Accra, July 18

Day Twenty-One

Things that made me laugh this week:

• My little friend, Peace, has taken to grabbing my legs and burying her face in my crotch when she sees me. Awkward ☺ I grabbed her by her little upper-arms one day and swung her in a wide circle around me. When I placed her back down on the ground after a few spins, she grabbed her own crotch and looked up at me guiltily. I guess two-year-old bladders aren’t made for swinging in big circles? I thought it looked fun?

• I was walking along a road behind my hostel when I passed an attractive white stucco house. This house, like most middle-to-upper-class homes in Accra, was surrounded by a high wall. Along one side of the wall was a priceless sign that I’ve often felt like painting outside my own apartment in Baltimore. It read, “Foolish man. Do not urinat [sic] here.” Ha! I guess you have to have regular problems with someone urinating on your wall to prompt such a permanent chastisement? I’ll post the picture soon…

• A young Nigerian guy offered to buy me a cup of coffee in my “regular” coffee shop this past week. I smiled, thanked him for the offer, and passed…given that I didn’t want to send the wrong signals AND I had a full cup of coffee in front of me. No hard feelings…he went back to his side of the shop, and we didn’t really chat again. Later that very night I was eating at a restaurant behind my hostel (called “Fresherz”) when this same guy comes and sits at my table. “Beautiful lady…I have now seen you twice in one day. What do you think of this?” he asked.

“Coincidence?” I replied. “No, in my country we call this fate. I am certain this is something special.” I chuckled a little and then explained to him that I was married, and I was pretty sure this was more of a coincidence ☺ He didn’t believe I was married (because I left my rings at home for this trip!) and he proceeded to quiz me about my relationship with Jesse. I felt like I was in the US immigration office applying for a fiancee’ visa. “How long have you been married? Where is he now? What does he do?” Suffice it to say I passed with flying colors and the guy got up and left my table after two or three minutes with his head held high, no shame in having laid his heart on the line for a married woman. I doubt I was the first married obruni to whom he had bared his soul ☺

• I was in a nice restaurant last night that caters to expats, tourists, and Accra’s elite natives. Not knowing much better, I show up in my flip-flops, knee-length shorts, and a t-shirt to find gorgeous women wearing semi-formal attire. Eeeeh…I’ll take a seat on the patio, please? The truly entertaining part is when I walked inside to use the bathroom. There was a sign on the back of the stall door advertising a Tuesday night Ladies' Night. “Half off all house cocktails. Ladies only. No Trannies.” Really? Is this just twisted humor or has this actually been a problem in the past?

Things that made me smile this week:

• My academic adviser from home, Michelle, arrived in Ghana on Tuesday of this past week. We didn’t actually catch up with one another until Wednesday, but she has been a great person to have here over the past three days. She is helping me navigate the sticky mess I’m in with my current data analysis—basically telling me (and my in-country supervisor, Richmond) to move on to more productive projects. Whew. I’m glad I didn’t have to break this bad news to Richmond myself. The data is just disastrous and even though I'm trudging through it, the results are meaningless.

In addition to having someone do my “dirty work” in terms of sharing bad news, Michelle’s arrival was perfect timing in terms of my Ghana-morale, too. I had been here two-and-a-half weeks when she arrived, and I was starting to grow a little weary. I had tried all sorts of local dishes (all five of them) and found only one or two that I could actually stomach. I had eaten a lot of meals by myself and felt guilty when I indulged in Western pleasures like pizza and mochas. Having her here has been great company and a real pick-me-up before Jesse’s visit next week.