Conclusion

Atlanta turned out to be stressful. There was some comfort in the orderly lines that keep moving as we went through immigration and customs. I ran into a bit of a snag in security as I discovered I had never moved the sun screen into my checked luggage. I had to go backwards through security where they checked that one little bottle with about a hundred miles of tape and a checked luggage sticker. I was instructed that I had to go back through the long security line until I got to the front of the line and they told me I DIDN'T have to go through the long line, I could have gone through the priority line.

Finally out of security I looked at the gate number that had been hand written on my boarding pass. It looked like D8 (you can see where this is going) so I got on the tram that moved me from F to D and walked down the long corridor to D8. There was just one woman there and that surprised me. I didn't think I was that early, but I took the opportunity to call David. That is when I found out that Amber had died the night before.

Poor Amber. Apparently there was a bizarre incident where they thought she had died because she was unresponsive, but she revived and frightened David when he got home from work and had grieved her loss. She was clearly in a great deal of discomfort so late in the evening they brought her to the vet and she was gone.

When I called Mom and decided that I had really better check the board, I discovered that my gate was T08! (The zero had looked like a D and the T looked as though it was part of the circle she had drawn around the gate number.) I had just enough time to get there, but my dreams of having a nice relaxing cup of Starbucks went out the window. So I sat down and checked my things before I realized that my cell phone purse was missing. In a panic I went to the desk and asked what I could do. The fellow told me that if I rushed I should be able to make it to D8 and back in time to get the flight. So I ran, chicken toy and all, back to the tram saying to myself, "Please let my purse be there (if the money is still in there that would be a nice bonus!)"

I went back to where I had been sitting and the area was now full of people. I asked if the woman sitting in my spot had seen it but she said no. The woman who had been there when I first arrived said she had brought it to the desk. The people at the desk hadn't seen it but this woman insisted she had seen the agent tuck it under something so eventually they found it (complete with cash no less!) and after I expressed my heartfelt thanks I RAN back to the gate. I was one of the last to board, but I made it -- sweatier than I think I had been the whole trip.

This flight was mostly a blur. I sat next to a man who was coming from Atlanta to Boston to watch lacross games and a woman who didn't make eye contact. I got some nasty coffee on board, read my iPhone and eventually we touched down.

The walk from the gate to the terminal is really long and it involves going down an escalator several moving sidewalks and going up another couple of escalators. I saw a young woman just ahead of me looking a bit traumatized as she explained that the escalator really frightened her. I offered her my arm to grab onto to make it easier and she did okay. It turned out that she had been on my flight from Ghana and Atlanta and this was her first time out of Liberia. Today was the first time she had seen an escalator or moving sidewalk and they were very scary to her. When she realized she didn't have to take the escalator and could take the steps, she opted for that going forward.

When we arrived at the baggage claim there was a blur running through the crowd. The blur became familiar as he ran up to me, kissed me and hugged me as though he was never letting go. As we waited for my luggage I began to realize that my new Liberian friend may need more help. So I offered to show her where the restroom was. She had to be shown how to use the automatic sinks and paper towel dispensers. When all of our luggage was retrieved (I never did end up waiting long enough to get my sunscreen) I asked her if she had a ride. She showed me a printout of an email with instructions to meet in terminal C but we were in terminal A. How was she going to find out how to get to terminal C?? So David took my suitcase to the car and agreed to meet me at terminal C when I took her there by shuttle bus.

We waited and waited at the meeting spot, but no one else was there. We double check the paper and we were in the right place. She showed me the contact numbers of her hosts but they were all going to voice mail. Finally one of the voice mail messages gave me a working cell number and I was told the pickup day was the following day! So we brought my new friend home with us.

Miriama, it turned out, was in a peace studies program in Vermont. She had graduated with a degree in Sociology in Liberia and had won this scholarship. It turns out she wasn't able to eat at all on the flight due to motion sickness so after a quick bath we went out for a meal. In order to help Miriama adjust a little more slowly, we went to an Ethiopian restaurant. It wasn't West Africa, but at least most of the meal was more familiar in it's tastes and spices. Afterwards we went to JP Licks for ice cream, which she knew she would enjoy as she has ice cream at home.

Finger piano from Tamale, Ghana

I pushed myself to stay awake but Miriama couldn't take it any more and she dozed while I hung out in the community courtyard and enjoyed telling stories with my neighbors. Patti told me about this new West African restaurant in Roslindale called Suya Joint. What did Patti have for dinner...fufu! I went all over Accra looking for fufu and it was already here!

The family enjoyed the gifts I got for them even though Ben was a bit envious of the finger piano that I had gotten for Talia. he loved his bicycle that I had gotten him.

Eventually Miriama came up from napping and wrote an email home to let them know she had arrived (we weren't able to figure out how to make a call.) By this time it was 9:30 at night, but 1:30 in my head so I finally gave up and went to bed.

I managed to sleep until 7 in the morning! I woke up several times in the night. At one point around midnight I woke up and tried to figure out which hotel I was in, but I was able to fall back to sleep pretty easily.

Mariama was up at 6:30 and tried to keep herself busy while she waited for us. Once up, we walked over to Ula Cafe where we got Mariama her first pop-over and a long sleeved T-Shirt to remember us by. We had a bit of extra time before the meet up back at the airport so I wanted to do some sight seeing. There wasn't quite enough time to go up to the top of the Prudential Center, unfortunately, but Mariama had never seen a garden as we described the Arboretum so we went there.

Me and my new friend Miriama in the Arboretum

We had a lovely walk around and Mariama realized that there are many different kinds of dogs here as we saw shepherds, retrievers and a bishon like ours. We talked about the animals that we have in the US that she might not have. They don't have coyote's but they do have opossums.

New friends from Nigeria, Nepal and Liberia

I asked David to let us take the subway a few stops and pick us up. Even though the subway is only submerged and not underground, at least Miriama can say that she was on an American subway. I showed her the artwork of our friend Roberto in the station and then we went to the airport. While David waited for us in the cell phone lot, we went back to the pickup spot in the airport and waited. Thirty minutes later no hosts had shown up, but other fellow program participants began to show. We met a fellow from Nepal, then another fellow from Nigeria and finally a handsome young man from the Czech Republic who sounded British. I began to worry that the hosts still hadn't arrived to I sent them a text and they said they were caught in traffic and expected to be another hour. I could no longer wait as we had already been waiting for two hours so I gave Miriama one last big hug good-bye and we both started to tear up a bit.

So I got to see Africa for the first time from an American perspective and I ended my trip getting to see America from the eyes of an African's first time perspective.

So I made a few lists that I wanted to share with you.

Things I brought, didn't use, but I'm glad I brought anyway

• Tums & Pepto bismol
• One of the three converters in the set I had borrowed from Pete MacDonald
• The Portuguese translation book
• A hat
• Sunglasses (I kinda forgot I had these)

Things I wish I had brought

• A wash cloth (to wet and cool me down)
• Woolite
• A sewing kit
• A Yellow Fever vaccine (grrr)
• Caffeine pills (for when I wasn't able to get coffee)
• Ibuprofen (for when I wasn't able to get coffee)
• Eye drops (they were on my list to pack, and I forgot them)
• Benadryl
• A luggage strap to help me identify my bag on the carousel.

What I brought and didn't use

• The travel guide for Southern Mozambique
• A fanny pack
  Other than that, I used everything I had. I think I packed really well.

What I'm SO glad I had

• Pete's converter set
• New comfy sneakers
• My scarf (this was a last minute add. It was a fly swatter, a fan, a sunscreen and a blanket.)
• Gold's Anti-itch cream
• Immodium
• My new neck pouch
• Melatonin
• My iPhone (obviously)

My biggest moments

• The "Witch Camp" in Northern Ghana
• Landing in Tamale
• Miriama

My favorite experiences

• The expressions
• Trying new foods
• Experiencing the true Africa

Biggest disappointments

• I'll let you know when I figure this out.

Accra

I managed to submit the previous blog minutes before I would be out of internet access range for quite a while. Well... that's not entirely true, but for all practical purpose that was so.

Ernest and Kwami picked me up moments before the second big rain started. I said good-bye to my new dear friends and started my journey home. Checking in was simple, but the wait seemed really long. I was astonished to find out that the Tamale airport -- this TINY little place had FREE internet. I contemplated taking out my computer and working on the blogs some more, but felt I had to reserve my battery life.

The rain let up and then stopped completely but not before delaying the flights. I got in to Accra about 30 minutes late. but I found no one holding a sign with my name. I waited and waited. An annoying fellow started asking me questions and tried to "help" me with my bags (in order to make money on tips) and I had trouble shaking him until a uniformed man yelled at him and told me to pay him no mind. I waited a bit longer and another man approached me asking if I needed a ride. Having been asked the same question by several taxi drivers I told him I was expecting a driver. He asked me if I had called the driver and when I told him I didn't have a phone he took out his own phone and called Ernest for me.

Nelson and I stopped for fufu

It turned out the driver had been waiting in INTERNATIONAL arrivals instead of domestic arrivals. Nelson and I took off for a day of adventure in Accra. Nelson is just a bit older than Ben so it was almost like having a day out with my son. It was a national holiday so a lot of people were out and about.

First we went to the Art Market. There were stalls after stalls of the most beautiful things! It became apparent pretty quickly that I had not brought enough money for all of the things I would have liked to get. At each stall were one or two people trying to get my attention. Each of them saying things like, "Miss! I have beautiful bags, miss. No presha" (No pressure ... promising not give the hard sell that I found in Maputo.) I bought some lovely scarves, and some music for David.

Next stop was the memorial and museum for Dr. Kwame Nkrumah (the former president of Ghana.)  It was one of the smallest museums I have ever been to. It almost seemed like they really wanted to make a museum but didn't have enough things to go in it. There were several photographs and a few personal items of the President. The docent was terrific though, and Nelson and I learned a lot about Dr. Nkrumah's history. As we were learning I found myself thinking, not for first time, that I wished David were there because he would have helped me understand even more of the history and he would have a much greater appreciation for the context.

A peacock wanders the grounds in front of Dr. Nkruma's car

It was brutally hot and I was seriously dehydrated so we stopped for some water and shade to enjoy the day. As we were heading out, I was approached by a number of men with arms outstretched with products. I knew I was done spending money, but before I could think about it, I had bought this cute toy of chickens pecking at grain on the ground. This is what pining for my family made me do! Of course, if I had thought this through, I would have realized that this delicate thing was going to cause me great transportation challenges. I couldn't pack it or it would be destroyed so I ended up carrying it all day long, carrying it through the airport, through security, on the airplane, the various stages of immigration and customs, back and forth in the terminals in Atlanta and home. 

Fufu in groundnut soup.

The next plan of action was to find Fufu. This is the casaba flour and plantain mixture that is so popular in West Africa. One restaurant had been suggested to us, but it turned out that it was they didn't have the right kind of fufu. Nelson knew of another place not far from where he lived so we went in that direction and found a great place that was half the cost. The fufu was in a groundnut soup with goat. It was delicious!

By this time I was aware that the splitting headache that I had acquired could only be remedied with a cup of coffee -- good or bad. When I asked Nelson where I could get coffee he had no idea. He called Ernest who suggested that we go to the mall. Nelson suggested that we could first try the supermarket. It turns out that several supermarkets have coffee shops above them. The first supermarket we went to was a smaller version of our supermarkets. Upstairs they had a coffee shop and a department store but the coffee shop was closed for the holiday.

The next supermarket we went to looked like almost any supermarket in the US except for the coffee shop upstairs. This one was open. They sold espresso, lattes and American Coffee. I choose the American Coffee -- or at least their image of American Coffee. It was about 4 oz, rather strong and it was served with steamed milk on the side. Nelson tried his first chocolate croissant. While he said he liked it, I'm not convinced. Within moments, my headache subsided and we were ready to go.

Then we had a wonderful miscommunication. I thought we would go to the airport early since I couldn't think of anything else that we needed to do, but Nelson thought I wanted to go to the mall. I didn't realize until we had already arrived that it was our destination. The traffic to the mall was dreadful! He tried every bypass he could find but with only two lanes and hundreds and hundreds of cars we slowly made our way through the parking lots they call streets to the mall.

At one point a young man on the street made some kind of motion at me. I didn't understand so I just looked forward where we were going. Since we were stuck in traffic the fellow came up to the car. I couldn't understand what he said but he stuck his hand in the car and shouted something like "Yanko dis Africa!" It certainly did not seem friendly. Nelson rolled my window up and told me to pay him no bother. This was the only unfriendly interaction I had with anyone my whole trip.

The mall was very much like any mall here. It even had an Apple store. There was a supermarket attached that was like a Super Stop n' Shop with food and backpacks and mops and rice cookers. At one point I pointed to this bar that was about 18 inches long, 2 inches wide and 1 inch deep. I asked Nelson what it was and he looked at me with surprise and said that it was soap. Most of their soap bars don't come in paper wrapped in plastic packaging. It just an unwrapped bar that they cut to the length they want. How simple and practical!

At least their manikins look right

I didn't want to buy anything else so we just looked at the shops to compare things to the US. They had an Apple store, of course, and the shops were identical to anything you would find here. We had a little difficulty finding the food court. We thought it was upstairs, but instead upstairs we found the movie theaters and the gaming area. I tried to explain what cotton candy was and Nelson played his first video games. He tried a motor cycle racing game where you sit on a motor cycle and increase the speeds on the handles and tilt the bike to go around circles. He also played a shooting game. He really enjoyed the motor cycle racing game! I was so intent on cheering him on that I forgot to take a picture.

We finally found the food court. It was outside with a big kids' play structure in the middle. I offered Nelson a choice of getting to the airport early or playing one more video game. He shyly asked for one more video game and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to watch him play again.

The famous traffic in Accra

I couldn't believe it was possible that the parking lot was even more full than when we had arrived. There were cars just stopped in the aisles between the parked cars so we were stuck in our parking space in the parking lot for over 30 minutes before we were able to make our way out. They even had traffic control guys, but they seemed a little unclear on the concept as all they did was wave all directions forward instead of stopping one line of cars and letting the others go and then reversing it. One driver tried to "cut" in line and one of the traffic guys got furious with him and actually banged his car with a barrier!

This time we really were on the way to the airport. On the way we passed near George Walker Bush Highway which Nelson described as really "Neat!" because it has four lanes going either way. While this has done a great deal to help with traffic problems they would need more of these in order to resolve their issues.

I asked Nelson what he thinks of Obama and he likes him very much. In hindsight, I wish I had asked more people what they thought of Obama. Ernest says that he believes most Ghanaians supported Obama until he came out in support of gay marriage and that turned the tides against him.

We got to the airport and hugged good bye. It was a wonderful way to spend the day.

I walked into the airport and discovered that the line was almost out the door of the airport. I did one of those things where I got a line on that was already really long and someone tapped on my shoulder and said, "Uh miss... the line starts back there."

I stood on the line for 30 minutes and it hadn't moved at all. I found out that the people around me were scheduled for a flight that was scheduled to leave at 11. They had been actually been on a flight the day before that had been cancelled. My flight was at 9 and even though we weren't scheduled to leave for three hours I began to worry that I hadn't left enough time.

After all of that I ended up finding out that I was on the wrong line when a porter was helping another American and he explained why that man didn't have to wait in this line -- this line was only for the folks who had be scheduled to leave the day before. My line was much shorter! It was still slow going, but I was so impressed by the polite staff who were dealing with this huge throng. I took up conversations with the Americans with whom I was in line. They were headed to various parts of the mid-west after we arrived in Atlanta. One of them was named Jim and he comes here fairly often for his work.

I tried to get internet in the airport but couldn't get it to work. I went back to the vendor that I had purchased the pass from but instead of helping me get it to work he just gave me my money back. So I waited in the pre-waiting area until we moved to the waiting area and finally onto the plane. It turned out that Jim was across the aisle from me. Sitting next to me in the window seat was a large Liberian woman who slept almost from the time I arrived until we left. The only thing she said to me was she was trying to figure out what to put for first name and last name when she only had one name. (Africans don't use the terms first name and last name. They use their names in any order. Some use the terms given name and surname, but even that was complicated when one only has one name.)

I discovered that the hardest part about flying down to Africa was the unknown of the trip. Now this trip seemed almost easy in comparison. I was pleased to see that there was a charger for my iPhone so I was able to do some reading without worrying about rationing my power. The on-flight entertainment makes it so much more tolerable. The selection wasn't as extensive as on the way down, but I watched movies (Puss in Boots and a Japanese comedy that I highly recommend called A Ghost of a Chance,) and a few TV shows and TED talks even though the audio from my seatmate's screen was bleeding through my line. I wasn't able to sleep at all -- I just dozed for minutes at a time. I saved myself from the agony of compression stockings this time and I was much more comfortable and did take several walks around the plane. This was easier to do since I had an aisle seat.

I'm telling you!

On Thursday morning, we were planning on leaving straight from my hotel at 7AM on our journeys of the day to Karanga and Gushegu. I had gone to breakfast and when I came out to settle in for my wait, Ernest was already there and had been waiting. The car we were supposed to use needed servicing (tires seem to go pretty quickly) so we would having to go back to the office and wait for it. So we found a cab and I saw my first traffic light.

When we got to the office the power and internet were working, the building was cool and working conditions were nice. We settled in for a few hours and got some really productive work going. It’s a pleasure to work with Ernest because he is so good at explaining things to me so that I can figure out how all of these figures need to come together.

We got on the road at about 10:30. As we were leaving the city’s edge we saw goats crossing the road and one of them had a passenger. A bird was clearly hitching a ride and the goat was its happy guide. Kwammi told us the story of why goats run away quickly from cars while sheep saunter. One day a goat and a sheep took a cab. The sheep paid up front but the goat said he would pay when they get to their destination. Just before they got there, though, the goat jumped out and scurried away. The driver, seeing that the goat and sheep had come on together assumed they were friends so he refused to give the sheep his change. So when a goat sees a car coming he runs away to avoid paying his fare and the sheep sticks around hoping to get his change.

A tree covers the road

As I had been warned, the roads got a lot rougher than they had been the day before. I’m a bit slow, but  I finally realized why so many people seemed to be trying to flag us down. They were hoping to get a ride in the back of the truck. I assume the drivers are not allowed to do that. We just drove on.

At one point there was a huge tree completely across the road. I thought we were going to be stuck for hours, but there was a backhoe already at work pushing the tree off to the side. It couldn’t have delayed us for more than 15 minutes.

The baby doesn't need a helmet, right?

I missed the picture of the farmers working the ground with oxen – it went by just too quickly. We got to Karanga, met the data clerk there named Paul, and repeated our road show. I got to see the spray operators coming back from the field and going through their three stage pump washing system. I also got to see a woman who works for her village come to collect payment. She signed with her fingerprint before she and her baby got on her husband’s motorcycle and off they went.

Shortly before we arrived an Gushegu. a fear that I had was realized. A goat ran the wrong direction and we hit it. We didn’t stop, we didn’t even check if he was dead. For all I know we just nicked it, but no one else seemed as traumatized as I felt. Some made a “tsk” noise, it was quiet for a moment and then the mood went back to normal. This may be a very common event, but it shook me.

The guys love to talk about politics. The conversation goes back and forth between their native language and English. When the roads were really bad they made jokes about the president. When the roads were improved they said that it was because it was an election year. Their comments were often followed by, “I’m telling you!” It's wonderful to hear and I found myself laughing even when I didn't understand just because their laughter is contageious.

Phillip and Ernest in Gushegu

In the Gushegu office we met Phillip who had a few questions and then we wanted to head back so that we could see the chief of party for a wrap up. We needed to make one quick stop for lunch at Level 400. I wasn’t yet hungry but we did talk about food. I told my friends that I want to try banku (a spongy ground corn ball) so Kwammi promised me that he knew a place in Tamale that makes a great banku and fish. I was told that the foods that I had missed out on were fufu (a ball made of plantain and cassava), rice balls and Tuozaffi (aka tezit.)

We made it to the office a bit after 5 and the Chief of Party was still there. We summarized the week and bade farewell.

Level 400 "Restaurant"

Kwammi and Ernest continued to take care of me as the took me to a few shops to buy some gifts (and negotiated for me,) and to the promised banku shop. I found shopping to much less stressful that Maputo. The banku and talipia was fantastic! It is a dish that is eaten by hand which is an experience in itself.  I find the portions very large, though and couldn’t make it through. Ernest told me that the darker sauce on the side is a special sauce called Shito. It takes months to make, it is used a a preservative and is comprised largely of black pepper.

As we drove I realized that Tamale can actually have real traffic and in the more central areas there were several traffic lights and a lot of people. While the traffic lights were working, the street lights were not – another power outage.

Finally they dropped me off at my hotel where I packed my bags in-between moments when the internet was working. I was thirsty, but I had already showered and changed and didn’t want to go down to the restaurant to get more water and I had to reserve most of the water that I had for brushing my teeth, so I made do with a sip.

Sleep was really difficult and at 3:30 I gave up and decided to work on the blog. I know I’m going to pay for that later, but it just did no good.

Today I will be picked up any moment now, go to the airport and fly to Accra. I have a twelve hour layover there. Ernest has arranged for a driver to spend most of the day with me to take me shopping, perhaps a museum and to get some fufu. We can’t go too far from the airport because we don’t want to get stuck in traffic. I don’t know when I’ll get internet access again.

Desibah!

Desibah! When someone greets you with desibah (Good morning) or anteray (Good afternoon) or anaula (Good evening) you are supposed to say, “Naaaah!” in response. It’s a way of greeting back.


Our impromptu cook

 When we left Moonlite we went back across the street and found the woman who had made our dinner. I was surprised that she had given us the food with the promise that we would pay her for it the following day! She didn’t know us, but that’s the way things work here. Dinner cost 7 Ghana Credits – about 3.5 dollars.

I don’t know the woman’s name, but Justice, who had met her the night before, is very friendly with her and calls her, “Mahmie, Mahmie!” (as in mother.) There are another group of young women nearby with a huge (and I mean HUGE) metal bowl of beans. It took two of the women to put the bowl on top of the head of one of them and off she went. I’m thinking easily more than a hundred pounds.

We decided to stay for breakfast for an additional 5 Ghana Credits. There is a little dining area in front of her “bar” where we sat.

Wachi with beef

I had Wachi which is rice and bean mixture that had beef on top and spaghetti on the side.  (Don’t read this next part, Mother Renee) As we swatted flies from our food, Ernest told me that there are a lot of people who are so accustomed to swatting flies from their meal that it is a habit that they do even when there are no flies.

Hill Top Bar

We got back on the road to another site where I met my first female data entry clerk, Ukasha Goodman. They had been looking forward to my meeting her because we are both named Goodman. Considering how much teasing I have gotten for my name she must get it all the time. Since they told me they had been joking with her that I was her mother, I walked into the room and shouted, “My daughter!” and I gave her a big hug.

My "daughter" Ukasha Goodman and the
Site Manager in West Mamprusi District

Ernest noticed that, on the record she was entering she had listed that a household had not mosquito nets. He questioned her, “None?!” Ukasha informed him that the household members assume they will be told they have to share their nets. Since they don’t want to do that, they lie.

As we were getting ready to go they invited us to a witch’s camp. A few people from the office went with us as we just drove to the village across the street. We stopped at the chief’s house first to ask his permission, but when he wasn’t in we were told we can go anyway. So we drove through these very narrow passages between the compounds until we got to this school. Almost immediately women began to gather in the school. They were very prepared to have their picture taken. The leader of the group of women started telling us their story. There were a few translations going on as Samed would translate into the language that others knew and they would translate that into English.



The witch's camp

Then it became clear why they were so glad to tell their story. They survive by making beaded necklaces, bracelets, earrings, soaps, and insect repellant balm. They wanted to sell it to me. I knew I couldn’t carry the soaps, and didn’t care for the balm, but I bought a lot of necklaces and bracelets for about $16. They want me to carry the message about their plight to others for more support. http://www.irinnews.org/Report/93961/GHANA-Reintegrating-the-nation-s-witches  



Sitting with accused witches

These women were accused of witchcraft when something bad happened in their communities. They would be given a trial which, if I understood correctly was decided by the way a guinea fowl would face after it was slaughtered. If it died face up, the woman was innocent. If it died face down or sideways, the woman was guilty. The normal punishment for witchcraft is death, but several years ago when a woman was being brought to her death the chief of this village asked what was happening. When he found out, he told her she could stay with him. Since then this area has become a refuge for accused witches. The children there are all children that were born after they arrived to this place. It is said that this chief is so powerful that after staying here for some time, the witches powers are reduced and some of them are able to go back home.  I don’t think they interact much with the rest of the community and there are electrical power lines that run around the whole village, but not in their area, so they have the first solar panel I’ve seen.



NOT for Mother Renee's eyes!
The washroom in West Mampusi



After all of that, we went back to the office where I washed up, we went back on the road back to the office. By the time we got there it was about three in the afternoon. We met briefly with the chief of party and worked for a few more hours. By then it had started to pour with the first rain that I've seen this whole trip. Obviously, my umbrella was back in my room in the (now clearly luxurious) Mariam Hotel.

When the power went out for the second time in the office we finally decided to call it a day and I was very glad for the comforts of the Mariam. It wasn't long before the power went out there too, but eventually power and internet was restored.



Black Magic

It’s Wednesday at nearly 5:30am. I woke up about an hour ago and haven’t been able to get back to sleep, so I’ve decided to write.

I’m in Walewale in West Mamprusi on a place that is similar to a motel called “Moonlite” Guest House. The rooms are very simple and plain. There is no need for a comforter of any sort, so they don’t have it. They also don’t feel a need to match the top sheet and bottom sheet. Clearly I would be sleeping right now if they had. I’ve gone from four towels in Afrin Hotel to two in Cardoso to one in Miriam and no towels or soap here.

But I’m jumping ahead. After I wrote my blog yesterday, I went to breakfast at the hotel. The TV was on showing about 4 or 5 guys playing back yard football (soccer) with a homemade ball. Once again, I didn’t realize for quite some time that they were speaking English. The accent is sometimes so strong that I can’t tell. The expletives were left in and essentially the camera was just running while these guys were playing off-mic for about 30 minutes. Then they switched to w room with several women in a dorm style room once again, just talking off-mic in difficult English. They were complaining about people. While they were clearly in pajamas, one woman was wearing a pair of false eyelashes that were just frightening. Finally there was a commercial break about 40 minutes after I sat down. Sure enough, this is Big Brother Africa. No clear production, no editing that I could see. It was just bizarre.

I was supposed to meet Ernest at 7:30 so I decided to wait for him outside. I noticed that most of the cars that came to the small lot of the hotel were trucks. Most were 4x4 and they seemed so big compared to what I saw elsewhere. Then I remembered the wild ride to Tolon the day before and I realized that when the paved road stops you need a 4x4. I was expecting a much longer drive like that in my near future so I started preparing myself. There’s Air Conditioning in the car so it’s not bad, the seats are plush and the car is modern – come ‘on Jeanne… you can do this.

Nindoo from Miriam Hotel

While waiting my waiter from the restaurant came out and passed me. He asked where I was from and I told him the US. His name is Nindoo (pronounced Ndoo) He thinks it’s his dream place. I think it may kill him. City life is SO different from here.  In my dinner with Ernest last night he was telling me about classes that he took in development. He and his classmates couldn’t really picture what the developed world really was. A friend won a lottery to go to school in the US. When they contacted each other by Facebook the friend in the US said that NOW he gets it.

When I told Ernest we have 400 people in the Cambridge office he was very surprised. He asked me if we had drivers to take us places the way they do in this office and he was surprised to hear that we do not. I think he was wondering how the logistics would work to have so many drivers for so many people.

Prices here surprise me. Maputo was pretty expensive. Here we bought a cell phone for less than $19. The dinner that I bought for the two of us was essentially $15.

I was still waiting for Ernest to arrive – now it was 8 AM. So I pondered more…

They have so many expressions it’s difficult to capture them all. Most of them are similar to ours, but the sound is different. So while we say Eh and it sounds sort of like Aae. They will say A! very short and abrupt. They have a disapproving tsk sound that they do a lot, but it’s not quite like our tsk. I don’t know how to describe the difference. They also often say, “Can you imagine!” which really means, “It’s hard to believe!”

When I was in the airport in South Africa I bought duty free chocolates for Ernest and Justice – the two people I had been in the most contact with before coming. I realized on Monday that I really should have gotten chocolate for Diana who had made my logistical arrangements. Since I had barely spoken to her that hadn’t occurred to me, but now I felt bad. I’m hoping I can go today to a supermarket and get her some (even though I had heard that she made Justice give her his chocolate.) I apologized to her, but I still feel bad.

By 8:15 there was still no sign of Ernest so I pondered even more…

The locks here are really funny. You turn them once and it locks the door. You turn it again and the lock goes in further. I guess you lock it and then you really lock it. I didn’t realize this the first day when I got here so I got stuck in my room for a bit. I started to think I was going to have to call the reception desk and tell them to get me out. That would have been so embarrassing! Finally I managed to get the door open but it still took a while to figure out the lock-lock. When I told this to my traveling companions they were surprised this was new to me and they said that some of their locks have three turns to them.

Ok, by 8:18 Ernest and the driver arrived. We went to the office and I noticed that people say “You’re welcome” meaning “Welcome to our office” but it has a way of making me think that I had just said “Thank you” Almost immediately I discover that the route we are going to take to visit the offices is going to require an overnight journey because it would take too long to drive to all of the places and come back in the same day. We now have to arrange a car and driver that is available for that amount of time and drive to our homes to get things to take. While driving around the radio was playing and I’m thinking this really IS small town! Announcer: If you have found a brown, leather wallet with a voter identification card with the name ***** and driver’s license number ***** please contact this station at *****. Also we are sad to report that ***** of the ***** family has passed away on this day at 3 in this morning. You can pay your respects at **** street.

Very amused by this strange woman

Jeanne and the Spray Operators.
The Chief was cut off on the left.

This trip, so far, has actually been pretty easy. We weren’t able to get the really rugged truck so they had to make arrangements around the truck that we were able to get. So far all of the driving has pretty much been on paved road. The guys in the car hadn’t eaten breakfast so we stopped at a roadside vendor who sold them guinea fowl, fried plantains and fried yams. We have passed several check points but have not been asked to stop. We passed a radio station (94.1 “High in the Skies We Soar”) Eventually we got to our Diare operation site in Saveluge/Nanton. I met Izzy there and we worked on his computer briefly and we found out that the spray operators were working just a little while up the road so we decided to visit them. We stopped at this compound where I was introduced to the team leaders, several spray operators, and the chief of the village. I was very honored. There were two little girls watching who just found me to be the strangest thing they’d ever seen. I said hello and they giggled as though I was tickling them.

Room at Moonlite Guest House

Back on the road we pulled into the Moonlite guest house which is where I’m writing from now. There was a very manual process for checking us in that too about 30 minutes for 5 people. First we had to be registered, then accounting and finally receipts.  Everyone finds the name Goodman to be very funny here. I get this everywhere. Shouldn’t it be “Good woman?” I told them the story of the driver who was looking for a man and they found that so very funny!



Joloff rice and beef



After checking in we went to our last destination of the day. It turned out to be just across the road, but we still drove there. I got to meet the data clerk named Eugine. We thought it was going to be very quick but his program was doing something really strange. It took us a while before I found a way around it, and then it was late and nearly time for dinner. Ernest and I came back to the guest house while the others found a woman to make us Jolloff rice with beef.  The others joined us at the table outside of our room.

We talked about so many things that it’s hard to remember. We talked about how marriage engagements work in Ghana. This is still wrapped in a lot of tradition where the man tells his parents he wants to get married so the parents make plans to meet the woman’s parents. They discuss the terms of the dowry and if her parents drink with his parents the deal is done. He spends some time acquiring all of the things for the dowry (all of the things the woman will need to be a married woman such as a sewing machine and lingerie.) and then they have an engagement event. The room is divided with the guests of the man on one side and the guests of the woman on the other. The guests of the woman will ask the guests of the man “What is the intention for that man for this woman?” the guests of the man will reply, “He wishes to marry her?” “What does he offer her for this?” They describe all of the dowry items that he has acquired. This goes on and on until the guests of the bride are convinced that he is noble and they say, “Where is this man?” Until now he has been hiding. His gets fetch him and he is greeted with fanfare saying things like, “Ooooh. All of the way from America! Or All of the way from Britain!” (Apparently just because it sounds exotic that he travelled all this way for her.

Bikes for sale in Walewale

We also spoke a lot about politics. “We HAVE to change the way we THINK” Kwammi, the driver, gets very passionate. I notice that Ernest’s accent seems to be stronger when the others are there. I struggled to understand. They complained about traffic in Accra that is so bad that in order to get to work by 7 you have to get up at 3. There are some people who dress their children in the car during the traffic jam because that’s when there’s time. Ernest was saying that you don’t realize how insane this is when you live in Accra, but when he moved here for this job he looked back and saw how crazy it was. He was amazed the first time he left work at 5 and was home by 5:15! Can you believe it?!

We spoke about inheritance rules and how they differ in different areas. In the peoples that Ernest and Justice are from, the oldest son inherits the chiefdom. But in this area, they gather the sons after the chief has died and they say their name three times starting from the eldest. If they respond by the third time, he is chief. Apparently at least in one case, the next to eldest son put a black magic spell on the eldest so that he went into a coma so he wasn’t there to hear his name called. When the fellow woke up from his coma he was so disturbed that he wasn’t chief that he killed himself.

Black magic is very real here and tribal warfare is preventing investors from helping to grow the country.

Tolon-Kunbungu

Unfortunately, I will have to make this short and fill it in later. By the time internet was restored last night I was too tired to do my blog. It is 5:20 now and I'm going to write what I can before I have to go.

Sunday evening, after I finished my blog I went to the hotel restaurant. It felt like an Agatha Christie movie because I recognized almost everyone in the restaurant as having been on the plane with me over here. One of the other diners was an English woman named Jan. She noticed this too and in a way that I wish I could have been so bold, she just came over and introduced herself because of that fact and we struck up a conversation. She worked teaching for a mission. She had told me that when she was in Accra they had proudly taken her to George W. Bush Highway.

Dinner was one of the best meals I have ever eaten. It was guinea fowl made in this Palava Sauce that was just incredible. It was also served with yams but they were more like white potatoes.

Coke and Nestle are EVERYWHERE here.

In the morning I had a millet porridge which was a bit tangy and was to be eaten with sugar so I took too cubes of sugar. On the side I was given Koosey which are doughy balls made from beans. Fantastic.

I was picked up at 9 and met several people in the office here including the Chief of Party (the equivalent of the CEO.) We had some meetings to talk about the database and discover a few new problems and then we had a staff meeting. Afterwards they took me to the teaching hospital and I got my Yellow Fever vaccine. They were very nice to me as they let me go to the front of the line because we were so rushed. The clinic where I was brought was filled with a lot of women. They seemed to be in groups of pregnant women over here, VERY pregnant women over there, women with tiny little babies over there and in the vaccine area were women with little babies.They were all so cute.

We came back to the office and waited and waited. I caught up on several things while I waited but I was impatient to get out in the field. Finally at around 2:30 we head out to Tolon-Kunbungu. The driving was terrifying, but I don't have time to describe that now. Eventually the number of cars around us decreased and then the paved road stopped. We drove for a long time past fields and scooters, goats, and anthills until we arrived. There was this small work area with a round building with a metal roof where they run this operation. We went inside and it was so dark that my eyes had to adjust. We were able to get done what we needed to, though and everyone was so very nice. Hands were shaken, pictures were taken (not only by me) and we came back. This was apparently the closes of the districts that we have to visit. So I need to get off of the blog and get ready because we are starting earlier today so that we can try to see more than one district.




?, Arafat, Justice, Me, Ernest, Samed, ?

 

Ghana!!

It's Sunday and I have a lot to catch up on so brace yourself.
I had difficulty sleeping Friday night. There was a lot of music going on outside and people talking and banging doors inside. I watched TV as I tried to doze. At home we have what we call the "Law & Order Channel." It has a lot of those kinds of shows. I found something that was a good substitute here called Zone Reality. It's really a lot of reality shows strung together so I got to see several real-life murder mysteries on that channel that were just like Scorned and Who the Heck Did I Marry except with British and South African accents.

I was awakened way before my alarm went off by a neighbor somewhere who was Skyping with someone but not using headphones. So she was speaking loudly and the computer was responding loudly. At one point in the conversation I hear her say, "Huh?" The person on the other end repeats, in Portuguese. Again she says, "Huh?" The person on the other end repeats again. Once again "Huh?" and another repeat. I'm thinking to myself -- how on EARTH can she not hear that when I hear it so clearly??? Why the HECK did she need the volume so HIGH??

At breakfast I ran into a former Abt Employee who had taken some of my classes. I tried to soak in my last spectacular breakfast and the view. When I went to check out they actually called the credit card company for an authorization code the way they used to in the old days. It came to $775 US -- not too bad for 5 nights and breakfast.

Yussaf was my driver going back to the airport. I have not seen him since he brought me to the hotel the week before. He said, "On way in and on way out!" Nothing went wrong this time. As we drove down the streets, listening to Supertramp's song Breakfast in America I noticed the trees were severely pruned back. This is to prepare them for "winter"

One last look at Maputo

As I checked in through security nearly every security person was talking on a cell phone. The x-ray machine seemed to be going about twice as fast as they do at home while the technician was hard at work on her call. The woman in charge of taking the immigration paperwork seemed a little annoyed at having to pause her call to explain that I should fill out the same form that I filled out when I arrived. Then I was through.

I sat in the gate area for about an hour. There were only about 5-10 other passengers waiting with me and I began to wonder if the flight was going to be extremely small. Suddenly without any announcement some people started to gather and about 150 people all of the sudden appeared and queued up just before the announcement was made.

This was my first South Africa Air plane and after everyone is seated they announce that in collaboration with the World Health Organization they are going to spray the airplane. They don't explain exactly what the spray is for, just that it is considered safe and if you find it offensive you should close your eyes and cover your mouth with a handkerchief. Before I could say, "Who cares handkerchiefs anymore?" They come down the aisles with a spray in each hand pointing above our heads with a spray that was supposed to smell pleasant but gads that was a big cloud! Cough, cough!

On South Africa Air the seats have a separate cup holder.

I sat next to a Muslim couple who did not appear to speak any English or if they did they did not care to speak it with me. As I settled in I thought of all of the things that I packed in my suitcase that ought to have been carry-on...including my paperback and my medications.

The lunch was surprisingly generous considering the flight was only about an hour. It was pretty tasty, but 75% of the way through it, it dawned on me that I probably shouldn't be eating the lettuce in the sandwich. (I was told not to eat salad in Africa to avoid getting sick.) Too late. A toothpick was included. They dropped down tv screens for us to watch a show, but no audio was coming out of the jacks and the show looked really boring and there were no other options so I just read my iPhone.

When I got to J-Burg I looked around for a bit before settling in for the three hours remaining until my flight. Eventually I decided to buy an hour of internet for $8 and I called David and Mom on Skype from my phone. In the few seconds of internet I had left I downloaded another book. (I love being able to do that!) I was getting really low on power and wondered what the chances were that they would have power plugs available on the flight. It turns out -- not good.

The six hour flight went well. I left my phone off most of the time because I thought it wise to keep it charged at least a little in case I needed it. It was fine, the on-board entertainment was nearly as good as the Delta flight on the way in. I watched The Vow (I give it a C), a National Geographic about Domesticating Animals (B), Thirty Rock (B+) and Pleasantville (A) Although I was exhausted, I didn't manage to do more than doze for a few minutes. The coffee they served was the first really bad cup of coffee I've had this trip.

When we landed, the nice Pretorian fellow who I had been sitting next to warned me that he had heard that it was going to be very hot here. It wasn't the heat -- it was the humidity! Oh my! When I got to the top of the steps to get off the plane it smacked me in the face and almost knocked me back into the plane!

As we walked into the building we were asked to show our immunization records (for the first time this trip.) According to my records I did NOT get the Yellow Fever injection. I don't understand how that could have been missed. I was really clear that I was going to Ghana and Yellow Fever is the only thing they were really looking for on the form.

There was a VERY long line for immigration. Our flight arrived at 9:15 and I didn't get through the line until about 9:45. At one point there was some yelling, running and commotion. My heart skipped a beat as I worried that there was a security issue. Then I thought perhaps there was some kind of animal loose in the airport, but it turned out it was celebration over the football game as Chelsea became the Europe Champions.

I got my luggage and found my driver right away with a sign with my name on it. He was sitting amongst about 10 other drivers but as we started to leave the building we turned the corner and there was a MASS of people holding signs. There were literally dozens lined up on either side of the path about 4 people deep. The driver and I got to this enormous van for just the two of us and he offered me a cool, scented towel and a cold bottle of water that I readily accepted. I knew this was going to be an expensive hotel!

As we drove to the hotel there were throngs of people out in the streets at 10PM and cars honking with exhuberation at the football win.

The Labadi Beach Hotel was truely lovely even though it was a bit wasted on me since my stay was so brief. As I checked in I asked the receptionist what time I needed a car in order to arrive at the airport for the 5:30 check-in. She said three. The rest of the conversation went something like this:

Three?? Are you sure? My flight isn't until 7:30.

Ok, four.

Ok, so it will take 90 minutes to get to the airport (It took about 20 minutes to arrive so I was wondering what the difference was.)

No, it doesn't take that long. I'll arrange for a driver to take you at five.

She then proceeded to tell me that breakfast was served at 7 and I reminded her that my flight was at 7:30.

Even though it was late and I was tired, I was also very hot and knew that I wasn't going to get another chance to enjoy a soaking tub like this, so I took a bath.

Once again, there was no clock in the room and the power cords and phone were on the "wrong" side of the bed for me so I had to get up in the middle of the night to get my phone to see what time it was. I think I woke up about 10 times thinking I had overslept my 4:30 alarm on my phone.

In the light of day, I discovered that driving on the right side of the road was not much less frightening than it was driving on the left. I think we were going about 45 miles an hour down a two lane road with pedestrians and bikers walking in the street (there were no sidewalks.) We made it safely to the airport, though. On the way the driver explained that G-d made Chelsea win last night. He didn't want the other team winning all of the time. Thank G-d!

First flight waiting area in Accra

We went to the domestic flights area which reminded me a bit of the airport in Nantucket on the show Wings. I found the lines to be extremely random with people stepping in front of me frequently. I think that's because they were so slow that it caused people to be impatient, but the more the workers were interrupted from what they were doing, the slower it got. Every clock in the airport had a different time. On my phone it said that it was 6:33 but one clock said that it was 6:24 and another said that it was 2:15.

There were two airlines that both had flights to Tamale within about ten minutes of each other. We moved from one waiting area, through security and to another waiting area. I threw off the security folks a bit with my laser pointer that I use for teaching. They didn't know what to make of it, but finally decided to let it and me through. After the second waiting area we caught busses to the plane. The bus that I was on had an aisle that had pull down seats so that people could sit in the aisle.

I was surprised at how much foot room there was on the flight. The seats were narrow, but manageable. There was a fellow who was having some trouble figuring out what seat was his and a fellow passenger scolded him, "A lot of people are waiting! Why are you making it so complicated??" I don't imagine the same conversation would go that way in the US.

There were mostly men on the flight. As we flew to Tamale I just really found the profundity hitting me that I am REALLY in Africa. We passed over fields with trees in them and the towns seemed to get smaller and smaller until we landed in Tamale.

Baggage claim in Tamale

As you can probably imagine, the airport is TINY. The baggage claim area is one of those non-powered set of rollers. It was difficult to move through the people and luggage to get to my bag, but I finally made it outside. After a short wait, my driver, Christopher, and my colleague, Ernest arrived. I have spoken with Ernest dozens of times in instant messenger and it was nice to meet him in person. He told me I was very lucky because it had rained yesterday so it was nice and cool here. (It's about 95 F!)

They helped me check in to my hotel (which isn't accepting credit cards right now) and they helped me get money, buy a phone and Ernest contacted a friend who is going to help me to get a Yellow Fever innoculation tomorrow.

Traditional Settlement

This place is amazing! I'm seeing the 7 ft high termite mounds, the traditional settlements, women wearing the most beautiful, colorful outfits! I thought they were dressed up, but apparently they dress that way all the time. There are people piled on bicycles and motor bikes. I saw one father with two kids sitting on the back of a bike and a third child was making his way on. There are very few helmets to be seen.

Ernest noted one lovely woman with two small children behind her on a motorcycle and said that she would probably be arrested in the US. I agreed. He said you often find the mother, father and four children all piled onto the bike.

I told them how popular the music of Ghana is at home and how my husband wants me to meet Ghanan musicians. They found that very amusing as it is something they take for granted. They said that most of the musicians go to Accra, but maybe there will be a concert for something like $3 here once in a while. I told him that the concerts that I go to are $30 a seat and sell out. That really made them laugh.

Ernest told me that he speaks four different languages and is learning Tamale which would be a fifth. He's from Accra where his wife and child are. His wife teaches school there so they only get to see each other when school is out of session.

Marion Hotel

The hotel room is almost exactly what I had imagined. It looks like something out of the 1950s for the most part. There's no elevator so I was really glad when the fellow, who tells me he is also housekeeping, brought my bag up. The key is a real key -- not a card. There is a wardrobe with drawers that don't completely close. The bathroom has a step down that I keep forgetting about and one of these days I'm going to fall into the bathroom. There is an airconditioner, but I'm using the overhead fan. The chair looks as though someone tried to do some ironing on the cushion and burned it. The power plugs have individual on/off switches so that you can actually turn the plug off when you're not using it. There is a switch to turn on the hot water (he says, If you need it,) and I should start that about 15 minutes before I need the water. There is modern, wireless internet. It's free but it goes in and out. I fell asleep for about an hour before I started this and woke back up to find the power in the room being restored. It's perfect.

More pictures