About goodbyes

I met my husband when we were both doing an exchange at the University of Dar-Es-Salaam in Tanzania in 2005. I heard rumours that there would be Ghanaian exchange students at campus and I was eager to meet them. I had lived in Ghana before, spoke Twi, and felt I knew the country. Coming to Tanzania was like coming to something similar to Ghana. Something I knew well. I wrote in my diary: It looks like Ghana, it feels like Ghana, it smells like Ghana - BUT I DONT UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE! I was frustrated cos I felt I knew how to do an African country - somehow. But no matter what I knew, I was just as much a mzungu/obroni/white person as the others I travelled with.
Hearing about these Ghanaian students made me feel like something from home was coming my way. Something I knew and could relate to. The day came when all the international studens were gonna have an information day on campus, and I saw 5 black people amongst the rest of us white European and American students. And forced myself to go up to the only girl in the flock and said: Are you from Ghana? She said yes. And so I started speaking Twi with her, I was immediately accepted into their group, I was brought over to the 4 boys, one of them was gonna be my husband... They were all quite extatic about this obroni speaking Twi like that, I sat next to future hubby during the information and I was immediately interested. I realized he laughed at the same things as me (cos the people having the orientation were very funny, although they weren't trying to be), and he was sarcastic and making jokes I would make.
The next day I went to their hostel for a superdelicious rice and stew, the best food I had tasted since I got to Tanzania. I soon realized it was future hubby's work. Impressed. Somehow it was him who ended up hanging out with me. He used to come to our hostel and hang out in my and my roomates room. We talked and listened to music and I guess flirted for a looong month before something happened. At first I wasn't sure how this was gonna end. I mean, I was leaving in a few months, he was staying in Tanzania and later returning to Ghana. What future did this relationship have? Was it just a fling, some fun?

It soon became obvious that this was more than a fling. I have never felt like this about someone before. But after about 3-4 months of flirting and relationship came D-day, the day I had to go home. I was assuring him I would come to Ghana when I finished my bachelor, in about 6 months. These were some looong 6 months, with insecurity, longing, fighting, bad communication over bad phone lines and what not. But, an opportunity came my way and 7 months... after we saw eachother last I came to Ghana, with a JOB, and we spent more time together, and solidified (a word??) our relationship. I left and came and left again many times before he finally came to Norway last year. But that is another story.

I have given you this story because the song for today, was a song I heard right after coming back from Tanzania. It felt like a song about us. About me. If you just remove the "I'd be the father of your child"-part, and change it with "mother", it is about us. The way it felt to leave. And say goodbye. Although James Blunt's goodbye sounds much more final in this song, and ours was supposed to be a temporary one, this song really touched me.

So, on a late Sunday Eve, I serve you: Goodbye, my lover.

Odo, me pe w'asem!

Fuck you

Hi.

I know I haven't been doing a good job lately with blogging. I'm sorry. I have been sick for days, but only yetsterday did I stay home from work cos of it. The last week has been crap, health wise, work wise, crappy apartement wise. Today we discovered a big crack in one of our windows. Through the last cold period we had problems with ice freezing on the inside of the windows. It is alot of humidity in the apartement and steam gathers on the windows and roof, cos they are cold. The landlord blames us, but I and my father and everyone I talk to blames poor ventilation in the building. I'm worried cos all the steam causes alot of water on the woodwork around the windows that can lead to rotten wood, mould, fungus... I don't want to be blamed at the end, so I tell the landlord. And he tells me the same thing over and over: It is becuase you are two people, shower, drying clothes... I dont think he wants to face that his building has some serious constructional problems. Fingers crossed that we get more money in our hands soon, and can afford to move to a better place.

We have gotten to the letter F in my little game, and because my mood is ROTTEN as our windows today, you get a song that might be offensive to some. But right now, that is what I'm saying to the landlord, my sore throat, my wisdom tooth and the world - FUCK YOU - with Lily Allen. Quite catchy really.

Emmanuella

Today's song comes from one of MY favorite artists from Ghana. While Kajsa digs Kojo Antwi, Ofori Amponsah's catchy tunes have always gotten my attention. Specially I like Otoolege and Broken heart, and another song that I don't know the name of and just call it "the nice song".

But today I have chosen Emmanuella, which was the first song I knew was of Ofori Amponsah. Get up and dance!

Dagane

Though we didn't play Beyoncè's Crazy in love at our party yesterday, it turned out very successful after all. I had invited 4 girls who are not directly connected, some know eachother a bit, but that's all. Then hubby invited 4 friends of his, from his language class. And we all brought them together in our tiny flat. How will this go? Thinking Norwegians are a bit reserved and dont talk much to strangers, I had my thoughts before hand.

It went very well. 3 continents represented, 5 nationalities, 9 human beings in all, had a fun evening together, sharing thoughts, ideas, jokes, music - and learned some language. I learned how to tell an Afghan boy that his daddy is soon coming to pick him (at kindergarten), I got to practice my Spanish, and Norwegian was being practiced on a high level. Red wine was of course spilled on the carpet I thought about removing before the guests came, in case someone would spill red wine on it. But thanks to a magic stain remover I bought, carpet is good as new! Music was played, dancing was done in our kitchen. It was a very nice evening!

Of course, now I have a headache but I guess it is worth it.

The song on D I'm gonna share with you today, also a live performance, is called
Dagane by Odd Nordstoga.
A Norwegian artist with a wonderful voice and characteristic dialect. I just love him. In the clip he is performing together with one of Norway's most famous singers, Sissel Kyrkjebø. The song means "The Days".

Crazy in love

I wanted you guys to start off the Friday with some real party music, and since I'm having a party at our house tonight (yippiee), I have been searching high and low for the right song. Unfortunately my music folder is not full off too much party party music cos I dont party as often as I should. I guess.

I give you Beyoncè and Jay-Z's Crazy in love...

Behind the wall

Today I'll share with you one of my favorite artists, and it wont be the last time I'll use her.
Tracy Chapman and her song Behind the wall.
It's an incredibly strong song, although its short nature. It says what needs to be said, and nothing more. It is a clear message, about domestic violence, and our fear to interfere when we know someone we dont know is struggling.

All this time

29 Musical days

Ey. I have an idea, maybe. What about singing myself through the alphabet?

I start with A and pick a song I like that start with A. And find it on youtube and post the link and then you can all listen, and y'all will know my music taste inside out!

Thoughts?

lalalallallalallalallallaaaaaaaa....

(And by 29 I mean I will try to include some Norwegian songs, starting with the Norwegian letters Æ, Ø and Å!)

Words. Don't come easy.

During my time as a research assistant for a Norwegian student in Ghana, we were in an office in some ministry, dont remember if it was Health or Youth...somethingsomething, but anyway, THIS wonderful writing was on the wall.

Just gotta love it. I think I have to make a post about all the lovely things I have found on walls in Ghana.

I dreamt death came the other night
And Heaven's gates swung open wide
With kindly grace, an angel ushered me inside
And there to my astonishment
Stood folks I'd known on Earth
Some I'd labeled and judged
Unfit or of little worth
Indignant words rose to my lips
But never were set free
For every face showed stunned suprise
No one expected me.

blablabla

ok.

I am back to old sins. I'm not blogging.

And I haven't even thought about a new blogging project.

Somebody have some extra blog self dicipline to sell?

While I'm thinking, I'm giving you all the privilige of resting your eyes on the happy couple in front of the Christmas Tree the last day of last year.

Brain freeze

Ok, for those of you who read news about Europe, you might have noticed the cold spell that has been affecting alot of countries. In the UK everything is standing still thanks to some few degrees below zero and some centimetres of snow. But I understand them. They are not used to it.
Just as I am not used to 25 degrees below zero. Cos that have been the temperatures the last week. The whole week we have been inside in the kindergarten, which results in wild kids, who are used to 2-3 hours of fresh air and physical activity every day. They are about 4 days behind on their activity level. Lucky me was the last person at work today, closing at 5. Cos of the extreme cold we have turned off the ventilation system there. Resulting in no oxygen which results in headache. And the wild kids with their paper planes, and energy levels on overload. I am so happy I'm in bed now, in front of my TV. Waiting for the temperature in the room to get over 20 degrees. +.
We live in a crappy apartement, very very badly insulated. That means that cold air streams into the room all the time, while the hot air that I am paying a fortune for coming out of the heaters, get wasted cos of the poor insulated house. The ventilation in the house is also crap, so air doesn't get out unless I open the windows. You cant do that in -25. That results in humidity in the room. The hot air lands on cold flates in the room, like the windows and roof. This results in (or used to result in) dew on the window and small drops of water forming in the roof. BAD cos that causes mould in the end. Anyway, thanks to the cold and the poorly insulated roof and windows, not the dew FREEZES on the windows and in the roof. I actually have small frozen droplets of ice in the roof in the bathroom. And my windows are frozen and I have to defrost them with a hair dryer every day. (If anyone wants to know, our landlord doesnt care, and blames it all on us).
How many times have I written "results" in this post?

I haven't had inspiration for starting to blog again. But I'm open for new suggestions for projects. :-)

I leave you with a picture (very bad one) of the ice on my window.
Have a lovely warm weekend!!

twothousandandten

One advice....

Don't drink and fly.

And don't go home at 4am from a New Year's Party when you are gonna sit in a plane for 5 hours the next day, up and down, up and down, up and down along the loooong coast of Norway in a little propellar plane.

But what a SPLENDID New Year's Eve it was!

Hope ALL your dreams come through this year,

and if they don't, remember it's normal for most of us.

:-)