Book Review - Ghana Must Go

Per Wikipedia History:

“Many Nigerians began moving to Ghana after Ghana became the first independent country in the region in 1957. Also in the late 70s many Ghanaians moved to Nigeria as economic migrants. The relationship became sour for various reasons. Thus, under former Ghanaian president Busia's Aliens Compliance Order, Nigerians among other immigrants were forced to leave Ghana as they made up a significant percentage of Ghana's large undocumented population. The official reason for deportation was failing to comply with the immigration laws of the country. In 1983, Nigeria retaliated and deported up to 1 million Ghanaian and other African immigrants when Ghana was facing severe drought and economic problems.”

The Ghanaians that returned carried what became known as “Ghana Must Go” bags:

https://annechia.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/fancy-ghana-must-go-bags.jpg

http://tmghlive.com/louis-vuitton-sells-ghana-must-go-bags-for-300/#.VkDU1IRLHGg

These things are everywhere in Ghana.  Conveniently, they can carry a lot.  Inconveniently, they are difficult to carry and are, not surprisingly, heavy.  Some locals joke that they’re called “Help me carry my bag” bags because older women are often dragging around the bags. 

Interestingly, on the last trip to the US, I was getting off the plane from Accra in Frankfurt and the line was moving painfully slow.  What was causing the delay? A woman pushing her bag down the aisle.  I asked if she needed help with the bag, thinking that I’d carry it down the jet bridge to a cart.  Instead, it was interpreted as me carrying the bag through immigration, security, and to her next gate.  I didn’t mind, after all – what’s the point of all the push ups if not to help a lady carry her bag?  Plus, it was easier to justify the beer and pretzel at 7AM after carrying a giant bag for the previous 30 minutes across Frankfurt airport.

Any way, what’s the point of the Ghana Must Go title?  Well, if you Google it, you’ll notice that the first thing that comes up is actually a book.  I recently finished the book and figured I’d share my impressions. 

I came across the book for the first time in a store in Accra, and it wasn’t until I did some more research that I learned it has actually received a number of awards worldwide. 

The book is about the family of Kweku (Kway Koo) Sai (sigh) and how they all react to his death. The book takes place in the US and Ghana.  For those that do read it and wonder how accurate it is, it’s very accurate.  One doesn’t need to be Ghanaian to appreciate the humor as the author does a good job of explaining some of the traditional “customs” in order for all readers to enjoy it.  For example, you can find yourself challenged to have Ghanaians follow your directions without adding their own interpretation.  Take your shirts to the laundry – “No Starch”.  Pick up your shirts from the laundry – “I said No Starch”  “Yes, but it’s better this way.” 

 The book also has a good glossary at the beginning that helps with pronunciation of names.

All in all, I found it particularly entertaining given my familiarity with Accra and Ghana, but I don’t think living in Accra is a prerequisite to enjoy it yourself.

Halloween 2015

I apologize for the day late post. Life is incredibly busy at the moment and the days keep getting away from me. I cannot believe it is Friday again. We launched a new initiative at work this week which has made for some long workdays... topped off with evenings at the sewing machine trying to get through all the teddy bear orders. Definitely bit off more than I can chew with that side project this year. Thankful for all of my mom's help with keeping all the orders sorted out and making sure I don't miss anything.

Obviously last Saturday was Halloween. During the day, we had our typical Saturday afternoon. Work out, lay by the pool, maybe a nap, watch some college football... pretty standard. Honestly, I have no idea how/when Halloween got popular here. I'm starting to think maybe it was just because it was a Saturday. Last year, we didn't hear about anything for Halloween and just figured it's not a holiday celebrated much outside North America. This year there were three bars and two restaurants doing Halloween contests, a masquerade ball at a hotel, a rooftop dinner at a friend's place, and numerous house parties. What? So we definitely had our pick of the litter.

Problem is that anyone who knows me knows how seriously I take my Halloween costumes. I usually start thinking about them around August, especially if "much assembly is required". Unfortunately, we learned about most of these parties about a week in advance and given the lack of Target and Jo-Ann's in Ghana, I found myself hard pressed to find items for a costume. Dan has a standard fall-back costume of Clark Kent. He's a huge Superman fan and it really doesn't take a lot of work aside from having a Superman shirt, some glasses and dress clothes. All of which he has. Bonus: having a cowlick in the center of your forehead that can be moussed to curl. Numerous people have commented that he sort of looks like Christopher Reeve when he wears the costume.

Ok so Dan is done. What the heck do I do? With the new Star Wars movie coming out, we've been re-watching a lot of movies... ok, I confess, we watch them often regardless of a new film coming out. I started going through characters but realizing that I didn't have the wardrobe or the shopping outlets to pull it off. Then I landed on R2D2. Well I have an extra white pillowcase... and a metal mixing bowl. I could probably make that work. So one football Sunday was spent painting a pillow case and taping fabric pieces to a metal mixing bowl.

Here's a picture of our final products:

It's a far cry from some of our past work:

So Saturday evening we had Miriam and Joe over for dinner and then went to two different house parties. We really didn't know anyone at either place but it was fun to meet some new expats and see the costumes people came up with. Lots of witches and Joker's. There was a Dalai Lama, Count of Monte Cristo, and a few others that were pretty impressive. Most people liked our costumes which is always a fun bonus. Too bad we didn't bring some of our past Halloween costumes or we could have gone from bar to bar winning costume contests. Oh well, live and learn. All in all, it was a fun Halloween and I enjoyed getting to let the creative juices out for my own personal crafty talent show.

NAWA and Dan's Birthday

The early part of this week was quiet, mostly because we were waiting to get paid... haha. On Wednesday, I went to a cafe to work and Alex came over at lunchtime to have a coffee and chat. She mentioned that she recently joined NAWA (North American Women's Association) and wanted to go to an organized dinner the next night. She wanted me to tag along; partially, so she didn't have to go alone but also because she's British, so she wanted an American partner in crime. Dan was expected to have a work happy hour that night anyway so I agreed and we RSVPed.

Thursday evening arrived and Alex was coming to pick me up. Just then, the sky opened up and DUMPED rain. In the run from the door of our building to her car, I was drenched. We very carefully navigated Accra's poorly drained roads and got to dinner safely. We weren't sure what to expect as we had been told that NAWA was a lot of older ladies, so we were going in open minded. There were about 20 of us and I think people ranged from early-mid-20s to early-mid-40s, so a good group. Everyone was really friendly and it was nice to meet some new people and share our experiences here in Ghana.

Maybe 5 of us were actually North American which I found pretty funny. One girl from Boston, two from Montana, one from all over California and me. The dinner was at an Ethiopian restaurant and was served buffet style. The food was very good and as enjoyable as I recall it being in Addis Ababa. The owner of the restaurant is definitely Ethiopian so the authenticity was never in question. We had some wine and chatted, and eventually parted ways around 10pm. The restaurant was very close to Alex's house so I felt bad having her return me back home. Luckily, one of the other ladies lives quite close to me and was kind enough to drop me off. I'm really glad I went and grateful to Alex for inviting me. Going to stuff like that alone can be overwhelming.

Friday was Dan's 30th birthday and we had reservations for dinner at a place called Urban Grill, which we heard good things about. It's close to his work so he and some coworkers went over and hung out at the bar downstairs after the end of their day. I met them there and, apparently, just missed the cake/singing bit. Funny because I know that Dan is not a fan of that stuff so I know better than to inform any servers it's his birthday. He had gone to the bathroom and when he returned they started their birthday music and parade of servers with a cake that has a sparkler in it, and immediately knew what was coming. That's what he gets for leaving Noks unsupervised. Dan and I went upstairs for dinner while everyone else kept enjoying their happy hour. We got a bottle of malbec and shared a tuna and avocado appetizer that came with plantain chips. For dinner, we got salmon with quinoa and a beetroot sauce and plantain chip crusted grouper with salsa and green beans. We swapped plates halfway through, haha.

After dinner, we went back down and found everyone right where we left them. We rounded up the troops and headed to Republic, an outdoor bar in Osu. We had some drinks and chatted until we got tired after a long day of work and celebrating. Headed back home around 11 to crash. I think Dan had a good birthday and a nice kickoff to Halloween weekend.