Happy New Year...

I'm sure every one is out for a nice, smashing, exciting New Year's party, while I'm spending the last day of my Christmas holiday at home with my parents, listening to the morons with their fireworks who aren't able to wait for 00.00 to send them up. "Hey, here's a great idea. Let's send up our firework at 9.21pm...". My country has banned the type of fireworks with a stick, that flies up in the air this year, so New Year's eve in Norway will be totally different from what it has always been. Now only the things that just sit on the ground are allowed to use. Here we used to buy fireworks, every family sent up plenty and the sky goes mad, and you feel like running for cover if you are outside. Well, that is the reason it has been banned, cos of injuries and fires started by fireworks used by drunk people... How about banning alcohole on New Year's Eve, so that in a small town like Vadsø, it will be some minutes of action as we enter a new exciting year with more financial crisis, new important presidents and joy and prosperity to all.

Sarcastic? Me?

Merry Christmas!

Question

What's the point of it all?
Really?
Anybody who can give me an answer?
I'd be glad.

No one be like you

Another year has gone by, and you're still the one by my side,

Though another year has gone by.

There's still no one saying goodbye.

Though another year has gone by.

Santa's lost his reindeer

I attract big animals ... in big groups often. There were the cows at community 22 I wrote about a couple of months ago. Then it was the big moose in the middle of the road a few weeks ago. And dont you think tonight, walking home from my friend, I met a huge flock of reindeer in the middle of the street. They were about 15, standing there under the streetlights, between all the houses and looking at me. I was chasing them, trying to get a picture, but it was dark and they decided to fear me and made a run for it. I dont live in the wilderness. I live in the regional capital (though its small). Its funny. Lovely arctic exotic experiences... every day of the week...

Pic: Imagine 15 of these, in the dark. :-) This is taken down the street from my house during summer.

A view from outside Ghana: Christmas

Last year I spent Christmas in Ghana. I was so homesick and was only thinking about how Christmas should be, in Norway, in Vadsø, in snow and darkness. And what I got was 40 degrees, palm trees and sunshine. And fufu for Christmas dinner.

But with a little help from my friends...




...Christmas became fun, and lovely and beautiful!

Now I'm sitting here in perfect Christmas world, watching the videos from last year's tropical Christmas. All in all, Christmas is about who is around you. And at this point I can't be satisfied whether I'm here or there. There is someone missing in Ghana and there is someone missing in Norway. I am glad I am home for Christmas. And next Christmas I hope to spend in Norway again, with a little piece of Ghana by my side.

Merry Christmas ...

light in the dark

This is what we get North of the Polar Circle in replacement of the sun which disappears somewhere in the middle of November and returns in late January. This is the lightest time of today.

Under pressure

The last few days has been ... well. A bit stressful. First it was the audition last Wednesday (which resulted in a job, by the way). Nerves. Looking for a place to live. Nerves. Going for police interrogation about my relationship with my bf so he can maybe one beautiful day come to Norway. Big nerves. The police lady was nice and very Vadsø-like. And she couldnt spell. I read with horror through the statement she typed out of my answers, and it was spelling error after spelling error after spelling errors. It was shocking. I corrected the ones I thought was most important, like "Gahna" and "hadnycappet". (Supposed to be Ghana and handicappet (norw.)), cause I didnt want to insult her too much. There I was thinking I was talking to an educated woman who were well rehearsed in writing official document-Norwegian and I was even more shocked when I realized she had typed the whole thing in Vadsø dialect. Which is something quite different from official Norwegian.

If this thing goes through, its a miracle. I'm surrounded by morons. Nyame beye...

silly season (all year long)

Here in Norway we have biiiig problems.
There is a show on TV every day on NRK called "Redaksjon 1" that is supposed to discuss important news issues in depth, with all parties concerned present. Today the largest part of the show was devoted to discussing the fact that the coach for the national soccer/football team has decided to quit and WHO is gonna take over for him. So exciting.

Discussions with the police in Oslo, the minister of Justice, a member of Parliament and a representative of the restaurant/pub business about the escalating violence especially in the capital, often in connection with (over)consumption of alcohol, the lack of police and where the responsibility lies, got a good 10 minutes.

And I haven't heard a whisper about the elections in Ghana. Of course. But the African Cup of Nations I hear was very well covered.

I guess we dont want news about Africans who are able to hold a peaceful election. That would, like, totally ruin the image. Now some news about sloths (the animal in Ice Age..).

Flying home for Christmas

Yesterday I finally got HOME after a month in transit between Ghana and Vadsø, my hometown. From Trondheim to Vadsø its about 1500+ km if you drive the shortest route. I took the plane, as all sensible people do in Norway. But that too can take hours... I started my journey with a train from my sisters place to the airport, which was at 3pm. At 5pm I got on the plane that passed through Bodø to Tromsø, where I got down and waited for 3,5 hours. Then I got on a new plane that went through Hammerfest and Alta to Vadsø. These flights between all the small towns in Norway's most northern region are like tro-tros. The flying time is sometimes 15 minutes, sometimes 30. In Hammerfest only two people boarded, of who one was a friend of mine from Vadsø. The stewardess came over to her and asked whether she had flown this airline before and feels confident about the safety info, and asked if she could skip the safety demonstration. Sometimes the planes are so empty that the stewardesses has to move people around in the plane to even out the weight on each side. Anyway. I have a lot to tell.

The first thing I was actually going to complain about, was my status as sandwich for 2 hours on the Trondheim-Bodø-Tromsø flight. I got the middle seat of a 3-seater (hurray...) and unfortunately for me the people on my sides seemed to know eachother, but not well enough to ask me if I would move so they could sit together. But they still wanted to CHAT. Alot. Over my lap. I leaned back while the woman to my right was yabbing away and gesticulating with her hands, in front of my front. There was lots of empty seats in the plane. Why is it so that when you get into a full bus, train, plane whatever and you squeeze down next to someone else, when seats get available later on your journey, you feel like you cant get up and leave the person you are sitting uncomfortably close to, because then it feels impolite to move... its like saying you dont want to sit next to the person (and you dont, you'd rather sit at a seat with two free spaces so you feel you can breathe and move)... Hmm.

Here is a map of Norway. Follow the red line ... thats what I did. I was home at 1.am...Zzzz

The Nidaros Dome in Trondheim

Amazing that this building is over 1000 years old...

Christmas is coming to town

I went to the Christmas Market in the "village" (which is too small to even be a village) where my sister lives. The people in the locality had knitted and sewed and baked and cooked stuff for sale, all in the benefit of the community center.

I got these:

They are pulse warmers. Very useful, I tell you... But they were so cute, and the cheapest thing they had for sale..

And these are some of the other home-made, knitted wool socks and stuff. And a big blue hat.

Audition

I'm going for an audition tomorrow.
An audition for a job.
They interviewed me, were very positive, super-nice and friendly...
And then they asked if I could come for this audition.
Tomorrow from 8.30am to 4pm.

A Christmas Angel in Hell Hotel

Help me!

Can someone explain to me why e-mail notifications about new comments on my blog has stopped coming, unless it is me myself who is commenting on it? Anyone got any idea?

Yes, I have checked my settings, they are all normal...

Help me, computer wizards..

Close encounter part II

It's very snowy here. And I'm staying with my sister who lives on a farm inside the forest... Deep dark forest with plenty of huge christmas trees on each side of the un-lit road. Tonight I was driving back from town visiting a friend, climbing up the hills through thick driving snow (for those who can picture that) and quite low visibility. It's a wonderland, it's magic, it's a bit scary and if the car stopped I would lock all the doors and wait for somebody to save me, I can just imagine a scary movie type axe murderer climb out of the forest ready to... whatever. BUT.. today I almost hit a moose in the behind! A moose, the biggest mammal in Scandinavia, and maybe also Europe? Not sure, but its HUGE. And it was standing in the middle of the road, in the dark, showing her, cos it was the lady version, backside and luckily I spotted her in time not to put a very very big dent in my sister's car, and probably a big dent in myself too. It's really dangerous to hit them in high speed, but it sure as hell is really exciting to meet one in the dark in a fairy tale scary movie forest in the middle of the night. Adrenaline kick! Love it. I had to scream small small in the car. While my huge friend disappeared into the dark covers of the christmas tree forest...

Snow!

All of a sudden everything turned into a winter wonderland!

Here is more

I've been back to my days as a student in Trondheim, in the center of my long land. I've walked in my old footsteps as a fresh student straight from high school in a small town far north, in the "big" city, on her own, ready to start the grown up life. I've walked in snowy, frosty streets through the old parts of town where everything looks like something out of a Christmas fairy tale. I've marvelled at the amazing artwork that is the Nidaros Dome. I've sat on buses passing all the places I used to pass everyday - going to school, going for gatherings, going for parties or going home for Christmas. I have passed my former tiny homes, rooms with wild match of furnitures from different decades, cheap stuff from flea markets matched with new minimalistic stuff from IKEA, still cheap though. I've been to my old uni, I've seen old study friends. I've walked the corridors of the school, thinking with horror back on all those times we spent here, worrying and fretting over papers and exams and terrible lecturers. And I have seen, with also a bit of horror, that some of the same people are still wandering the brick laid roads inside NTNU. I'm here, hoping to come back, and settle for a while.

November snow

Wandering through snowy cosy streets in Trondheim is not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

View out of Ghana: Football

You dont really want your man to be watching football if he has spent the whole day with his buddies already and maybe you wanted some me-time.

But I have learned that you still want his team to win, no matter how annoyed you are that he is watching the game.

Because if his team looses.....

On the road again

Ahhh.... I have to write something! I promised myself to keep up the English blog after I got back to Norway and I will. Not that the Norwegian version has been updated much more than this one since I got back.

I've barely sat still since I got back from Ghana last Wedenesday. I came to my sister's place, where I met my parents, spent 2 days there, and then I jumped on a train and went to Trondheim for 1,5 day to visit my good friend Vero. Then I jumped back on the train on Sunday to my sisters place. On Tuesday I went to visit my aunt and uncle who live outside of Oslo, though on a sorrowful mission as we were to attend my other aunt, my father's oldest sister's funeral the next day. I had the luxury of meeting all my cousins and more family that day, but it was really not a day any of us wanted to experience. But good to know there is a whole family out there I belong to that I barely ever see, thanks to long distances in our long country, and me being in Ghana half of the year all the time. Today I came flying back from Oslo, and now I'm back at my sister's place with my beautiful nephew and I'm looking forward to relax here a few days in the company of these two people, while the man in the house goes hunting for "everything" with some buddies in a forest somewhere.

After that, I hope I will walk around in Trondheim and co-incidentally bump in to a nice job somewhere. Somehow.

Pray for me'ohh....

Frost over Levanger

And a beautiful baby boy!

A new dawn

I landed in Germany this morning with Obama on every tv screen and newspaper, and even though my German is rusty it wasnt hard to figure out the story.

Obama is president. A new dawn for America, a new dawn for the world.

And yet another new beginning for me.

I'm leaving on a jet plane

And I dont know when I will be back again.
Tomorrow by this time I will hopefully be flying over Ghana heading west to pick up the Nigerians in Lagos before we turn towards cold, dark November in Norway...

Countdown

Thank you very much, stupid American election, for being on the exact same day I'm leaving my husband to be behind for the 4th time in 3 years, to go home to Norway again. Thank you for making me remember exactly how many days, hours, minutes, seconds I have left by having countdowns on CNN, Al-Jazeera, online newspapers and what not.

I don't care about your stupid election. You will just fuck up anyway.

Stupid 4th November...

Ghana will always be Ghana

I get so provoked everytime I hear people say that "this is not really Ghana" when they come over something modern, "western", something they can find back home, in the middle of exotic Africa.

If you are in an Irish pub in Osu, in a Chinese restaurant in Kumasi, if you drink a caffe latte or enjoy an air-conditioned tro-tro (donated by stanbic bank), does that mean it's not really Ghana? Should Ghana stay behind, being "african", have bumpy roads, slow internet, only local foods to offer visitors, and do things only the "traditional" way? Will we then be satisfied, we stupid westerners who think of Africa still as that myth of strange people in the jungle dancing rain dances and bang on their drums?

So when you go out in your hometown drinking a cappuchino and eating at the Mongolian restaurant.... is that not really your home either?

Pic is from Frankies Salad Lounge in Osu, Accra, Ghana....the world, the universe etc.

(Too) close encounter

Now, I am not one of those city girls who have never been to the country side and never seen animals before. I spent huge parts of my childhood in my mom's previously mentioned village, and there were cows, horses, sheep and what not, and I always knew where the milk and the eggs came from.
But today, strolling down the road towards community 22 inside, a huge flock of cows and their male counterparts, oxen?.. (I seem to have trouble with the animal kingdom in the English language), just threw themselves into the road in front of me, making my passing seem impossible. Unfortunately for me, on the other side of the road, a young guy was walking briskly through the flock without fear or hesitation, and I couldnt make a fool of myself standing there till the animals where far enough ahead for me to safely continue my journey. So... I waited for a particularly huge ox to pass (or is it bull maybe??) and jumped in between him and his lady and I was free.

Had to turn back though, to check whether any of them were chasing me, raving mad, seeing red.. (though i was wearing black..).

The pic is me finding out where the eggs really really come from, in my village.

Hard to please them all

One day at work, one of my colleagues said to me: Ama! You are toooo happy. So I asked: what is wrong with that? Can one be too happy? Would you rather I'd be angry?

The guy answered: You shouldn't be too angry or too happy.

Enye easy koraa..

good morning..

So how come I'm sitting here at 8 in the morning, and I have already had breakfast, watched Al-Jazeera for a reasonable amount of time, bought vegetables, and started preparing the groundnutsoup I'm making for one lucky man later? I dont have any plans for the day apart from making soup and rice balls (Or maybe neat fufu...?). So if this was Norway, I'd be sleeping for a good amount of hours more.

I hope I can bring this early bird trait with me home, I will get so much done!

Unfortunately its much easier to sleep in in a chilly, dark room with no crickets (is that how its spelled) that sing morning serenades outside my window...

Can a Ghanaian be happy with Obroni?

Just came over this article this evening... Some "truths" about black/white relationship just got thrown in my face, though some has real truth in it. I dont know if Im supposed to feel insulted, sad or enlightened.
Read and share your opinion...

http://www.modernghana.com/news/166921/1/black-and-white-marriages.html

I especially like the advice to the Ghanaian man on what he has to learn if he is gonna be married to an obroni:

"A Ghanaian married to a white must learn to show affection openly. He must be less overbearing and controlling. He must accept to rotate domestic chores and live by strict schedule. He must learn to talk freely about sex, have sex by mutual consent and treat his wife like a queen."

Have sex by mutual consent.. My oh my. What a sacrifice.

Made in Norway

lying on a Made in Ghana, New Page blanket.

My nephew, born 6 days ago.

I'm in love.

Sometimes great things follow you.

Usually, as a white person in Ghana, you are used to being ripped off, paying obroni price and generally being "cheated" in the name of the "you people colonized us, sold us as slaves and still exploit us in trade so you deserve to pay more"-notion. And your guilt makes you accept it.

But sometimes, like yesterday, you are given Ghanaman price for your taxi, discount of 4 cedis in a shop and a free gift from a football shirt seller who hasn't forgotten about you and the customers you directed to HIS shop (and he used to give good discounts on his stuff). It makes you feel good that people see you for who you are, and not your skin colour and your ancestors crimes.

When I was in High School in Kumasi, my fellow students hassled me every day for 10 months:
"give me your food, buy me toffee".. They weren't my friends. Joana Asante was my friend. You know why?

She bought toffee for ME!

And that meant EVERYTHING.

Poverty: a view out of Ghana

In these financial crisis times, the rich are worrying about their savings, their loans, their 3 cars, their houses, their stocks falling...


...while a woman in Ghana wonders if she will have to give birth on a rough dirty hospital mattress if she cant get the money to buy the required bed sheets the hospital demands she brings on the day of her delivery.

My man

I came home from work first. I was hot and tired but not more than usual. I decided to get annoyed with my boyfriend cos I thought (from the sound of it when we spoke) that he would be late. So I didnt start any dinner right away, which I could have and then it would be finished by the time he got home. I sat in front of the computer, checked my mail and blogs and chatted with a friend. I finally got up to attempt something like dinner. As soon as I entered the kitchen, he came home with a smile and a kiss. Even though I had been grumpy on the phone when we spoke earlier. I really didnt feel like cooking though I knew we had to eat something and fast. He noticed that I had bought a frozen pizza on my way home (cos now I live in a house with an oven for the first time so I just had to try!). And he said: what would you honestly like to eat? So I decided to go with the truth and say: ....the pizza.... And that was it. We put it in the oven, I sat down in the doorway cos the kitchen is toooo hot, and talked his head off while HE was washing the dishes. I told him to leave it, I'll do it later but he didnt mind me. The pizza was finished and I started eating it (he didnt want it, thats why I'm the only one eating..). And out of curiosity I left my half eaten pizza to check the computer, and he just entered the room with the plate with my pizza and left... I dont deserve this. Do I?

Ama goes Ashanti

The last 4 days was spent in the Garden City, with my second family from the year I was a high school exchange student. Its been 7 years, and the day I left the first time, I never knew that I would come back to my home away from home in Kumasi so many times. This family really grabbed me and as far as possible made me a part of them, and they have always been a part of me. The way my life was living there made me come back to African Studies in university and my choices back then has affected everything that has happened to me since, they are really the reason why I am sitting in community 22 in Tema the 13th of October 2008. Though it wasnt easy to become fully accepted as Sister Ama in the Boamah family, the result of my hard work to adapt is this:

Anyway, that was just the intro. So I went to Kumasi to visit them, and also to attend our friend's wedding. The days before the wedding I spent quality time with my two youngest siblings who are now 7 years older than the small cuties I came to meet in 2001. I only have one older REAL sister and its weird to see how someone so close to you goes from being small children and going into young adults, while I felt I have been the same age all the time (from 18 to 25). Now they are able... to do everything themselves, go everywhere alone and they are going to High School and University. What happened?

Mabena and me studied correct banku making, and we ended up making a very soft banku our mother insulted, but since I had decided to prove that NOW I am fulfilled Ghanaian daughter who can make smashing groundnut soup and announced that Friday I would prepare supper, not maa as usual, it had to happen.

Then Saturday came and we went to the wedding which was supposed to start at 10am and we thought we had been invited to watch the whole shebang(?), that is, engagement ceremony and all that, but we sat in a garden for 3 hours until the wedding people came out and they started the party. And after getting our food we left cos Black Stars was playing against Lesotho and the boys had to watch it (my bf Kofi, and my little brother Kofi). All in all it was a good weekend and always good to have it confirmed that I still have a place in the family.

The happy couple with happy guest.

Little brother bored at wedding, cannot believe why Sister Ama and her boyfriend always have to bring him to boring stuff... (its not the first time).

Sister Ama is just about to find out that her nephew is born!! :-)

But that is another story....

books books books

I want to read more books. Like Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, kindly lent to me by Kajsa. I enjoyed it so much, very interesting, superbly written and I learnt a lot I didnt know before.
I've always wanted to read more books by contemporary African authors but haven't had much luck in finding them in Norway. Maybe I just dont know where to look, or who to look for. So... please, suggestions and recommendations greatly appreciated.

Something wonderful is about to happen

Sharia law in Community 2?

Barika da Salah

Welcome holiday. But what do they really do? I just see this day as a day when all the Muslims become much more visible. Drove through Accra yesterday and the town was quite calm, apart from people in their nicest clothes on their way to celebrate Eid-Ul-Fitr and eat eat eat. Usually you don’t see SO many Muslims, they don’t stand out so much in the crowd really. But today Accra was their town, and seeing them all young and old, children and adults dressed up and on their way to some celebration made me think of how Norway looks on the National Day, people in their nicest outfits, all united, all going to the same place, and so many actually WALKING on the streets. (If the weather is nice….)

women and other women

Something just happened to me that hasnt happened often, maybe never. I was walking along in my "church" dress, and a woman stopped me and said she really likes my style, it fits me and I look nice. Women I know have given me compliments before, but you have to admit its rare that women compliment other women on the street they dont know. Women are more... trying to look better than the others, or am I lying? I dont know if my point is coming out clearly here. Anyway. It was nice and new.

Intergrated science class, courtesy of Joy FM

So we learned something new today, thanks to the interesting guests on the Super Morning Show on Joy FM. There was a scientist on air, Mr. Joris Wattenberg, with a new theory. The theory on when the world would end. I got into it while he had been talking for a while but the bottom line is in 2012 the world will end, because the earth will stop rotating and it will turn upside down. He had a loooong equation to explain it, it had a bunch of numbers which nobody can remember. And he claimed that Einstein had got it all wrong. Which of Einstein's thoughts he didnt mention. Maybe all of them.

But then he had another theory. Which was supposed to explain why Europe is more advanced than Africa. And the simple reason is: heat.
Heat is a form of energy, and in Africa its very hot. So people get tired. And energy has a black colour (?). In Europe its cold. That means that white people radiates HEAT, meaning they radiate energy, meaning they have more energy to make their countries advanced. While black people are already so hot they cant radiate heat.

You are what you radiate, he concluded, before the radio host relieved could announce that it was time for the news.

More here: http://news.myjoyonline.com/technology/200809/20624.asp

The law is the law (no matter how senseless it is..)

Yesterday at work, we could witness an unfolding drama through the big panoramic windows of the shop. Before I was explained the situation I saw the following: a car, with its hood opened, 2 men in blue overalls with their head stuck under the hood, two men in white shirts, one old, one young, the old one screaming at someone on the phone, the young one looking a bit distressed, a policeman, and two uniformed parking control officers... and a bike and a yellow parking control car (and the car had that light on top of the car like ambulances and police cars have, do the parking control people often have to use that, in emergency illegal parking incidents maybe?).

It seemed the parking control people were a bit eager, since they had clamped the car that had obviously broken down, unfortunately right outside a building where it isnt allowed to park. So. If you park where there is a no parking sign, the result is a clamped car and a fine to pay to get your wheel free from its yellow prison. BUT. It was broken down, mechanics were there to fix it, and the driver had been nice enough to actually get his broken down car off the road, while very often cars which break down are the cause of traffic when the drivers leave it exactly there. And I dont blame them if trying to be nice to your fellow drivers means getting punished by uniformed, and therefore drunk with power, guys who cant connect the dots, but only see the fact that a car is standing where it is not allowed. They were fighting and shouting, but because of the glass separating us, we missed all the insults and arguments...

In the end, logic won (hurray!). The policeman crawled back into the parking control car, the parking control guys went to remove the clamp with bowed heads in defeat, and inside we clapped our hands. I hope it wasnt a bribe or paying the fine that made that happen though.

Au...

Yesterday I was at Kaneshie going to get a trotro to Tema. We had to cross a walkway over the main road which is really crowded, and somewhere in the crowd somebody decided to pinch me. Of course I couldnt see who it was of course. Actually, I have gotten used to such things, people reaching out, grabbing my hand or just touching a part of my body when I walk in really crowded places in Ghana. But this time it was a pinch! Anyway, I survived. But its weird. I wonder what a Ghanaian would think if he walked in Norway and some obroni reached out and pinched him... But I guess my body is public property.
Its funny that today I had a conversation with one of my co-workers, where he claimed that white people are racists and if they see a black person they rub the skin to see if its really the colour or dust (a chinese had done that...).

I brought up the pinching incident as a counter argument, while I told him that I'm quite sure not many Norwegians think black skin is black cos its dust on it.

quote of the day

Your love is like a whale in the ocean,
And I am your prey for consumption.

Black hole

It would really interrupt with my plans if the world gets sucked up by a black hole later today or tomorrow cos we are planning to travel to Busua for the weekend and get my legs brown... and I really want to go. Not get sucked up by black hole being the current plan. But plans do change though. Nice knowing you all, if CERN causes the end of the world.

Aouch!

Today we were awaken by Assembly Woman inserting ginger and other herbs into her 4year old's "behind", to the 4year old's great discomfort. She roared, screamed and begged for mercy. Her pleads were met by hard slaps on her naked butt. Which of course led to more screaming.

No A-plus, abokyire..(abroad) we dont dance. For those familiar with that song.

Expectations to life Ghana vs. Norway

Being a spoiled obroni, who have lived in comfort all her life, with always enough money to put more than necessary on the table, good education, good jobs (?) with all my rights taken care of, I guess I am bias saying that some of my co-workers have lower expectations to life than I have.

I asked one how her weekend was.
She said, enthusiastically: it was good!
I said: Oh, what did you do since it was so good?
She said: Nothing. I'm alive. So it was good.

I guess I'm spoiled.

a man of God also needs bed sheets

So the other day i met the bishop of...the methodist church? Anyway. Since I'm now professional hand towel bed sheets sales woman, I meet all kind of interesting people. And since my boss likes to show off her new addition to her shop to important regulars, she called me up the other day: Ama! Bra be kyea Bishop! (come and say hello to bishop).. Bishop?? I know lots of people are called bishop as a name around here, so I wasn't worried. Until a HUGE man stood in front of me, wearing a long white cape with a big cross around his neck. He looked like he came straight out of Da Vinci code/Angels and Demons sort of scenario. And he looked very important. And holy.

And I said yes please and no please and yes sir and no sir in my finest twi, thankful that I was among Ghanaians who might not connect my face turning tomato with me feeling super shy ...

Here she comes!

Fafaly.

Can't wait to meet you again.

No words to describe the beauty of children

My village

Today, early in the morning, there was this fresh breeze sweeping through community 2. I could smell the sea. And it smelled like home. Like it smells in my "village". Yes, I have decided that the little village my mom comes from is now MY village, like everyone in Ghana has their village, whether it is where their father or mother comes from. So Ekkerøy is my village, and some beautiful village it is!

The fresh breeze disappeared quite fast after 35 degrees, humidity and millions of Ghanaians entered it...

Busy Internet??

Yeah, busy being sloooow.
nothing is working today. Why...

Aware so

Sister in law is married off.

Who is next?

Bad news

I am getting used to seeing horrible images when I watch the news in Ghana. If there are any accidents or murders, the bodies are very often shown. I thought the worst thing I had seen so far was a dead baby found floating in a big gutter at Circle in Accra. But today there was reportage on the frequent car accidents in the country, showing very disturbing pictures of the accident sites and victims. One particular accident had 14 dead, and the bodies lay in a pile on the ground, and you could clearly see their injuries. But the disturbing part is yet to come. The dead were later thrown onto a pick-up truck, like bags of garbage are thrown into the bola car. It looked like a war scene and I got a feeling I was watching images from the genocide in Rwanda. In a country where death is taken very very seriously, and the funerals are lavish and extravagant and a lot of care is put into celebrate the life of the dead person, I found it extremely amazing that dead people can be handled with such carelessness. I accept the fact that the accident happened somewhere where they couldn’t get hold of ambulances or such to transport the dead, but still. You don’t have to throw them.

I just had to get this off my chest, even if its not very pleasant reading. Kafra.

The day I should have taken pictures, but was too shy to do..

On Saturday, me and bf were on our way to the Grand Sales at the Trade Fair Center in Accra. On the way, bf stopped at an electrician who had a little kiosk on the road side to fix his laptop charger. There I saw two great things that would have made nice pictures which I didn’t take. On the cement floor next to the shop, two young boys were playing some kind of intricate game (I thought). They had emptied a trash can and made small squares of paper which they placed all over the floor. It seemed to have a system though. They used the small pieces of paper to shoot a little pebble around on the floor, and they had a really neat technique to make the pebble go far. On each side they had put two stones and in the middle of the two stones, a big paper triangle was standing. I then realized it was the goal keeper and the boys were playing football. It was so cool and ingenious. A woman was opening her shop next to the boys, and while opening the gate of the shop, she walked all over the football field, messing up the boys’ team line up. She didn’t bother to say: can you move your things so I open the door, or simply MOVE!, she just walked over it and kicked it all around. The boys didn’t seem to notice. Fast and efficiently, they put all their players back in position and continued the game, totally ignoring the woman’s destructive footsteps. I just had to think to myself what some Norwegian kids would have said if a grown up came and destroyed their carefully and tediously built up game just like that. They probably would have cried and screamed. Then again, they probably wouldn’t be playing football with paper squares on a little patio of cement squeezed in between two shops along the main road. And the grown up would probably treat the little angels with the uttermost respect and politely asked them to move their things so that the person could pass…

The other cool thing was the electrician’s shop. He has one of those container shops, and his office is a table outside the container, where he was soldering and fixing irons, computers, car speakers, water boilers, fans etc. His container was full to the brim of broken electrical appliances. They were so many, they were coming out of the door. And there he had components he could use again and again. And in 5 minutes he had fixed bf’s laptop charger with some cutting of wires, some soldering and paper tape. It would have cost him 200 dollars in Norway, and he wouldn’t get his old one fixed, he would have to buy a new one. The re-use of things in Ghana never cease to impress me. And I wish I had a great photo of his shop and the boys.

Stealing cars

I’m a bad grown up. Bf (from now on also referred to as Kofi) has put the immoral game, Grand Theft Auto 3 on my pc. For those who don’t know the purpose of this game, it is driving around, stealing peoples cars, running over people, killing or beating up people on contract from pimps called Luigi or Joe. It’s a bit bloody and gory though the graphics on my version is very bad. Anyway, I thought it was funny and have been playing it when I’m bored. On Friday, Kofi’s little cousin was with me, and watched me play. For every person from whom I stole a car, and every person I unscrupulously ran over, she went: “Oh! OooH! Sister Ama, Oh! Heey, blood!” im sure this game has an age limit
in Norway and im sure its not 9, which is the age of the small girl. Anyway, in a while she begged to have a go at it, and she soon became a vicious road maniac, stealing cars and running people over without remorse. I have created a monster! I made bf tell her in PROPER twi that it is WRONG to steal cars and run over people like that. Im sure she learned a lesson.

She was getting quite good at it….

Ghana favorites

No particular order...

1. Kelewele (red plantain fried with ginger, pepper and salt (and garlic if I make it..))

(Picture taken from http://mysite.verizon.net/vze827ph/images/food1.jpg)

2. Kebab (grilled meat on a stick with lots and lots of red pepper)

3. Fufu with groundnut or light soup (made by sisters in law)

4. FanIce ( so nice...)

(Picture taken from http://www.fanmilk-gh.net/index1.php?linkid=362&sublinkid=110)