Hello Obroni? How are you? I am fine!!

Its been some time since I've written...I don't really have an excuse because I haven't really done much with my time. Without classes and finals most of my time has been spent sitting on my pretty behind. I've gotten some productive things done -- I did an outline for my thesis, got some shopping done before coming home, and enjoyed some leisurely reading. The days have been hot and long and I generally try to find little ways to try and make them seem shorter...sleeping through most of the heat, watching movies, playing soccer and football and things like that. I would have liked to gotten more work done over the internet but alas its been pretty crappy across campus and "service" I subscribe to is about as terrible and frustrating as can be so blog posts have had to wait.

I did go to the Wyclef Jean concert but I don't think I've written about that experience. To make a long story short...the show was supposed to start at 5pm, doors didn't open until 7pm, and no one came on stage until 9pm. When people finally came on stage we had no freaking idea who they were. The acoustics were so bad (we were in a giant stadium) that we couldn't understand a thing that was being said and the stage was literally a football field away so we couldn't see anything either. It was sort of a depressing sight on top of that. The "show" was held in the Accra stadium which is meant to sit between 35,000 and 40,000 people; it may be an over estimate to say that one tenth of the stadium had people in it. The operation was clearly disorganized and by midnight none of the big names had shown up (although we were assured that Wyclef was "in town") and we decided to head home. I think in the end it was a good decision. Wyclef apparently didn't get on stage until 3am but apparently put on a good show when he finally got on stage.

And as we have all noticed, Thanksgiving has come and gone. From an outside perspective, I had a pretty good Thanksgiving day. Got some shopping done, played a real good game of tackle football (and when I say football I mean real football, not that woosy sport we call soccer), and feasted on turkey, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, apple pie and ice cream. I literally ate so much that I couldn't move for a solid half hour. And while I was glad to be fed (I've been consistently malnourished for awhile now) and happy to be with the people I was, Thanksgiving Africa style definitely lacked the comfort and feeling of being home. The fact that it was 80 or 90 degrees on Thanksgiving day through me off a bit too. I can honestly say that I thought about what I am actually thankful for the first time in a long time.

I did finally get off my butt yesterday and took a day trip over to Elmina in the Central Region. It lays about two or three hours west of Accra and has been on my list of places to get to for awhile. Elmina was another major slave trade point along the coast but the city has thrown off any shackles it may have had and is now a vibrant and dynamic fishing village of about 20,000 and is one the favorite places I have visited for many reasons, one of which is the lyrical chant that almost all the children do in the village when we walked past: "HELLO OBRONI!!! How are you? I am fine!!!"

My travel companion, Susan, and I started our day with a tour of the Elmina/St. George's Castle, the oldest building of European architecture in sub-Saharan Africa (supposedly) and was another major holding point for captured slaves. The castle itself was interesting but the tour at least presented the story of the castle in a much less depressing way than Cape Coast (which will haunt anyone who goes there). Afterward, we ate some lunch and headed up the St. Jago Hill to Fort St. Jago (aka Fort St. James). This was probably my favorite place in Elmina; the fort lies above Elmina Castle and you have a 360 degree view of the surrounding area from the top of the hill. If I didn't mix up the story, the Dutch came to Elmina and hauled cannons to the top of St. Jago Hill to bombard the Portuguese held castle; once they achieved victory, the Dutch built the fortification of the hill to prevent the same tactic being used against them.

Susan and I were able to take a self-guided tour through the fort, which wasn't big but was fun to explore nonetheless, going from the lone light pole in the courtyard to the top of the lookout tower. It was pretty crazy to move around these halls that had Dutch troops meandering through them hundreds of years before. As we walked around, some pretty imposing clouds started moving in over the town so we sought shelter in a room whose purpose we couldn't quite ascertain although I suspect it was meant for a troop garrison. We sat in the window (which looked like it was for a canon opening) and watched as the clouds moved in, rained, and moved out again. It was a pretty surreal moment to be sitting there, looking out above a sea of tin roofs watching people bustling around. A chief was having some festival so there was a band playing in the background which was pretty entertaining.

And as I sat there I had one of the moments that we have here periodically where we realize that we are REALLY in AFRICA; it sounds silly but there are times when you almost forget. And then I think about how strange this place is and I say strange with no negative connotation implied. For example, one of the things that struck me was that there was a house that was par the course for this area -- pealing pastel colored paint, tin roofs, makeshift patches and add-ons here and and there. Children around it played with whatever resembled a soccer ball and some took advantage of the water to bath because they probably don't have running water half the time if it all. It wasn't extreme poverty that these people lived in but extreme enough by American standards. The thing that made me notice the house was that even lacking the basic necessities, this house had a satellite TV dish on the side...I didn't and don't really know what to make of that except to have a feeling (which I have had before) that this place is like a giant anachronism that can't figure out which time period it wants to be in.

After leaving the fort and our surreal little moment, Susan and I hiked up to the old Catholic church which provided another good view of the surrounds before walking back down the hill and through the streets of Elmina and its fantastic fish smell. The fish markets themselves are insane and we only were able to get a glimpse but these places are constantly on the move and visually the most colorful place I have seen in Ghana with hundreds of fishing boats with different flags, symbols, and phrases covering them. I will post pictures of them when time and the internet allow.

We headed home on an STC bus and through the interminable afternoon Accra traffic but the day was refreshing. I have been so tired lately, a result of the fact that everything takes so much effort to do here, that the heat is pounding on you constantly, and that my diet is, in a word, terrible. It all sort of aggregates to a general lack of motivation that is affecting many of us and at times feels almost overpowering...traveling here isn't exactly the most stress-free environment in the world. I was almost content with just waiting out my days to go home but when I spoke to Dad on Thanksgiving he reminded me that this is all a unique opportunity and that I have put in so much to get here that while I may be exhausted and traveling might make me more so....I can sleep later. It was what I needed to here at the right time.

Subsequently, I will be traveling back into Togo and the plan is to get into Benin for a couple days starting the day after tomorrow. I wish I had a bit more time but I only have my own dawdling to blame for not. Rachel and I got our Togo visas today and so will at the very least will be able to go there and I hope to get over to the town of Ouidah in Benin which is apparently the epicenter of voodoo (although how much voodoo we will actually get to see is unclear). The only issue is time. The Ghanaian elections are only a week away (December 7th!!) and we want to get back into the country before then, especially when they may shut the border down on the 7th, or shut it down after if there are any election related issues. And don't worry Mom, I'll make sure to be safe for all of it...I do have a strong interest in my own self preservation.

Anyway, I will be home in less than two weeks!!!! I am really excited to get back to America, good food, and good people!! AHHHH! I don't know how communicative I'll be in the next two weeks because of the aforementioned internet stupidity and phone stupidity (for those that don't know...the mic on my phone no longer works and the MTN network has been exceptionally terrible lately) but I'll try to let someone know that I am alive and well.

Miss and love you all. SEE YOU SOON!!!

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