its all about me

Part of the reason i decided to travel was i was hoping that distance might provide me some perspectve on my own life. I hoped that distance would provide me with some direction on what I want to do, who I am and where I'm going in life. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that this trip has done that or merely driven me into a further state of confuson. Practising journalism hasn't really solidified any particular feelings of passon or hate. So I'm still not sure if that's the right path for me. I love travellng but if i had some dorothy heels 'd be clicking like crazy sometimes, because there really is no place like home. I love the experience of a different culture, especially one so far removed from my own but feel my western ideals creeping up and I want these countries to foster them even though I know that, that kind of thinking is superior and wrong. But my whole life i've grown up with these solid, idealistc values on what is right and what is wrong and almost everyday they are challenged over here. i like to think I'm open minded but being here really makes me think that my tolerance is not as high as i once thought.

A shopoholics nightmare

Today, lets introduce you to the wild ways of 'shopping' in Ghana. There are a lot of shops around, but not shops that match up with the western conception of a shop. There are shanty stalls, markets, sellers carrying arm loads of merchandise and women carrying wares atop of their heads littered around the streets of Ghana. In the cities like Accra there are a handful of westernised malls or supermarkets that are ridiculously overpriced, but they are aimed primarily at rich ghanaians and foreigners.

The markets are crazy. The sellers are zealous, determined and to be honest desperate for sales. They all sell the same products- carvings, paintngs, beads, jewellry, drums and african style clothing and bags. and when I say they all sell the same thing, it's no exagerration. Perhaps there are slight variations in the design but even then it's such a slight its hardly distinguishable. at first these markets fascinated me but now they are just exhausting. As i am white, I am a walking attractionand target. You get called, pulled, grabbed, complimented and even laughed at. Tis all just a bit exasperating now. There are the mandatory questions that they ask to build up a repport: what's your name, where are you from, how long have you been in Ghana, how do you like it? If the seller is male: Do you have boyfrend, are you married, do you want a black man? Then they launch into the requisite spiel about their high quality products that you can't find anywhere else and how because you're a friend they'll give you a good price. It's laughable because you walk next door and they have the exact same products and depending how good you are at bargaining for cheaper. The trick with bargaining is stcking to the price you want, and walking away when they refuse to gve it to you and always let them tell you what prce you want they want. Never tell them first how much you're willing to pay because when they state their price it's usually the hghest they'll go and you can bring them down from there. Sometimes the to-and-fro can be entertaining but sometimes its just exhausting and once you've done t once or twce you get sick of having to continually fight a price down. When you reply in their language to them, they are not only surprised but amused and it's a good way to get a good price.

People selling things in the street are equally amusing. They'll hiss or dog kiss to get you're attention, follow you, stare at you or pester you. Overall, the shopping expereience isn't one to be savoured because you can't browse leisurely without being harassed by the sellers. It can be amusing and tiring but rarely fun.

One people- many prejudices

Hiya folks,
I've spoken about the irony of Ghanaian values already but it's a topic that seems to pop up all the time for me. I'm so sick of the obvious prejudice of the culture against white people and homosexuals. I've never been so angry than in a conversation I was having at the beach with a rasta who was making the most ludicrous claims and telling me the most appaling stories about homosexuality. What I find so infuriating about it, is that rastas make the bold claim 'different colours, one people'. They 'know' about colonialism to the extent that white people dominated and oppressed black people. Yet, they don't actually understand the history and I understand and agree that the actions of our forefathers and the legacy of colonialism was abhorrent but at the same time i realise that it is history. It has passed and if they continue to blame it and live in it then they will fester in underdevelopment. Because we can't change what happened and it is up to the country and the people to change the way they are living rather than wallowing in past hardship. Anywho, I did have a point in mentioning the 'one people thing' and it was that although thy suffered persecution and discrimination for who they were, They don't seem to understand that they are doing the same thing now to homosexuals. They actually believe that to be gay or lesbian is a choice, an evil choice. I was at the beach speaking to a rasta about it and he told me that the onl reason I was ok with it is because the Western world encouages homosexuality, especially the catholic church. He also claimed that there were more homosexuals in our country than heterosexuals. He then continued to tell me that his sister had attended a catholic school and thought she was a lesbian but he flogged her with his belt when he found out in front of his family and now she is 'happily' married with two children. At this point I walked away. I was flabberghasted and appalled that it is more socially acceptable to meet your sister than love someone of the same gender. The thing is though, they have no reasons, no cognitive ability to explain or justofy their archaic notions. It's like fighting with a brick wall, no matter how hard you explain or argue they remain immovable. It is because it is, and that is that. And even though I know this, I persist. Its something about the stubborness in me. But we are not one people, this I know. I used to believe we were. But if we were one people then we would be able tolerate everybodies differences rather than giving them scorn and disdainoda. I cannot believe that I one had such naive and idealistic notions about the world but not anymore. I see it for what it is. Human nature will always find a group to persecute, because peace and equality are alien to our nature. I don't want to sound too jaded but it really is what I'm beginning to think. Individually, I think people can be good but in groups humanity is blatantly intolerant, ignorant and harsh. It is the experience I have found and continue to find. I hope, one day, to find a people somewhere in the world to prove me wrong.

Here we go....

I know it's been an incredibly long time since my last post and I can only semi blame it upon being busy. Mostly it can be credited to my laziness. But I suppose it is time to check in with my writing just so you know that I'm all good. I've recently moved to the city, Accra- Dzwoulu (perhaps that is the wrong spelling-I'm not entirely sure). I've lived my first couple of weeks there relatively easily. The transfer was so smooth because it's almost western living. There is running water, constant electricity and get this- a flushing toilet. After living in Ghana two months living in my new host family is almost like not living in Ghana. There are, however, some bizarre rules to live by which kind of make me feel like a child. We, the other volunteers and I, have a curfew of 12 which we rarely make, and we have a housemaid who cooks and cleans for us. It's so disparate from the way we were living before. Another difference is that we go out to do something every night whether it be drinking, dancing or even going to see a ridiculously overpriced movie. I think I've been perpetually tired the whole time I've been here because my body got so accustomed to going to bed at 9pm when I was living in the village. That's right ladies and gentlemen, me the homebody has actually gone out drinking and dancing. Salsa dancing no less! But I'm really quite awful at it. It must be the white and Asian in me that is inhibiting my sense of rhythm. I'm slowly getting used to the constant barrage of hip hop, reggae and rhythm and blues. I'm sooo missing my music though because I lost my ipod a month ago and have since been left to listen to the Ghanaian music. It kind of sucks. But I'm finally at the newspaper. It isn't quite as expected because it is an independent and its really relaxed. I barely write that much at all, and I always expected the practise of journalism to be faster paced. Hopefully it picks up. But I'm currently working on a story about Ghana's national amputee football team the Black Challenge and I'm really loving it. It's funny because I'm the last person anybody would expect to enjoy writing about sports. But the team is really inspiring and the coaches are really friendly and open. Sometime next week my editor is attempting to arrange a meeting with the ministry so that we can put forth a proposal to start a special fund for disability and sports that will support the Black Challenge. I miss home though. The people, the comfort, the ease. I was a bit sick yesterday and felt fairly awful and there is nothing like your own bed when you don't feel well. I'm even missing my older irritating brothers, especially the one that I find the most annoying :) And everyone except Jon in my family has been sick while i've been away and i've hated not beinng there for them. Mum and nanna you had twenty effing years to get sick while I was there but you both get hospitalised in the only four months i've ever been away from home, rude!
Now that I'm away from all of my old volunteer friends I feel like I'm in that trasitional phase again after finding my feet in the village. I'm so grateful for my first couple of months in akropong because of the people i met. I like the people I'm with now but it really isn't the same. It's a bit shit really. And i'm a bit over the beach now, i think I need a few quiet weekends of sleep because the travelling and going out is so exhausting. I might even be missing uni, not just the people who I of course miss, but the work. I never thought I'd say that. I also miss coles. Of course the people but I miss doing proper work for a proper period of time. Ghana is a nation of lethargy and laziness. The concept of work really isnt understood- on the upside i'm certain there is less stress, heart attacks and burnouts but on the downside they'll always be stuck in the momentum of underdevelopment until they get their act together and start working for it. The sad thing is that they think they are working when they sit in shops, eat or sleeping in these same shops that have no customers and they make 1 cedi a day. Its ridiculous. Yet, they seem ok with it which again forces me to uestion whether they are underdeveloped or whether they are just leading a different lifestyle that we cant understand. I think the world might be a better place if we could just find a balance between the accelerated western life and the monotonous less devloped lifestyle.
I guess that's all I have to say for now.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures too. I didn't post them all because i have about 800 and I didn't want to bore you.

updates

Well i wrote a blog and it won't let me post it. check out my fb page if you want to read it :)