And the Little Pig Said…

So, when writing that title, I was under the mistaken impression that it would mean the same thing to you, my readers, as it does to me and (I hope) my parents. But a quick google has suggested to me that you won’t know what the little pig said, and so I am forced to explain my obscure cultural reference of a post title before even telling you about my recent move.

Boiled Shoes

I just boiled a pair of shoes. I feel a bit like Uncle Buck drying clothes in the microwave.

Before I got here Mark had warned me that my room (which he lived in when his wife was here) had a mould problem. Ato assured me that the landlady had assured him that the problem had been dealt with, and so I moved in. Nonetheless, Friday morning I went to put on the black slippers I bought in China, only to find them growing pale green fuzz. Yuck.

Filling in the Blanks: First Weekend

Saturday, July 21

In theory, my first weekend might have been a time for major exploration, but in reality when it came we were pretty tired. Saturday morning Kevin and I met Ato for breakfast and our first real chat with him, as he had been occupied covering the AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) conference for the AFP since our arrival.

After breakfast, Joseph and Kevin headed off to run errands (their exact purpose escapes me now), and I went shopping with my friend Kuorkor. KK and I graduated from Bryn Mawr together, and she was probably the main reason I was excited to come to Ghana, given that my preference for placement had been East Africa.

Filling in the Blanks: Day 3

Friday, July 20

Having packed our second day in Accra with museums and Ghanaian food, we settled on a more relaxed schedule for day three. We started the morning again with waakye, this time enjoying it at Lamisi’s stand, giving Madeleine a chance to warm up to us a bit. After stuffing our faces and bellies, we proceeded to Oxford Street for a quick banking stop at Barclay’s.

From there we left the urban behind and headed for the marine.

Filling in the Blanks

I just reread the post I wrote my first night in Ghana, and am I ever glad I did. First of all, I’m not quite sure when it happened, but I was right, I can’t smell “Ghana smell” anymore. Of course, I smell stuff here, but the barrage of scents I experienced my first week or so has all faded into the background. I was also right that Accra is totally manageable. I felt more lost before I felt less lost, but these days I’m making my way around pretty handily. The trick to knowing what you’re doing, I think, is to act like you know what you’re doing (asking for help when necessary, of course) until you actually do know what you’re doing.

My “blogging” (since nothing has been posted online yet, I feel quotes are necessary) has been pretty frequent the last 3 weeks (THREE WEEKS!!! I’ve been here THREE WEEKS already!), but there are some definite blanks in the record, so I thought I’d do a little backtracking, to fill in the historical record. Enjoy!

Thursday, July 19
A busy busy day.

Tonight’s sounds

Drumming and singing at a nearby celebration. Sometimes one, sometimes many, sometimes just drums, sometimes voices.

A meowling cat, possibly in heat?

My neighbours’ movies and music played just loud enough to be distracting and occasionally annoying, but not loud enough to be recognizable.

Stray dogs barking, possibly fighting.

Gusty wind.

A man cackling just outside my window.

First Day at Work

My first day of work. Got started later than expected, when a 9 o’clock call from Ato (JHR’s Ghana country director) told me we wouldn’t be heading over there until 11. I overcame my frustration and did a little grocery shopping, then returned home and read until it was time to head out. Given how exhausted I was by the end of the day, I’m glad it ended up starting late.

This is going to be an interesting 7 months. The day started out with me explaining to my new boss that I wouldn’t be reporting on my own, but rather working with his reporters on human rights stories. As soon as I had explained that, he asked me to write a column for the paper about my first impressions of Ghana. I agreed only because I didn’t want to reject their first request of me. And, to be fair, it’s not as though any of their staff will ever be writing such a column, so it’s not technically violating JHR’s mandate. Nor is it exactly on mission.

First day in Accra

Well, after an intense week of training in Toronto (punctuated by lovely visits and meals with friends and family both biological and chosen) I arrived last night in Accra. There’s not turning back now! Both of our flights (TO to Heathrow, Heathrow to Accra) were uneventful except for small delays, and made extra pleasant by the company of my new friend/colleague Kevin, who will be working for JHR at a radio station in Takoradi (a few hours down the coast from Accra). We slept most of the trip to the UK, and spent our second flight in stitches from watching Blades of Glory and Hot Fuzz. I (in the window seat) punctuated both movies with glances at the Sahara. Two words: unimaginably big.

Night fell as we flew, and for much of the final hour the gods put on a pretty good show throwing lightning bolts at each other in the sky off to our east, causing me to coin the phrase “positively Norse” to describe the situation. I hope Thor was listening. When we landed I made sure to take a deep breath through my nose and savour my first whiff of Ghana. Strange to think that it won’t be too long before the smells of this place will be so ordinary to me that I won’t even notice them. Right now I feel bombarded by unfamiliar scents.