We have each settled into somewhat of a routine; Dave working, and me discovering how to manage my day. In speaking for Dave (since I don’t think he reads this blog, much less contributes to it), his primary concern at work these days are the upcoming negotiations. There are two unions with which his team must negotiate and talks were originally scheduled to begin in April of 2011. Well, here it is August and the two sides have yet to meet. There seems to be no sense of urgency (except by Dave), which has him a bit worried. His lead negotiator is Ghanaian, and although Dave is a little frustrated, in listening to him at dinner, he is providing significant mentoring to the individual. This will ultimately lead to capacity building and further strengthen his department. Fortunately, Dave is patient and a natural teacher, which are two critical components of success in Ghana.
Me? After a too quiet July in terms of workload, I am again busy with my grant writing business. Part of me wants to go after more work, while the other half tells me to enjoy the freedom I have. I have worked full time virtually my entire adult life, and it has been an adjustment to have so much free time on my hands. I spend way too much time of Facebook, but it does make me feel connected. I am at the gym almost every single day, which is definitely good for the mental state! Every afternoon while I’m working I listen to Dave Pratt’s radio show (www.daveprattlive.com). For those of you outside of Elko, Dave Pratt graduated from Elko High School and is now a well-known and very popular radio personality in Arizona. After two years of being off the air (long CBS feud story), he reappeared on the Internet. His show has since been picked up by an FM station, but he can still be heard via the Internet. I love listening to him and his crew. I get to hear some good old American music, funny stories, and catch up on some of the happenings in the U.S.
So, what is going on in Ghana these days?
First, little did we know, but homosexuality is ILLEGAL in Ghana. And let me tell you, these people feel strongly about it! It is currently a hot topic in the region and, in fact, if an individual is aware of anyone who is a homosexual, he/she is obligated to report the person to the authorities. Admittedly, this is also a volatile topic in the U.S., but for different reasons. In America the argument is whether or not gays can marry. In Ghana….it’s whether or not they can be free! Ghana is an extremely religious country, and sometimes it feels like we live in colonial times over here.
Speaking of hot topics…we are inundated with world news in Accra. The recent London riots were, of course, widely covered and since we had just visited the city, we were much more aware and interested in what was happening.
The pursuit of freedom and democracy is evident in many of the most recent conflicts. The Sudan region (northeast of Ghana) has been big news what with southern Sudan seceding from the north and establishing Africa’s 54th country. Southern Sudan is different culturally and religiously (Christians) than those in the north (Arabs and Muslims). Had I not been living in Ghana, I wouldn’t have given this topic a second thought.
The Ivory Coast (or Cote d’Ivoire) is just to the west of Ghana and has seen its fair share of political unrest. In November of last year, an election was held and the then President lost but refused to give up his position. In April he was captured and taken into custody by the man who actually won the democratic election. There were demonstrations throughout the country, and many people left the country as they were scared. But, it all seems to have died down now.
The drought in Somalia is probably one of the most heart-wrenching problems in the news. Many Somalians are leaving their homes for refugee camps in Kenya, only to find the conditions just as bad. The U.N. estimates that 10 million people are in need of aid; 2 million children are malnourished. Can you imagine? Millions of people! One woman lost three of her children during a 35-day walk to reach the camp.
On a lighter note, I took a day trip with Michael, my driver, to the Eastern Region to visit the acclaimed “Bead Market.” Once we finally got out of the city, we drove into the most beautiful area I have yet to see in Ghana.
As I was leaving the market, a group of children gathered around me as they saw my camera. They are so funny....they just LOVE having their picture taken!
We have a new restaurant in town called the Villa Monticello. I have been there twice now; once for a massage (lovely) and once for lunch with a friend. It has only been open for about four months. It is very modern, wonderfully decorated, clean, and fresh smelling. It might be my new favorite place to go!
Shortly before our trip to London we started hearing noises on our roof. Well, Dave tried to convince me the noise was ON the roof; I thought it was in the attic. I would only hear it in the afternoon/early evening as the sun was going down. When we returned from London, the sound became more frequent. Basically, it sounded like a four legged animal sprinting from one side of the house to another. One night – well it was actually about 3 or 4 a.m. – we both woke up to a scraping noise right above our heads. Dave actually gets very animated when telling the story - explaining how it sounded as if the animal put on his safety goggles, powered up the chain saw, and went to work. It was SO loud! Anyway, the next day I emailed the Newmont contact for home repairs and told her I thought there was a rat in my attic.
The next day the Pest Management guy shows up – his name is Opare (oh-par-ay). He’s the nicest guy and loves to talk. I explained my problem to him and he told me it was most likely a rodent and that this wasn’t the first time he’s been at my house. He told me that the rodents climb the trees in the afternoon to get to the attic and that they can get in the smallest little holes. After finding a maintenance guy to help open the attic (you would think that would be really easy, but it wasn’t), he basically stood on a ladder and hucked bait into the attic. He never actually went INTO the attic. He threw about 10 things of bait, closed the attic door, and told me that it should be dead within a week. I asked him if they wouldn’t start to stink as they were rotting in my attic and he advised me to just put around some “smelly things” to cover up the odor. I informed him that if I started to smell them, I would be calling him back to have them removed! We continued to hear Randy the Rat (that was Dave’s name for our little friend; my name for him was not near as nice) for the next two or three nights, but each night we could tell he was getting weaker. For the last several days, we have heard nothing. Either he’s dead in our attic, or (hopefully) climbed out to find water and is dead in the neighbor’s yard.
Last week we went to a bbq and I was telling one of the guys the story about Randy and he told me that it was likely not a rat, but rather a grasscutter. OK, this freaked me out a little bit more, because grasscutters are much larger than rats.
Ghanaians actually EAT grasscutters. Charity (my housekeeper) said her family eats grasscutters, but they are hard to catch because they are very fast. She has never seen one around my house, but has seen a rat in one of the drainage areas. So, now I'm thinking it really WAS Randy the RAT!
With that being said, I heard that we are getting an actual, honest to goodness Kentucky Fried Chicken here! Hopefully, it’s really chicken…or maybe it’s just that grasscutters TASTE like chicken!!
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