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.

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)…

¶ 4:43 PM 1 comments

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.

Addendum #1: School has reopened.  

¶ 10:51 AM 1 comments

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.

¶ 10:00 AM 3 comments

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…

¶ 12:31 PM 3 comments

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.

¶ 10:46 AM 0 comments

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.  

¶ 1:05 PM 1 comments

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.)

¶ 2:00 PM 2 comments

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.

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.

¶ 7:38 AM 3 comments

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.

¶ 2:39 PM 1 comments