way to make sure I keep playing. Much of what we played was written in Ghana and used hemiola frequently, so that was a challenge at least.
Friday I get to go suck at my internship more, and then this weekend we're going to the Central region on the coast, where we will visit old castles built by Europeans, slave forts, some sort of large festival, and a jungle. Pictures will be forthcoming.
(Also I can't make this unbold, and I'm not sure why. Tough)
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