aripeskoe

Please Stop Looking at Me

2008-01-12T09:58:00.001Z

Happy New Year! I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, but this year I've mad two. One of them is to not post on this blog again (after this one). There are always more stories to tell about Ghana, but my interest in telling them has waned. Thank you for reading over the past 18 months. It's been gratifying that you have been interested enough in what I'm doing to check this site and read my stories.

Searching for New Students

2007-11-22T13:38:00.001Z

Until this year, schooling in had Ghana progressed from six years of primary to three years of junior secondary and finally to three years of senior secondary. About one-third of Ghanaians made it as far as finishing secondary school (according to official stats).

The system has changed. Under new educational reforms, senior secondary school (where I teach) will henceforth be four years for incoming students. The other big change is that ICT (what I teach) joins English, math, social studies, and science as required subjects.

In theory, this change dramatically increases my teaching load. Second-year students have ICT once a week and third-years have it twice, meaning that I teach a total of only twelve periods a week not including the first-years. Under the new curriculum, first years have ICT six times a week, which, in theory, would increase my teaching load from sixteen periods last year to thirty-six. Yikes.

Luckily for me, we don't have many first-year students.

Because education usually stops at the junior secondary level (JSS), choosing a senior secondary school (SS) is a big deal. I don't know how the system used to work, but last year it went digital. JSS students select four preferred schools when they register for their final exams. They then get assigned to one of those schools based on their results. Schools in the cities have competitive admissions, so only students who score well on their final exams will get admitted by the computerized system. I teach at a rural school, and apparently no one wants to come here. Our incoming class is only half full (or half empty?).

There are other unofficial ways of getting into schools. Practices no doubt vary by school, but it seems that headmasters have some leeway in admitting students not assigned by the computerized system. I don't know if money changes hands in these transactions or if decisions are based on other factors. The national government has also outlawed headmasters admitting students except for recruiting athletes (at least that's what I'm told).

Regardless, there is no line of students waiting to get into my school. Not only are we a rural school, but we also do not have a business program, which is apparently popular. We only offer home ec, general arts, and technical (woodworking, building and construction, and technical drawing). As far as I can tell, my school does not do any recruiting.

So, in case you're looking for a secondary school in Ghana's Central Region, here are a few regions to come to my school:

1. We now have white wipey boards in almost all classrooms (replacing the unusable blackboards)

2. Our school is conveniently located…from our district capital; go towards Oda and take the first (paved) left, branch left at the filling station, take the right at the top of the hill; turn left at the T-junction, go straight through the 4-way junction, make your first left at the signboard and you're there! (Note: these are the real directions. Street names, if we had any, would only make things more confusing)

3. Our uniform colors are off-white and burgundy, so if you're into that…

4. There is minimal asbestos in our roofing

5. For a limited time only, the school has a white computer teacher (from America!)

6. We're consistently ranked among the top 5 secondary schools in the district (yes, there are only 5 total)

7. Our school is getting a significant upgrade. When completed, we will have new facilities and programs (or programmes)!

8. We have pretty flowers around campus.

9. Our science lab is filled with dangerous chemicals.

10. Come for the Christian Religious Studies. Stay for Religious and Moral Education (two subjects taught in most schools in Ghana).

11. The students! The teachers! The administration!

I’m Still Here

2007-11-06T16:43:00.001Z

I am still alive and well in Ghana. Since I last wrote anything here, many things have happened. I went to America (the embassy in Accra to take the LSAT), school fully re-opened, the new students have begun to show up, another group of Peace Corps Volunteers arrived in Ghana and another group went home, I've almost entered my 18 ^th month in Ghana, the first supermarket in Ghana opened, construction has been delayed all over town, and I saw something funny.

First, the construction delays. Sometime in April/May, workers started digging ditches in the part of town where I live for a new drain system. They created much havoc. Apparently the drains had to be situated where people already had various sheds, fences, and even walls of their houses. Much property had to be destroyed. About six months later, the drains are still under construction. Workers don't show up for weeks at a time. Mounds of dirt and concrete have been left in the middle of my street making it impossible for cars to maneuver (it was fairly difficult before the construction).

Also in April, the street light outside of my house went out. I assume it still works and only needs a new bulb. Six months later, it has yet to be replaced.

There is a major construction project happening at my school. It's a $500,000 renovation that will build new classrooms, a new computer lab, a new administration building, new toilets, and more. They are also scheduled to renovate some existing buildings.

The project has come to a halt due to lack of financing. Eighty percent was to be paid by the African Development Bank and the rest was coming from the Ghanaian national government. Apparently, ADB stopped sending money, so work has been stopped for more than a month. No one here seems to know when/if it will continue. The entire project was scheduled for completion in June.

Side note, my house is surrounded by three half-built houses. One has sat in its current state since I arrived. One has seen little improvement. The other is actually progressing. The mostly-built house across the street is most upsetting because it has sat unoccupied since I moved in. If it did not exist I would have a beautiful view of the town and the surrounding lush hills. Instead, I get to look at a concrete block.

Now for the funny thing I saw.

Second-hand clothing from the developed world is pervasive in Ghana. There are designer shirts from Armani, apparel from Nike, licensed jerseys, and I've even spotted bar mitzvah shirts and a London 2012 tee. I assume, and I think this is backed up by the scant evidence I've collected, that most people have no idea what their clothing "means." In other words, the Nike Swoosh, recognized by the vast majority of Americans, is meaningless here. And it goes without saying that no one knows what a bar mitzvah is. I'm not sure how Ghanaians choose which second-hand clothing to buy, but I would guess it has a lot to do with price and color.

I was recently in a tro. The man sitting next to me had a pair of locally made khaki pants and a brown shirt. Maybe it clashed, but I'm not sure. Regardless, on top of the brown shirt he was wearing a royal blue vest (I'm almost certain it clashed). The vest had two red stripes across the top. In one of the top corners there was a large patch. It was the Rite-Aid logo. The man sitting next to me was wearing the Rite-Aid employee vest.

I have no real issue with Rite-Aid or with people who work there. I just would not expect anyone, employee or not, to wear their vest around town. In all likelihood, he has no idea what the Rite-Aid patch means. For all he knows, Rite-Aid could be the most fashionable and expensive designer in Europe. I imagined that he was some businessman and was traveling to America for some meeting. He walks into a meeting full of Americans with his Rite-Aid vest on. If you were to try to explain to him what a Rite-Aid is, he probably would not quite get it. Stores like that just don't exist here until...

The supermarket!

Something called the Accra Mall is slowly opening. The first store, called Game, opened in May. It's like Target or K-Mart. Since I make about $200 a month, I don't have a lot of money to spend on the kind of things that one buys at a big retailer like that. It was entertaining to walk up and down the aisles, but that's about it.

Other equally useless smaller stores have opened. There's a Sony Store, a cell phone store, a hair salon, a shoe store, etc.

Last week Ghana's first supermarket opened. Of course, Ghana has places to buy food, but stores are small, cramped, and do not have many products for sale. This is the first real supermarket – 25 aisles, a bakery, butcher, fruits/vegetables, etc. They don't carry American brands. Mostly, I think, products are made in Africa and Asia. I bought a bag of ziti and a soya mince (aka textured vegetable protein)…

Adventures in Importing (part 3)

2007-09-20T10:51:00.001Z

My school has a bus. It's all white and has the school name and logo neatly painted on the side. It's about the size of a mini-bus in America. Comfortably it seats twenty or so, but when it's actually transporting students (which is rare) it's usually packed to twice its capacity. Mostly the school bus serves as a private gas guzzler for the headmaster, but it also helps out with various school errands. One such errand would be transporting the school's new computers from the port back to the school.

A few days before the ship arrived at the port, I told my headmaster to reserve the school bus. The computers would soon be arriving and there could be no delay in getting them. He said that the school bus had broken down (something about the flux capacitor), but it was being fixed and would be ready on time. Right.

My agents at the port told me that it once the ship arrived, it would take a few days for the container to actually be removed and ready to be opened. I waited for their call, and when it never came I followed up. No later than next Tuesday I was told. Tuesday came and went, and I still had not heard anything. I called again. We'll call you when it's ready, I was told.

That Friday my father called me. He had been dealing with the shipping agent in New York since this saga began. He sounded strained (note that the American Heritage Dictionary has four definitions for strained. I am using the word here to mean, "having been passed through a strainer").

He had just talked with the New York shipping agent who told him that the container had indeed arrived at the port in Ghana, but…(pause here for dramatic effect)…US Customs ordered it to be immediately returned to the US without being opened. US Customs had informed the shipping line which had confiscated the container and was storing it at the port. No explanation was given nor was anyone even supposed to inform us.

I've only thought about US Customs as it relates to two issues. The first is port security, which Democrats used to bring up as evidence that Bush was not "protecting America." Charles Schumer launched an investigation, I'm sure, and probably held a press conference at a port with several large color charts). The second issue is the importation of horses and guns for use at the 2012 Olympic Games.

From these two mental flirtations I have inferred that a) US Customs is tied up with homeland security so their job is somehow serious; b) US Customs follows, or at least is supposed to follow, strict government rules; and c) if you want them to change any of those rules it's best to ask them at least seven years in advance.

I assumed that trying to get US Customs to reverse its decision was a lost cause, but I suppose it's doesn't hurt to try. The New York shipping agent appealed to the local customs office. The agents at the port in Ghana asked the local authorities to intervene. A Ghanaian Minister of Parliament, who has a car in the same container, also asked the local customs authorities for help. Meanwhile, I visited a local fetish priest and asked him to make the director of US Customs turn into a frog (they have powers, I'm told).

Three weeks later, the container is still supposedly sitting at the port in Ghana. Apparently the problem was that the shipping line put the container on the ship before US Customs properly inspected it. From what I'm told, any container with a car inside is supposed to sit in the port for 72 hours before being loaded onto the ship. The shipping company may dispute this explanation and may try and blame the shipping agent. I'm kind of out of the loop.

And that's all I have to say about that…

Addendum #1: School has reopened.

Adventures in Importing (part 2)

2007-09-12T12:04:00.001Z

Although the donation was secured in March/April, the computers did not actually leave the US until July. I can only speculate about the cause of the delay, but it turned out to be a useful setback (sort of).

Because the computers are for a school, I went to the ministry of education to get an exemption on duties, taxes, and VAT. Actually, in Ghana education falls under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Science, and Sports, abbreviated MoESS because they recognize that using the acronym MESS would be silly. I submitted a bunch of paperwork (including something called a "bill of lading" from my shipping agent in New York) to the ministry. The ministry would write a cover letter and forward it all to the Ministry of Finance. Then Finance would write a letter to the VAT office. VAT would follow that with a letter to the customs authority, which, finally, would issue the exemption letter.

My contact at MoESS told me that this whole process would take a week. I laughed. "A week?!" I said to him, "Yeah, right. It probably takes you a week to put your pants on in the morning!" (I didn't really say that to him).

I gave it about a week and then called him. He said he would check on it and get right back to me. He didn't. So I called again the next day and pretty much the same thing happened. We repeated this process several times over the course of a month, and each time there was another excuse. "I'm out of the office. I'll call you later." "Let me check on that and get right back to you." "You'll have to speak up. I'm wearing a towel." Etc.

After about five weeks, I went to see him at his office. He insisted that the letter had gone to finance weeks ago. So, I went with one his subordinates to the appropriate office at finance. They had never received the letter, they claimed, and proved it by opening a composition book wherein the secretary keeps a handwritten log of all such requests they receive. Nothing says authority like a composition book, so that was that. Next we went to the office at MoESS that was supposed to have written a cover letter to finance. They too claimed to have never seen anything.

All of my paperwork had been lost. Apparently I spent weeks calling about nothing.

This was a frustrating setback, particularly since the computers had now left New York and were on their way to Ghana. If the exemption letter was not ready by the time the computers arrived, I would have to pay fees for storing them in the port until I had the letter.

So I started over. I called my new contact at MoESS almost daily. He would check on the progress by literally walking to the office at Finance and asking the secretary. After just a few days, she had typed the letter (it's a standard form letter), but the letter still needed her boss's signature. It took a week (a whole week) for him to sign this letter, and it would have taken longer if not for my new best friend at MoESS sitting in the finance office until 7:30 pm on a Friday holding the letter, waiting for it to be signed.

We similarly pestered the VAT and customs people, and to their credit, they acted rather quickly. Meanwhile, my shipping agent in New York emailed me to tell me that the computers would arrive in a matter of days. He also casually attached a new bill of lading to the email with some corrections. I hoped this would not present any problems.

Finally, I went to pick up the exemption letter from customs and saw that the old bill of lading number was featured prominently. I asked the customs official if they could correct the letter because I had a new bill of lading with a new number. No, I was told, because the letters from finance and from VAT also referenced the old bill of lading number so I would have to start from the beginning. But couldn't customs just issue a new letter and copy it to finance and VAT? Finance is a freakin' black hole! Please don't make me go back there! No, I was told, customs' slogan is something like "assume everyone is trying to commit fraud" and they need to be extra careful (actually, a second customs official interjected, that's no longer the slogan).

In addition to restarting the process, I would also have to go to the port and retrieve a copy of the now worthless exemption letter. Both the original and the copy sent to the port would have to be returned before I could get the new exemption letter.

Finance was, undoubtedly, thrilled to see me and my new best friend from MoESS again. But they were understanding of my situation and completed the letter (and signed it) that same afternoon.

The next week I took my exemption letter to the port to claim the copy. I have a contact there called a clearing agent. This is the person (or business) that "processes" the shipment and has the authority to remove items from the port. My clearing agent brought me to the appropriate customs office. We were told that no such letter had arrived. So I left the exemption letter with the clearing agent who said he would come get the letter for me. Three days later, I received a call from him. In fact, the original exemption letter is fine. The "corrected" bill of lading sent by my shipping agent had been a mistake.

In other words, my third round with the ministries had been for nothing.

The next day I went back to customs to confirm that the old letter was still "in the system" and would still be OK at the port. Yes, it still was. Finally, this confusing and frustrating process was finished. My computers were set to arrive and I would be able to bring them to my school without paying any taxes.

Or would I? Find out in the exciting final chapter of the Adventures in Importing Trilogy…

Adventures in Importing (part 1)

2007-09-01T10:00:00.001Z

Several months ago my father was able to get twenty computers donated to my school. They come from a corporation in New York whose annual revenue exceeds Ghana's gross domestic product, probably by about a factor of two. This company was moving offices, and I suppose when a corporation of that size moves offices they discover that they have a bunch of computers that need a new home.

So, for me, getting the donation was relative easy. (Step 1 – send an email to my father. Step 2 – wait for a reply.) The real challenge was figuring out how to get them from Manhattan to my school.

I searched the internet for shippers to Ghana, but my efforts were futile. Shippers do indeed have websites, but ships going from New York to Ghana are massive and require that you send at least a forty-foot container.

Luckily, there's a man in my town that lived in the US (Teaneck, NJ of all places) for about thirty years and he brought several items to Ghana , such as a car. I figured he must have experience in this sort of thing. Turns out that a Ghanaian he used to live with in the Bronx ships containers from New York to Ghana and divides up the container among several clients. Perfect.

There's a phrase in Twi that literally translates into 'you have done something.' Seems like a trivial observation, but this phrase is used in practice to mean 'nice job' or something to that effect. However, 'you have done something' seems more appropriate here because it can be such a hassle to get anything done.

Some challenges are due to lack of infrastructure or technology. For example, sending an email or making a photocopy, tasks that would be practically instantaneous in an American office, require equipment that simply is not widely available here. You have to go somewhere with an internet connection, for example, and that requires transportation (see lack of infrastructure). And if the electricity isn't working (see lack of infrastructure), well then you'll just have to come back another day.

Other challenges are due to a somewhat different attitude or expectations towards work. I'm sure that economic development is a complicated thing. Some claim that culture matters. Others say it doesn't.

All I know is that Ghana is home to the six-hour meeting, a real productivity killer. Actually, the meeting itself only lasts about four hours, but it always starts two hours late. I ask other teachers at my school why we're always starting two hours late and the standard response is that we're on 'African Time.' I've come to see 'African Time' as an unfortunate remnant from the past when there was no modern infrastructure and before watches and other modern conveniences make it possible for most people to come on time most of the time. It's something that could easily be ended if only people, specifically the leadership (school headmaster in my case), decided to do it.

But they don't and African Time persists. In my experience, I've seen a generally more relaxed view of work. Granted my only comparison is to New York where it's perhaps a bit intense.

We are repeatedly told during training, and I think it's true, that Peace Corps Volunteers can't change a culture. It's not something that possible to do nor is it something that should be done. All you can do is do your job as best as you can and people may or may not pick up on it.

But it's easy for volunteers to look at what's going on around them and not live up to their own expectations. Things can be de-motivating or frustrating, and some volunteers may tend to follow the examples of others. The challenges of living in Ghana can compound the problem either by providing a sense of achievement merely for succeeding at day-to-day activities or by consuming too much time and energy.

Somehow that all relates to my recent adventures in importing. In part 2, I'll go into too much detail about what it's like to work with government ministries in Accra and look forward to the surprise twist at the end/middle (no one knows??) that no one expected!

Addendum #1: More pictures added.

Addendum #2: The electricity situation has suddenly improved. The electricity still goes off but for far fewer hours. The downside is that the schedule is unpredictable. Previously, the 12 hour blackouts were like clockwork (and not a clock on African Time). Lights went off exactly as expected. Now, I'm sitting at my computer in fear that it can go off at any time.

Akwanbooooooooooo!

2007-08-17T12:31:00.001Z

The hype started more than a year ago. Towards the end of my Peace Corps training I traveled to what would soon be my new home for a four day visit. I arrived about two weeks before the town's annual festival, but unfortunately I was back in training during the festivities. This festival attracts people from all over the world, I was told by people in town. It's world famous, I learned. The men dress up as women and parade around the town. There is much rejoicing.

Much of the excitement actually came from the school typist. She had been assigned to take me around town during my visit. She was a good guide and occasionally dispensed random advice such as, "fornication is a sin" and told me the story of how her husband proposed to her over the phone before they had met or even had a single conversation. Throughout the next year she would occasionally bring up the festival saying things like, "you will go and your mother will be happy." Indeed.

The owner of my house, a kindly old man named Papa Eidu, is also enthusiastic about the festival but in a different way. He told me the Akwanbo Festival celebrates the warrior heritage of the people. It was originally a three-day festival (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) but has more recently been expanded to an entire week. On the first three days, different groups of people parade through town, apparently somehow recalling how people used to come back from war. The big day is Saturday when the town gathers at Victoria Park, a big field in the middle of town.

My final source of information leading up to the festival was one of the construction workers who live with me. He comes from Accra and had never heard of Akwanbo before. I never really thought it was world famous, but I thought at least maybe it was Ghana famous.

From what I know about celebrations in Ghana, I expected a lot of drinking, dancing and some sort of official ceremony that would start late, drag on for too long, and be conducted entirely in Twi.

Akwanbo for me started on Tuesday (I wasn't in town on Monday). There were a lot of people parading through town, including a few men dressed as women, as well as some more traditional drumming. Wednesday featured a small group of old men sort of dressed as warriors singing and parading through town.

I invited some other Peace Corps Volunteers (aka whites) to come on Saturday. Keeping with local tradition (although this is more applicable to funerals), we started drinking early and then headed into town to see what was going on. As predicted by Papa Eidu, the town had indeed gathered in Victoria Park in the traditional Ghanaian fashion, sitting in plastic chairs under canopies that are arranged in a rectangle. This is the standard arrangement for all official ceremonies, such as funerals, weddings, and graduations. The dais canopy was empty upon our arrival, and it seemed that we just missed the parade of chiefs who are traditionally carried in by their respective entourages. Oh well. You've seen one chief parade you've kind of seen them all.

Then two teams of "warriors" (the only real warrior element was the guns) each danced in the middle of the rectangle. There were also a few men dressed as women. Then we left to do more drinking. When we returned, the Dick Cheney of Ghana (aka the vice president) had just rolled up in his motorcade. The dais was now full of various officials who were being introduced. We can only guess what happened next since we left, but all signs pointed to long speeches in Twi.

Till next year…(actually, I'll probably be in America)

Addendum #1: Grading is harsh at my school. I kind of curved my final grades so as not to fail 90% of the class, but it seems that most teachers have no problem failing a significant percentage of their students.

Addendum #2: Mike, I think the reason I can't poop and scoop is because the toilet is not a sanitary environment. So, for example, if the previous person had worms then perhaps those worms would also show up in my sample. Just a guess…

A Week in the West

2007-07-26T16:44:00.001Z

Last week I was in Accra for mid-service medical, a quick check-up mandated by Washington for every Peace Corps Volunteer who has completed one year of service. The major activity of the week was pooping into a cup, which I did three mornings in a row. The task is a bit intimidating at first. Never having pooped into a cup before, I was uncertain about the technique (how to sit, where exactly to position the cup) and what to do with my delicious sample once I finished. My first time was awkward and uncomfortable, but by the third time I felt like I could poop into any cup, any time, anywhere. This is a skill I will use again when I have another check-up before I leave the country.

When in Accra, volunteers stay in a room at a hotel. The room has four bunk beds, AC, hot water (in theory), a refrigerator, and a TV/DVD player. With the exception of a bed, I live with none of those things (unless it's a really hot day and the water tank outside my house has heated up in the sun). Open drains notwithstanding, the hotel's neighborhood is one of the cleanest and most upscale in Ghana. It's also in a great location, just a short ride from Peace Corps office (free Internet access) and within walking distance to many restaurants. In other words, staying in Accra is a poor simulation of staying in the US.

And once I've settled into the western-style accommodation, other western comforts soon follow. For example, I spend about 10 to 20 times as much money on a dinner in Accra compared to a dinner in my town (although I rarely eat out in my town). That kind of cash ($5 to $10) allows me to eat at the Ghanaian equivalent of Pizza Hut, a tex-mex sports bar, or the local Chinese restaurant that everyone suspects has a suspicious health record. These dining options would inspire little excitement in the US, but American-style fast food is a luxury to Peace Corps Volunteers because it tastes good and it reminds us of home.

When I first arrived in Ghana I found this craving, and even the presence of fast food, to be an unfortunate. Of all the things that Ghana may need, consumerism and consumption of fast food would seem to rank far below clean drinking water and just slightly above head lice or a civil war. After a year of living in Ghana, I've come to regard these concerns as legitimate and silly. If I could make all decisions without regard for my gut, I would probably end up with different results. But at this point, my gut has powerful sway.

A new "fun" thing to do in Accra is to go shopping at the Accra Mall. In theory, the mall opened in May, but only one store has been completed. The mall seems to be similar to a mall in the US, complete with glass doors that automatically open and full air conditioning. It's the sort of place that defies Western expectations for what Africa is supposed to be like. After all, isn't everyone here supposed to be poor? But this is where the other half (or really the other 1%) will come to shop.

The one store is called Game. It's based in South Africa and also has stores in Nigeria and perhaps other African countries. It sells everything from flat panel televisions to patio furniture. There are not many recognizable American brands, but the prices and store layout are what you'd expect if I told you it is the African equivalent of Target. I ended up buying a Snickers, two pencil sharpeners, and a pack of gum, but I studied the store aisle by aisle like I was at a museum ( e.g.: "They sell cricket bats and baseball bats here. Fascinating.")

Previously, two Lebanese-owned, three-story shopping centers had been among the few stores to cater to western buying habits. The first floor is groceries (although far smaller than an American supermarket), and the top two floors feature house wares, electronics, toys, and a café. Everything that's imported is expensive (like a can of ShopRite asparagus for $6), but it's the only place in Ghana where you can get those things.

There's another tier of luxury in Accra that's beyond my normal budget. It includes 5-star hotels, a few restaurants that are perhaps forty to sixty times more expensive than a typical meal in my town, and a bowling alley (pricey at $5 a game). Yet another reason why Peace Corps is two years…

Addendum #1: Staying in Accra has allowed me to catch up on some American movies, including Reno 911, Shrek 3, Borat, Nacho Libre, and Knocked Up. Supposedly there is one "movie theater" in Accra that projects DVDs, but I watched all of these off bootleg DVDs on a TV. It's difficult to find any American movies other than bootlegs of the latest major Hollywood releases.

Addendum #2: How long does it take to change in light bulb in my town? So far about two months and counting. There is light pole outside my house. It has the unfortunate effect of attracting undesirables (noisy children), so I'm glad the bulb went out. In theory, the District Assembly is responsible for replacing the bulb, and someone may or may not have put in a request for them to do that.

100 Days to Go…

2007-07-07T10:46:00.001Z

Although my official end date here is more than a year away, I figured out that I only have about 125 days of actual teaching left, and many volunteers who came over with me have just over 100 days to go.

The school year is divided into three 13-week terms. The last two weeks of the term are exams, so there is no teaching. The students never show up during the first week of each term, so that leaves ten weeks of teaching per term. Then there's mid-term break, which knocks off another few days, and there are other interruptions such as holidays and sports days, and so many excuses, such as quiz competitions, campus cleanings, and teacher meetings, which cause students not to come to my class. I estimate that these miscellaneous distractions eat up about another week of teaching.

That leaves me with three terms of 8.5 weeks each, or about 127 days of teaching. Most teachers are supposed to have one day off per week (I have it this term but did not the other two), meaning that most of the volunteers in my group have only 102 days of teaching to go in their 2-year service.

In reality, I will probably teach no more than 120 days in the next year, but will show up to school about 160 times in the next 400+ days. It's tough to complain about free time, especially when tropical beaches are so close, but I could.

Addendum #1: I set a new personal record by waiting on line at the bank for 3 hours and 45 minutes just to make a withdrawal. Amazing.

Money money money

2007-06-28T14:35:00.001Z

On July 1, the government will introduce a new currency, sort of.

The currency now in use is called the Cedi, and it comes in various coins ranging in value from 50 to 500 and bills ranging from 1,000 to 20,000. Because of super-inflation of years past, the current exchange rate is about 9,300 cedis to the dollar. For potential foreign investors, this exchange rate apparently does not inspire confidence. What sort of economy would maintain a currency at an exchange rate of 10,000 to 1? Also, according to the government, its budget is now in the trillions, a number so large that computers (I've actually heard this argument) can not handle the calculations (I think what they're really saying is they have no idea how to use Microsoft Excel...Format-Cell-Use comma separator!!).

It is also a hassle to buy anything of value. For example, given that the most valuable bill is worth two dollars, one may need hundreds of bills to purchase, say, a refrigerator or a television. And when I go to an ATM, my $90 withdrawal (the max at any machine) may come out as forty or eighty bills. It's a bit much for my wallet.

So the government (technically the independent national bank) has decided to "re-denominate" the cedi by chopping off 4 zeroes. In other words, 10,000 cedis is now 1 Ghana Cedi. It insists, to the point of it becoming a national joke, that this is not a revaluation, but a re-denomination. Tons of money has been spent on public education campaigns to hammer home this point. The value is the same. The value is the same. The value is the same. Every Ghanaian has heard this slogan, but ask someone the difference between a redenomination and a revaluation and you'll get a blank stare.

(OK, I haven't actually asked a random person this question, but my sense is that the information awareness campaigns have overused the meaningless word re-denomination. The real message is, "don't worry, we're not stealing your money. Even though you had 10,000 cedis and now you have only 1, it's worth the same and we're not pocketing any of it.")

The "new" currency will come in bills worth 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 Ghana Cedis. There will also be pesawas worth 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 (100 pesawas = 1 Ghana Cedi). A Ghana Cedi will be worth a few cents more than a dollar. In theory, the old cedi and the new Ghana Cedi will exist together until the end of the year.

For the wealthy, which I imagine represent a tiny fraction of Ghanaians, it will be convenient to have a bill worth more than 2 dollars. This redenomination may also give potential investors more confidence in the country's prospects, and the government's computers won't be blowing quite as many vacuum tubes with the smaller numbers in the budget.

But most Ghanaians are not wealthy. In fact, they are poor farmers or small-time traders and are not regularly involved in transactions worth more than a few dollars. I don't have statistics to back this up, but I would guess that millions of people go weeks or even months without spending more than $5 in a single day. This group of the population is essentially being transferred to a coin-based economy.

People's daily needs, such as food, soap, and other commonly bought items usually cost less than a dollar, or one Ghana Cedi. These people have no need for a 5, 10, 20 or 50 Cedi bill, and, in fact, if they were to use one, the small-time rural traders they are buying from probably will not have change. There are only a few places in my town where I will even try using a 20,000 ($2) bill, so I won't even bother with a 5 Ghana Cedi ($5) bill. Paying for something in my town with 10 Ghana Cedis ($10) would be like buying a newspaper on the street with a $100 bill.

People like me live in both the wealthy, urban Ghana and the rural, poor Ghana. I use ATMs and occasionally travel to Accra and other places, but I also buy vegetables from the market in my town and fish from the 10 year old girl who walks by my house with a tray of it on her head. I'm part of Ghana's "middle class." We are totally screwed.

In my town, I'm in the same boat as the poor when it comes to the currency I can use. I will have to use coins and 1 Ghana Cedi bills. There just won't be change for anything larger. But when I go to the ATM to withdraw my Peace Corps money, I suspect it won't be spitting out 1's. So I will either have to wait 2 hours in line at the bank and ask for a giant stack of singles, thereby making the new currency no more convenient than the old, or somehow convert whatever the ATM gives me to a more usable form. The new, larger bills will not benefit me at all.

Also, I hate coins. I lose them, I can't keep them in my wallet, and they make noise when I walk. In the US I could collect them and bring them to a coin-counting machine at Commerce Bank. In Ghana I collected them guilt-free knowing that in total I probably had all of $6 idling in my room.

But now coins mean something. You'd be surprised how much Chinese manufactured soap you can buy with 50 pesawas (50 cents). Or with 50 pesawas I could buy 10 fresh oranges (although I could probably bargain for 12), or one really big delicious pineapple, or so many bananas that I won't poop for a week (although I suspect my banana lady is giving me a good deal because she thinks it will inspire me to take her to America).

The redenomination also has the potential to cause mass confusion, and I suspect that some people will try and capitalize on it by raising prices. Chopping off four zeroes is not so easy, especially when there are decimals involved. Using scientific notation makes the calculation a lot simpler, and I really think the government has missed an opportunity to teach the general population about exponents. But because this is about people's money, and what could be more important, I think people will get it pretty quickly...

This Thing

2007-06-22T13:05:00.001Z

Sometimes Ghanaians can't think of the disting that they're trying to say. English is at best a second disting for them, so it's understandable when they occasionally forget a word.

But at times it gets out of disting. The student I live with is a repeat disting. When he's talking in English, it often seems that he can't think of every other word in a disting. He often speaks with a bit of disting, so you can tell he's trying to think of the right word but just can't. Other people use it seamlessly without any disting, as if nothing is wrong.

Recently in a class of first-year students, I had the class change the disting in a Microsoft Word document. Only one student was able to do it, so I asked him to stand up and explain what he did to the rest of the disting. He said, and I quote, "I clicked on the disting." I asked him how he could just "disting" the most important word in the sentence, especially when it was not obvious to the rest of the class what he was talking about! Such is disting.

Teachers at my disting have similar problems. Some of them speak fluently, but there are a few whose disting is so broken that I wonder if they're having a positive influence on the students. Some of them also talk Pidgin disting, which I find difficult to understand. But I think they only use it when they talk among themselves, so it's not too disting.

This linguistic disting is consistent across large parts of the country. I've heard disting used in multiple regions of Ghana, and I wonder if it has spread to other countries. Maybe it's a West Africa disting.

I've started to occasionally use disting as well. For example, I wrote this in my computer lab and then saved it to my disting. Then I took it to the Internet café and I'm now posting it on my disting. It's a catchy word, and it applies to so many distings…

Addendum #1: Ghana struck oil! A few days ago the government announced that a delicious oil reserve was discovered off the coast. They have not officially announced how big it is, but I've heard numbers ranging from 300 to 600 million barrels. Ghana now becomes part of an exclusive African club that includes Nigeria, Angola, Libya, Guinea, and Sudan, although I think Ghana has less oil than any of those countries (certainly far less than nearby Nigeria which produces 2.5 million barrels a day). In theory, oil could be a real boon to the economy and do a lot to alleviate poverty….in theory.

Addendum #2: I posted a few new pictures. Why not look at them?

Addendum #3: I don't have any big plans for my 6-week break because I'm planning on taking the LSATs in September, so I want to study for that. There is a park in the north of the country that has elephants, hippos, baboons, and other animals, but apparently it's best to go in the dry season, which is what you might call the "winter." I also hope to see the Sahara at some point in the next year.

One Year in FantasyLand

2007-06-13T14:51:00.001Z

On June 9 at about 7:30 PM I hit my one-year mark in Ghana. That's one full calendar year. 12 months. 365 days. Nearly 4% of my life. Since Peace Corps is technically a 27-month commitment (although easily reducible to 26 for the well-behaved), I won't hit the halfway point until some day in July. Nonetheless, it's all down hill from here, hopefully the coasting and not the depressing kind of downhill.

Last week I was sick for a few days with what I could only assume was malaria, typhoid fever, or some other tropical disease. People here get malaria all the time, or at least they assume they have it (use more blood tonic – it cleans "dirty blood"). And a friend's neighbor recently claimed to have typhoid. These things happen. Turns out, I had a mild cold and I was cured in two days, but that doesn't change the fact that it could have been dengue fever or sleeping sickness, among others.

But, in a little over a year, or about 432 days, I plan on being back in the US and won't have to consult a book titled "Where There Is No Doctor" every time I sneeze (that I know that number has more to do with the fact that I have a lot of free time in a computer lab than anything else, and I almost never sneeze here). And I'm quite certain that won't be the only thing that changes once I get back to the US.

But I'll go and Ghana will stay. Though it and everyone I know here will continue to exist, it will only survive somewhere in the back of mind. (It's fun to think about how far in the back it will go.) But leaving is still a long way away. A lot could happen between now and then. I could even sign up for a third year…

Addendum #1: For the first time, I heard a Ghanaian make fun of Bush. It was great. A morning show on one of the country's big radio stations had a segment of stupid Bush quotes. After the segment, the host moved on to a news item about a man being suffocated to death by elephant poop. This show is a keeper.

Addendum #2: The rainy season is in full effect, and it's one of the best things that's happened since I got here. It's now normally cloudy, and it's rarely unbearably hot. And, true to the name, it rains several times a week, sometimes multiple times in a single day. This wonderfulness should last until August or September, and then it's back to hellish unless some side-effect of global climate change kicks in to make it somehow different.

Addendum #3: Another term is nearly finished. I think there will only be 4 more weeks of teaching followed by exams. The coming break is 6 weeks long. 6 weeks!

Hi Dave (is it Dave? I’m no good with names)

2007-05-30T14:00:00.001Z

On June 12, a new group of Peace Corps Volunteers will land in Ghana. They will be the first group of teachers to arrive since I came last year.

Their landing is amusing to me because it means there will be about 30 Americans running around who don't have a clue, just like me one year ago. And for about the first month or two I can think about how ridiculous they are, what with their complaining, confusion, silly questions, and whatnot.

"Ha," I will laugh to myself, "You've only been here for 5 weeks or some such insignificant period of time. You know nothing! I am master of Ghana !" But most of them will catch on quickly (the rest will freak out and go home), and I won't be able to laugh at them anymore. Alas, the joke will be over and they will be in the same boat I'm in now.

Recently, someone in this new group posted a comment on this site asking about things to bring to Ghana. I think his name is Dave. Anyway, his post raised the disturbing and amusing possibility that there are other members of this new group reading this site.

Peace Corps sends each new volunteer-to-be information about Ghana. Included in this packet are letters from actual volunteers about life in Ghana . They'll probably never get a letter from someone who is sick with Dengue Fever, had his house broken into, and is feeling lonely and depressed. I suspect Peace Corps' censorship is not the only issue. Volunteers who choose to take their time to write welcome letters for a Peace Corps publication are a self-selecting group, and the sick, lonely crime victim seems less likely to do so. As for me, I just tend to avoid the Peace Corps office (the business pace of Ghana combined with the bureaucracy of Washington, from what I've heard).

But the Internet is powerful! I can communicate with this so-called new group and tell them all the important things they really need to know about Ghana. So here they are:

Things to bring:

A few books to read during training
A stuffed animal – it will soon become your best (only) friend
Shampoo and deodorant (They're hard to find. Soap and toothpaste are not)
Lots of underwear and socks, although socks are generally optional; I do highly recommend underwear
At least two bags of Fritos and a bag of textured vegetable protein for me (see your local health food store)
Two years supply of water (unless you're planning on having diarrhea constantly)
USB memory thumb pen drive things can be helpful, even if you're not a computer teacher

Clothing: Don't stress too much about this. There's no dress code for school, but you're expected to look presentable. You can always get clothing made here. You won't have money for it when you first arrive, but by the time you start teaching you'll have plenty of money to get a few pairs of pants and shirts. You really only need to bring enough clothing for training. The training dress code is pants and a shirt, preferably with a collar, but I don't think they were too upset with t-shirts (I have no idea what women wear). Also, see the note above about socks and underwear.

Hobbies: We tend to have more time here in Ghana than we did in the US. One person in my group brought an obo thinking that he might learn how to play it (he hasn't). Someone else I know learned a foreign language (not one spoken in Ghana). You may want to consider getting a hobby and bringing whatever gear it requires (note: model trains is a bad choice). As for me, I've started writing short stories. They're about relationships I develop with members of the new group of PC teachers. My stories always end the same: one day my new friends come to visit me and I kill them all in their sleep.

Electronics: I made the mistake of not bringing my iPod. Don't be like me. It would be nice to have a cheap laptop to store pictures and write things like this in my house, but I don't have one. Bring a digital camera and a cell phone that works in Ghana if you can. The cheapest phones here (that work) are about $50. You may be able to buy something online that will work in Ghana for cheaper, and you won't have to spend your precious cedis on a phone. Also, $50 for a used phone in America gets you a far better phone than $50 for a "new" phone here.

LED Headlamp: I've written before about this, so I won't repeat myself. Studies show that volunteers with an LED headlamp are 68% more likely to look silly while wearing a headlamp than volunteers without one.

My non-stick pan: You can't bring MY non-stick pan because it's mine and it's already here. You can buy your own non-stick pan in many parts of Ghana, but I'm still glad I brought mine because it's probably of better quality. And, again, don't ask me for mine because it's mine.

I think that's about all the advice I can offer about what to bring. Enjoy your last two weeks in America. Also, keep in mind that there's usually one person in each group that's doing exactly what you're doing now: moving out of an apartment, quitting a job, selling all worldly possessions, saying good-bye to friends and family, etc. Then this person lands in Ghana, realizes that a horrible, terrible mistake has been made, and is on the next flight back to the US. But I'm sure that won't happen to you…

Addendum #1: I was kidding about the water. It's fine. (As long as you filter it…unless it comes from a river in which case you'll want to do more than just filter it. For example, pretend you're drinking apple cider. That way the brown color won't bother you as much.)

H5N1

2007-05-18T07:38:00.001Z

Ghana's got it!

When I arrived in the country almost a year ago, Ghana claimed that it did not have it. However, all of the neighboring countries had reported it, so we assumed that Ghana had it but just wasn't telling anyone about it.

But as of two weeks ago, it's official. Ghana has tested positive for bird flu. It has only been reported among the country's chickens. The disease is also only in one place, the city of Tema. It's one of the country's major ports and is about three hours from my town. Thousands of birds have been killed there for fear that they may have been exposed.

In response to the announcement, Peace Corps handed down some sensible medical advice, such as:

· "Wash your hands frequently with soap and water"

· "Cover your nose and mouth when you cough and sneeze"

· "Avoid contact with those who are sick"

Preventing bird flu is that easy! Nothing to worry about!

(Note: Several months ago Peace Corps distributed Tamiflu to all volunteers. My understanding is that this medication is effective against the disease, although there is evidence that the virus is becoming resistant. And if there's ever a pandemic there won't be enough of it to go around. But it's the best we got!)

I recently heard a report on BBC about bird flu in Egypt. The reporter went to a village where someone had fallen ill from the disease. He described the place as full of "nothing more than small, dirty huts." A house he visited had a "roof made of a thin tin sheet that barely keeps out the rain." He described the children as "wearing dirty tattered clothing" and claimed that "animal droppings and rubbish are strewn about." (Note: I made up the quotes, but they were something like that.)

All of the reporter's observations may be factually accurate, but he painted a picture of nothing but despair. His tone and word choice indicated that he was describing something that seemed new and shocking. But these conditions are normal for millions of people. That doesn't make them OK, but his descriptions were insulting and unnecessarily depressing. Perhaps listeners will infer that there is nothing but misery and desolation in this town. It would probably help if people who reported from developing countries were actually from those countries.

Anyway, getting back to bird flu, the reporter then went to a nearby market where, in clear violations of WHO guidelines, live chickens were being sold. The reporter sounded as if he had uncovered a scandal. How could these people act with such disregard for international mandates!? After all, these regulations are for their own safety.

These "violations" will undoubtedly continue and are happening right now in Ghana and elsewhere. There aren't enough resources to inspect, and people like the chicken seller in Egypt have too much at stake to care.

Americans have been warned about avian flu for years. One day, we're told, it will be a pandemic. Maybe it will and maybe it won't. Or maybe it will all start in Ghana. But I'll be fine. I'm washing my hands with soap…

Addendum #1: I am going to start a weekly radio show in New York. Each week it will be hosted by a different person from some part of rural Ghana . The host will visit someone's Manhattan apartment. He'll describe it. He'll talk about how tiny it is and how he has to walk up seven flights of stairs just to unlock the front door. He'll talk about the isolation of living in a little box in the sky compared to the openness of the village and what it's like to have your only window open up to a brick wall two feet away.

Then, our host will have to guess the rent. Couldn't be more than a few dollars a month for this little room, he'll say. The apartment renter will then hand him one month's rent, all in $5 bills. Because it's radio we won't see his face as he counts the stack of cash, but in Ghana people can be very expressive. We'll hear his shock. We'll even feel it. Then the host will get to keep the money, and here's the best part, he'll stand there and laugh at the New Yorker who spends $2000 a month for a studio in whatever part of the city is currently most outrageously priced.

Addendum #2: Note to female members of my family – no need to freak out. If Bird Flu ever spreads to people in Ghana, Peace Corps will freak out for you and take all sorts of unnecessary precautions. The odds of me getting bird flu in Ghana are just slightly higher than the odds of you getting bird flu in America. So if you don't worry about it for yourself, there's no need to worry about me.

My House and All the People Therein

2007-05-09T14:39:00.001Z

I've described my house before, but I'll just repeat that it has a lot of rooms (about 15). You walk into the Sitting Room which leads into the Great Hall. The Great Hall is surrounded by doors to about ten rooms. The Great Hall also leads to My Special Outdoor Area, which is a small courtyard that also has doors to about six more rooms.

When I first moved in I was told that the only residents of the house would be me and Kwame, a student of mine and nephew of the house owner. The other rooms would only be used in the case of a major event in the family that owned the house.

In September, the girl moved in. Her name is Ama and she's a student and is related to the kindly old man who owns the house. At the time, this intrusion into my space was upsetting because she was living in one of the rooms off of My Special Outdoor Area. BuT I learned to get over it, largely by pretending that she didn't exist. Then in January two men who are doing construction work at the school moved in. They also stay in rooms off of My Special Outdoor Area, so now "my" house has four permanent residents (plus my cat), and My Special Outdoor Area is neither mine nor special anymore.

More recently, guests have been arriving. At first, it would be a random relative. They generally stayed a night or two on the weekends and were mostly harmless. Some guests attract more attention. For example, a niece of the owner of my house is now visiting from the UK. She is a former resident of the town and she seems to have quite a following. From the time I wake up until past my bedtime various town residents come to greet her. This is mildly annoying, but tolerable.

A couple of weekends ago, I was blindsided by the worst types of guests imaginable: people in town for a funeral. A reminder that Ghanaian funerals are a celebration of life, so these people were here to have a good time. And that means food, drinking, lots of noise, and no sense of responsibility (because who's responsible at a party??).

A few bad things about guests in general:

1. They often call me "white man" or its local language equivalent. Even the most offensive person in New York would recognize that calling someone out by the color of their skin is absurd and unacceptable, but here it's considered normal. In my town I take the time to teach people my name, but I have learned to grit my teeth and deal with it (although not well) outside of my town. However, in my house, this is totally unacceptable behavior.

2. They use my water. I have gone weeks without running water, which means I rely on water that is fetched and dumped into my water barrel. Guests use this water, and then I either have to fetch more water or ask other people to fetch it for me.

3. They're noisy. This is a cultural thing. I would think that if you're a guest in someone's house you would try and refrain from screaming, particularly at night. But apparently this does not occur to many Ghanaians. This observation is based on repeated trials in multiple locations in Ghana, so I'm fairly confident about this generalization. I think it may be related to larger issues about public/private space and property. The notable exception is my current guest from the UK. She seems to get it, which further convinces me that this is a cultural thing. (Another cultural difference is views on the musical group Westlife. While I consider them the creation of record executives to cater to some teen/preteen demographic, a teacher at my school passionately explained to me that their vocal talents are unmatched.)

4. They steal my personal space. It would be nice to have a house of my own, as many Peace Corps Volunteers do, because it would be a place to retreat from Ghana and perhaps have some peace and quiet (plus I could walk around naked, if I wanted to). I have no peace and quiet in my house in general, and certainly not when there are guests around.

On this particular weekend, I had about 25 (!!) guests in my house. To make matters even worse, they were not directly related to the house owner, so no one was able to tame them. They were loud, ate smelly food at odd hours, quickly consumed all of my water, and they called me white man. And at least one of them peed on the seat.

At about 11:15 on Friday night, I decided I couldn't take it anymore, so I went for a walk in my town. No people are out at this hour, so it was just me, cats, and goats. I played in my computer lab for a while and headed home at about 1:30 AM determined to kill one of their small children in the hope that this would scare them into submission. Luckily, they had all gone to sleep, so I didn't have to put my plan into effect. The next night I ran away to a friend's house and by Sunday night they had mostly tired themselves out from two days of being noisy.

My house has also hosted three weddings (although I was not around for two of them) and I'm sure that there are many more simchas to come. And if anyone ever asks me, "Hey, have you ever shared a house with thirty Ghanaians?" I can look them in the eye and say, "You know what…as a matter of fact I have."

Addendum #1: Last weekend was the "world famous" Aboakyer Festival (pronounced A-bo-ah-chair) in the nearby coastal city of Winneba. I t commemorates the people's migration from the north down to their current home. Here's the tourist guidebook version of what happens: two teams dress up in traditional warrior garb. A deer (or antelope?) is released into the bush and the two teams go and chase it. A team wins by capturing the deer. There is much rejoicing.

Here's what really happened: Only one team showed up because of longstanding disputes over land, money, etc. There were threats of violence but a large police presence kept things quiet. The animal was released and the single team, which mostly consists of children wearing secondhand clothing and white face paint, go after it. The children are loosely organized by similarly dressEd men in their 20s and 30s. The bush is open grassland with random patches of bushes. The team surrounds a bushy area and hacks away with big sticks (I spotted a golf club too) in an attempt to scare out the animal. Eventually, they surround the right bushy area and capture it. There is much drinking. And the president of Ghana showed up too. Overall, I would go next year because who doesn't like drinking at 9 AM, but I'm not going to plan my life around it.

New Pictures

2007-05-06T15:25:00.001Z

I uploaded a few new pictures...see link to the right ---->

MVI / LVI Awards

2007-05-02T10:48:00.001Z

I'm quickly approaching the one-year milestone in Ghana. So it's time to reflect, American style, by looking back at the stuff I brought with me.

Peace Corps gave us strict guidelines for how much we were allowed to pack. At the time, eighty pounds and bags whose height, length, and width measured no more than 100 or so inches (I don't remember the exact number) did not seem like a lot. After all, I was going to Ghana and I wasn't even sure if they had toilet paper there (I didn't bring any with me because if I brought any I would have had to bring enough for 2 years).

As it turned out, I brought more than just about anyone else in my group of 32, and almost everything I brought is available in Ghana (and they do sell toilet paper here). This makes choosing my Most Valuable Item a bit tricky, especially given the following criteria from the MVI Committee (me and my cat, but he was pretty quiet at the meetings).

Criteria for the annual and one-time-only Most Valuable Item Award are as follows:
1. Item must be something listed in my packing list in the first post on this site
2. Item must be difficult or impossible to buy in Ghana
3. Item must make life better/easier/enjoyable

After the votes were counted, it ended up being a two-way tie.

LED Headlamp: I use my headlamp (aka headlight) everyday. It would have been the clear winner except for the fact that I recently saw one for sale in Ghana, which was a big points deduction. It's useful for several reasons. First, the power goes out at least once every four nights in my house, as mandated by the government. Second, light in Ghana is generally weak, and my headlamp is strong-o (the 'o' at the end is for emphasis. It's a useful linguistic tool here). Even during the day it can be difficult to read indoors. Third, it's really handy when traveling. Fourth, it's got LEDs, and in college I built an LED-based system for detecting whether a baseball/softball pitch is a ball or a strike. That's not really related to the above criteria, but I am a bit sentimental about LEDs.

Unfortunately, wearing a headlamp makes me look really silly. This used to bother me, but now I figure it doesn't really matter. I'm already white and that's silly enough here.

Cotton Boxers from Old Navy: Although I have not gone underwear shopping in Ghana, I can infer that it would be difficult to find boxers of the quality I bought at Old Navy. First of all, most clothing here is either custom-made by a tailor or bought from one of the zillions of people who sell donated clothing from America/Europe. Custom-made underwear sounds absurd and used underwear sounds unappealing at best. Second of all, I live with one of my students and I have only seen him wash two pairs of boxer-like underwear. They're sort of like boxer briefs but not exactly. Third, the Peace Corps manual told me so.

I won't go into why underwear is useful. It's mostly for the same reasons it's useful in America except there's a lot more sweat to absorb here. (Note: I have seen packages of briefs for sale in Accra, but briefs aren't boxers. Nonetheless, this led to a small deduction in the scoring).

The LVI Award goes to my Least Valuable Item. The first two criteria are the same and the third criterion is that the item must be absolutely useless.

Again, it's a two-way tie.

Hiking Boots: Shortly before I left, I went to a camping store and bought a brand new pair of hiking boots. I explained to the outdoorsy looking guy in the shoe department that I was going to Ghana (I probably said 'Africa') for two years and I needed a lightweight (because of the heat) and waterproof shoe. He recommended something that cost on the order of one million cedis.

I figured joining the Peace Corps seemed like the kind of activity that required a rugged shoe. Turns out, I was wrong. My $100 boots, which are probably more technologically advanced than most everything in my town, have sat idly under my bed. Luckily, I think my Mother paid for them, and I'm sure they'll be more useful for the snows of America when I return (does it still snow there? I've heard rumors it doesn't.).

Solar-Powered Battery Charger: This is still theoretically a good idea, but it's been completely useless. I use electronic devices that require batteries (radio, headlamp, camera). Rechargeable batteries would save me money and would be better for the environment. And there are plenty of volunteers who don't have electricity in their towns. But I am not one of volunteers. A charger that plugs into the wall would have been a far better purchase.

Well it's been a lovely MVI/LVI ceremony. You'll have to excuse me as I have an afterparty to attend now, which will mostly consist of me eating a tuna fish sandwich by myself, as long as the ants who call my house their home haven't eaten my bread…

Addendum #1: Thank you to Sara Timen and my Father for finding computers for Ghana!

Addendum #2: Welcome Adjowa Hadar Aviv Adler! That's the name of my new niece who was born on Monday, April 23. To most people (aka non-Jews), the Adjowa part probably sounds just as foreign as the Hadar Aviv part. But trust me, it's a very lovely name with or without the Adjowa part (which is the Ghanaian name given to girl born on Monday, although I think only in the southern half of the country).

Addendum #3: Happy birthday Shalhevet!

Addendum #4: A retro craze is sweeping my town! First it was the used clothing from America, than it was the Tigo taxis with 300,000 miles on them, and now here comes throwback construction! The road that runs in front of my house is being flattened but not paved. You may be picturing large machines moving dirt and whatnot, but no! So far, it's men with pickaxes and shovels and women hauling away dirt on their heads. The folks in charge here sure do hold on to their traditions…

Adddendum #5: The danger in posting something on the Internet is that there is a possibility that someone may read it. Unfortunately, an unknown number of Peace Corps Volunteers in Ghana have stumbled upon this webpage. It's kind of embarrassing.

Mostly I imagine that people in America not related to me who read this site are bored at work and looking for something to take their minds off of the office. I'm not sure why someone actually living in Ghana would want to waste precious moments on the Internet reading this site. But, if you are here, why don't you greet me? Leave a comment and let me know you were reading...

Bank This

2007-04-19T11:48:00.001Z

Although Peace Corps policy is to pay volunteers quarterly, budget wrangling in Washington has forced Peace Corps to pay us monthly. This means that we have to go to the bank at the beginning of each month. For me, this trip to the bank is a disaster as are most things I do at the bank.

I bank with Ghana Commercial Bank (GBC), which has the most branches of any bank in Ghana, It operates at the typical slow pace of Ghanaian business, almost setting the tone for the rest of the country.

With seemingly endless and repetitive paperwork, I opened my account in July. The bank gives all account holders a book of withdrawal slips, each printed with the accountholder's name and account number. This book is supposed to arrive a month or two after the account is opened, as is the ATM card I paid for.

Needless to say, neither arrived after a month or two. After about six months of asking about my withdrawal book, the bank folks decided to check on the computer to see if the book had ever been ordered. I have to give credit here to a new bank employee who thought of doing this. Way to cut through the red tape.

No, I was told, it had never been ordered, but now it should really arrive in a few more months. In the meantime, I would have to continue purchasing generic withdrawal slips for 3000 cedis per withdrawal. I pointed out the absurdity of this policy – clearly the bank had made a mistake by not ordering my book. In fact, the bank admitted that this was a mistake. Why should I have to pay 3000 cedis per withdrawal, essentially rewarding the bank for its own incompetence? Each slip costs 3000 cedis, I was told.

Nothing is free in Ghana, but it's usually because no one can afford to give anything away. GBC could easily sacrifice the 3000 cedis, but there's a bureaucratic rigidity there, something that's common in Ghana, although I suppose it's probably almost universal in the world of banking. Sometimes it seems that everything in this country is either a free-for-all or dominated by lumbering and repetitive bureaucracy with little in between.

The whole withdrawal slip problem could have been avoided if I had my ATM card. Last time I asked about it I was literally laughed at by two bank employees. But in fact, my card has arrived. Twice.

The first time it arrived, several months late and printed with the name Jacob Ari, the local GBC had just installed an ATM. Unfortunately, I was issued an "old" card and this was a "new" machine. The two were incompatible, so I had to fill out some forms, return my card, and wait a few months for a new "new" card to arrive. When it did, it was somehow faulty. This happens, I was told. A certain percentage just don't work. This was nothing that a few more forms and months of waiting could not fix. (note: with everything, the bank mistakes how long something will actually take. I don't think they're lying. Rather, I think they either have no idea or like many people in this country, they simply have no sense of time.).

It's normal for me to wait two hours to make a quick withdrawal (I refuse to pay off the security guards as another nearby volunteer does). There's the line outside and then the line inside which is done on couches. This means each time I move up in the line, I have to awkwardly and uncomfortably shuffle a butt-width down the couch. Because of the long line, I tend to nearly empty my account each month.

Peace Corps living allowance is about 1.5 million cedis per month, or 150 ten thousand cedi bills, the second largest denomination (ever walk out of a bank with a pocket-wad of cash? Makes me feel like I robbed the place). Paying with twenty thousand cedi bills, the largest denomination, is often problematic, like buying a pack of gum with a $100 bill. People just don't have change.

But many things are changing. My withdrawal book has finally arrived. Peace Corps living allowance is jumping by nearly 20% starting next month. This summer the currency is being "re-denominated," so I will not have to fill my pockets with cash. Maybe I'll even have a working ATM card.

This is why Peace Corps is two years.

Addendum #1: Imus was fired for saying something offensive? Isn't that his job?

Sweat and More Sweat

2007-04-11T17:53:00.000Z

I spent last weekend at a guesthouse in the hills of the Volta Region (eastern part of Ghana) called Mountain Paradise Lodge. There were a surprising number of American Jews there (generally more than just me is surprising).

Apart from the Jews, the nice thing about Mountain Paradise Lodge is that it's isolated and it gets chilly at night. The change in temperature is really a novelty. Anytime that it's not hot enough to make me sweat I take notice.

The compartmentalization of sweat is a phenomenon that I had never noticed before. For millions of people in the US, Canada, Europe, and elsewhere, sweat is a choice and not a way of life. For many months of the year, people can carry on with their daily routines without fear of sweat and can choose whether or not to engage in activities that will lead to sweat. Not so for me in Ghana. Everything makes me sweat and there is little respite.

The worst is traveling. Mountain Paradise Lodge is a couple hundred miles away, so the journey home was sure to be sweaty. It began at about 10:20 in the morning when me, two Jews, and two non-Jewish NYU students (they have a campus in Accra) left Mountain Paradise Lodge. It's situated on the top of a mountain and unless you have a car the only way out is to walk down the mountain. The walk took more than an hour, which translates into more than an hour of continuous sweating.

Once we made it to the bottom, we had to take a tro-tro (packed mini-van) to someplace to take another tro-tro to Accra. It goes without saying, but I'll say it, that tro-tros are not air-conditioned. Open windows and the movement of the vehicle can create a pleasant cross-breeze that makes the journey tolerable. But once the tro stops, either to pick up, drop off, or because of traffic, the vehicle heats up like an EZ Bake Oven. More sweat.

The first tro wasn't terrible, and once we stepped out into the blazing sun (more sweat) we were lucky enough to soon get on a tro headed to Accra . When traveling in remote parts of the country, it's not unusual to wait hours for the right car. This tro was a bit roomier, but by now my clothing is already soaked with my drying sweat while new moisture accumulates on my body.

And then we got a flat tire at around 2 PM or so, which means more standing in the sun while it's being repaired (and more sweating). This could have really been a disaster since we were in the middle of nowhere, but luckily this tro had a spare and the driver flagged down another tro to get a jack and whatever else he needed to change the tire. Less than 30 minutes later, we were moving again (and sweating slightly less).

By 4 PM we were in Accra drinking lattes at an American-style shopping center. Then, two more tros (more sweat) to get to one of the city's larger tro stations where I said goodbye to my new friends and headed home. Recently I have made a lot of weekend friends. That is, people that I meet on a Friday and say goodbye to on a Sunday (or in this case Monday) and then never see ever again. Sometimes this process can last a bit longer – for example volunteers who are in the country for a few months that I may see half a dozen times. It is a good way to build a database of people from around the world, but also a bit unsettling.

By 5 PM, I am sitting in the way back of the worst kind of tro. It's more like a bus than a minivan with eight rows of five across. And it's tight. Some people buy one ticket for two people and sit one on top of the other. I sat in the back right corner with my large bag on my lap, as if I'm trying to make the journey as uncomfortable as possible. The man next to me tries to make small talk using what little English he knows and me testing out my Twi. He seems harmless until about 10 minutes into the journey when he puts his arm around me and tries to lick my face. This behavior is as inappropriate in Ghana as it is in the US and I gave him an elbow to the chest and told him to stop. Other passengers noticed what was happening and the man next to me got the message.

Unfortunately, we then got caught in some serious traffic. Luckily, the sun was going down so there wasn't too much sweating, although by this point I have been sweating all day and would have barely noticed. What should have been less than a two hour trip took almost three while I'm awkwardly ignoring the man seated next to me.

I got out of the tro sometime after 8 PM, or about ten hours after I left the Lodge. My last stop before home was the taxi station where I hoped to get a car going to my town. Ghanaians aren't big on waiting in lines, so when a taxi pulls up and the driver announces where he's going, a full contact sport breaks out as people struggle to get one of the precious seats. I tend to forget about this, so I missed the first car but got the second

(although I did yell at a guy claiming that I was there first. He replied, "It's not about that.").

It was just about 9:00 by the time I opened the door to my house. Eish seemed happy to see me, but I smelled like I had been sweating for about 11 consecutive hours (largely true). And I needed a bucket bath, which are apparently called sponge baths in America. My town has been having water issues recently, and there was no water in my house. Luckily, I had saved one bucket full and locked it away before I left. Electricity was working, so I was able to sleep relatively sweat-free with my fan…

Addendum #1: Because of the lack of water, I went to fetch water yesterday from my local river. Unfortunately, river water is a bit dirty, sort of the color of apple juice (the "natural" kind). I put it through my water filter, but it still came out a bit dirty. The walk to the river is a few hundred yards, and it's uphill on the way back. Good thing I'm superstrong. Water is, in fact, not infinite.

Load Shedding and Other Scams

2007-03-31T14:31:00.000Z

Sydney, Australia shut off electricity at key sites today, such as the Opera House, to express concern over global climate change and encourage conversation. Here in Ghana, we are taking conservation to an extreme. Power is now off for one-quarter of the time and there's a chance that one day soon it will be off all the time.

The electricity was supposed to improve this month when the rains were supposed to come and the country's oil/gas power plant generating capacity was supposed to be increased. Neither seems to have actually happened. The country gets 60% of its electricity from hydroelectric sources and 40% from oil/gas. The water level in the largest dam is very low, hence scheduled power-outs since August.

Apart from the current crisis, Ghana's energy situation is a mess. There is not enough capacity, the authority is deep in the red, about one-third of the country still has no access, and the country's energy is being held hostage by rogue weather patterns in unstable parts of the atmosphere…

Beware of Ghanaians with email addresses. I have long wondered why young Ghanaian males spend hours on sites like JewishFriendFinder.com and other singles' sites. Although I should not be looking at others' computers, I have read passionate emails written to European men about sex, marriage, and the joy of life together. I have seen a man using a translation website to turn his awkward English love letter into crisp German. I assumed it was all a bad joke.

And then another Peace Corps volunteer let me in on the secret. The love letters, the suggestive images, and the longing for affection are all part of a scam! He saw a couple of guys celebrating outside of a local Western Union (yeah, we got those) because they were there to pick up money wired to them by some unsuspecting and gullible man who probably mistook them for a twenty-something, lonely beauty who just needs enough money to buy an airline ticket to go meet her Internet sugar-daddy.

Addendum #1: Passover seder Monday night in Accra at the home of the same Israeli couple that hosted Megillah reading. The seder is a joint-venture with Chabad of the Democratic Republic of Congo. DRC has been one of the bloodiest places on the planet over the past ten years or so with an estimated four million people dead from a recently ended civil war. There was violence there again last week as supporters of the runner-up in the recent presidential election clashed with police (thank you BBC). And apparently there are enough Jews there that Chabad decided to dispatch some of its young soldiers.

Master on Duty

2007-03-21T15:58:00.000Z

This week I am one of two teachers on duty. As a teacher on duty, my responsibilities are broadly to be in charge of discipline in the school for the week. Practically, what it means is that I have to get to school at least two hours earlier than I normally do. So I'm very tired.

The school day begins sometime before 6:30 when the students are supposed to report to clean the school. They sweep the classrooms and the campus and pick up litter. There are certain students, called prefects, who are there to organize and ensure that the work gets done. The masters on duty are there to supervise and enforce discipline, if necessary.

Masters on duty also help with other disciplinary issues. For example, one teacher punished a class for misbehaving. The punishment was that they had to weed the school field, which is standard. So as the higher disciplinary authority in the school for the week, I had to accompany this teacher to the field as he assigned each student a particular plot of land to weed. I also have to walk around the campus after breaks and ensure that students are going back to class.

According to the other master on duty who has also taught at other schools, behavior at this school is poor. The accepted response among faculty is to punish, usually with physical labor (weeding, cutting down a tree) or caning, both often preceded by threats of punishment, as in, "I will punish you!" Because discipline has not improved, I tell the teachers that it's obvious that these physical punishments are not working. But they don't seem to know anything else. Punish. Punish. Punish. The school generally lacks systems. In some ways it's a big free-for-all. Me and my western notions of accountability and order are somewhat foreign here, and have been greeted with comments like, "the African child only responds to the cane."

This is also probably the first week that I'm really fed up with the school. Students are not showing up for class, and I'm starting to crack down. Enforcing discipline is no fun, and I've had too much of it this week. But I'm still thankful for the fact that I'm not sitting in some stuffy high-rise office working for some ineffective, overpaid, self-important boss.

Addendum #1: March Madness! Woooo!!! Go State!

Addendum #2: Somehow, another term is over. Two weeks of exams and then it's official, but because my classes seem to rarely meet, I am only giving one exam for the year at the end of next term.

Donate Used Computers to Ghana

2007-03-21T15:57:00.000Z

I am seeking a donation of at least twenty [used] computers for a secondary school in Ghana, West Africa. These computers will be used provide computer literacy training to students and faculty. The school's current working computers will be donated to either to a nearby school that does not have computers or to a new community center that will be used for students from several schools in the town.

If you are interested, please ask your company/organization/university/etc if it is planning on replacing computers in the near future and what it intends to do with the old machines. Ideally, the school's goal of at least twenty computers can be reached with one or two suppliers, but if you can donate any machines please contact me.

Please also forward this email to anyone you think may be able to help. I would also be happy to appeal directly to someone that You recommend.

BACKGROUND: I am a Peace Corps Volunteer, serving as a computer teacher in Ghana. The school currently owns 18 computers, 80% of which generally work. The computers were either purchased by the PTA or donated. Some are quite old and outdated.

THE OPPORTUNITY: The government of Ghana and the African Development Bank (ADB) are currently funding a significant upgrading of the school campus, including the construction of a new computer center. A donation of upgraded computers would provide the school with a respectable computer lab. The donation will also benefit the community as the school administration has agreed to donate its current computers either to a nearby school that does not have any or to a new community center that will be used by students from several schools in the town. Plans for this new community center are still in the early stages, but a donation of computers will (hopefully) help speed the process.

TAX DEDUCTION: The school can provide a letter confirming the donation. Other arrangements can be made upon request.

CUSTOMS: I will work with Ghana's national education ministry to bypass customs fees.

SHIPPING: Lacking any information on the size of the shipment, I can not get a price quote, but after consulting another volunteer I expect shipping to be between $30 and $40 per computer (assuming the source is the US East Coast, but shipments come to Ghana from all parts of the world). The cost of shipping will either be a separate donation or will be paid for by the school. Shipping is obviously a critical detail. It will be worked out if and when I receive a commitment for a donation.

HELP NEEDED: If your business/organization/etc is able to donate computers, I will need a contact person that would be willing to spend some time on this project, potentially boxing the machines and working with the shippers.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: Donated computers should be Pentium3 or above. Pre-installed software is not required but helpful. Monitors are not necessary, unless they are inexpensive to ship, such as LCD flat panel. Keyboards, mice, and power cables are very helpful. A digital projector would be fantastic.

SUSTAINABILITY/COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: There is a school of thought that says giving handouts to developing countries is the wrong approach. While I believe this thinking has a lot of merit, I also think a donation of expensive equipment to an educational institution can be appropriate regardless of where that institution is located. In addition, the school has agreed to donate its current computers and will likely play some role in shipping. Plus, this donation is designed to take advantage of an investment being made by the national government of Ghana and the ADB. I'd be happy to continue this debate (currently with myself) in separate and private emails.

CORRUPTION: Unfortunately, it exists in Ghana and much of the rest of the world, including (oh my gosh!) the US. I have asked the administration whether computers are included in the budget for the school renovation and have been given a vague answer that a) these budgets are "flexible," meaning money can be moved around for different purposes within the budget, and b) just because the money is "guaranteed" today does not mean it will be there tomorrow. If I get a commitment for a donation, I will have the leverage to get a straight answer from the administration and will work to ensure that if there is money in the budget for computers it is re-purposed for something that Benefits the school and does not line someone's pockets. I'll try.

I ONLY HAVE ONE OR TWO COMPUTERS TO DONATE: Thank you, but at this point I think the logistics will be much simpler if I can get all of the computers from one or two sources.

I ONLY HAVE ONE DIGITAL PROJECTOR TO DONATE: Great! We'll take it!

I HAVE THIRTY COMPUTERS. IS THAT TOO MANY?: Thank you. We will take them and distribute them to other schools and community centers.

I HAVE 25 MACS: Ha. Lucky you. Thank you, but we'll pass…

Ghana@50 (part 2) and Who Is Scott Garrett?

2007-03-10T12:31:00.000Z

March 6 was the 50^th anniversary of Ghana's independence from Britain. To celebrate, Ghana hosted 20 Africa heads of state and spent millions of dollars on celebrations. I was at the beach.

However, I did leave the beach at 6 in the morning to make a short trip to Accra's Independence Square. This is the country's main celebration area, and it is where the heads of state were hanging out. As its name suggests, Independence Square is a large concrete square with bleachers along three sides of the perimeter. One side was reserved for VIPs. The other two were for the public. I arrived at 8 AM and the seats were already packed. This many Ghanaians have never been this early to anything.

There was also limited space to stand in front of the bleachers but the crowd was suffocating. I've never been so sweaty, surrounded by so many horrid bodily odors, and pushed by so many different people. I was pushed into an elderly woman who was trying to maneuver through the crowd with a walker. I don't know what she was thinking. After about 30 or 40 minutes of this, I decided to find a way out. I considered telling security that I was with the US embassy so they would let me into the VIP area. I think it would have worked, but with 20 heads of state around, the repercussions of failure could be dire (Ghanaian prison?). So I retreated back to the beach.

Ghanaians were big on ID6 flair. It seemed that everyone who could afford it was either wearing a Ghana@50 t-shirt, hat, or something. Special hideous fabric was produced, and women had all sorts of clothing made from it. I sported a Ghana@50 t-shirt and was quickly labeled the white guy celebrating Ghana's big day.

Strangely, Ghana's only surviving ex-President did not attend (he's the only one left because he had the others killed, at least that's what I was told). Jerry Rawlings was President for 40% of the country's history but chose to sit this one out because he doesn't like the current President. Ghanaian politics is unfortunate…

Scott Garrett's Resume

Voted for:

a) Constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriages

b) Constitutional amendment prohibiting flag desecration.

Voted against:

a) The reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act

b) Child safety locks on handguns

Rated:

a) 100% by the National Right to Life Committee (0% by NARAL)

b) 100% by the American Conservative Union

c) 10% by the League of Conservation Voters

Quote: "Evolution is the predominant theory right now, but intelligent design is one that is apparently growing in some scientific communities, in academia. ... It seems that a school board should at least consider being TOLERANT AND OPEN (!!!!) to discussing both theories." [Bergen Record, 9/30/05; caps and !!!! added by me]

What????????

All of this is relevant because I recently received a "Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition" from my Congressman, Scott Garrett. In his letter, NJ Congressman Garrett quoted a recent statement from President Bush about the Peace Corps. Anyone who's quoting that guy is A-OK with me. Thanks Scott! The certificate is just lovely! (you can do a Google search of "Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition" to see others.)

I think I have only voted in Pennsylvania and New York, but my "permanent address" according to the Peace Corps is my parents' house. Unfortunately, this guy is their congressman. For whatever reason, he thought it appropriate to send this certificate to all PCVs in his district. Although there are exceptions, we tend not to be uber-conservative, so he's probably not impressing anyone with his free certificates. I would send it back to him with a note of explanation, but it would probably only be seen by a mail-opening intern.

Addendum #1: I went to Megillah reading at the home of an Israeli family in Accra. They said that there are about 100 Israelis living in Accra doing the kinds of things that Jews do (finance, construction, etc). Less than 10 people came to megillah reading, and apparently this is the extent of the "traditional" Jews in Ghana.

The Rain Has Returned

2007-03-02T15:00:00.000Z

Although rainy season is not supposed to begin until April, the random interactions of air molecules forgot to check the calendar. It has rained almost every day for the past week, and when it rains it pours. I blame global climate change.

I thought the rain would be a good thing because it cools the place down. It had been way too hot and muggy. I'm often drenched in sweat (luckily my own) by the time I walk to school in the morning. So much moisture. Overall the rain is a good thing, but it has a wild and unexpected (at least by me) consequence: flying insects.

There could be several things about my house that are particularly conducive to flying insect breeding, but my own speculations about insect mating habits are unimportant and probably wrong. Here's what I know: the exterior of my house is covered in insects at night.

I don't mean literally covered. I mean that it is impossible to go outside of my house at night without flattening a few bugs with each step. I mean that when I go outside at night I am attacked from all sides and angles. I mean that an hour later I am still finding bugs in my hair.

Tonight I killed about 15 grasshoppers (or are they crickets?) in my house in 2 minutes. Really. At least they're easy to kill and at least only two made it inside my room. It's plague-like. In addition to the mutant grasshopping crickets, I also have flying ants. That's probably not the proper scientific classification, but that's exactly what they look like.

The upside of all this is that Eish is very busy. I don't know if he "likes" chasing bugs (he probably doesn't really like anything), but I enjoy watching him chase stuff. It's only been two nights of this, but if it continues to be this bad, I may have to get the outside of my house sprayed with something horribly poisonous…

Addendum #1: Solar powered Germans are still here. It was a two week conference for teachers who have no ability to purchase any of the solar powered lamps nor do they have any purchasing decision making powers. Brilliant.

Addendum #2: Ghana Central Region Zone II Inter-Senior Secondary School Athletics competitions were held last week. It was a two-day event, so no classes for those days. Eleven schools competed and my school finished seventh overall. There is one school in the zone that actually recruits athletes. They offer scholarships to particularly fast junior secondary students. They dominate this local competition. Winners then go to a regional competition and presumably that leads to some national championship. Other schools in the area are considering recruiting.

Addendum #3: Because of strong wind, a power line going from the grid to my town fell. It took about 2 days to fix. For whatever reason, the power has randomly gone off over the past few days. There are still scheduled 12-hour outages every five days.

Addendum #4: After a month-long absence, running water is finally back in my house.

Addendum #5: Megillah reading on Saturday night at the home of an Israeli couple in Accra. I'm dressing up as a white person.

Ghana @ 50 (part 1)

2007-02-11T12:25:00.000Z

March 6, 2007 marks the 50^th anniversary of Ghana's Independence.

Europeans first arrived here in the 1400s, and they liked it so much that they stayed in control until the British ceded power on March 6, 1957 . Ghana was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to be granted independence by its colonial master (only two sub-Saharan countries never had colonists in control). Some people, particularly people in Ghana, therefore consider March 6, 2007 to be the 50^th anniversary of Africa.

After leading Ghana to independence, the country's first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, quickly moved to socialism and then outlawed all opposition political parties, occasionally with violent repercussions. He is defended by some who say that these measures were taken to combat violence and were necessary to maintain order. Regardless, Nkrumah lost power in 1966. He was deposed with the help of the CIA because of his socialism and his status as a leading African figure. Really ( http://www.seeingblack.com/x060702/nkrumah.shtml).

Ghana then had a couple decades of instability coupled with terrible poverty. Around 1980, Jerry Rawlings seized control and maintained power until 2000 when the current president, John A. Kuffuor won an election.

Depending on how you count, Ghana had nine or ten heads of state in 50 years. But with Rawlings in control for 20 and Kuffuor for seven, so that's seven or eight in 23 years, or a new leader about every 3 years. There were coups, authoritarianism and other things that are not helpful to a country's development. Nonetheless, despite all of that as well as the numerous other challenges and thanks entirely to me (that's a joke), Ghana seems to be moving forward in many ways and is now finally seen as a model African democracy.

According to the Ghanaian press, Ghana is spending $20 million on its celebrations and associated construction and cleanup. That's 200 billion cedis, which is a ton of money here. If there is any coverage at all of this in the American press, please send me it my way.

Addendum #1: President Kuffuor was just elected head of the African Union. He will serve a one-year term.

Addendum #2: What a game! Super Bowl XLI! Wow! My town was really excited for that one. Oh wait, no one cares about the Super Bowl here and I did not travel to Accra to watch it. Even though the NFL can probably include Ghana in its list of 200 countries or whatever the real number is that receive the broadcast (it's on satellite, which no one gets), no one watches it. In fact, the only foreign sport that seems to get any play is European football. Ghana's best player is on Chelsea, one of the top British teams. Besides, everyone here is seriously gearing up for the Oscars.

My Job

2007-02-02T14:03:00.000Z

Although I have spent less than 10% of my time in Ghana in my school's computer lab, teaching computers is my primary "job" here. I consider this an easy job compared with, say, sitting in an office in New York for twelve hours a day in front of a computer. I couldn't think of a more severe punishment than that. I do sweat more here, but I am much more my own boss and there is quite nearly zero stress here.

Each of the eight first-year and second-year classes have 40 minutes of computer class a week. The four third-year classes have two 40-minute periods. That all adds up to 10 hours and 40 minutes of actual teaching each week. But there can be so many reasons why a class either does not come at all or comes late, so I have never actually taught the maximum. Beginning on Monday, I will be holding four hours of classes for the teachers, so that will bring my total workload up to nearly 15 hours.

However, I do spend about 30 hours a week in my lab. The non-teaching time is spent repairing computers (they break constantly), sitting around writing stuff like this, and miscellaneous. A lot of miscellaneous. While I am sitting in my lab, students with free periods (usually due to teachers not showing up), come and use the computers. I have to do a minimal amount of supervision, but security programs installed on the "good" computers combined with my belief that students should be free to explore all that the computer has to offer means that I don't have to really exert myself too much.

So what am I actually teaching? The vast majority of my first-year students have never used a computer before, so I have to start from the absolute beginning. We talk about all of the keys on the keyboards and practice using the mouse. I explain what a computer is and what it can do. We talk about why it's important to learn about computers (or maybe it's not?). This past week, I asked them to look at their desktop and tell me what they saw. On the board, I drew icons, the Start button, the taskbar, etc. Then we started Windows' calculator program and minimized it and talked about the taskbar. From there we will move on to Notepad and ultimately Word with a couple of lessons on Files and Folders in the middle.

The knowledge of the second and third year students varies, which makes it difficult for me. Some third-year students still do not know how to use the mouse and others have taken computer classes outside of school and are quite proficient. Keeping the class interesting for the advanced students while not leaving the laggards completely behind is the most challenging part of my job. I am giving basically the same lesson for all second and third year students this term. We are learning about Microsoft Word and so far have covered Format-Font and Format-Paragraph.

The Peace Corps slogan used to be "The toughest job you'll ever love." I suppose this refers to the fact that I am no longer living in Ghana nor am I surrounded by Americans. I guess in some ways this can be tough, but living in America can also be tough. Maybe that's why the new ad campaign asks, "How far will you go?" I would have gone all the way to Fiji , but they gave me Ghana...

Addendum #1: I was disappointed that only one person emailed me that Omar Minaya, Dave Winfield, and other MLB officials were coming to Ghana. This was in the New York Times! Where were you all? I called the Ghana Baseball Association, something made up by a Ghanaian who is Director of Guest Relations at the Marriott Marquis. But the phone number on mlb.com went to the Ghana Sports Commission (or something like that), and they directed me to the US Embassy. Apparently there is a reception today in Accra with Minaya and Co. but I don't have the desire to trek out there. Maybe if David Wright was here.

A Day at the Beach...

2007-01-28T15:23:00.000Z

A lot can happen during a day at the beach.

It's easy to guess why some people on the beach in Ghana are there. It's usually easy to spot the volunteers and to guess where they're from (usually somewhere in Europe). Vacationing European families stand out because they are dressed somehow like tourists and they are often multi-generational. Ghanaians are either local from the village or wealthy and from Accra. And there is usually someone in the middle of doing something crazy.

This day I met someone who started in Romania and had made his way by bus and hitchhiking to Ghana (although he took a boat to Morocco from Gibraltar). Last time I met two people who were driving around the world – starting in Europe, going down Africa and back up, through Asia, up to Russia, across the Bering Strait, down to Chile and then by boat to Australia. One of them was writing a book about it and the other was along for the 5-year ride.

On this day there were also no less than three large truck/bus things that were on their way to Cape Town from Morocco and then were heading back up on the east side of the continent. Each bus had 25 people who had paid about $10k each to be part of the group tour. Lame. Hopping on a tour bus and letting someone else figure everything out for you may be fine for senior citizens in Europe or non-New Yorkers in New York, but traveling down Africa is serious business. And if you're going to go from Morocco to Cape Town to Cairo, do it yourself or don't do it at all.

The village with the beach is a fishing village. There are always boats in the water, nets being pulled in, women selling fish off of their heads, etc. On this day, a shouting match broke out on the beach and spilled over into the hotel area. It continued for some time between two large groups of people until an old woman came over and broke it up. Justice is generally a locally enforced thing. But then the police came and it never escalated to violence.

Turns out they were fighting about sea turtles. These creatures, which measure several feet in diameter, can fetch $15, but catching them is illegal. During this time of the year, fishermen are more likely to catch one in their nets or even see them on the beach because it's egg-laying season. So some fisherman caught a turtle and someone else told him to throw it back. People started taking sides, some intense yelling and intimidation followed, and it was the most exciting fight about turtles I have ever seen.

I was hanging out with a Ghanaian friend and he could not find his case of CDs. He accused one of the "hotel" (I use that word liberally here…surely no American would consider this a hotel) workers of stealing it. The worker claimed that he did not steal it and to prove his innocence he poured some local alcohol on the ground, cracked an egg over it, and then swore on his ancestors. That's apparently how you do it when you really mean something.

Turns out, however, that he was lying. Later that night, we heard one of the CDs playing at the bar. Apparently, the hotel worker had taken the CDs and given them along with 20,000 cedis to a prostitute in exchange for her services.

Ahhhh…the beach...

Addendum #1: Kofi Annan returned to Ghana the other day. This was a really big day here (well, at least in the media). He is now Busumuru Kofi Annan. Busumuru is the highest title ever given to anyone by the chief of the Ashanti, Ghana's most powerful tribe/group. Previously, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, considered the father of Ghana and the country's first president, held the highest title.

Jewish Eco-Tourism

2007-01-17T17:40:00.000Z

Sorry, this is a long story…

Ghana's only synagogue serves about twenty families and has hosted dozens of "strangers" who have helped to shape the community into what it is today. The community, which calls itself House of Israel, dates back to the 1970s, and the Ghanaian Jews' practices seem to closely resemble those of modern liberal Conservadoxism. The community is currently split into two over the issue of leadership.

The House of Israel is in the remote town of Sefwi Wiawso (pronounced Se-shwee Wee-oh-so) in Ghana's Western Region. Although it is less than 150 miles straight line distance from my house, the journey took me almost 11 hours. I was met at the tro station by Alex Armah, the 30-something current leader of the community. He brought me to his house where I would spend the weekend.

Sabbath began an hour later. The family, which consisted of Alex, his older brother Joseph who is the community chairman, Joseph's wife, and their numerous children, sat around a coffee table draped with a white table cloth in the family living room. The table had a few small flowers, a covered loaf of bread, two lit candles, and two bottles of Coke.

Alex led the proceedings, which began with a song in Twi. I was told later that this was Psalm 92 (mizmor shi l'yom hashabbat). Alex then began to read from a book written for recent converts that was given by one of the "strangers" or "visitors." He read Shalom Aleichem and Eishet Chayil in English and then put his hand on the children to bless them. He read Kiddush in English and a transliterated borei pri hagefen. Coke, in lieu of Kosher wine, was poured into a cup which was passed around generally in age order (although as the new stranger I was given second). Then the motzi was recited and bread was cut and eaten. After rice and tomato/fish stew, Alex led an English version of Grace After Meals.

The strangest moment of the weekend for me was that as we were sitting around talking, two of the younger kids began to sing songs. Having spent two months living with a Ghanaian family and five more months living in a village, seeing singing Ghanaian children is pretty standard. But these kids were singing Dovid Melech Yisroel (complete with hand motions), Mayim v'sasson, and the Shabbat Shalom Hey! song. Of all the things I've seen in Ghana, this was the most unexpected.

These songs had been taught by a recent stranger or visitor, as Joseph and Alex called the numerous white people who had come to the community them over the past several years. Most of them are from the UK, US, and Israel (add another point to the US column). Some stay as long as two months and they occasionally come in groups of six or more. They have brought books, menorahs, havdalah sets, mezuzahs and even a printed sefer torah. Last year, Joseph told me that the community had 80 visitors, compared to just 17 visitors the year before.

The strangers also have provided some education to the community, and some members of the community showed an active interest in learning more. No one in the community that I met knows how to read Hebrew (although some know the aleph bet), but Joseph, Alex, and others want to learn.

Services the next morning, which started on Ghanaian time (aka once everyone arrived), took place in the synagogue, named Tifereth Israel because a synagogue of the same name in Des Moines donated a couple hundred Siddurim (Sim Shalom, 1985 edition). It is a small cement building painted blue and white with 5 rows by 2 columns of benches. Alex, the leader, stood in the front with his back to the congregation, except during Torah reading. The morning I was there, services were attended by about a dozen adults and at least as many children. Women sat on one column of benches and men on the other. The men wore yarmulkes and tallitot. Everyone washed their hands outside before entering the building.

The Shabbat service was a shortened version of a typical American conservative Saturday morning service, except nearly everything was in English. The only Hebrew recited was the shema during the Torah service, and there were a few prayers in Twi, which I think were psalms. The biggest departure from a traditional service was the torah reading. Because no one can read Hebrew, a reading from the scroll was not possible. Instead, someone read from a Twi Bible (probably not translated by a Rabbi). After each verse, Alex explained something in Twi. They read less than an aliya from the Torah portion and a few verses from the haftorah, which sounds like about the right amount to me.

After services but before everyone walked around shaking hands and wishing each other a Shabbat Shalom, announcements were made and I became briefly and slightly involved in the community's leadership controversy.

Harriet of the organization Kulanu was my first point of contact to the community. I know little about the organization, but I think they reach out to remote Jewish communities and work with them on income generating activities. According to Joseph, my main source of knowledge about the community, Harriet has been involved for approximately five years. With her guidance, the community now makes challah covers and tallitot and sells them over the Internet. Harriet also donated two computers which are no longer working.

When I wrote to Harriet in December, I told her that I was a Peace Corps computer teacher in Ghana and wanted to know how I could contact the community. This message was relayed back to Alex and Joseph who saw an opportunity for their broken computers to get fixed. During announcements, they asked me to introduce myself. I stood up and told the congregation my name, where I was from, and what I was doing in Ghana (in Twi). Joseph then told the rest of the community that I could fix the broken computers, but David was holding the two machines hostage and would not release them until after the community's date in court. Some heated comments followed and I tried to calm them down by suggesting that the computers are probably obsolete anyway (that's not really what I said).

The current fight can be traced back to the community's Founder who died about twelve years ago. Sometime in the 1970s, possibly 1972, the Founder, named Eron (probably spelled incorrectly here), had a vision. His idea involved gathering the ten lost tribes of Israel, the truth of the Old Testament, and Jesus being a false Messiah. He began to preach his revelation to neighboring villages and he amassed a small following, including current members of the community. The Founder also "had an address" (a very Ghanaian term which literally means he had a mailing address but really means much more) of a man named Yaakov in Israel. The Founder wrote to Yaakov who was very happy to hear of Jews living in Ghana. Apparently, Yaakov, the first white man to encounter the fledgling community, also provided some advice to the community and thus began their Jewish journey.

When the Founder died, a member of the community (possibly named Joseph Nippah) gathered the disparate believers to Sefwi Wiawso. David apparently claims that before he died the Founder named David community leader for life. Joseph, who was elected chairman at an initial meeting of the elders, says that David was similarly elected to the leadership position and has no right to be leader forever.

Recently, tensions between David (with another elder named Kofi) and the rest of the community boiled over, and the community expelled them from the synagogue. Now, David, Kofi and two other families hold their own services each Saturday. There's potentially more at stake here then just leadership of the community, including the synagogue building, bank accounts, the relationship with Kulanu, and control of the business of welcoming strangers into the community and selling locally-made Judaica over the Internet. Joseph mentioned a few incidents that led to the expulsion, including a debate over the construction of a $1,000 guesthouse for visitors, an attempt by David to attend a conference in Israel or America, and the handling of visitors. It is all a bit unclear to me.

In an attempt to resolve the conflict, David took the community to court. The court referred the matter to a council of Anglican leaders who have met with the community several times. They ordered the synagogue to draft a constitution and vote for leadership positions. Apparently David did not agree to this resolution. The community's next date in court is February 9.

Other accounts of the Sefwi Wiawso Jewish community on the Internet are told from David's perspective. As the former leader, he had hosted the strangers. But I was hosted by Joseph, so most of what I know about the community comes from him.

Joseph was one of the Founder's original followers. Before he met the Founder, Joseph says he was a Christian, and other members of the community were also Christian. I asked a few people what they found so compelling about the Founder's preaching. I was not given much of an answer, but this may have been an unfair question to people with limited English. Joseph said that the community had plans to write down the history of the Founder but have not done it yet.

Whether by coincidence or not, Saturday was the traditional day of rest in the larger Sefwi area. The punishment for going to farm on Saturday was stoning. Sometime in the area's recent history, the paramount chief changed the day to Sunday and abolished the rather severe punishment.

I asked about some common Jewish laws. Joseph does not eat any meat or fish that is not kosher. One member of the community learned how to slaughter an animal by simply reading the Bible, and every Passover this man slaughters chickens. Anyone who goes to a cemetery is not allowed into the synagogue for one week, and similarly women are not allowed into the building during their period of menstruation (he brought that one up). There is currently no Jewish cemetery because apparently no one has died in the community, but they do have land when the need arises (the Founder apparently attracted a young following).

Joseph said that he wants his children to marry Jews. Later I talked to two 35-45 year old men who are long-time members and are both married to non-Jews. They said they would like their wives to convert, but it takes time to learn about Judaism and conversion is not something to rush into. One of the men has two children who he takes regularly to synagogue.

I did not see any mezuzahs in the synagogue, so I asked Joseph about it. He showed me one at his house and said he had more but did not know the blessing. I told him that after Shabbat I could help him hang up a mezuzah and we could say the blessing together, if he wanted. He seemed interested, so I reminded him again after Sabbath. He took out three mezuzahs, which were given to him by a visitor some time ago.

He also showed me a copy of The Code of Jewish Law in English, and the ninth grade gemara student inside of me quickly looked up the laws of mezuzah. Joseph asked me if he could hang the mezuzah on the outside part of the doorpost so more people would be able to see it. Extra Gemara Class on Thursday Nights told him that it is preferable to hang it on the inside. I read the blessing in Hebrew and he repeated each word. Then he hammered it to the doorpost, and I kept my mouth shut and did not tell him that according to the Shulchan Aruch the mezuzah should actually be angled the other way. I do think, however, that he wanted to do it according to the Law.

The next morning I went to the synagogue to take a few pictures and left early…

The sign outside of the synagogue has two pictures on it. To the left, there is a crown with a Jewish star over it. On the right side, there is a picture of the Statue of Liberty and the Liberty Bell. When I asked members of the community why these are depicted on the synagogue sign I was told that the artist who made it saw these American icons in a history book and liked the stories that accompanied them.

A synagogue in rural Ghana struck me as a similar non-sequitor. But it's here, and the community will continue by the determination of its members. With no knowledge of Judaism, the community has relied on the generosity and advice of well-intentioned white people (and yet they showed almost no interest in my practices, leading me to think that they either have white man fatigue or just are not as curious about me as I was about them).

There is little about their Judaism that is uniquely Ghanaian, yet somehow that would seem Jewishly appropriate. Because the community has a rather short history, the law has not been adapted and new customs have not been adopted. Rather, it is they who have accepted the customs of others and received the law as it has been interpreted by the larger Jewish world. The community's uniqueness is the members themselves who lack Jewish education but seem genuine and devout in their beliefs. They are friendly and welcoming, and I hope I can visit them again soon, but it's a rough journey…

Addendum #1: Pictures of the synagogue and Joseph's house are posted. Follow the link at the top right.

Addendum #2: One thing the community urgently needs is over-sized satin yarmulkes. I know that there was a great abundance of these produced in the 1980s and 90s and freely distributed at weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs up and down the eastern seaboard. Preferably, they would cover about 75% of the head and they must be hot pink. I can't stress that enough. It's something of a national color here. If you can find any, even just one, please contact me immediately. Your gift of just one hot pink satin yarmulke can cover a child's uncovered head.

Addendum #3: Addendum #2 is not serious.

Addendum #4: Alex wants to learn how to read Hebrew. If anyone has a good idea about how to teach someone Hebrew without a teacher, please let me know. A good book? A book with a CD? Are there MP3s available? There is someone going to community for a few months. The easiest solution would be for her to teach him. I will try and find out what her plans are.

New Pictures

2007-01-10T18:19:00.000Z

I have uploaded some new pictures (see link on the right). Because of school vacation and my parents visiting, I have been a bit out of my normal routine. This weekend I am planning on travelling to a community of Ghaianan Jews (seriously). More details next week. To find out more you can also Google Ghana Jew.

Jesus and Juju

2006-12-14T17:26:00.000Z

Religion is strong here. The southern part of Ghana where I live is mostly Christian while the northern part is significantly more Muslim. In my town, there is a Muslim district, which I live on the border of. But most of the culture that I'm exposed to here is Christian.

Religion manifests itself in so many ways here. In education, there are Methodist schools, Presbyterian schools, Catholic schools, and Muslim schools in my town, to name a few. At my school, which is a government school and not officially associated with any religion, many students take Christian Religious Studies and all students take Religious Moral Education, a class that could be renamed Christian Religious Moral Education because those seem to be the values that are preached in this class. No Muslim classes are offered, but there are Muslim students at the school.

Religious-themed music is popular, and a surprising number of students enjoy praying, probably because it involves a lot of singing and dancing. Church attendance is not 100% on Sundays, but it seems fairly high. There are dozens of churches in my town of a few thousand people to fill.

Signs of religion are everywhere too. People give their businesses names like, "Hand of God Cleaning Service" and "All Proclaim Jesus is Lord Enterprises." Stickers on taxis and buses give thanks to god for providing these vehicles. "By the grace of God" is a standard everyday phrase. Preachers on tro-tros (mini-buses) are a regular site and most passengers not only pray along with them but often give them money too.

I could go on and on about Christianity in Ghana, but my point is that this religion, which is strongly entrenched in so many different parts of life, exists side-by-side with Juju. I don't know the proper translation of Juju, but it's what the local fetish priests practice. This "magic" is not viewed as some anachronistic, obscure cult. It's widely believed.

For example, there was recently a case of a fetish priest in a nearby town who murdered his wife and child (don't worry, no one I asked could recall a similar case in the area). I listened as one of the teachers at my school, himself a university graduate, was telling the story to other teachers. After recounting the ritualistic nature of the killing, the teacher said that it was very important to catch this criminal right away because if he touches a wall he can vanish. The other teachers then interrupted that they need to smash an egg on his forehead. The storyteller agreed. Yes, an egg to the forehead would prevent him from vanishing.

Over the past few days, I've discussed this Juju with several students and teachers. I have been informed that these priests have powers. They can turn blood into money (but why wouldn't they turn the blood into dollars instead of cedis?). They can move someone's mouth to the back of his head. They can vanish and reappear somewhere else. Also, if a preying mantis goes up your nose you will change sexes, and there are dwarfs with backwards feet who live in the forests (this fact came out several weeks ago while I was teaching science and one of the students asked me about the DNA of dwarfs. I thought she was talking about short humans, so I told her that their DNA is nearly identical and a very small difference makes them shorter. But she pressed further and asked about the backwards feet. Right.).

So far nearly everyone I have spoken to believes in this sort of thing. The Juju priests get their power from Satan, which allows it to fit in with Christianity. Not sure how the dwarfs and preying mantises work.

I suppose a belief is a belief and people can believe whatever they want to believe. If God can publish books from the top of a mountain and have a kid, why can't Satan grant magical powers? So don't forget to always carry an egg with you and watch out for preying mantises and dwarfs...

Addendum #1: The term is over! Woohoo! I'm going on a vacation from my 27 month vacation...

Stop Calling Me Osama and Other Random Happenings

2006-12-08T13:06:00.000Z

The other day I realized that every time I eat beans I am also eating bugs. This is unfortunate, but I'm still going to eat beans.

Beans are sold out of a giant 2-3 foot in diameter open-air bowl. Beans are bought by the cupful. One cup, measured with an old tin can, will last me a month or so. I have bought beans three times, and the last two times the bag of beans I brought home was filled with small insects. After the first time, I figured it was a fluke, so I threw it away. After the second time, I figured this is something I'm just going to have to deal with. I try to pick them out and rinse the beans, but the bugs are small, so I'm sure I'm missing some. And cooked beans that I buy from someone on the street for lunch surely have not been cleaned so well.

So I eat insects. I've eaten much much "worse" things in this country (poopsoup anyone?).

Because of my beard and light skin, I get called Jesus by random people on the street. I often find this amusing and sometimes I play along telling people in Twi that yes I am Jesus, and I have returned. I think they generally take this as a joke. So far I don't have masses of people following me around worshipping my shoes or anything.

Sometimes people also call me Osama, as in Osama bin Laden. I don't get the sense that he's popular here, but people have heard of him and apparently they know at least two things about him: 1 - he has lighter skin than they do and 2 - he has a beard. I don't find being called Osama amusing at all. I used to ignore it, but occasionally I'm in the mood to get angry at a random Ghanaian.

This was the case the other day when, walking down my very own street, a 20-something man said 'Osama' as I was walking by. Using a combination of English and Twi, I told him that what he was doing was wrong, and I told him my name is Kwabena. I started walking away and I again heard him say Osama. Now I got angry. I asked him if he spoke English (he did) and I again told him that what he was saying was wrong. I asked him if he knew who Osama bin Laden was (he did).

He then pointed to his 5-year old brother and said, "this is Osama. This small boy's name is Osama." Yikes. I was very apologetic and I tried to explain to him that sometimes people call me Osama because of my beard (so weird to be explaining this to a Ghanaian), and I don't like it. I don't remember this guy's name and I also couldn't pick him up out of a lineup, so now I'm extra friendly to any 20-something man that I see on my street.

The other day we had a teachers' meeting at school. I have only attended two other meetings, and both quickly deteriorated into discussions of salaries and other payments to teachers. The focus is usually on "extra classes money."

The school day technically goes from 7:15 to around 1:20, but in reality the last class of the day is over at 3:10. Classes between 1:20 and 3:10 are called "extra classes." In addition to tuition, uniform fee, computer fee, entertainment fee, student council fee, PTA fee, etc, there is a special 50,000 cedi fee per term for "extra classes." This money is then divided among all of the teachers at the end of each term. If every student in the school paid, each teacher would receive about 2.7 million cedis per year, or almost 300 dollars. But not every student pays, and some of the money is used for other purposes, such as transportation to funerals of relatives of teachers.

Because of the strike, the headmaster, with the support of the government, ruled that all extra classes money for the term would not go to the teachers. This announcement was made at a previous meeting, so the teachers should not have been surprised by it (but they were and they were angry). Compounding their anger was the fact that the Board and headmaster had decided to use the money to build toilets for the girls (currently there are not any and they share with the boys, I think). Teachers not only did not understand the importance of girls' toilets, they also took this as a severe insult. Hilarity ensued at the meeting and I typed up a letter (they can't type) that all of the teachers signed which was sent to the Board.

Killing a bug or any small living creature in my house is often a hard decision. If I kill a spider, will there be more flies? Are the lizards keeping the spiders in check? Whose making sure the ants don't eat my food (they do)? And will the frog really bring the snake? It's a delicate Darwinian balance. One exception is the cockroach. As far as I'm concerned, cockroaches, which live in my freakin' latrine, serve absolutely no useful purpose.

All of this life in my house keeps my cat busy. Watching him (now a confirmed male after I brought him to the government vet) chase around a frog is PBS nature show quality material. He doesn't have a killer instinct, but he likes to swat it, watch it run away, and then chase it down. It's a small frog, the body about the size of one my cat's paws. Watching my cat chase things is one of the many ways I pass the time.

It's Funeral Day

2006-12-02T12:58:00.000Z

It's Saturday, so that means funerals. I have yet to attend a funeral in Ghana, but I see them happening all over. And I've talked to Peace Corps volunteers who have been to funerals, so it's sort of kind of not really like I've been to one.

The biggest difference between funerals in Ghana and America is that they don't seem to be sad occasions here. I don't doubt that people here mourn, but funerals are not the place for it. Funerals are celebrations of the life that was lived and, as far as I have seen, are characterized by the following:

Dress - Funeral attendees generally wear either black, red, or both. If the person lived a particularly long life, I think the custom is to wear white. There are also funeral t-shirts. Funeral t-shirts usually have a big picture of the deceased and generally say something like, "In loving memory of Kwame Appiah Danquah 1956 - 2006." They are often black with red writing.
Posters - Funerals often take place weeks or even months after the death. This allows for plenty of time to promote the upcoming funeral around town. I don't find funeral posters to be particularly good advertising because the posters generally have way too much information. In addition to a picture of the deceased and a bio, it seems that everyone who has ever met this person needs to have their names on the poster. The relatives, neighbors, friends, pastors, etc. All this makes for too much text on a little poster. These posters are all over town.
Music - Anything, just play it loud! I think the size of the speakers at a Ghanaian funeral is a status symbol. Ghanaians often stack huge speakers or put several large speakers right next to each other. Ironically, the quality of the speakers is awful, so it's usually just a loud noisy staticky mess, presumably with the sound from each speaker interfering with the sound from the others. Funeral music ranges from relgious music to 50 Cent to the local popular music, which is sort of a combination of rap and hip-hop.
Tents - It's not an official function in Ghana unless you have tents. Tents are generally arranged in a rectangle, leaving a large awkward, open space in the middle. This is how it is at graduations, weddings, etc, basically any serious function in Ghana has tents. (By tents I mean what you might put up in America in a large backyard if you were having people over on a summer day for some sort of party, not the kind you would sleep in.) Every function in Ghana also has plastic chairs under the tents.
Timing - All day and all night long...A few days ago there was a funeral on my street. The music continued all night and into the next morning (although the music was a bit mellower in the morning).
Dancing - There is dancing at church and there is dancing at funerals. From what I've seen, children are often the ones dancing while everyone else is off getting drunk.
Drinking - Yes, please, but first spill some for the gods, as is often the custom. Local drinks are called bitters. They're drinkable, but I wouldn't recommend it.
Transportation - Ghanaians generally overpack vehicles, and because funerals are the town's biggest weekly parties and transportation is expensive, funerals are no exception. Often, large flatbed trucks are stuffed with people, some barely hanging on. People riding in these large funeral-mobiles are often loud and many seem like they have already spent the morning drinking in preparation for more drinking at the funeral.

Funerals are a booming industry here. Life expectancy is 56 and the average woman is still having more than 4 kids. That means there are a lot of people here and they're dying young. So there are funerals all the time. Saturday is the big day for funerals presumably because Sunday is for church and the other days are working days if you're fortunate enough to have a job.

Other than the funerals themselves, the most visible signs of funerals are people making caskets. They're everywhere, and the caskets seem to be about the fanciest thing that most people will ever own. In Accra, there is one part of the capital that manufactures and sells "novelty" caskets for people who want to be buried in a giant rooster, cell phone, gun or bus, to name a few examples...

Addendum #1: There are only 2 weeks of teaching left in the term. The three week break starts December 15, during which I will be welcoming my first American guests to Ghana. Unfortunately, they're my parents (just kidding!).

Back to Normal

2006-11-27T14:18:00.000Z

(written on November 17)

The strike is over. Nearly all of the teachers have returned to the classroom, and one of them got a bit of a workout at school today.

A few weeks ago, a court ruled that the strike was illegal and ordered the teachers back. But they remained defiant for a few days until the government announced that their salaries for the month of October were being withheld. Some remained committed to the strike, but the union officially called it off last Friday.

So with two weeks of class left in the term, school has finally begun. The first year students have arrived and teachers seem to be generally showing up for work. The first years (called juniors around here) are abused by faculty and the second and third year students. "Abuse" is probably a term that would be disputed by the staff here. Two weeks of weeding, sweeping, and moving furniture by the juniors is considered normal here and certainly would not be termed abusive. The school could easily afford to hire a few local men to do these jobs (unskilled labor is really cheap), but for some reason the people who run the schools prefer that the students do the physical labor.

Various forms of hazing by the senior students are common. Some demand money for phony "school fees" or other scams. Others resort to more traditional forms of physical abuse. This morning I witnessed the punishment for these abuses.

The entire school gathered outside one of the school buildings for an "assembly." Each of the twelve classes, which range in size from 35 to 65, was arranged in something like a line. At this assembly, the headmaster lectured the students about discipline. The headmaster is a quiet man, but he can be quite amusing. He talked for about 15 minutes about all of the different types of misbehavior that had been going on at school and in the dorms. Then, the assistant headmaster, an unashamed big fan of the cane, called out the names of about ten students. These students walked out to the front.

Meanwhile, one of the teachers went to the administration building to retrieve the cane. Technically, only the headmaster is supposed to cane students and technically each student is supposed to receive only three hits. But those rules are for pansies, and pansies don't grow in Ghana.

One at a time, each student bent over making about a 135 degree angle at the waist with their bodies. The teacher caned each student approximately four times in the buttocks and then once in the back. All of this in front of the entire school. Some of the students tried to move with the cane to minimize the pain, leaning in the direction of the hit as it was about to come. Some of them just stood there and took it. A few of the students had an issue with their shorts. Apparently the cloth was a bit too baggy and was interfering with the cane making direct contact with the body. I suppose the teacher who was administering the punishment felt that the pain should be maximized, so some of their hits had to be repeated (do over!).

One of the students protested the punishment, claiming that he was not involved but was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time. I know this student because he comes to the computer lab almost every day. He's small and probably could not hurt another student even if he tried. The day before he had bought me bananas, and he has repeatedly expressed interest in buying me oranges. Yesterday I also saw him typing that he wants to be a good boy, so he will take good friends like Mr. Ari (that's me). Bribery and brownnosing notwithstanding, he seems like a good kid and I doubt he was beating up any students.

Addendum #1: In happier news, I got a cat! He's about two and half months old and is orange. He was carried across town in a boy's arms to my house. He was absolutely petrified when he got to my house and spent the first 12 hours hiding. At 4 in the morning, I got up to feed him tuna fish (I had already fed him the previous night), and this was the turning point of our relationship. He emerged from his hiding spot and instead of hissing at me as he had been, he climbed on my leg. I named him Eish, the Hebrew word for fire, because he's orange and he's got a lot of energy, as kittens do.

Addendum #2: I have since learned that my cat is female. This is OK, I guess.

Addendum #3: The third member of my Peace Corps group - the 32 other people who came over with me in June - has left the country and will not return.

The New Utah's Heritage

2006-11-10T13:29:00.000Z

There are literally signs of well-meaning non-Ghanaians all over. Signs on the sides of major roads indicate that they (the roads, not the signs although I suppose both) were built with the assistance of the government of Japan. The country's electricity infrastructure has been backed by other Asian nations. Many schools have big signs that read HiPC benefit (Highly Indebted Poor Country), meaning that money was made available from international donors for their construction because of Ghana's high debt. These signs, with HiPC underlined in bright, cheery, rainbow colors never made international debt look like so much fun. On a smaller scale, I've seen latrines (the deluxe kind) decorated with the stars and stripes with a sign indicating that they were a project of USAID.

More locally, the Minnesota Bible School is right outside of my town. And my town boasts a Methodist church that was built by some Europeans in the 1920s, and it is modeled after a medieval cathedral. It similarly dominates my town's "skyline." Non-Methodist town residents seem ambivalent towards this towering structure, but it's inevitably the first thing Peace Corps volunteers notice about my town ("what is THAT doing here?").

And then there's my school's library. It seems that most of the collection is donated from somewhere. There are definitely some good things: a complete 1993 World Book, textbooks about English, math, and science from Ghana and abroad, books by Dickens (but does anyone really like Dickens), world maps, and Al Gore's "Earth in the Balance."

But my favorite part of the collection are five (5) middle school textbooks sent to us by the Church of Latter Day Saints titled, "The New Utah's Heritage" ('The New' is written in smaller letters, indicating this edition is far better than the original). Jessica Bunting had one of the books in 1996 at Bingham Middle School and listed the book as issued in "good" condition. Jessi Hunn had the book in 1999 and described the condition of the book at issuance as "boring." And then some Mormons decided that this book would be better used in Ghana.

Chapter 1 is objectively titled, "Utah: A Great Place," but the introduction warns, "This book will open the door to Utah's history and people, but you will want to read more books about Utah to fully explore its rich past." Indeed. If only my school had more books about Utah. That's exactly what we need here. Thank you Mormons for identifying this critical need in Ghana and promptly filling it.

I suppose some Mormons may think that everyone should learn about the "western Zion" (as the chapter on Mormon religion refers to Utah).

Addendum #1: The epoxy has been used. But I still have plenty left so no need to run out and ship more to me.

Addendum #2: The computers in my lab all have viruses. It's horrible. I hate trying to fix computers.

The Boy, the Girl, and Other People I Live With

2006-11-01T13:22:00.000Z

Before I moved into my house, I was introduced to the Boy, named Kwame and also a 20 year old second-year student at my school. His uncle, who is at least three times his age, built the house that I live in. The Boy had been living there for several years I guess just to make sure that the place did not fall down.

So I fully expected to see the Boy the day I moved in. But I did not expect to see the Boy's brother also living there. The Boy's brother is named Kome (I have no idea how to spell that, but it's pronounced Ko-may. So I had Kwame and Ko-may). Kome had a speech impediment, which combined with the fact that English was his second language made it challenging to communicate with him for the first few weeks. Kome had failed his secondary school exit exam so he spent the summer holed up in the house studying. He left at the beginning of October to take his exams and live with his mother.

He was immediately replaced by the girl, named Ama and probably about 15 years old. The Girl used to live in the house on the weekends but became a full-time resident in September. I was not happy about this at all. Unlike Ghanaians, I value my privacy and my house is the one place in my town where I can sort of get away from Ghana. The more people going in and out, the harder it is to get away. Ama had failed her final year of junior secondary school, so she is in the process of repeating it.

Although her grandfather built my house and is a "big man" in town, the Girl's family seems significantly poorer. There are days when she complains that she has not eaten all day, so I either give her money to buy some food or cook extra food for her. It has not happened often enough to trouble me too much, but it may get to a point where I start to wonder why taking care of the Girl is my responsibility. Her grandfather can certainly afford to care for her, and if it continues I may go talk to him (he's also one of my favorite people to talk to in my town).

Then there's the Boy's friend. The Boy's friend is also a second-year student at my school. He comes from a nearby town. It's too far and expensive to commute every day, and it's expensive to be a boarding student, so Kwame generously offered to let his friend stay in our house. He was only living there for about a week before he went back home. I think because of the teachers' strike he has not bothered coming to school. I'm not sure if he will move back in if the strike ever ends.

And then there's the people who play Draft every day on my porch. I don't know enough about Draft or about American checkers to know the difference. There may not be any at all. The Draft players' schedule is somewhat unpredictable but they are there every day, and they are loud. There's often a morning shift from about ten to noon and then the older men come from about two to six. The skinny old guy who "manages" my house seems to run the show.

There's probably some calculation that can be done to determine the number of different possible games of Draft that could ever be played. I'm sure it's astronomical, probably more than the number of atoms in the universe or something like that. But I'm also sure that the skinny old guy has played every possible game. Twice. At least. I just can't imagine checkers being interesting enough to warrant dedicating 3+ hours of my life to it everyday. I guess good for him that he has a hobby.

Then there's my neighbor, who seems to be second cousins with the Boy, who comes over every day to use the latrine. I guess that's OK. Apparently his house does not have a proper latrine. And then there's every kid in the neighborhood (sometimes it seems like there are thousands of kids living next door) who thinks that my porch is their playground. I guess property is more communal here. Also, they're little kids, so the more I yell at them and tell them to go away the more they want to play on my porch. (When little kids watch white people, they want to see them doing stuff. Getting angry and yelling would only be entertainment to them.)

My house is busier than I would like, but I suppose that's how it is here. It's fairly unusual for someone to have a house to themselves anyway...

Addendum #1: A few new pictures. Just click on the link to the right. Me and my beard, my town, my school, the melted toilet, etc. Uploading pictures here takes a while and is expensive, so I could only post a few.

Two Things That May Not Change for a While Are

2006-10-23T12:01:00.000Z

The teacher's strike and the lack of electricity every 2 days.

Last year doctors and nurses went on strike The government thinks that if it caves to the teacher's union it will lose its power with every government union. So far it has failed to recognize the existence of the striking union and is instead just now beginning discussions with the other teacher's union (the bigger one that is not officially striking).

I think everyone involved recognizes that at some point shutting down a significant part of the nation's education system becomes a bad thing for the country. I don't think they agree on whose responsibility that is. Through all of this, the teachers still get paid. The union president said they're prepared to strike all year. Teachers do get low salaries. With more than 50% of the country's workforce in agriculture, any job with a salary is atypical, especially outside of the major cities. Two years ago, the striking union had made an agreement with the government which the government ignored, for reasons that I don't know.

Of course, Peace Corps (and therefore me) are neutral. Government? Union? All I can is shrug and occasionally ask questions around school like, "Is this ever going to end? Seriously, because it's going to be weird once there's normal school going on."

As for the electricity, it's usually on for 48 hours and then off for 12. I don't really mind it that much. If it's off during the day, it means I don't have to open the lab for the students (which right now is a chore I took on that maybe has some potential). And at night my town is so peaceful without electricity. When there are no clouds and the stars are out it reminds me of New York (a New York in which I shut off all of the electricity, remove the people, flatten all of the buildings and surround it with green jungle).

All of this because some body of water in the eastern part of the country is too low. And the dry season has not even started yet. I think they said the problem can be traced back to some other body of water to the north of Ghana, but I guess it really doesn't matter. It's probably not raining there either.

But the price of gasoline came down! Woo! I think the only way this directly effects me is that cab drivers no longer tell me that the price of gas is forcing them to rip me off. (they just don't provide an explanation any more).

Addendum #1: Someone from my group decided to go back to home to Alabama. He's not dead, so I won't eulogize him. He just decided he had seen enough of Ghana .

Addendum #2: Every computer at the Internet café has some Internet café software installed that keeps track of how long each user has been on, etc. Each customer has a "username" that the cashier (because that's what she is – a cashier. If she thinks she's managing this place, she's doing a horrible job) puts into the system. My name, always and every time, is "white." This makes perfect sense, unless she doesn't realize both that this username is easily accessible to me on my computer and that it's absurd to call me "white" in front of my face. Or she may just not care. I'm usually not upset by the whole obruni thing anymore. It's now kind of hilarious when someone comes up to me and just says, "Hey white." But I still hate this Internet café.

Addendum #3: National holiday today, so no school. It's the last day of Ramadan, a great way for everyone in Ghana to lose all the weight they gained during the yam festival (that line really kills over here). About twenty percent of the country is Muslim. My house is right on the border of my town's Muslim district (called Zonga District).

I am Kwabana

2006-10-17T16:49:00.000Z

Every Ghanaian has a name based on the day of the week they were born. There is one male name for each day and one female name for each day. I think this is done all over Ghana, although the names may vary in the north. In my part of Ghana, names like Kofi, Kwesi, Kwame, and Yaw are all male names. So men generally have one of these and a Christian name and they can go by either one (sometimes they use both). Kofi Annan (the UN Secretary General is Ghanaian) means that he was born on a Friday and he is the fourth born in his family (Annan means four).

I was born on a Tuesday (or at least I was for the purpose of my Ghanaian name). I never used a Ghanaian name when I lived with my homestay family, but I quickly got tired of being called obruni or one of its many derivatives. And when I introduced myself as 'Ari,' I was usually either called Harry (little do they know that no American baby has been named Harry since 1953) or Eric (not terrible, but it's not me). I needed to give people a name they understood and could easily remember.

So, shorly after I moved into my town, I only told people in my town my Ghanaian name, Kwabana. The only exception is people at my school, students and teachers. But when I walk on the same few streets I walk on everyday, I get fewer and fewer obrunis and more and more kwabanas (or Mr. Kwabana). I also get called Jesus and Osama bin Laden because of my beard. Jesus, however, is more frequent. I've only heard Osama once or twice.

So I am Kwabana. Please never call me that. I think I'll be pretty sick of it in two years...

Let's Go Mets!

The Strike Continues...

2006-10-13T15:06:00.000Z

The only teachers actually teaching at my school are the volunteers. In addition to me, the school has two Ghanaian national service volunteers, and the assistant headmistress is also teaching. There may be one or two others that I don't know about it.

I think if there was a strike when I was a high school student I probably would have been thrilled. Some of the students here probably are, but some are "serious" (see Addendum #1) about doing well and going on to university. In Ghana, university admission is almost entirely based on an exam that the students take after completing secondary school. And it's really hard to do well on an exam if there's no class and you have not purchased any of the books to study from.

The West African Examination Council (WAEC, pronounced why-ack) is a standardized test taken by students in five English speaking countries in West Africa: Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Liberia (yes, those are all real countries). The exam consists of four required core subjects and three or four elective subjects. Each subject test is three to five hours in length and generally consists of a multiple choice section and an essay section. Some tests are entirely practical/lab work.

In Ghana, the core subjects are English, math (pronounced 'mass' here), integrated science, and social studies. Elective subjects are different for each country but they range from animal husbandry to woodwork. Some of the more obscure subjects include: picture making, typewriting, basketry, and shorthand. I don't know if these are actually offered in Ghana, and they are certainly not taught at my school. Computers is not "examinable," meaning that Ghana does not offer a computer WAEC test. So in some ways what I teach is less important, but basic computer knowledge is not easily acquired here. It's a marketable skill, a fact generally understood by students living in a society with rampant unemployment, but that doesn't mean they care about class.

Anyway, the third year students will take this exam around June, and because it's cross-country, the exam will not be delayed on account of the strike. I can't overemphasize the importance of this exam. Financial constraints notwithstanding, it is basically the sole determinate of university admission. So, I offered to teach integrated science and math to the third year students. Physics, chemistry, and biology are not taught at my school.

According to WAEC, "integrated science seeks to equip the individual with an integrated body of scientific knowledge and raise the level of scientific awareness of the individual. It also seeks to equip individuals with comprehensive scientific skills that will enable them to function competently in the present technological era." I have several problems with this definition. Why does it go from singular in the first sentence to plural in the second? Why does it define the word integrated with the word integrated? Why does it keep using the word equip? The WAEC manual then goes on to list the requirements for taking the exam. "It is presumed that the candidates taking the exam must have…carried out activities relating to the rearing of at least one of the following groups of animals: chickens/ducks/turkeys, goats/sheep/cattle, fish…"

So I'm in slightly over my head. The reality is that few students in Ghana will actually have the practical lab and farm experience that are "presumed" by WAEC. The topics on the syllabus range from stuff I know a little bit about (electricity and magnetism, modern communication, computers, light, energy) to topics that I know absolutely nothing about (animal production, lawns, forest and game reserves). But I have the text book (my school has books - that's a huge plus, but unfortunately few of the students have paid their fees so they don't have any), so I'm ready to give it a go. I plan on teaching until the strike ends, which could be next week but more likely many weeks from now. So I'll teach the subjects I know about and leave sheep production to the actual teacher. Next week I will teach mathematics to the third year students too.

Addendum #1: Every day I open the computer lab for a few hours. Most students use Mavis Beacon to practice typing, but not every computer has the program (these are the computers that don't have CD drives). So I tell the students to type what they are thinking as practice. Today, a student typed the following (actually, he typed it all in caps as students here tend to do): because of the strike action teaching and learning are not going on well at all and due to this situation we are likely to fail our final year examination and this final year exams is our life and due to this we are pleading the teachers to come and help us and we the student will also try our best to learn whatever they will teach our.

Addendum #2: Is there an offline version of Wikipedia or some other mostly text encyclopedia? This would be really useful for schools in the "developing world." There are many schools that have computers but lack internet access. They can not afford to buy a CD-based encyclopedia for every computer, but Wikipedia or a condensed version on every hard drive would be an invaluable tool. I want to teach my students to use the computer for information, but all I have is an English dictionary and the Bible. It's a start…

Addendum #3: It's great that the Yankees are out of the playoffs and the Mets are still in the playoffs. I don't think that's happened in 20 years, but it's about time.

Addendum #4: Ghanaians who use the Internet love "meeting people." They chat (painfully slowly because they often can't type) and go on dating websites. So many dating websites. Last time I was at the Internet cafe, the guy next to me had an inbox full of emails from jewishfriendfinder.com (I would have thought it was for Jews, but why limit it?). And as I'm typing the BOY next to me is using an email address and user name called "Queen Anita." If you meet a Ghanaian online, be careful...

Addendum #5: No where am I more frustrated in Ghana than in the Internet cafe of my nearest large town. I absolutely hate that place. Especially computer #10. Damn you computer #10! You never connect! Argh!

Another Lazy Day in Beautiful Ghana...

2006-10-06T13:19:00.000Z

When school "opened" on September 11, approximately 25% of my school's teachers were on strike. One particular union, apparently made up of teachers who have actually graduated from university, decided that they wanted more pay and would like the head of the national education ministry to step down. Four weeks later, the strike continues and no one knows when it will end.

This week, many of the other teachers at my school who are not members of the striking union decided they were going to stop teaching. Maybe there's a reason why these teachers were teaching last week and stopped now, but I don't know it. As a result, the students, tired of sitting in their classrooms doing nothing, seize the opportunity to leave school early, usually before noon. Because the first-year students still have not reported to school (they're waiting for the strike to end), I only teach in the afternoons. By then, all of the students have gone home.

The bottom line is that I have not taught all week and I probably won't teach next week either. It's hard to complain about not working, but it's a little frustrating too. I did finally open the lab to the students. Most of the students who come to the lab in their free time use Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Others just aimlessly maneuver through Windows with no clue of what they're doing. I'm all for pointless exploration, but at some point I have to ask these students what they're trying to find out of fear that they may do something harmful to my school's precious computers. Later in the term, I'm going to hold a school-wide typing competition. This will definitely get a few students excited, but I'm not sure how many.

A note about my school's computers (in case anyone is interested). We have 21 computers, and 20 of them actually work. They range from a Pentium III-733 running Windows XP to a Pentium I-133 running Windows 95. No internet connection and no printer. Most of the computers have a CD drive, but some do not making it really hard to get any programs onto them. Some of these computers don't even have Microsoft Word, which is one of the major topics we'll be covering...

Addendum #1: Who gets injured jogging in the outfield? Absurd! It will make the Mets' inevitable World Series victory all the more dramatic. Go Tigers!

Addendum #2: Tonight there is a Jay-Z concert in Accra. Tickets range from 1 million cedis ($110) to 600,000 cedis ($70). I know of a few Peace Corps volunteers that are going. I'm saving my money for the 2008 Africa Cup (football, aka soccer).

Maybe Ghana is not quite ready for piped water?

2006-10-02T15:09:00.000Z

In the first ten days of 5767 my bedroom flooded, I shook hands with the president of Ghana, and my toilet melted.

5767 - Day 2: Two American friends came over for a festive holiday (Rosh Hashana) meal. They are not Jewish, but I suppose they can still celebrate Rosh Hashana. We were sitting around my house and as usual they were people playing games on my porch (more on that another time) and for whatever reason there was someone taking a shower. Suddenly, the sound of the water got much louder and more intense. Crazy, unpredictable Ghanaian water pressure, we assumed. So we kept sitting there until my friend spotted water pouring out my kitchen. I got up to inspect and saw water bursting from the pipe under the kitchen sink.

While I went to find the old guy who manages the house (more on him another time), my two friends were saving the day. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the concrete floor slopes down from the kitchen directly into my room. The water was flowing so effeciently under my door it almost seemed by design. At at this point, I still had no furniture, other than a bed, so everything I owned in Ghana was lying on the floor as the mighty kitchen river was about to rush in.

To make a long story short, the old guy shut off the water main, my friends threw everything onto my bed saving all of my stuff, and I scooped up two inches of water off my floor with a plastic cup (I had help). Measures have been put into place to hopefully ensure that this never happens ever again. Also, the stir-fried vegetables (they sell eggplant in my town - this is exciting), chicken and rice all topped with sweet and sour sauce were excellent. Collecting ingredients for this meal was quite a project.

5767 - Day 5: 2006 marks the 45th anniversary of Peace Corps in Ghana and around the world (Ghana was the first country to have PC Volunteers). I'm against celebrating the 45th anniversary. If you're celebrating 45, then you've got to celebrate every 5 years. It's too much.

But, Peace Corps decided to throw a party at the US Ambassador's house. Lots of embassy people, easily distinguished by their suits and ties, and about 100 volunteers were there along with assorted bureaucrats, hangers-on, misc. President Kufuor, who recently had a press conference in Washington with C. Rice, pulled up 45 minutes late, or exactly on time in Ghana. He gave the final speech of the evening and then ceremonially cut the anniversary cake and posed for a picture. I was standing directly behind him, so I was right there when he turned around to shake hands. Weak grip, although I'm pretty sure he could take our president in a fight. Also, my face was spotted on Ghana national television by the old man who manages my house. Of course, all white people probably look the same to him, so really, it could have been anyone that he saw.

After the party, Peace Corps put up all volunteers at a Ghana-fancy hotel at the beach. The regular price of a room was upwards of $70! I've stayed on the floor in places that cost me $2 a night, so this was pretty absurd. Peace Corps actually gave us 2 nights, but being the responsible teacher that I am, I only stayed for one.

5767 - Day 7: More friends over for dinner and more plumbing problems. It was light off, so we put candles around the house. Someone, not me but really it doesn't matter, put a candle on top of the toilet. Seemed harmless. The homemade pasta sauce, garlic bread and fried bananas with melted chocolate were all delicious. And then we went to sleep.

I was really surprised the next morning by the sight of my melted toilet. I would not have thought that a toilet could melt. In fact, the tank was made of plastic and there was nothing left of it but a heap of melted trash (the seat was fine). I know what a heap of melted trash looks like because they burn garbage here. No real infrastructure to dispose of it any other way.

The whole thing smelled of burnt rubber and a pipe was slightly leaking. At this point I was mostly concerned with the possibility of another flood, but I learned during The Great Flood of 5767 that if there's a small leak somewhere, I can stop it by turning on a faucet elsewhere in the house.

Unfortunately, no one saw the toilet melt. It would have been fascinating I'm sure and I'm eagerly awaiting a full report from the local police department's forensic unit. My preliminary observations indicate significant smoke damage on the wall and there are these bizarre black webs in the corners of the room. Were there flames? Did it burn slowly or just burst into oblivion?

(Note: The most amazing thing about my local police department is that I actually have one. Many town are too small or too poor. It is equipped with at least one police car and one motorcycle. It has no phone line, but it does have a radio that it can use to contact the police department in the nearest big town. Needless to say, it does not have a forensic unit.)

Obviously I have learned my lesson. Next time I leave a candle on top of my plastic toilet, I'm going to stay up to learn exactly how a toilet melts...

Addendum #1: I was at the Wal-Mart of Ghana a few days ago (called Melcom's and to the best of my knowledge not associate with Walmart) and the TV section was showing baseball highlights! This was very exciting as I don't think I've seen baseball since I was in the US. But unfortunately I learned that Pedro Martinez is out for the year. Bummer. That will probably make winning the World Series even more dramatic (not that I'll see a single pitch). And apparently the Giants are in last place! Also a bummer, but again, probably won't see a single play.

Addendum #2: Jon, I am quite tan. Sort of a reddish/khaki color that's nothing even close to Ghana color. Also, really enjoyed your article in "Acharei ken," which I just got. So disappointed I'll miss my 10 year anniversary next summer. I don't think we'll have a very good turnout.

My Dishtowels Are Killing Me

2006-09-19T17:58:00.000Z

I recently bought "new" dishtowels. It's hard to know if anything I
buy here is really new. For example, I bought a cell phone several
weeks ago. But when I turned it on there were a few numbers stored in
the phone with Chinese characters. When I went back to the store to
point this out, the owner of the store insisted that the phone was
still new, it's just that someone in China had stored a few numbers on
it to test it at the cell phone factory. He then said something in Twi
to the woman who sold me the phone, and I'm pretty sure it meant
something like "you forgot to delete the phone numbers from the phone
before you sold it to this white man." So they gave me a new phone,
although it still displays the China Mobile logo when I turn it on.

But getting back to the dishtowels...In the Land of Secondhand, it's
important to wash things before using them. And when I washed my new
orange, pink, and red dishtowels by hand in a bucket (that's how it's
done here) I had orange, pink and red water. That's when it hit me -
my dishtowels, along with most everything else here, are slowly
killing me.

There are things here that kill quickly. An example is malaria. But in
order not to die from this disease that kills 3 million people each
year, I take anti-malaria medication daily. Supposedly this isn't
particularly good for my body, but at least I won't die from malaria
in the next two years. Peace Corps certainly does not want me to be
another statistic (note: many volunteers take a weekly medication, but
supposedly it makes people crazy, so i go with the daily anti-biotic).
And I sleep under an insecticide-treated bednet. That can't be healthy
in the long run. Also, I spray Raid everywhere. It certainly does
"kill bugs dead" but it's probably also going to give me some sort of
unhealthy growth at some point in the future.

I use a surprisingly large number of products that are mass-produced.
More than I anticipated when I signed up for Peace Corps (Unilever is
everywhere) These things are cheap. Way cheaper than in the US, and
they allow me to enjoy a better standard of living (depends on the
definition, i guess) here in Ghana. But safety standards in Ghana may
not be quite up to par. So what I'm getting at is I'm using a lot of
cheap products that may contain ingredients that are not quite
rigorously tested for human safety. And, in the long run, these
products will be the end of me.

(Note: I pretty much have the same theory about products in the US,
but somehow the cheapness of everything has to be explained by more
than international monetary policy, the low cost of labor and other
things that I know nothing about. Don't worry, crazy conspiracy guy is
doing just fine. He just wanted something amusing to write about on
his little travel website.)

I thought that the food here in Ghana would be more natural than most
food in the US. But, pesticides abound and MSG is in everything.
Mostly it's in flavor packets that people use in stew and other
things, but they also sell large bags of pure MSG. I just take it
straight (not true)...

Addendum #1: I'd like to upload more photos, specifically of my
village and of me with a beard. Unfortunately, this Internet is slow
slow (and I actually just had to retype some of this because of a
network error). Argh. But rest assured, I look fantastic with facial
hair.

Addendum #2: Happy Jew Year.

Back to School

2006-09-17T16:15:00.000Z

Monday was the first day of school. By the end of the week, about two-thirds of the teachers had shown up. Another quarter are on strike (only a particular union is striking) and I guess the rest are just MIA. But there aren't many students. It's pretty standard in Ghana for students to slowly trickle in after the start date of school (some of the students are boarders, but I have not yet found anyone that can tell me how many).

The students that have arrived are quickly put to work. Most students are occupied with cleaning the school - sweeping classrooms, weeding the grounds, moving furniture, etc. Some are given individual assignments, such as washing the taxi owned by one of the teachers (maybe this is why most students arrive late?). Students here will do anything a teacher asks. Clean the computer lab. They're on it. Do my laundry. On it. Cook me dinner. On it.

The discipline is unlike anything I've ever seen. Students do as they're told, or rather as they're ordered. I have not yet actually asked a student to do anything for me, and I also wouldn't talk to another person the way teachers talk to students. But it's also the way many parents in Ghana talk to their children. Children are often treated somewhat like property, which probably is not subconsciously related to the economic logic of having too many kids in a developing country but I wanted to mention that anyway. Maybe this is just a cultural difference that I'm spinning negatively based on my own background. Maybe it's OK that in some cultures it's perfectly acceptable to treat children as less than what they are. Maybe Americans' behavior evolved from a similar place (I don't know. I'm not that old). There are, I'm sure, a lot of plausible explanations for the treatment of children and students here, but really, who likes social science anyway.

But, then there is the corporal punishment. At homestay, my mother and grandmother would occasionally hit one of the younger kids and the kids were often hitting each other. At school, we had an assembly this past week and one of the students had to kneel on the concrete floor in front of the whole school (well, everyone that was actually there) for the duration of the assembly because he was slightly improperly dressed. The assembly continued as if he wasn't kneeling in front of the whole school (but he was).

Caning, popular among the nation's goat herders, is still technically allowed by the national education ministry. By rule, a caning is only allowed in response to specific student misconduct and it must be administered by the headmaster and recorded in a log book. And only three hits (they don't want to be cruel)! But such technicalities are for bureaucrats pandering to NGOs and donor countries. Out here, the real world, the bush, the policy is just a bit more flexible. I've heard that students get caned for not paying their school fees, literally punishing the children for the sins of the father.

All of this puts me in a spot. I'm not going to cane any students and if I ever ask a student to do anything for me I'm going to say please and thank you. If I'm too soft and friendly, they'll eventually take advantage of it (I would). I could try and tap into the existing discipline to maintain order in my classroom, even though that mindset may come from a dirty place. In other words, I could be hard-ass without actually forcibly shoving their heads up my rear as the other teachers do. Hopefully, I'll find some middle ground.

Maybe class will start tomorrow, Monday the 18th. My class schedule is pretty light. I teach every student in the school (all 600), but each class has computers for just 40 minutes a week. The school has 12 classes (4 in each grade, or form as they're called here), so my schedule for the week is only 12 40-minute classes. And unfortunately, some classes are so large that I will need to split them into two. So those students will only have 40-minutes of class every two weeks. I'll also open the lab after school for interested students to have extra time in front of the computer. And teachers want to learn too, so I'll be busier than just 12 classes a week...

Addendum #1: Lack of recent updates entirely due to lack of Internet access. It seems that every time I go to the Internet cafe it's either light off or network down.

Addendum #2: Here's something delicious I make in Ghana that you can make too! Slice a banana length-wise and cover in sugar. Fry for a couple of minutes in oil. Just before it's finished pour melted chocolate on it. Yum!

Addendum #3: How are the Giants doing?

Light Off!

2006-08-31T17:05:00.000Z

A quick lesson in Ghanaian English: electrical power outages (aka blackouts) are called "light off" in Ghana. This phrase can be used in the following way: 'The Internet cafe is closed because [it is] light off.' In this example, "it is" is optional and is often omitted depending on the preference of the speaker.

This phrase, light off, is really cute when spoken by Ghanaian children. For example, when there was a blackout at my homestay house, my little sisters would yell 'light off.' And it was cute. However, it sounds kind of silly when adults say it. Nonetheless, it's a common phrase these days.

All of Ghana's electrical power is generated through a giant hydroelectric damn on the man made Lake Volta in the eastern part of the country. Although international aid has its many critics, this project, which was either funded by some Europeans or the Japanese (I can't remember) seems like a big success. It continues to power the country in an environmentally friendly way and I've read it normally generates a surplus which is then sold to neighboring countries.

However, apparently it has not rained enough in that part of the country. So there is some sort of power sharing scheme in effect. I don't know the details but the bottom line is that everyone now only has power for 12 hours a day. For me, that meant no power from 6 PM last night to about 6 AM this morning. No worries, I have nothing, other than an overhead light, that would need power. And I kind of like walking through my village in the dark. But, different parts of the country, and even different parts of the same town, are on different schedules. So when the internet cafe was closed yesterday because it was light off, that was not cool. I've been told that this sort of power scheme was last in effect 4 years ago. It lasted for 2 months.

To back up a bit, I have finally moved into my town where I will be spending the next two years (countdown starts...now!). Peace Corps volunteers in this country often go on short vacations between the end of training (August 19 for me) and moving into site. These vacations are "unofficial" because they technically violate a policy that I won't go into here. So if I did go on a vacation, it would be pretty foolish of me to write about it on the Internet. Nonetheless, I've heard that a beach on the edge of a jungle is a beautiful site.

Addendum #1: I've heard the Mets are doing pretty well. That's good.

Addendum #2: Thank you Jon/Mike/Dan/etc for your hilarious questions. I'll try to get to those at some point. And thank you for the reminder about toenails. I took care of it this morning. But I am in the process of growing my Peace Corps beard. Not sure how long I'll keep that for.

Addendum #3: Classes start on September 11 here.

Live from a Yam Festival

2006-08-13T18:39:00.000Z

Two yam festivals in two days are too many yam festivals. On Friday, about half of our group went to one of the villages, as we occasionally do, for a light evening of merriment. We stumbled on a dance party in a house (the standard Ghanaian house being a large outdoor courtyard surrounded by isolated rooms). It was kind of like a crowded frat party, except that it was all in honor of yams.

When we came in, everyone kind of stopped to watch us and see what we would do. A few people danced with us, but then the novelty seemed to wear off for everyone but the 10 year old kids. So that left us dancing with the 10 year old kids and everyone else either watching or dancing somewhere else. Bizarre. So I left pretty quickly.

That may have been a breakaway unofficial Yam Festival party. I'm not sure. The official Yam Festival party happens at the chief's house. So I headed to another village the next afternoon to the chief's house (where a friend of mind is staying). During the day, the chief and his elders sit in the front of the courtyard, which is filled with chairs. People come in and greet the chiefs and elders and then sit down. Music playing loudly in the background, so there is not too much conversation. Rather, people sit silently waiting to be greeted by the next people to arrive, who make their way around the room greeting everyone who has similiary already greeted the chief. This continues...So I left quickly.

At night, the chief's house also turns into a big dance party with too many 10 year olds.

I don't really know anything about the history or cultural significance of the local Yam Festival, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with yams. This suspicion was basically confirmed when I saw a large pile of yams sitting in front of the chief's throne throughout the precedings.

It's also maize harvest. I don't really know about my village, but in some places this is a big deal (life or death type big deal). In my village, it means everyone is shucking and kerneling maize. A few days ago, an amount of maize that can only be measured in truckloads was dumped right outside my window. Once this maize was shucked, there was then a truckload of maize shuck an earshot away. This was great for the goats, who like playing in maize shuck, but seemed like it would be horrible for my sleep. The next morning, I woke up to the smell of burning maize shuck, which is far and away the most foul thing I have smelled in two months here.

My family only bought one large bag of maize, which they then kernel (it came pre-shucked) and then soak in water for 3 days. They bring the soaked kernels to the town grinder who makes a dough. The dough is then made into banku, which is large balls fermented corn and my least favorite Ghanaian food.

Today, about twenty of us went to a nearby monkey sanctuary. This is basically a forest next to a village where monkeys have been considered sacred and are not killed. So tourists like us come to watch monkeys in the forest and take way too many digital pictures. Supposedly the monkeys also come into the village and walk around like dogs, cats, goats and chickens do in every other Ghanaian village, but we didn't see that. Nonetheless, monkey are fun to watch...

Next time you're in Kumasi, skip the Manhyia Palace Museum...

2006-08-06T13:27:00.000Z

I have returned to the Peace Corps training site in the middle of the
country and am once again staying with my host family. Two more weeks
of this and then we are officially sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers
on August 18 and I will go back to my permanent site. As part of the
swearing-in ceremony, I will be performing a dialogue in Fanti about
the Peace Corps with my friend Andrew who is also learning Fanti. We
were told when we arrived in June that the President of Ghana would be
attending the ceremony and we were continually told this until
recently when suddenly Peace Corps staff was not sure if he was
coming. Now, we know he is not coming and he is not sending anyone
from the capital to represent him. The best we'll get is some regional
minister. This is roughly equivalent to being told that President Bush
is coming (for better or worse) and then getting Charles Gargano (feel
free to Google that if you don't know who he is).

Which brings me to the Manhyia Palace. The Palace is home to the king
of the Ashantis, a tribe that used to control much of what is now
Ghana. The tribal system has not really left Ghana, it's just changed
form. Ghanaians still talk about what tribe they are from and they
have various stereotypes for each tribe. In that sense, it's like
people from the US talking about what state they are from. But, each
village/town/city in Ghana has a chief. Chiefdom is passed down
through the mother (there's a word for that, but I can't spell it).
The role of the chief is to settle local disputes and to assist in
development projects. And, like any good bureacrat, the chief sucks up
local money building a nice house, buying a car, etc.

So Peace Corps told us a month ago that we were going to the palace in
Kumasi, the second largest city in the country, to meet this king.
But, he ditched us for Morocco and we ended up not seeing his real
palace and not meeting him and instead going to the palace museum.
"This is where the king sat down and wrote letters." "This is where
the king ate breakfast." "These are the dishes the king used to eat
with." etc. etc. And it's not even particularly nice stuff, even by
Ghana standards. And none of us care at all about the Ashanti King!
It would be like visiting the home of some obscure American president.
Who would want to travel 3 hours to visit the William Henry Harrison
museum??

After the museum, we went to the Kumasi Cultural Center which sells
various crafts. I still can't differentiate between actual indigineous
Ghanaian art and tourist crap. I finally bought some fabric so I can
have clothing made for me. It costs about 35000 cedis for 2 yards of
fabric and I will probably have to pay the seamstress about another
20000. That's about $6 for a custom-made shirt...

Addendum #1: There have been a lot of amusing questions posted
recently. I'll try to address a few of them...
1) Medication is often surprisingly cheap. Example: someone in my
group bought Valium - I think it was a few hundred cedis per pill.
That's a few pennies each.

2) People in Ghana claim to be way older than they really are. A
friend of mine attended a funeral recently of a woman who died at the
age of 180! Of course there are no records to prove or disprove that,
but she probably was not 180.

3) Birthday celebration was fun. People made a cake for me and then we
went to an outdoor hotel bar. My homestay family bought me a birthday
card, which hopefully I'll post a picture of one day. Ghanaian cards
are kind of like the really gloppy religious cards that they sell in
the US only much more poorly designed.

4) The large town about 15 minutes from my permanent site has a
basketball hoop! At least I've been told. I played basketball a few
times when I went to visit a volunteer at his site when I first
arrived. Ghanaians are surprisingly absolutely awful. But very good at
jumping.

5) I do wear a Jurassic Park style hat and I do occassionally wipe my
brow with a hanky.

6) I do have a new address, but you can keep sending mail to the
address in Accra that I emailed around a while ago. Eventually, I'll
email around the new address, but it should only be used for letters.
Packages should always go to Accra. Thanks in advance for sending me
stuff.

7) I do need to get the keys to all of the rooms from the owner. I
don't anticipate this being a problem once I return to my permanent
site. Would be really weird to live in a place with 15 or so locked
doors.

8) Luke rides on Taun-Tauns on Hoth. Close. But now every time I get
on a tro tro I will think, "and I thought these things smelled bad on
the outside." Generally applicable to tro tros as well.

9) Wadi told me that Bloomberg declared a yom cham and made everyone
drink a lot of water and go to free swim. So I guess you still are not
allowed to turn the air conditioners back on.

10) There are hospitals that we're allowed to go to in Ghana. There
are 10 or 11 regional hospitals that Peace Corps has inspected and
accepted. Mike, they're waiting for your application.

11) I would not be the richest person in Ghana, but working for a
Western company and living in a developing country is a sweeeeet deal.
You earn enough dollars to live in a Western country, but you pay for
everything in cedis. Imagine making the salary you make now, but only
paying 30 cents for a cab ride...25 cents for ice cream...$1 for a
bottle of beer...etc.

Addendum #2: Jared Kushner bought the New York Observer!!! Moche, why
aren't you keeping me informed? This is HILARIOUS. Please, email me
more info (I just read the New York Times article on it).

Addendum #3: I'm horrified by the formatting of this website. Line
breaks are all off. Font size changes. Different type faces. It's a
disaster.

So this is where I will be spending the next two years...

2006-08-01T17:04:00.000Z

I'm on site visit now. This means that I've left the Peace Corps training site in central Ghana and traveled to the town that I will be spending the next two years in.

The town is different from any other place I've visited in Ghana. It's not quite a city but it's far more developed than any villages I've seen. The village I stay in for training is completely flat with nothing but one-story homes and one paved road through the middle of the village. The town I will be living in for two years is very hilly, it has buildings that are taller than one floor (!!) and it has paved roads all over the place. The narrow streets, red rooves and the fact that the biggest building is a church, which looks like it was built by colonists a few hundred years ago, gives the town a bit of a European feel (but only a bit).

The town also has a lot of nice houses, meaning they would almost be appropriate in America. The volunteer who just left my town stayed in such a house. It was known as "The White House" and was just a few minutes from the school. For better or worse, this house was not available to me. But, not having stayed in it yet, I'm happy with what they gave me.

My house was built by "a prominent citizen of the town" (that's how he was introduced to me) for the local Pentecostal (sp?) church. It was built with large funerals in mind and was meant to house guests that travelled for such occassions. Apparently, it's been used only 3 times since it was built 9 years ago. So, the house sits empty, except for a 23-year old watchman, who happens to be in his second year at the secondary school I'll be teaching in.

The house has a large porch and opens into a sitting room. The sitting room actually has couches, chairs and two ceiling fans. These are things that most volunteers don't get. The sitting rooms opens into a corridor, probably about 30 feet long by 10 feet wide. There are doors everywhere. All doors look the same but not all rooms are equal. Most of the rooms are empty, except for a bed and some are used for storage. One of the rooms will be my bedroom. There is also a kitchen with a fridge (another luxury, although it was broken, but they said they would fix it). And there is a bathroom with a shower (yet another luxury) and a flush toilet (check). In the back right of the corridor is yet another door which opens to...more doors! There are another six rooms, all empty I'm told, situated around a very small (4 feet by 2 feet) open space. There's also a second shower and another bathroom, although it's the pit latrine type.

So, that's my house. Very large, but very awkward because it's just a bunch of empty rooms. As of now I don't have the keys to them, but I'll have to work on that. They said they would clean it and fix it up a bit before I return in a few weeks. It's far larger than the average Peace Corps accommodation and has some nice amenities. My theory is that this town has a long history with white colonists (which is true), who generally live in the biggest houses in town (also true). So, they're initial thought is to give me (the white man) a very large house. Also, the section of town that I'm living in is called Broni Krum, which means White Man Town.

The town is in the southern part of Ghana. By public transportation is about 2.5 hours from the capital of Accra. More importantly, it's about 45 minutes from a beach and 2 hours from a beach that I visited on Saturday. The beach is small, beautiful and it's so close!! So, in theory, if I wanted to I could easily have a quick tropical vacation every weekend. I'm not sure if I'll actually end up doing that, but it's VERY EXCITING that this option is available. Also, the large town about 15 minutes from my site has a resort-like hotel (reasonable rates available - come and visit!) with a pool that I can swim in for $2. More importantly, there's no such thing as a quiet place outdoors in a Ghanaian village/town, so this is a perfect place to come and sit outdoors without being bothered.

I go back to training early tomorrow morning. Training is still booooring and generally a waste of time, but it's almost over. My site seems like it has potential, which is exciting, but it's impossible to imagine what 2 years here are going to be like...

Addendum #1: About the rest of my visit here - I'm staying with my headmaster. Awkward. For better or worse, he won't be the headmaster when school reopens on September 11. I've been speaking a lot of Fanti. I still can't really speak it, but I know enough catch phrases that people seem impressed (but mostly they just laugh). There's another volunteer who came over with my group who lives just 30 minutes away. He lives in a shared house with other teachers but he has his own private sitting room and bedroom. His big perk is that the school kitchen will cook every meal for him. In Ghana, school food is generally not a bad thing.

Addendum #2: So we took a series of tro-tros to get the village (they're like mini-buses). On the second tro, a preacher got up. This sort of thing happens in New York, but in Ghana everyone else on the tro gets really into it. Almost everyone prayed with him and gave him money, including my headmaster. The preacher talked about how he used to smoke pot, but by the glory of god he has seen the light. I really wanted to get up and say something like, "Dude. You're preaching on a bus. You're probably even less productive than when you were smoking because at least then you weren't taking money from well meaning travellers." Argh. This made me mad. But what made me even madder was when the "herbal specialist" stood up. He was wearing a white lab coat with "herbal specialist" written in marker on the pocket. Real official looking. He was hawking some herbal medicine - it costs 100,000 cedis in the clinic, but I'm selling two for 30,000! (he actually said that, but in Twi). He claimed that it cured Typhoid Fever. The best part was when some guy on the tro got up and claimed that he used the medicine and it worked. Once that happened, everyone bought, including my headmaster. Again, this made me upset.

Addendum #3: American Idol is on Ghanaian television every Sunday night. Need that, Ghana does not.

Can you all please turn off your air conditioners...

2006-07-20T16:41:00.000Z

Last night the price of kerosene, diesel and petrol in Ghana jumped by 10 to 20 percent. While the local media wants to blame the government, the reality is that the price of oil is far beyond the control of anyone in Ghana. Developing countries generally get screwed on energy, but luckily all of Ghana's electric power is generated from hydroelectric dams.

Nonetheless, this will effect me. Once I start teaching, my daily salary will be enough to buy about 1.2 gallons of petro each day. Good thing I don't have a car. But I do cook with kerosene. So that will become more expensive. And I take taxis, buses and tros (imagine a transportation system designed by the criminally insane). So all that will probably become more expensive too. And the cost of energy may generally effect prices, but hopefully you all can try to keep things under control so us Peace Corps volunteers can afford to eat everyday.

In other news, Peace Corps training and homestay continues. Other than language classes, training seems rather useless. Imagine a 40-day seminar by a bunch of bush league management consultants. The information is not always completely garbage, but it just doesn't seem like the best use of anyone's time.

I have gotten into a routine at homestay. It is not as painful as it had been, but I'm looking forward to more independence. Between the Peace Corps schedule of classes and my family doing everything for me around the house (not always a bad thing), my life is fairly controlled. I travel to my permanent site in a week for a visit, so that will be interesting. I have heard very exciting things about my accommodations, but I won't believe it until I see it.

Rhythm Nation (and other observations, happenings, and stuff)

2006-07-13T15:39:00.000Z

Everyone here is a ridiculously good dancer. Dancing is all over. My
sisters are always dancing (not much else to do). And I went to church
a few weeks ago, which was basically one-third dance party, one-third
preaching and one-third miscellaneous ("God has blessed me with these
yams").

Everything here comes in a black plastic bag (called "poly-tin" bags).
Tomatoes at the market - black plastic bag. 500 mL of treated water in
a bag for 3 cents - black plastic bag. Fried rice from a street vendor
- black plastic bag (I eat with my hands directly out of a plastic
bag).

FanIce is wooonderful. This is ice cream that comes in a plastic pouch
(not black) produced in Ghana but apparently owned by some folks in
the Netherlands. You bite off a corner of the plastic and suck/squeeze
out its tasty goodness. The artificial stabilizers, colors, and
flavors give it a taste and consistency that has been aptly compared
to frozen cake batter. Wooonderful. I eat about 5 a week.

Vehicle safety has not reached Ghana. Yesterday I put on a seatbelt in
the front seat of a cab and after it clicked in, a cloud of dust
escaped from the clicky part. It probably hadn't been used in years.
It's not unusual for 2 people to ride in a passenger seat or for 20
people to pile in to the back of a pickup. But one of the best things
I've seen in Ghana was a train in Accra the day before the first World
Cup game. The train had a locomotive and 4 passenger covers. The
entire thing was covered with people riding on the outside hanging on
waving Ghanaian flags and other paraphernalia. No vehicle emissions
standards either.

I've rode in a taxi with a goat. Chickens and goats are everywhere.
Lizards too. The school I was teaching at (as practice for when I'm a
real teacher) has a crocodile pit. But they were just sitting there,
which was boring (and nature exists to amuse me). So I poked one of
them in the eye (with a very long stick). This got his attention and
for a split second (the one in which he tried to bite the stick in
half) looking at crocodiles was fun.

I let my 4 year old brother draw in my notebook. This makes him very
happy. So my guess is that either the family can't afford extra paper
for the kid to scribble in or they just don't consider that a good use
of resources (probably a little of both). For example, his mother
yelled at him for spoiling my notebook. But he drew a worm, a snake
(which looked a lot like the worm), a cat (the family cat is named
Poos), a horse and a cup. If the family had a fridge, that's where
they'd go. He also tries to spin his pen like I do.

Littering: Just Do It. There aren't many garbage cans around, probably
because there aren't many garbage trucks either. So, people litter. I
hate littering, but is it litter when that's what everyone does with
their garbage? It's actually not as bad as you may think because with
the exception of the black plastic bags, 500 mL water bags and FanIce
wrappers, Ghanaians don't create much trash.

Music here is seemingly random, although I'm sure there's some order
to it. Other than Ghanaian music which I won't go into because I don't
know enough about it, there's a lot of random dance music from the 90s
(Matt: Danzel is too recent for Ghana), and Ghanaians like hearing the
lyrics. So that means slower songs (tons of Celine Dion) and country
music. Country music is kind of big here. It's funny every time.

OK, that's about it for now...2 more weeks of living with a Ghanaian
family until we all leave for a few days to visit our permanent sites.
Then we come back and continue living with our Ghanaian hosts for
another 2 weeks. Time...goes...by...so...slowly... when you're living
with a Ghanaian family in a small village. My hobbies in the village
include sweating, not understanding the language, washing my clothing
by hand until my knuckles bleed, and killing cockroaches!

Language Barrier

2006-07-10T11:23:00.000Z

Today marks one month in Ghana for me. Not surprisingly, I still
haven't mastered the language. The most popular language is Twi, and I
am living in a Twi-speaking region. But the language at my site is
Fante, which is confusingly similar to Twi (and is the native language
of Kofi Annan). So I have classes in Fante and am getting by in
Twiland with a few key phrases and just talking Fante, since it's so
similar (not that I really know much Fante either). Fante is only
spoken in Ghana, and only in about 15% of the country. No clicking
noises (in case you were wondering), but there is a quasi-whistle
sound). Luckily English is the official language anyway, and most
people speak some small-small English (that's a bit of Ghanaian
English there).

In New York, I can walk for miles and not talk to anyone. Not so in
Ghana. Partially because I'm white and partially because it's part of
the culture, I have to greet people. And people greet me. This all
happens in Twi, and luckily for me it's the same conversation over and
over again. I could literally have the following conversation 20 times
in a single day (translated from the original Twi):

Me: Greetings.
Ghanaian: Greetings.
M: How are you?
G: I am very fine. And you?
M: Also, I am fine.
G: What is your name?
A: My name is Ari. And you?
G: Also, my name is ______. Where are you going?
A: I am going to ______. We will meet again.
G: Yo (elongated).

There are about 5 other questions I can respond to, but I'm learning.
Luckily, the schools are all in English and using the native language
is discouraged.

The computer here is frustratingly slow, so that's all for now. I just
tried to upgrade my flickr account so i could upload more pictures but
was told I was in the United Arab Emirates (I'm not).

Village Life

2006-07-03T13:20:00.000Z

I've been living in with my host family for more than a week. A little
bit about the place:

My estimate is that the village is about 6 city blocks (say from 96th
and Broadway to 99th and Columbus). It extends a bit farther than
that, but it's very sparsely populated once you leave the main area.
It's home to about 2,500 people. The layout shown in my pictures (link
on the right) is fairly common. Houses range from a mudhut with a
grass roof to a small compound with an open-air courtyard in the
middle and several isolated rooms around the courtyard.

The village is along the main road, which is a good thing. The
electric poles seem to also follow the main road, so the village has
electricity. As far as I've seen, it's used for lights, TV and radios.
If there is any refrigeration, it's probably only in stores and spots
(aka bars). Being along the main road also means that the nearby city
is easily accessible. This means economic opportunity, better schools
and probably other good things that I can't think of.

I think I've finally figured out who lives in the house - there's my
mother, sisters ages 16, 15, 12 and 8 (roughly), brothers ages 2 and 4
weeks, and 2 of my father's brothers who are both in their 20s. I have
my own room as do the two uncles and everyone else seems to sleep in
one room together.

My oldest sister, the one who speaks the best English, is always doing
chores - washing dishes, cooking, selling rice at the market, fetching
water, doing laundry, sweeping (the dirt - yes, they sweep the leaves
from the dirt), etc. Last Sunday, after I came back from town where I
went on the Internet and drank beer with other volunteers, I asked her
what she did that day. Her reply: "I fetched water." Oh. I didn't have
any follow-ups.

The next two oldest sisters also speak English, but not as well, and
they're busy too. So with the English speaking crowd occupied, it's
basically me, the 8 year old and the 2 year old much of the time. So I
don't spend a whole lot of time around the house, although I do enjoy
putting the two year old on my shoulders and last week the 4 week old
fell asleep on my stomach. It's also very hot in my room - it seems
that the metal roof insulated with burlap sacks is quite adept at
trapping heat, an unfortunate property in this climate.

When I am home, it's usually to eat. I get almost the same food
everyday. Breakfast is an omelet with tomatoes and onions, a huge hunk
of bread, an orange, and hot water with chocolate powder. I get lunch
in town because the two times I was home for lunch they served a plate
of fruit. Dinner is either boiled yams or rice with some tomato-based
sauce that either has fish, canned meat or chicken in it. I'm not sick
(yet), so I'm not complaining.

I poop into a pit, but it's a better situation than a lot of other
volunteers have. It has a concrete and plastic throne and it's in a
nicely built little wooden structure with a pipe coming out of the
roof so the place doesn't smell. I'm doing my own laundry (by hand). I
take bucket baths.

Sleeping is hard because villagers seem to have a different conception
of personal space. They either don't realize or don't care that when
you blast the radio, the sound waves travel farther than your ears.
And Ghanaians loooove playing things loudly. As a Ghanaian on PC staff
explained, when Ghanaians buy a radio, they are buying it for the
whole house. I'm also next to a spot (aka bar), so that only makes
things worse. Oddly, the spot not only blasts music at night but also
at about 6:00 am. I guess there's a morning drinking crowd. Oh, and
there are goats, chickens and roosters everywhere. So they're pretty
noisy too. Generally, there is a different definition of privacy here.
It's not just about personal space - a pretty standard question is to
ask for my mother and father's names. In the US, we would assume that
it's part of a scam, but in Ghana it's such a standard question that
answering it is one of the first things they taught me how to say in
Fante.

Homestay lasts until August 15 with a break in the middle to visit my
eventual site. I am really looking forward to that.

Addendum #1: Uri - I have not used the epoxy. It looks complicated.
But it was on the list of stuff to bring, and it was cheap, so I got
it. So basically, in terms of the epoxy, I basically brought it in
terms of me bringing stuff to Ghana.

Addendum #2: Another comparison to camp - they have a beit am here. I
don't think they call it that, but the biggest building in town is
large open room that's used for meetings.

Addendum #3: Ghana is out of the World Cup. After the game, someone in
the village said that it was the white referees trying to keep African
football down. I pointed out that Ghana failed to score a goal, which
was not the refs' fault. The whole being white in Africa thing will
not go away...ever. Yesterday, I made a little girl cry, just by being
white. I got into a cab, which she was already in. When she turned and
saw me, she just started crying and wouldn't stop. So they took her
out of the cab, which was not moving at the time, but every time they
tried to put her back in she started to cry. Sometimes little kids get
really excited. The other day I was walking through a new part of town
and a girl, probably about 5, spotted me and started screaming,
"obrooni! obrooni!" She was so excited that she ran inside to get all
of her brothers and sisters. A small pack of children came running out
of the house after me (not in a dangerous way, they were genuinely
excited).

Addendum #4: Happy July 4 and Happy July 6 (one-year anniversary of
New York not winning the 2012 Olympics).

I Posted a Few Photos!

2006-06-25T16:06:00.000Z

Click on My photos to the right...

This May Be a Long Summer...

2006-06-25T15:52:00.000Z

Two things happened yesterday. Thing the first - I moved in with a
Ghanaian family. Thing the second - I found out where in Ghana I will
be spending the next two years.

After two weeks, I actually feel like I'm in the Peace Corps. This
would be serious cultural exchange, if only we understood each other.
Actually, the three school-aged girls in the family speak some
English, but it is still difficult to communicate. My father is a
cocoa farmer and is currently in another region of the country. My
mother sells rice in the village market. She only speaks Twi. I know a
few key phrases, but I think I've already used them all up. The family
doesn't seem to have a last name.

I'll be living with them until August 17, so this homestay phase is
almost exactly the same length as a summer at camp. I spent a lot of
summers at camp, and the one consistency every summer was that it was
looooong. The living conditions are what I expected when I joined
Peace Corps. Toilet is in an adjacent little hut. Water, used for
cooking, bathing and everything else, falls off of the roof and
collects into large buckets.

Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures soon of the house. It's three
rooms, which are not connected on the inside. I have my own room (PC
requirement) and it's about 10x10. So the rest of the family (5 kids,
I think, ranging in age from 16 to 3 weeks) shares the remaining two
rooms, one of which is tiny). There is also a kitchen in a separate
building.

Once I make it through the summer, I'll be moving to the Central
Region of Ghana. So I'm not supposed to post the name of the village
on the web, but finding it is pretty easy. Do a Google image search
for a map of Ghana. Find Accra on the coast and then find the coastal
city of Cape Coast. Start at Ghana and go about 40% of the way to Cape
Coast. Then go up about 20 miles. Bam! That's where I will living.

I will be replacing a current volunteer who is leaving this summer.
Supposedly he has the nicest Peace Corps house in Ghana. It's owned by
a Ghanaian who is in America and only occassionally comes back to the
village. I don't know many specifics, but I visit at the end of next
month and will hopefully talk to him on the phone in the next few
days.

It seems like he's already done a lot of the hard work at the site.
When he arrived, the secondary school had 5 computers. Now it has 25.
The reason I'm going there is because he and the only other teacher
that know anything about computers are leaving. So they don't want the
25 computers to go to waste. Sustainability. I guess that's my task
while I'm there.

Addendum #1: I did watch Ghana beat the US in football, but was
somewhat isolated from any large populations of Ghanaians. I guess the
celebration in the nearby city was probably kind of what I saw after
their first victory, so I didn't go. They play Brazil on Tuesday.
Despite the poverty of my host family, they do have a TV. It's kind of
weird, but it seems common here. So I'll be watching the game with
them.

Addendum #2: Happy Anniversary Ma and Da!

Addendum #3: Happy Wedding Mike and Nicole!

Addendum #4: Happy Wedding Wadi and Sophia!

World Cup Craziness

2006-06-19T17:30:00.000Z

Internet connection is very frustrating here in Berekun...

So if white people are like Disney characters to small Ghanaian
children (see previous post), a white person with a digital camera is
like Mickey Mouse giving out free chocolate.

I found this out firsthand after Ghana beat Czech 2-0 for its first
ever World Cup victory. The celebration was unlike anything I have
ever seen. The only US comparison I can think of is a major college
campus after the school wins a basketball or football championship. So
think University of Texas this past January, but the whole country. Of
course, I was only in the small city of Berekun, but I imagine that
the whole country was just as crazy.

One of the many ways Ghanaians celebrated was by forming large packs
and running through the streets (don't worry, not violently). I took a
picture of one of these packs, and before I could look at the screen
to check the picture I had 30 Ghanaian children jumping in my face
wanting their picture taken ("they're flocking this way").

And everyone wanted to dance with me. Everyone wants to know that I
support Ghana (are you Czech?). Everyone wants to see me cheering and
when I walk by they feel the need to cheer extra loudly. The US plays
Ghana on Thursday. If Ghana wins they will advance to the next round,
so go Ghana. I don't think they understand that I just don't care
about how the US does in the World Cup. It's more fun here when Ghana
wins...

Addendum #: Quick note about Peace Corps: it's now for wimps. They
have so many people here on staff providing all kinds of support. Some
of the accommodations are much nicer than I expected. And the living
allowance, while many many times lower than the US, is still more than
I was expecting. Nonetheless, I guess I am still living in Ghana,
which is something. And Ghana is certainly not New York. And I could
still get some difficult housing, so I guess I'll have to wait and see
how hardcore this really is.

Into The Real...(sort of)

2006-06-16T15:07:00.000Z

Summarizing my life in blog form is proving to be difficult. At this point, I've only been here 7 days, but 100 new things happen everyday. I will try to keep these short and hopefully interesting (even if onlyto my mother).

So I've finally left the capital city of Accra, by far the most developed part of Ghana. I woke up at 4 AM yesterday to take a bus to a city about 10 hours away to visit a current PC volunteer. There were one of two things out the window during the ride. The first is wide open fields with trees/bushes/hills/etc. This was interesting only because it was wide open fields in Ghana with Ghanaian trees/bushes/etc. Different from Jersey but probably not unique to Ghana. Nature can be very entertaining for a while (we killed amonster-sized scorpion with a stick yesterday - not deadly but supposedly they hurt). The second is the poverty that is rural Africa. Hard to describe exactly what I saw, but of course I could only see what's visible from the main roads. Hopefully I will be able to upload pictures soon.

Now I am in a city of about 30,000 people visiting a PC volunteer. He has an atypical experience. He is teaching computers at a nursing college. He is living in a house that is normally used for foreign doctors. It has three large bedrooms, a huge living/dining area,indoor plumbing, electricity and a full kitchen. All are not quite up to American standards, but for a PC volunteer, this guy is living in luxury. The purpose of this trip is to get a sense of what my next 2 years will be like. Because this guy has such an unusual setup and is teaching at a college and lives on a large campus, I'm not getting any sense for what the next two years will be like, but it's interesting anyway.

Today, I went with Melissa, a girl in my training group who will also be a computer teacher, for a walk around the city. We started out at the nursing college and talked to students in the computer lab. All that I spoke to had not used a computer until they got to college. The PC volunteer I was visiting had taught them how to use Windows and the basics of the standard Office programs (this is essentially what I will be teaching for the next 2 years).

We're pretty much the only white people here (except for a few people at the hospital) and we attract a lot of attention. We're basically like celebrities. Most people are very friendly, especially small children. Small Ghanaian children love white people. We're like Disney characters. They come up to us and want to talk to us and laughwith/at us, hug us, etc. Then we went to the market. Again, lots of attention. A few people call us "obrooni," which is the equivalent of a reverse N-word. Some people probably don't know it's derogatory and others may not know any better.

We ended up sitting with a woman who was chopping and selling cassava in the market. We spent at least an hour with her. She, along with the other women and children around her, were trying to teach us Twii, the local language. Some spoke English, many did not. Again, we're like celebrities and everyone wants to be our friend and get our address or phone number. They all loved having their pictures taken. That was an interesting experience for a while, but being the center of attention is exhausting.

I will be here in this city until Wednesday, and then it's on to another city to meet up with the rest of the group for official training. I will be moving in with a Ghanaian family. Hopefully I willbe able to tell you about it when I get there, but the rumor is that the city's only Internet cafe is broken...

Addendum #1: There is a kiosk in this city that has a ton of Stephon Marbury/Knicks merchandise. Hopefully, the Knicks will send him to Ghana ASAP. Other fun jerseys I saw today - Larry Johnson on the Larry Johnson on the Hornets, Drew Bledsoe on the Patriots and Michael Strahan. This may cease to amuse me, but so far this is still a fun game.

Addendum #2: Matt asked me to compare the college campus we we're staying on in Accra to Hotel Cosmos in Athens. No comparison. If Cosmos is a 2-star, the college is half-star. Unless you're in thefanciest places, there is no hot water here. Most of the sinks did not work in the college and the electricity shut off a few times. I think the rooms at the Cosmos had A/C. The college had ceiling fans, which will be a luxury for me for the next two years.

Addendum #3: I saw a monkey the other day at a restaurant. The waitress tried to hand it a banana, but the monkey wasn't going forit. So she threw it at him. The monkey thought it was being attacked and curled up into its pouncing position. So be careful about feeding monkeys. There is a great monkey sanctuary near the city I am travelling to next. Hopefully I will be able to go.

I'm Ghana...All Of The Country's Education Problems Have Been Solved

2006-06-12T15:50:00.000Z

It was pouring rain when we landed in Accra on Friday night. We left the airport to the cheers of dozens of PC volunteers who had been waiting for our arrival (nice touch, Peace Corps). We got a police escort to the college campus that we're staying on (also a nice touch), but it wasn't as effective as they are in New York.

Ghana, or at least Accra, is developed, but certainly not by American standards. The interesting thing is the contrast. There is an American style supermarket right near the Peace Corps office. Next to the market is a Shell station that was servicing BMW SUVs, but behind that was the sort of dilapidated housing you might imagine when you think of an African village. Things here just generally look less polished. Stores are very small and look crumbling from the outside, but the businesses are legit and shopkeepers generally friendly. Roads are often unpaved, even in parts of Accra.

The campus we're staying on is nicer than I anticipated (According to PC policy, I am not supposed to divulge my exact location on the web. I find this policy disturbing and sensible.). Imagine the worst motel you've ever stayed in with bug-infested bathrooms in the building next door. But the showers work and the food is good (love that fufu). The first few days are basically an orientation. I've met a number of current volunteers and have some sense for what the next two years might be like, but each experience is so individualized that I won't go into it.

People here are friendly and interested in Americans. Thirty-three white and Asian Americans obviously stick out. Yesterday, I was sitting on a bench on the campus, which is mostly empty except for PC people. A Ghanaian walked up to me and we started talking. His English is fair (my Twii is almost nil). He is a student taking a one month referesher course on cable splicing, his profession. I told him I studied electrical engineering in university and worked for an electrical construction company (I didn't say that this was 5 years ago). Instant connection. He showed me the project he was working on and we traded some technical jargon. He seemed very proud to have certification from a US board. I complimented him on his Chicago White Sox hat and started to explain to him what they are because I assumed he didn't know. Because I complimented him on his hat, he put it on my head and offered to "dash me his hat," which means give it to me. Such generosity! I refused, but apparently this sort of thing is common, although it would somewhat crazy in the US.

On Thursday, I start my "Vision Quest" which means I'll travel to the home of a current volunteer and stay with him for a couple of days. Should be interesting. Then on to Pre-Service Training where the most important thing will be learning a language. Everyone starts with Twii and depending on my site, maybe another on to a different language. I'll be living with a host family.

So that's it for now...So far so good. But it's only been three days! Sorry, no picures yet.

Addendum #1: Note about Ghanaian money - my stipend is 50,000 cedis per days, which is about $5.50 at current rates (9,000 cedis to the dollar). Here are a few prices to compare. 1.5 pints of beer - 9,000 cedis (about $1); Ice cream from a cart - 3000 cedis ($.33); Five hour bus ride to a nearby city - 70,000 ($8); liter of gas - 8,500 cedis.

Addendum #2: The group - 33 of us started training together. We come from about 20 states, including Alaska, Alabama, Montana, Oregon and Minnesota (to name a few). We range in age from 21 to 64. Most are between 22 and 28.

Addendum #3: Note to Penn people - I swore off Philly after graduation (although I did come back to pick up a couch). But on Wednesday, my last night in the US, I brought a couple of fellow volunteers up to 33rd and Walnut. We walked through campus in the rain (I felt like I was a tour guide) and then went to Smoke's. Luks wasn't there, but I looked for him.

Hi There

2006-05-21T01:32:00.000Z

So, I'm off to Ghana to become a Peace Corps Volunteer. I've gotten a lot of questions about this over the past few months, so I'll try and briefly answer a few of the most commonly asked. I hope you'll come back again soon...future posts will be from Ghana!

1 - What is Peace Corps?
2 - Why are you doing this?
3 - Where are you going?
4 - What did you pack?

Answer #1:

Peace Corps is a US government program started in 1961 by President Kennedy (JFK's speech about PC). The mission is to help people of interested countries and promote better understanding of Americans on the part of people served and vice-versa. There are currenly about 7,500 PC Volunteers in 70+ countries. There have been a total of over 170,000 volunteers. In 2005, Peace Corps received $317 million in federal funding (thank you for paying for me).

Answer #2: Ask me again when I get back. There was no single reason. Some factors include:

I want to live somewhere completely different. Peace Corps provides me with a job and a place to live, making this much easier than if I were moving on my own.
I have no career plans (or really any plans whatsoever).
I have no interest in finding another office job right now.
I am at least tentatively interested in 'international development' (although it seems to have some issues).
I want to do something positive.
I'm 24 years old! This is what life is all about!

Answer #3:

As you can see, Ghana is on the west coast of Africa. It's a bit smaller than the state of Oregon. The capital is Accra, a city of 2 million people. The official language is English, but there are other languages spoken too. It was the very first country to accept Peace Corps volunteers!

There's actually much more information than that available on Ghana. If you're interested, please do some Google searches. Besides, this webpage is going to be about me, not Ghana :)

Answer #4:

This basically what I've packed. They say you can pretty much buy everything you need in Ghana, and the maximum weight for luggage is 80 pounds. Peace Corps provides advice on what to bring, much of it apparently from actual volunteers. I think I've actually overpacked, but I guess better to overpack than underpack.

Footwear:

1 pair Tevas
1 pair New Balance sneakers
1 pair waterproof boots
2 pair brown leather shoes

Clothing:

boxers (lots)
socks (loads)
khakis (5)
jeans (1)
button down short-sleeve shirts (4)
button down long-sleeve shirt
golf shirts (4)
hooded sweatshirt
long-sleeve shirt
shorts (4)
bathing suit
t-shirts (7)

Books (most mailed to myself in Ghana):

Appiah, Kwame Anthony: In My Father's House
Aurelius, Marcus: Meditations
Brooks, Terry: The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara Isle Witch
Buchholz, Todd G.: New Ideas from Dead Economists
Carnegie, Dale: How to Win Friends and Influence People
Carver, Raymond: Where I'm Calling From
Dangarembga, Tsitsi: Nervous Conditions
Darwin, Charles: The Origin of Species
De Soto, Hernando: The Mystery of Capital
Friedman, Milton: Capitalism and Freedom
Garcia Marquez, Gabriel: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gibson, William: Neuromancer
Haddon, Mark: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Hawken, Paul: The Ecology of Commerce
Heller, Joseph: Catch-22
Hemingway, Ernest: A Moveable Feast
Hesse, Hermann: Steppenwolf
Huxley, Aldous: Brave New World
Irving, John: The Cider House Rules
Jews (various): The Bible
Kerouac, Jack: On the Road
Kauffman, Stuart: At Home in the Universe
Kundera, Milan: The Unbearable Lightness of Being
L'Engle, Madeleine: A Swiftly Tilting Planet
L'Engle, Madeleine: A Wind in the Door
L'Engle, Madeleine: A Wrinkle in Time
L'Engle, Madeleine: Many Waters
LaBerge, Stephen: Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming
Marx, Karl: The Communist Manifesto
Milton, John: Paradise Lost
Orwell, George: 1984
Roth, Phillip: The Great American Novel
Sagan, Carl: The Cosmic Connection
Sagan, Carl: Pale Blue Dot
Schmidt-Nielsen, Knut: How Animals Work
Shelly, Mary: Frankenstein
Shirer, William: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Smil, Vaclav: Energies
Steele Gordon, John: A Thread Across the Ocean
Steinbeck, John: East of Eden
Steinbeck, John: Of Mice and Men
Tolkien, J.R.R.: The Fellowship of the Ring
Tolkien, J.R.R.: The Return of the King
Tolkien, J.R.R.: The Two Towers
Volk, Tyler: Gaia's Body

Miscellaneous:

Swiss army knife
shortwave radio
digital camera
non-stick 11" frying pan
sharp knife
siddur
nalgene
headlamp
flashlight
digital camera
batteries (lots) and solar powered battery charger
duct tape
scissors
umbrella
raincoat
various toiletries (razor blades, shampoo, soap, deoderant, shaving gel, suntan lotion, hand sanitizer, toothpaste, toothbrush, Gold Bond)
anti-bug spray
epoxy glue (it was on the list...not sure why but maybe one day it will be useful)
pens and pencils
notebooks
12 passport-sized photos
ziplock bags
tupperware
handiwipes
baseball cap and wide-brimmed hat

Thanks for reading! Come again soon!