i was marvelling at the way light has been steady since i came here. i've been here for eleven days and no power outage. i was talking with a ghanaian the other day and i was told that there was an 'energy crisis' which started from january till september. there was load shedding and the likes. according to person, whoever was incharge had categorically stated that by september the crisis will be over. and it was. in the home country, we've had a power crisis for as long as i can recall. we've had about an equivalent number of promises. the power authority had changed name twice still no end in sight. i'm wondering if we shouldn't seek out that ghanaian to come see what he can do for us.
my ghanaian companions were complaining how their president moves in a very long convoy of cars. they thought it wierd and wanted to know if it was so in nigeria. i quickly disabused them of that idea. i told them it was the prerogative of the governors to travel in long convoys. the president usually had the road closed an hour before he passed. i couldn't really confirm to them if our president moved in a long convoy. and besides with the state of the roads its always better to use a helicopter.
ghanaian politcal life is interesting. they seem to have the usual things general in politics. corruput official etc. i overhead on radio a discussion about a minister who apparently had a love child with some woman and they were trying to determine if he used state funds for the upkeep of the child. i will add that the minister resigned his post to clear his name. part of discussion was on whether the president should reinstate him when his name is cleared. isn't that a bit extreme, i mean in home country we can point out who is who's girlfriend and no eyebrows are raised.
lest i forget i went jogging this morning and came to some conclusions. either ghanaians dont believe in fitness or they prefer gyms to self help excercises. i was the lone jogger my only companion where dogs barking when i passed their street. i decided to leave the estate and go jogging on the untared parts. everyone i passed looked at me like i was some novelty.
i'm sorry i have end today's discourse here. my eyelids are heavy....
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
As you lay your bed...
finally, the big day. whilst most people were going about their churchly duties, i was moving into my my new home. for the first time, i'm enjoying being a bachelor (something i've been since i was 17). i went to get home stuff. i also discovered the dangers of furnishing your own place. i bought two fans! well i had this great idea that an industrial fan will really blow some good air. it does but the noise is terrible, no wonder they call it industrial fan. you cant here its whirring admist the noise of machines. well i couldn't stand it so i went to get another smaller soundproof one. well i guess that's one of the casualties so far.
i bought buckets, hand towels, an ironing board, hangers, bamboo curtains. yeah the bamboo curtains i discovered i couldn't hang them after all. the manual is designed such that people will feed so i have to find someone who can. i draped them nevertheless over the living room windows, gives me the privacy i need. the other rooms dont have curtains
yet so i draped some bedsheets i bought over those. i decided to camp out in the living room. placed a mattress on the floor laid the bed and i have my work table, dining table and sleeping bed all in one. until the furniture and the accessories TV etal come in, i'll be spending my days this way.
let's talk about the house a little more. its got the lawn(i have to find someone to cut the grass). its got a porch for the car. the fence is white and metallic ( picket fences are white and wooden right?). the kitchen i think is the center of attraction because its easily the biggest room in the house. its got eight wall drawers and about a similar number lower ones. i cant figure out what i'm going to put in all of that. the kitchen produced its first ever (since i moved in) mi
crowave meal. its so cool eating in your own kitchen. ( i recommend everyone try it ).
i finally got to fulfill a life long fantasy today. for all the those who are familiar with the thermocool advert of way back. 'you call them beautiful, we call them thermocool!' or something of that nature. remember how the fridge was always stacked? well i did some stacking and though i dont quite get the thermocool effect but what i get is pretty admirable. make your own judgements.
everything doesn't show in the picture, there's water on the upper level and there's a chicken part there as well. i wanted to emphasize the apples so some of you wont think i indulge in only sugar. the drinks are actually for visitors. i only sip before and after every meal. true.
tomorrow i'm going to don my jogging gear and go check out the neighborhood. it looks a very ideal place for jogging. and i've been since lagging on my exercises. some cute doctor back in the home country recommended i get more exercise , i'll oblige her. not because she's cute though but because doctors are often right.
well well well, i have to put this part too. i saw another side of Ghana today. it all started with the news. some lady brings in her boyfriend and some other guy into her matrimonial home, closes the door and tells the husband to say his last prayers. the two guys then pounce on the poor man with cutlasses he screams for help and they run off. the two guys are now wanted men by the police. i was like wow so there's crime here after all. a couple of minutes later,( i was driving) some guys speed by driving very carelessly and i was like really so there's rough driving here too. not too long afterwards some police men overtook me apparently they were hot on the tail of the guys. the guys drove a jeep and the police a land rover jeep. the motorists coming in the opposite directions were using hand signals to show which way the culprits where headed. it was interesting , the public were actually helping the police!
i don't know if the police ever caught up with them. i wonder what their crime could have been? running a red light? then my attention was drawn to the radio once more, people were being asked to make a report if they have ever been treated badly by the police or if the have any complaints about the police. it was the human rights commission or ministry sponsoring the ad. police, that's another thing i can't seem to see around here very much. yes i see one or two at the toll gates, i've seen a couple looking for 'egunje' (noticeably they come in a taxi, its always parked somewhere and they carry no arms, and are not threatening). but this was only twice. aside from that i haven't seen many policemen around. i wonder where they are.
i've seen traffic cops though. some direct traffic in the very busy round abouts but where there are lights they just sit by the side on their 'lastma-like' bikes and i guess wait for traffic offenders. some long wait i presume because obeying traffic is a second nature here. then i did see the military directing traffic around their cantonment. some military lady in dark shades. more about shades. seems its the norm here. ladies and guys wear all manner of shades , some outlandish , some funny, some very big. they seem to love shades around these parts maybe its the sun. its rather hot here , if you are caught out without a fan.
i bought buckets, hand towels, an ironing board, hangers, bamboo curtains. yeah the bamboo curtains i discovered i couldn't hang them after all. the manual is designed such that people will feed so i have to find someone who can. i draped them nevertheless over the living room windows, gives me the privacy i need. the other rooms dont have curtains
yet so i draped some bedsheets i bought over those. i decided to camp out in the living room. placed a mattress on the floor laid the bed and i have my work table, dining table and sleeping bed all in one. until the furniture and the accessories TV etal come in, i'll be spending my days this way.let's talk about the house a little more. its got the lawn(i have to find someone to cut the grass). its got a porch for the car. the fence is white and metallic ( picket fences are white and wooden right?). the kitchen i think is the center of attraction because its easily the biggest room in the house. its got eight wall drawers and about a similar number lower ones. i cant figure out what i'm going to put in all of that. the kitchen produced its first ever (since i moved in) mi
crowave meal. its so cool eating in your own kitchen. ( i recommend everyone try it ).i finally got to fulfill a life long fantasy today. for all the those who are familiar with the thermocool advert of way back. 'you call them beautiful, we call them thermocool!' or something of that nature. remember how the fridge was always stacked? well i did some stacking and though i dont quite get the thermocool effect but what i get is pretty admirable. make your own judgements.
everything doesn't show in the picture, there's water on the upper level and there's a chicken part there as well. i wanted to emphasize the apples so some of you wont think i indulge in only sugar. the drinks are actually for visitors. i only sip before and after every meal. true.
tomorrow i'm going to don my jogging gear and go check out the neighborhood. it looks a very ideal place for jogging. and i've been since lagging on my exercises. some cute doctor back in the home country recommended i get more exercise , i'll oblige her. not because she's cute though but because doctors are often right.
well well well, i have to put this part too. i saw another side of Ghana today. it all started with the news. some lady brings in her boyfriend and some other guy into her matrimonial home, closes the door and tells the husband to say his last prayers. the two guys then pounce on the poor man with cutlasses he screams for help and they run off. the two guys are now wanted men by the police. i was like wow so there's crime here after all. a couple of minutes later,( i was driving) some guys speed by driving very carelessly and i was like really so there's rough driving here too. not too long afterwards some police men overtook me apparently they were hot on the tail of the guys. the guys drove a jeep and the police a land rover jeep. the motorists coming in the opposite directions were using hand signals to show which way the culprits where headed. it was interesting , the public were actually helping the police!
i don't know if the police ever caught up with them. i wonder what their crime could have been? running a red light? then my attention was drawn to the radio once more, people were being asked to make a report if they have ever been treated badly by the police or if the have any complaints about the police. it was the human rights commission or ministry sponsoring the ad. police, that's another thing i can't seem to see around here very much. yes i see one or two at the toll gates, i've seen a couple looking for 'egunje' (noticeably they come in a taxi, its always parked somewhere and they carry no arms, and are not threatening). but this was only twice. aside from that i haven't seen many policemen around. i wonder where they are.
i've seen traffic cops though. some direct traffic in the very busy round abouts but where there are lights they just sit by the side on their 'lastma-like' bikes and i guess wait for traffic offenders. some long wait i presume because obeying traffic is a second nature here. then i did see the military directing traffic around their cantonment. some military lady in dark shades. more about shades. seems its the norm here. ladies and guys wear all manner of shades , some outlandish , some funny, some very big. they seem to love shades around these parts maybe its the sun. its rather hot here , if you are caught out without a fan.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
North York Close
so today i got the keys to my crib. too bad MTV wasn't in sight. yeah its in a low wall, lawn & flower neighborhood. getting there , i get to see that there are bad roads in ghana too but not for long. the stretch of road turning off into the area where the estate is, is untared road until you get just inside the estate. i went to go get curtains for my windows and discovered another interesting thing about ghana.
the curtain place was run by syrians. the service is very 'white' like. i deposited some 50 ghana cedis about 6000 naira and one of their guys , followed me home to measure my windows after which they would do the curtains and call me when its ready. man is that service or what? the downside is that the curtains will be ready in what two weeks? i manage to use my naija wit to push for accelerated service so he promised he'll see if it can be done in a week.so i'll have to hang bedsheets over the window till then. anyway i decided to get the bamboo curtains for the living room. cost me an arm, a leg and some. this is the first time in my life i'm doing furnishing. i guess its normal (the pain in my limbs).
i'm still yet to get a hang of the whole cedis thing. the curtain guy told me 500 the first time we met. my first thought was panicky. what had i gotten myself into? i wasn't a bourgeois. i was just an average joe from naija. the guy now said 50 ghana cedis when he saw the fearful look in my face. i relaxed then and fished out the cash telling him ah that i wasn't ghanaian so i was still confused by the cedi business. he asked where i was from and i told him i was a nigerian. he didn't bat an eyelid , i guess it must have been my ghanaian companion. i was safe (to do business with).
tomorrow morning i shall move to my new abode for the next couple of months(?), years(?). aside from the absence of a white picket fence the neighborhood is an extraction from some janded place. ok i exaggerate a bit but you get my drift. that brings me to housing in accra. the picture i get is that the government sold out large chunks of land with specific plans as to how they were to be built on down to the landscaping. the houses i come across are all neatly ordered. same style but you would see different colors and a few enhancements but the basic design is the same. you get a very organised look and feel. yeah and one thing, the ghanaians love their surroundings. every house has a well kept lawn and they outdo themselves to innovate with their flowers. i wonder if that was in the government specification as well.
if you ever visit ghana look me up in NYC....
the curtain place was run by syrians. the service is very 'white' like. i deposited some 50 ghana cedis about 6000 naira and one of their guys , followed me home to measure my windows after which they would do the curtains and call me when its ready. man is that service or what? the downside is that the curtains will be ready in what two weeks? i manage to use my naija wit to push for accelerated service so he promised he'll see if it can be done in a week.so i'll have to hang bedsheets over the window till then. anyway i decided to get the bamboo curtains for the living room. cost me an arm, a leg and some. this is the first time in my life i'm doing furnishing. i guess its normal (the pain in my limbs).
i'm still yet to get a hang of the whole cedis thing. the curtain guy told me 500 the first time we met. my first thought was panicky. what had i gotten myself into? i wasn't a bourgeois. i was just an average joe from naija. the guy now said 50 ghana cedis when he saw the fearful look in my face. i relaxed then and fished out the cash telling him ah that i wasn't ghanaian so i was still confused by the cedi business. he asked where i was from and i told him i was a nigerian. he didn't bat an eyelid , i guess it must have been my ghanaian companion. i was safe (to do business with).
tomorrow morning i shall move to my new abode for the next couple of months(?), years(?). aside from the absence of a white picket fence the neighborhood is an extraction from some janded place. ok i exaggerate a bit but you get my drift. that brings me to housing in accra. the picture i get is that the government sold out large chunks of land with specific plans as to how they were to be built on down to the landscaping. the houses i come across are all neatly ordered. same style but you would see different colors and a few enhancements but the basic design is the same. you get a very organised look and feel. yeah and one thing, the ghanaians love their surroundings. every house has a well kept lawn and they outdo themselves to innovate with their flowers. i wonder if that was in the government specification as well.
if you ever visit ghana look me up in NYC....
Friday, December 28, 2007
Money Matters etc
my car arrived last night so this morning i went for a cruise around town. well actually i headed straight for our office complex and then to shoprite where you can get food and accessories. i needed cash so i had to try and recall the route to the money changers. i wasn't quite sure so i kept driving and driving and driving in the general direction and then voila! i saw a sign board turned in parked and went to do the changing.
now, the only part of ghana i dread is the currency. they re-denominated their cash and so it's a bit confusing. as my good friend blonca advised just think of it as spending dollars. actually, its a bit more than the dollar. the exchange is 1 - 0.96. bottom line when you give them dollars you get less in ghana cedis as its called. so every one ghana cedi counts. in the economics of scale, i haven't quite done a price comparison to see if things are cheaper here or not.
i went to do the bachelor shopping today. that's when you walk into a store and come out with things like a microwave, a power drill, knives, plates and cutlery. i forgot all about the pots , i think it's cos i don't plan on doing any cooking ( isnt that why the microwave was invented?). i'll complete it some other time with, curtains, sparse furniture and a washing machine!
a bit more about driving in ghana. it's a bit touchy. people maintain the speed lane. the minute i'm bounding behind some guy on the speed lane he quietly shifts over. it's so funny and unbelievable that people can actually obey road rules on their own. i cabled(sped) happily until i heard the speed beep in the car and i guiltily slowed down. i was 40 above the speed limit. it's so easy to get carried away because people are obeying the rules. you get to a round about and people give you your right of way. i vaguely remember something about giving way to traffic on your right or left? i think i have to brush up my road rules again, they actually use them here.
now, the only part of ghana i dread is the currency. they re-denominated their cash and so it's a bit confusing. as my good friend blonca advised just think of it as spending dollars. actually, its a bit more than the dollar. the exchange is 1 - 0.96. bottom line when you give them dollars you get less in ghana cedis as its called. so every one ghana cedi counts. in the economics of scale, i haven't quite done a price comparison to see if things are cheaper here or not.
i went to do the bachelor shopping today. that's when you walk into a store and come out with things like a microwave, a power drill, knives, plates and cutlery. i forgot all about the pots , i think it's cos i don't plan on doing any cooking ( isnt that why the microwave was invented?). i'll complete it some other time with, curtains, sparse furniture and a washing machine!
a bit more about driving in ghana. it's a bit touchy. people maintain the speed lane. the minute i'm bounding behind some guy on the speed lane he quietly shifts over. it's so funny and unbelievable that people can actually obey road rules on their own. i cabled(sped) happily until i heard the speed beep in the car and i guiltily slowed down. i was 40 above the speed limit. it's so easy to get carried away because people are obeying the rules. you get to a round about and people give you your right of way. i vaguely remember something about giving way to traffic on your right or left? i think i have to brush up my road rules again, they actually use them here.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Akwaaba
this is my sixth day in the new country that would be my home for the next couple of months. i've been acclimatizing gradually. it gets dark by 6 PM and its bright already by 5 AM. my system is still adjusting to the time difference. didn't know one hour could make so much difference.
i'm still curious when it comes to the people. they seem laid back, carefree, friendly. i'm a bit cautious watching my words expecting the usual 'shine your eye' characteristic from home country to pop up any moment. i haven't met many ghanaians though. the few i have met are very polite and friendly. i went to get a link to the web. the sales person was very courteous kept apologizing because i had to wait a few minutes for the guy with the store key to show up.
maybe i'm just carried away by the euphoria of the new place. maybe i came with a very positive view about them so i'm yet to see something out of place. but all in all, there is a certain sense of security here. the estate i'm temporarily staying in has low walls, well kept lawns, flowers, constant electricity and its very quiet. you can actually hear those long forgotten bird sounds. it reminds me of my village , serene but modern.
the streets have interesting names, cheery lane, kiwi, plum, sour sop, raspberry lane etc. good drive ways, paved side walks. there is a pervading sense of security. it almost seems like robberies are unheard of. i only got to see policemen when i looked very hard. there are no check points ( in fact the only one i saw was apparently illegal. the cops came in a taxi and began checking passing motorists - this was a day before christmas). when i'm more acclimatized i would really ask if there were incidents of robbery.
the few times i've listened to the radio, they reports have been on the current political primaries and accidents on the road. they have a large billboard showing the number of accidents and casualties for 2006 on the major motorway. i noticed that people seem to keep to the speed limits and obey the traffic lights even on traffic sparse christmas day. there is also a billboard decrying domestic violence against women. it's interesting that here they think it important enough to cry out against it on billboards. i'm however finding it hard to relate these calm people to violence. maybe there's something under that calm exterior after all.
so far the experience has been great. time will tell if my opinions will change. so far i think this place is nice. water, power and internet is the barest minimum i need to survive and so far in six days i haven't been disappointed.
i'm still curious when it comes to the people. they seem laid back, carefree, friendly. i'm a bit cautious watching my words expecting the usual 'shine your eye' characteristic from home country to pop up any moment. i haven't met many ghanaians though. the few i have met are very polite and friendly. i went to get a link to the web. the sales person was very courteous kept apologizing because i had to wait a few minutes for the guy with the store key to show up.
maybe i'm just carried away by the euphoria of the new place. maybe i came with a very positive view about them so i'm yet to see something out of place. but all in all, there is a certain sense of security here. the estate i'm temporarily staying in has low walls, well kept lawns, flowers, constant electricity and its very quiet. you can actually hear those long forgotten bird sounds. it reminds me of my village , serene but modern.
the streets have interesting names, cheery lane, kiwi, plum, sour sop, raspberry lane etc. good drive ways, paved side walks. there is a pervading sense of security. it almost seems like robberies are unheard of. i only got to see policemen when i looked very hard. there are no check points ( in fact the only one i saw was apparently illegal. the cops came in a taxi and began checking passing motorists - this was a day before christmas). when i'm more acclimatized i would really ask if there were incidents of robbery.
the few times i've listened to the radio, they reports have been on the current political primaries and accidents on the road. they have a large billboard showing the number of accidents and casualties for 2006 on the major motorway. i noticed that people seem to keep to the speed limits and obey the traffic lights even on traffic sparse christmas day. there is also a billboard decrying domestic violence against women. it's interesting that here they think it important enough to cry out against it on billboards. i'm however finding it hard to relate these calm people to violence. maybe there's something under that calm exterior after all.
so far the experience has been great. time will tell if my opinions will change. so far i think this place is nice. water, power and internet is the barest minimum i need to survive and so far in six days i haven't been disappointed.
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