A Very Happy New Year!

My Lovelies

Well Christmas came and went, and I am still not 100% convinced that we are in December. Even hosting my first Christmas eve supper with my roomies Ranjith and Nao didn’t manage to convince me… maybe in part because it took place in the garden under the Christmas palm tree, and as opposed to the more “traditional” Turkey and potatoes, we served mutton biryani and lentil curry. Even my habitual Christmas cold (apparently chest-cold bugs thrive as much in the cold Canadian winter as they do in Ghana’s tropical climate) didn’t manage to fool me, though it did convince me to lie in bed and take advantage of my time off work to rest and relax amidst painful coughing fits. But now, I am all fixed and ready to partake in the second round of celebrations, namely New Years on the Beach! My bags are packed and I anxiously await tomorrow morning, when Gislain and Jacques will wisk me away to the Safari Lodge for a good four days of lounging around in the sand and taking the occasional dip in the ocean to cool down from all that sunbathing exertion. Though it’s tough to spend the holidays so far from home, at the same time, I can’t complain too much because…well, I get to spend New Year’s Eve on the beach! It will be nice to escape Accra for a few days too, because even though I really do love this city, the constant movement, traffic and crowds do get a bit heavy from time to time.

I’m afraid I’ll have to keep it very short today, because I have to run off and meet Tim in a few minutes. But I did want to post a little something to tell you that I am thinking of you and missing you all a lot, and above all to wish you A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 2007 bring you much love, friendship, joy, health, success and all those other good things.

I will be back in touch next week with a report about my exciting beach adventures, and hopefully a few pictures too. In the meantime, I wish you all the best for these last days of 2006 and for the New Year that is upon us.

Much Love
Sophie

Snowy/Soapy Accra

Hello my darlings!

My, what a week! The countdown to Christmas has begun, and I still haven’t accepted the fact that we are in December. Even the snowy Accra weather hasn’t manage to convince me. Snow in Accra, you ask. Yes, doubting Thomases (since we’re on a Christian theme this week), snow in Accra! It appears that Koala --one of the big expat grocery stores in town-- caters to more than just nostalgic tastebuds. In addition to setting up numerous (plastic) Christmas trees in their windows, they have also installed a strange “snow”-making contraption on their premise. Blowing small droplets of foamy soap into the Accra night, this machine manages to produce a fairly convincing effect. (If, of course, you disregard the sweltering heat and people walking around in shorts, skirts, t-shirts and camisoles). It’s quite lovely actually (albeit rather absurd) and it was with great delight that Liv and I discovered the magic of snowy Accra, and proceeded to stand under the said machine for a good five minutes, missing our cold Canadian winter for a brief moment in time. (And as a side note, I don’t recommend opening your mouth to let the “snowflakes” fall onto your tongue.)

The Christmas party for Orphans and Vulnerable Children didn’t manage to convince me either of the impending Holidays, though it did prove to be a lovely event nonetheless. The week was thus filled up with various party-related preparations, many hours spent in traffic to go secure this, reserve that and a unforgettable adventure to Makola Market to do some shopping for toys, candies and cookies (after all, what Christmas party would be complete without!). Sure, one might say that as the biggest market in Accra and probably one of the busiest places in town in terms of people and stuff, any trip to Makola proves memorable. But a mere week before Christmas day, the venue becomes even crazier. People everywhere, sifting through piles of clothing and cloth on the grounds, merchants and shoppers walking around with huge baskets and boxes of goods on their heads, the tiny alleys in the market bursting with colors and bodies trying to squeeze through the shelving units packed with toys, beauty products, pots and pans, food, jewelry, shoes…everything you ever needed and then some! An incredibly rich but also tiring experience, and one I certainly wouldn’t recommend to the agoraphobic blog-readers out there.

And so it is that after three busy days of running around and getting things done, the much anticipated December 21st finally arrived…Though we had scheduled the event for 10am, in true Ghanaian fashion the crowd only began to arrive at 11:30. By that time, we had managed to set up the chairs and canopies (to protect our young guests from the searing Christmas sun), to fetch our catered food and to prepare gift bags containing toys, candies, exercise books and pens. The Dj had also finished setting up his booth, namely a cd player, mixer and microphone attached to a series of loud and often gritty speakers. We had some sweet Ghanaian Hip-Life music to greet our guests and to accompany us throughout the event. Refreshments in the form of minerals (aka Coca-Cola and company softdrinks) were served after the opening prayer (as every event in Ghana begins and closes with a prayer) and these were followed by games. The signing and dancing competitions were a big success, though the same cannot necessarily be said of our musical chair experiment, which left the toddler participants looking rather confused, and even led a small boy of two to erupt into violent bawling…oops!

I will send out an email with additional information about the party and a powerpoint presentation full of pictures (since I took well over 100), so I’ll abstain from writing pages and pages about in on my blog, though I easily could. But all that to say that a few technical glitches aside, this celebration proved quite the success. Everyone, from our tiny guests to the kind adults who accompanied them, seemed to have a lot of fun, to appreciate the yummy food (fried chicken and rice), the gifts and the festive atmosphere. I felt so blessed to be taking part in this event and to have a chance to put my obroni dance moves on display to a group of amused children. So please expect a more elaborate email report to make its way to your inboxes sooner than later…but in the meantime, know that your incredible generosity was put to good use and met with much joy and delight. Thank You Thank You Thank You, from the bottom of my heart!

The end of the Christmas party also ushered in vacation time for me, and so it is that I now stand in front of a two week abyss, where time will surely disappear into a vacuum of sleep, merriment and socializing. The process was put into motion yesterday evening, with a meal at Maquis Tante Marie’s, a wonderful restaurant owned and operated by a woman from Cote d’Ivoire, who cooks up some mean West African cuisine (and faithful to my Ghanaian diet of meat and fried stuff, I had chicken and fries…Again, I’m not particularly surprised when my coworkers keep on reminding me that I’m getting fat!). I went with Ranjith and Nao (our new roommate from Japan who works at the UNDP), Elizabeth as well as Gislain, Jacques and Janis, the newest additions to my roaster of expat friends. I had met Gislain and Jacques, two francophone New-Brunswickers, at an event organized by the Canadian High Commission (where Gislain works) when I had just arrived…but it’s only two weeks ago that we reconnected and started hanging out. But thank goodness we did, because they have proven to become great friends already, so kind and fun to hang out with. And Jacques is an amazing cook, something Elizabeth and I discovered last week when we were treated to a meal at their home, complete with freshly-made pasta, a desert to die for, and a green salad!!!! (my first salad in two months…as my dietician mother cringes!) They have the cutest little chihuahuas too, Alfred and Princesse Philomene, possibly the most well behaved and sweetest dogs I have ever had a chance to spend an evening carrying in my arms…Truly precious! And so it is with much excitement that I look forward to our New Year’s escapade, since Jacques and Gislain (and Alfred and Philo) have kindly invited me to accompany them and their good friend Janis to the Safari Lodge (hmm…not the most original of names), a beach resort four hours away from Accra. We leave next Friday, early in the morning (but not at 4:30 thankfully) and will proceed to spend a good three days right on the ocean, relaxing, eating and probably drinking a bit too (hey, it’s important to stay hydrated in this hot climate!) I am so excited and will of course be thinking of you all and wishing you were with me as I dip my feet into the Atlantic ocean under the starry Ghanaian sky to ring in 2007.

But in the meantime, there are other activities to be enjoyed…including a day with Tim and his family tomorrow, a Christmas Eve potluck at Liv, Elizabeth and Tracy (their new roommate)’s house on Sunday, and then Christmas day spent with my dear and kind friend Lucy, the director of the support organization for positive women where I spent a week earlier in the month. We’ll start the day off with a trip to church (when in Rome...) and then prepare a yummy X-mas meal. Though I will certainly miss my family and friends dearly as I partake in this first Christmas-time away from home, at the very least I will be spending my Ghanaian holidays in good company.

So yes, this is my report. It’s pretty long this week, partly because I have so much to say and also to make up for last week’s pitiful entry. I will post another one next week prior to leaving for my New Year beach escapade (I know I know, tough life!) but in the meantime, I wanted to wish you a very very happy holiday season. May the next days be spent in the company of loved ones and enjoying all of life’s pleasures (sleep, food and drink especially!) I miss you all, continue to think of you often and send you much love and joy in this festive season.

A bientot et Joyeux Noel mes cheris!
Sophie

About the pictures: Finally, some visual illustrations of my African adventures! They are a somewhat random assortment of images...a couple from the party yesterday, a couple from my funeral adventures with Tim's family in Ekumfie (hence the dark clothing), and a couple from the AIDS march two Fridays ago (including one with Tim...the one where we are both wearing yellow and he looks dreadfully serious.) It takes a good deal of time to upload images onto Blogger, but I'll try to add some more as soon as I can.

pps: please pardon the ugly layout...blogger is not design-friendly apparently!

Chicken Fried Brain

Hello my darlings!

I warn you right from the get-go that I will keep it short today...my brain is completely fried, and I doubt that I can muster up the energy to write more than a few paragraphs, if even. I spent the day at a wonderful event, put on by my good friend Lidvina, a CUSO volunteer working at judicial services here in Accra. For over two months, she has been preparing today's event, a workshop on women and children's access to justice. With various stakeholders present, from NGOs, to ministries, to lawyers and judges, we were able to examine a number of interesting issues pertaining to women and their recourse to the law (and/or lack thereof), issues which feed quite directly into my academic field(s) of interest. In addition to delivering a short short presentation on the intersections of HIV/AIDS and legal issues, I was also assigned the prestigious title of notetaker, so basically proceeded to scribble in my notebook for a good 10 hours. And so it is that my hand is now sore, as are my eyes and come to think of it, my brain too.

Otherwise, I had a good week, dedicated to planning the upcoming Orphan and Vulnerable Children Christmas Party (quite a catchy name, don't you think?) On that note, I wanted to take this blogging occasion to thank all of you for your incredibly generous support, which will allow us to host a fantastic event for about 100 children plus their caretakers. There will be music, dancing, food and gifts for everyone...a lovely celebration for these little souls who so very much deserve it. I have been really touched by the support I have received from my peoples back in Canada, and I cannot begin to express to you how grateful and thankful I am.

All right, I think that's it. I feel like I am trying to extract juice from a dried up, shrivelled little fruit, and so I assume it is probably better to let my brain rest for the remainder of the evening, such that I can return to my blog more inspired than ever before. Nevertheless, I still wanted to post at least a little something, cause I certainly don't want to let you down, of faithful Friday readers. I will try to return to ghanagogo over the course of the weekend, fill you in on additional details about my week and maybe even upload a few pictures cause I think this blog needs a bit of color!

I miss you all.
Much love,
Sophie

In the Company of Women

Hello my precious,

Well, 'tis Day of the Blog again today, and as seems to be the case every single time I add a new chapter to this thing, I must begin with an exclamatory sentence: What a week! A wonderful week, an inspiring week, a moving week, a week spent mostly in the company of women, which I must admit (and no offense to the male-identifying readers out there) feels pretty damn good after all the male attention I have been being granted as of late! Now where do I begin...

Upon my last post, I was lamenting my early morning start the next day, which indeed ended up taking place (4:30!!!!!), and which I ended up traversing unharmed (though a tad bit baggy under the eyes). It's certainly not something I would repeat too often, but it was more than worth it. Before sunrise, Tim and I hopped on a trotro, and headed towards a small village by the name of EkumfieAkra, where his mother is from and where her family was burying one of their uncles that Saturday. The journey was not very long, two hours at most, but allowed me to enjoy some of Ghana's beautiful scenery, its lush greenery and little villages of straw-roofed huts. We met up with Tim's father at one of the highway's intersections, to grab the second trotro for the day, an experience that I will never forget.

Though trotros are seldom in a very good state, with cracks in the windshield, pieces of metal held into place by string, and the seats often revealing more stuffing than upholstery, never have I seen, let alone embarked, upon the trotro we took to get to EkumpfieAkra. Decrepit doesn't even begin to describe it. Everything --from the ceilings, to the floors, to the benches (and they were'nt even metal)-- was covered in flakes and bubbles of crispy auburn rust. The exhaust pipe seemed to emerge into the vehicle itself, such that a thick blueish smoke filled the suffering car, even moreso when the poor thing struggled to climb a hill, coughing and stalling a fair share along the way. I still don't understand how we made it to the village. Everyone seemed quite amused by the process, laughing and mocking the driver along the way, which only contributed to making the experience that much more amusing. After our journey on this cadavre of a car, we arrived in the village, to be greeted by Tim's mother and her family. We did the rounds, going to salute everyone, including the uncle-who-is-no-more, housed in one of the most colorfully decorated rooms I have ever seen, walls covered in shiny material and bright plastic flowers. After a delicious lunch of Auntie Elizabeth's (Tim's mother) delicious Banku and fried fish, we (and the hundred other guest attending the event) headed to the cemetary to pay our final respects. The cemetary is located under the palm trees, right next to the ocean, so we stopped along the way to dip our feet into the salty water and drink a freshly macheted conconut. Disrespectful, you may exclaim...not at all! I had been told that funerals are quite the festive occasion, and indeed this one only but confirmed the strange rumor (strange for a Westerner, that is, where death is approached in such a different manner).

The remainder of the afternoon was spent relaxing, chatting, and then hitting the dance floor, set up especially for the event. As seems to be customary at these functions, the poor obroni that I am was not spared a chance at public ridicule, and was invited to come and dance (alone) in front of everyone...which I did wholeheartedly, because after all, if you can't laugh at yourself, and have a hundred Ghanaians laughing at you...life just isn't as much fun! I arrived back home at 9 and headed straight to bed (after a good shower, of course...lots of dust and sweat and exhaust fumes to rinse off), delighted with my day. What an adventure and spent in the company of the loveliest of people...Tim, his mother and father and all the rest, such kind and friendly folks!

On Sunday, I woke up late (I had a four-hour night to make up for!), did some reading, and then proceeded to head over to Mrs. Field's house, to deliver some books on behalf of my friend Linda (who was staying with Mrs Field when she was doing her PhD research in Accra.) Linda had spoken fondly of her host, but frankly, I never even imagined that she would end up being such a character! An incredibly feisty, funny and foul-mouthed seventy-eight year old Ghanaian woman, happy to share her incredible stories, her pictures, her jokes, her swearwords and her beers with this newest visitor. I had planned to stay an hour at most, and ended up leaving in the early evening, rather tipsy and absolutely amazed at the mere existence of this rambunctious and lively little creature. Such a precious and unique woman! Needless to say that I look forward to visiting Mrs. Field again sooner than later, and will also take this occasion to thank Linda for asking me to deliver her these books!

Monday brought about the start of a new work week...not at SWAA though. Instead, and as had been agreed upon with the president and other members of SWAA when I arrived, I headed over to my old hood (around Madina market), to one of their partner organizations. The latter provides women who are living with or affected by HIV with a place to get together, chat, and work on different income-generating projects, like beaded pin making and mushroom production. Lucy, the president and founder of this group is one of the kindest and most thoughtful souls I have ever had the privilege to meet, so dedicated and passionate. The other women proved to be just as kind, welcoming me into their group and making sure that I was well fed, occupied and looked after during my time with them. The timing proved most wonderful too, because they were preparing for a (slightly delayed, but who cares!) World AIDS Day walk on Friday (today). So my week was spent taking part in the various organizational activities, accompanying Lucy on endless trotro rides (as you know from my first posts, Madina is faaar, especially when you add Accra traffic to the equation) to go deliver this, visit this person, pick up this letter, so on and so forth. I savored every minute spent in the company of this woman, and sometimes wished for even more traffic just so we could sit and chat, or even just sit in silence, a little bit longer.

I was also given the task of making forty placards to be carried during the march, a job I was more than happy to accept seeing my love of all things drawing-related. So I spent a good portion of the week inhaling permanent marker fumes, while writing "Spread Love, not HIV," "Use Condoms Always," "Talk to your friends about HIV" and other lovely little HIV/AIDS jingles, while the women worked away at their pins, chatting, laughing and gossiping along the way (I understood only a fraction of it but feel confident in making these claims...if gossip isn't universal than I don't know what is!).

Today was another early day for me, waking up at 5:30 to go help with the set up for the march. It started about two hours late (pretty much everything starts two hours late here, so not a suprise, really) and proved to be an immense success. We gathered a crowd of 70 people or so, and proudly carried our banners, distributed condoms (male and female) and raised awareness to the sounds of our brass band escorts. We covered quite a bit of ground, and this in the heavy late-morning sun, but I didn't even see time go by, dancing away and enjoying every minute of yet another festive and fun-filled event spent in the company of wonderful people.
(I took lots of pictures and will make sure to add a few to the blog as soon as I can.)

It was feeling very inspired, moved and so very blessed and fortunate that I grabbed my Friday trotro and headed home...to change into my weekend attire (and out of my gross "I've been dancing on a busy street in the sun and sand for four hours"-clothes) and make my way to Sharpnet, where every Friday I have a date with Blogger, and the family and friends who take the time to read about my incredible adventures in Ghana. Though I did not want this week to end, and look forward to going to visit my new friends next week, and the week after, and the week after that, I must admit I need a bit of rest! And again, the weekend promises to deliver it, with no big plans other than the customary laundry, cooking and an evening out tomorrow, most probably a girl's night with Lidvina, her roomie Eliizabeth and Laurence (to conclude my own personal women's week!)

Oh no, I have run out of time! Wow, I was particularly chatty this week. Well, I guess it figures, with all the inspiring people I met and experiences I took part in over the past seven days.

I will thus have to put an end to this newest chapter in my Ghanain adventures, not even taking the time to proofread (so pardon any mistakes or grammatical blunders), but certainly taking the time to tell you that I miss you all very much, and send you much love from sunny and oh-so-lovely Ghana.

A big big hug
Sophie

The early bird gets the worm

Hello my lovelies!

Back again for the most recent chapter in the fun and worm-filled adventures of Sophie in Ghana. (False advertising though, cause I remain worm-free, as far as I (and my intestines) are concerned.)

Yet another week down and yet again I am left to wonder where it went and what exactly I managed to accomplish in the course of the past seven days...

Last weekend was good, very relaxing and uneventful for the most part. I did my laundry (part of Sophie's little routine in Ghana and a recurring theme in the blog, along with the worms, of course), spent some time lying in bed reading Middlesex (an amazing amazing novel that I recommend to everyone) and stuffing my face with some of that lovely Kingsbite chocolate, made from 100% authentic Ghanaian cocoa, so rich and so yummy (and then I wonder why those extra pounds are finding their way onto my body...). On Saturday evening, we headed to yet another ocean-side club (I know, I know, tough life) for some drinks and dancing. The band treated us to some lovely melodies, but a group of very (very) persistent rasta-men rendered it rather difficult to enjoy the dancing portion of the evening. Though we made it quite clear that we were not interested in their company, they did not seem to get the hint. They insisted on trying various tactics, asking endless questions, dancing too close all the time, and a particularly ambitious one even attempting the "grab-from-behind-and-grind" approach, met with very little success might I add (unless you consider a quick escape, an outraged "don't do that" and nasty look on my part successful). Sunday was spent exploring Accra and doing some food shopping. I found a little book kiosk along the way where I purchased two relationship advice books by Nigerian love guru Praise George (for my research, of course!). Read through them that same evening and was treated to an array of slightly useful, at times offensive and definitely amusing advice and information. And for all of you who were wondering, the number 1 mistake made by single women: "You fail to look good" (direct quote from George, P. "21 Mistakes that Single Women Make." Lagos, 2005).

Before I knew it, Sunday evening rolled around and then it was Monday morning...and time to get back to work after yet another fun-filled weekend. The week proved to be quite busy, with lots of meeting scheduled, a few things to do around the office and hours and hours spent taking notes and trying to make academic sense of all the incredible moments, experiences and encounters that fill my days in Ghana.

Had a few social shindigs too, including a lovely cocktail at the Canadian High Commissioner's residence in honor of Madame Michaelle Jean's five-day visit to Ghana. A lovely evening spent on the commissioner's well-manicured lawn, rubbing elbows with Canadian diplomats, expats and volunteers, and enjoying free drinks and best of all a huge cake decorated as the Canadian flag and ice cream drizzled with authentic Canadian maple syrup (so yummy, I had to have two servings!). On Tuesday, I met up with Tim, whom I hadn't seen in at least a week, and treated him to his first meal at a Chinese restaurant (yes, it is true that you can find absolutely everything in Accra). My guest being new to the art of Chinese cuisine, I ordered in the more neutral palette (cashew chicken and veggies and tofu) and though hesitant at first, he ended up quite liking it, even managing to polish up the plate of chicken. We also visited with his (always lovely) family along the way, as well as Mr JB, the director at the school where Tim teaches. This kind albeit slightly untactful man greeted me with an enthusiastic "wow, you've gained weight!." Thanks Mr JB, I hadn't noticed! I can't recall what happened on my other evenings, but they probably involved copious amounts of food (another important leitmotif both in my Ghanaian experiences and my blog renditions of them!).

Which brings us to today, Friday December 1st. Though it's World AIDS Day today, it's also National Farmer's Day in Ghana, which means that offices are closed and everyone stays home. So I spent the day doing some work in the safety of my lovely little room with the big big bed, finished up my weekly laundry load in less than two hours and ate some more Kingsbite chocolate to congratulate myself on this new record. Tonight, I am meeting up with Lidvina and Ranjith for supper at Sunshine Cafe, an Indian restaurant I hear is quite delicious. There will be no drinking by the ocean though, because tomorrow I have to get up at 4 o'clock (yes, that's 4 o'clock in the morning!). Tim has invited me to attend his uncle's funeral in a town two hours from Accra, an invitation I was more than happy to accept (and I had already said yes when he mentioned at what time we would be leaving...). I assume that Sunday will be spent sleeping in and recovering from the inhumane waking experience of the previous day...and then who knows? I guess you'll have to read about it next week as the newest post appears in Sophie's worm/food-filled blog.

So to give my usual physical-emotional state recap, I am still happy, still (very very) well-fed and still loving my time in Ghana. I feel really good here, more relaxed, less tired and healthier than ever (which is strange, because as a Canadian travelling to Ghana you expect everything to go wrong with your health, not the opposite).

Of course, I miss you all (still, always) and continue to think of you, my sweet poor souls trapped in a cold and Kingsbite-free world. So on that note, I send lots of sunshine, authentic Ghanaian cocoa and love your way.

A bientot mes cheris!
Sophie