Thoughts on leaving Ghana so soon.

My time here went by so quickly! The 60 days are almost up! I can't believe its over. My research coupled with some interesting transportation experiences have given me some ups and downs, but overall I loved EVERYTHING!! I am really going to miss Ghana a lot. During the previous weeks I had a chance to hang out with some friends and family from back in the U.S. and they made me realize how good I have it back home! I sometimes take for granted the amazing people in my life. Family that is close by makes me feel at home in the cold Evanston falls and winters. Friends who are always there to watch GLee with on Tuesday nights! (ugh I am SOO behind on season 2!!). My roommates adorable dog who will jump on me or sit beside me as I type emails in the morning or work on papers and assignments in the evenings... well I am sad to go, but ready to return! The visits were just the taste I needed to help close one chapter in my life and open another. The week is going to be EXTREMELY hectic... So... look for an upcoming post on my return to the states.

Thanks!

Cheers,

Nikki

Jostten and I at Nkrumah Memorial Park

Myrtie and I at Bella Roma.

Myrtie and I- hanging out at home.

Auntie Maude and I! (My older sister, Maude, is named after this AMAZING woman- that explains her ballerness-- my middle name is my momma's WHOMP ON MY LIFE lol jk).

Some tourist spots...

Monument to the Unknown Solider

Side view of the Inndependence Arch, directly behind Monument to the Unknown soldier

Monument to Dr. Nkrumah

Flagg Staff House, with jerk who purposely got into the picture

Trotro Friend!

This adorable little girl sat next to me the day I took the Trotro into Abokobi... for those of you who don't know, the Trotro is the raggedy old van thingy, and let me tell you...it is RAGGEDY! She saw me taking pictures and video outside the window on the scenic bus ride, so I asked if she wanted to snap one. We smiled and just enjoyed the scenic bus ride together. She got off at a stop earlier than me... and as the Trotro rode off I turned around to catch her waving. Her hand waving wildy attached to a slim arm.

During my time in Ghana, I have been met with so much kindness and warmness, from complete strangers. Who have turned into my makeshift friends and at times research assistants. Everyone from security at banks I had out souveniors too, the manager of a rural bank, and workers in a local forex in Accra, Circle. Ghana is just a bundle of warmth. From the warm people, to the blazing sun upon my face, I am deeply saddened that my time is coming to an end, but I am overjoyed by the love that awaits from friends and family back home...

Abokobi, Ghana....

had some INCREDIBLE views! Abokobi rural bank was in deed a RURAL rural bank. As I walked along the dirt paths, I was surrounded by brilliant greenery for miles, goats and cattle grazing next to small shops, and amazing views of the hills and mountains in Ghana. For the most part, this was my first chance to see any rural part of Ghana. I use the term rural because for the most part--Abokobi doesn't differ from other areas closer to the Central Accra region. Although it is a little more isolated, the children speak proper British English, where there uniforms and quaint shops line the street. Abokobi has a refreshingly calm pace. One that I desperately needed. I lovee walking along the dirt paths climbing small hills to get a better view of the scenery. A large mango tree provided some relief from the hot African sun while walking through Abokobi. Ahhh precious mangos... I love the trees AND the delicious fruit it bears. :-) . Abokobi is one of the hidden treasures of the greater Accra Region. I NEED to head back to the rural bank... hopefully that great rural escape will be sooner than later.

Circle(s)

Circle is an area in Accra where I go to hand out a lot of the questionnaires I am using for my research. There is a Ghana Post (aka the Ghana post office), which offers international money transfer services and is more flexible in terms of navigating versus some large banks and financial institutions who wouldn't want to impact customer service at all with questionnaires/are a little more weary of "research" or people looking for information. I digress... Yea so Circle... has this BIG circle (how ironic) that leads to different rows that brings you to different parts of Accra.

Circle... I feel as though it is a metaphor for my life right now. I find myself running around in Circles... going to different locations, in the same Accra areas.. talking to be people... gathering the target sample size and interviews... etc. And when I got to Circle... I feel like I AM always running around in Circles... first, it was trying to get to the Ghana Post via Trotro... HOT @$$ MESS... LITERALLY!!! hahaha. When I got off at the Trotro station, another Trotro decided to repeatedly rear end my trotro. I wouldn't have minded as much... if I wasn't exiting the Trotro via the backdoor exit/entrance... as it happened! Oh well... at 45 pesewas it is still a bargain! hahaha.

Well, the city routine was getting monotonous... so I decided it was time to make my way to conduct interviews at a RURAL rural bank. I use the term RURAL rural bank, because I had previous visited a rural bank in Labone in the Accra area, but well... it wasn't so far from the main city/Accra Central, and Circle etc... so I would try one of the rural banks closer to where I am staying in Haatso. The bank was in Abokobi, and well... hears to hoping it is a RURAL rural bank.

"Caking"

Sorry for the delay in posting… let me get straight to it! Well my uncle Richie brought me a cake last week from one of my aunties… it was a really nice gesture! It made my day and week to see it! The cake looked GORGEOUS… I cut it open to find… well raisins! Raisins baked inside with this fruitcake type cake texture Lol. That just saved me 10lbs in Ghana. Oh well. Apart from the cake… I had also been “caking.” You can look up the definition on urbandictionary.com while in Ghana. I will just leave it at that… like the raisins—Well, I will save the rest of the story for “rambling girlfriend emails,” phone chats and in person coffee and lunch dates back State side. :-) .

Cake, I have been also enjoying delicious pastries! I’m addicted! “The original cookie monster has found her Ghanaian addiction of choice. I just need to calm down so that my aunty doesn’t have to keep altering the clothes she makes :-p . My good friend Milly said I should shed it all while state side… I hope so :-/ .

Photos: Me with cake before heading off to banks for the day...

Getting in Touch with Nature...

Today I walked around the corner to buy phone cards (MTN, whoop whoop), and I saw the most BEAUTIFUL thing, a momma chicken protecting her newly hatched chicks. It was so beautiful (in my opinion anyway) because in the midst of the rough patches of grass, garbage, clay road.. was this momma chick and her little ones frolicking around. I tried to get a good picture, but the momma looked like she wanted to attack me.

Hmm... It's interesting... I always gripe about how the problems with sewage, transportation, health-care systems etc. can be fixed by the bright Ghanaian migrants who leave to work in the UK, USA, EU.. etc. I gripe to my good friend Mildred aka Milly aka Mildew, who is one of these brilliant "Diasporians" who has incredibly gifted friends at all the top university in the United States. One of the things that comes up with cousins, and with my friend is that those who are doing well, are almost immune to the poverty that they experience day to day. They are immune to it; and well, behind the high barbed wire fences of your home.. you have all the ammenities you need--proper garbage/waste disposal, filtered clean water, air-conditioning, internet, cooks, everything you need.

So when I drive off to my meetings at BoG, ARB Apex Bank... etc. I will NOT become immune. I don't EVER want to become immune. I am going to become best friends with the little girl who is a squatter behind the house next to my families, so that I will wake up thinking... well, "Ghana doesn't have free public education system in place... how can I get her to school or in a place where she doesn't have to carry around that ratty toy and wear those dirty clothes?" and wake up asking what can I do about this... everyday. WHAT will I do about this. Maybe I will harass all the Ghanaian engineers I know (that are my peers) and tell them to get to work on the roads or sewage system, versus some of these U.S. based jobs. Accra.. Ghana... is like a HUGE ball of potential. Its actually kind of confusing... I keep asking Why? Why? Why? And now I'm think How... how... how?!?! Am I going to make some changes happen.

Peace and Love Ya'll

P.S. If you didn't notice by now.... this blog will not be a place for grammatical correctness... after looking at these questionnaires, Twi vocab, my research documents my brain is FRIED by the time I get to the blog writing :-p .

Night life...

My cousin, her boyfriend, and her two friends studying at Legon and another American student from Tennessee studying abroad in Legon went to this bar called CHAMPS, last Friday night. It's a sports bar with Karaoke, a dance floor etc. It was loads of fun! We sang, we danced, we were merry! My cousins friends have been super sweet and hospitable. I loved the Karaoke, it would old school night so i heard a lot of Pop, and light rock throw backs, that was A lot of fun. I even got on stage (after a eensy bit of liquid courage) to take the mic. This was a little bit of one of the better performances of the night. All in all, fun night.

Food!

The food here is absolutely amazing! Fresh mangoes, pineapples, watermelon, soursop, coconuts... Ok I'll stop. It's safe to say that I have been having my fair share of fruits and veggies! I LOVE the red red (it’s basically like beans in a stew like a semi-spicy tomatoes based stew--hence the name) with fried plantain, and kontomire (spinach) stew with bayere (yam)... [I'm gaining fluency in written and spoken Twi by the way ;-) ]. It is great! Overall the food in Ghana/Accra is fantastic I love it!

Cultural point so I don’t get killed. My family here is sooo nice! They took me EVERYWHERE because they didn’t think I knew my way around (the routes are pretty simple :-p, at Legon and the way home). I know how to get around. The other day though, we ran out of eggs at the house and usually make egg sandwiches when I go to the Bank of Ghana, etc. for interviews. There weren’t any left, so I told my cousin, not to worry! I will just buy some food “off the street” aka street venders selling fried yam etc. He gave me blank stare, and then began to chuckle. Wait, you are kidding right?

Me: About what?

Cuzzo: You know there is Typhoid in Ghana right?

Me: Yea! I got the vaccine for it before I came.

Cuzzo: Don’t ever buy food off the street. You don’t how it’s been prepared. Only take food from the house. A good friend of mine, who is rich and everything just died of typhoid this past weekend, not to scare you or anything.

Me: Oh, wow. Right, I will just take some jeloff for tomorrow.

"This is Family Business..."

I begin this post with my favorite Kanyezee lyrics. This trip for me has been all about family, literally! I am staying with my family is West Legon, and sharing a room with my cousin Emefa--I am about a month older than Emefa. The research project I am working on here in Accra has to do with Remittances--specifically the life and personal perceptions of family members living in Accra (Ghana) that receive these funds. While driving through Accra... (East Legon, West Legon.. Osu etc.) one does not have to go far to see Western Union, Moneygram or Forex Bureau (foreign exchange bureau). I myself have played the role of West Union, forex etc... carrying with me money to deliver to family members via my KLM flight--and look, no transaction fees for exchange rate hikes! I guess my transaction is part of the million dollar guestimate that must be used when accounting for these Remittance funds... anywayz.. I degress I said this blog would not be about the work I do.. I guess you can read the paper when I'm done :-) if your interested.

Right... family business. Today I attended the wedding of John Afarkwei Hudson- Odoi & Audrey Afrah Boakye at the Accra Ridge Church. Their reception was held at the Accra International Conference Centre. Both the service and reception were beautiful! The couple are Ghanaians who went to college in the US (Maryland). They had been married for a little over 3 years before the wedding took place. They had a civil wedding, but vowed that so long that their parents and grandparents were alive, they would have their church wedding in Ghana to celebrate with all their friends and family. Sure one of their 90 year old Grandmother's was cutting a rug on the dance floor! It was so pretty and it was such a beautiful wedding; it was extremely hot in the afternoon but in the late afternoon a gentle breeze and cold Fanta calmed the heat. As I sat and watched--as I did not know anyone in attendance other than my aunt, who knew the bride and groom and sewed the Maid of Honor's dress--I just saw the love and compassion this couple had for each other, and their homeland, roots, culture. It was great, and really beautiful. I am a hopeless romantic... although I always parade around with my single woman torch. I have fallin' hard and fast for Ghana... the hip life music and the DELICIOUS red red with fried plantains, the BOMB kuntumbre stew with yam... ripe mangos... were an Ghanaian export I cherished in Worcester, but the food here, people and culture are not matched, and cannot beat any replica or imitation! Above all my family! All my mother's cousins etc. live in the U.S. so I see them all the time, and I love that family qt time. Here and now, I feel like I'm "catching up" with my cousin since I left Ghana at 3 years old. I am also catching up with my country. All in all I love it. My cousin moves into campus at University of Ghana at Legon. It's down the street, but I'll miss sharing a room and meals with her whiles shes in her dorm. Peace and love...

Oh p.s. enjoy the wedding video the guy in white was "gittin' it" :-) .

Akwaaba...

...it means welcome in Twi :-)! Everyone has been so welcoming! It's great! I am also trying to perfect my Twi staying here. I even have a Twi companion guide with sayings and expressions I want to remember ( I just write them down, and the book is small enough to fit in my pocket, so I take it everywhere. I am understanding a lot! It's just that my cousin, and family speak English so at times it is hard to get in the swing of my Twi pronunciation, but they are being VERY helpful though, which is nice. Today was my first full day in Ghana, and it was GREAT! Wheetabix in the morning for breakfast, red red (beans in stew) and fried plantain for lunch, dinner we went out to an Italian restaurant/lounge for food and drinks (although there was some nice yam and kuntumbre (spinach) stew waiting for us at home). That was a lot of fun! By we I mean my cousin and her boyfriend, who were gracious enough to drive me around and show me a little of Accra. We went to the Mall of Accra to get a sim card for my phone. I have a Ghana number, so now I am good to go!

The weather is great! Tomorrow I am headed to a wedding with my aunt, although I want to work out in the morning before we go. And next week Monday I am headed to Legon to meet with some professors about my project, the following day I am setting up an appointment so I can meet with a few people at the Bank of Ghana.. well off to bed!

Airport Reflections...

I’m so exhausted right now! Waiting in the Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. No internet so, I will just post this when I get to Ghana. I am so extremely happy right now; it actually makes me want to cry (bizarre right?). Maybe I am excited because I left in the middle of yet ANOTHER large New England snow storm.

Well, when I was in Logan Airport about to board the plane, I was able to get a hold of a Samsung charger to charge my Voda Phone cell phone! It made me extremely sad. When the phone came on, I saw new text messages and a few messages from the family I taught English to in Madrid. It just brought up a lot of really great memories about the whole experience. It just made me think about it A LOT. Why do I find soo much happiness in some things? Examples: A calm moment at the Okrah house (well, that is just rare), nice weather, laughing and sharing with friends. There are sooo many things that can you get you down in this world, and I think TOO many times they are able to frazzle me, shake me and almost break me.

It’s a continual process, but I think slowly Madrid, and Spain helped me shed “some of my foolish ways.” I’ve been praying a lot and reflecting on this journey to Ghana… What I hope to bring back… A good interview sample and interesting findings, but also, great perspective on life…and capturing all the warmth and happiness I can and living that day to day back in the States. I was borderline depressed when I came back from Madrid (hahaha). Looking back at it I can laugh. But that was a good learning experience... I am taking the positive things from Ghana… and using them to guide, my spirit, career and ultimately life. No re-entry depression for me back in the States (I hope).