Today I learned a big lesson about trusting people and got burned, so to speak, along the way. I had the workman from the curtain store come today to bring the curtain and tiebacks they forgot to bring last week when they installed our curtains. I brought them into the bedroom to work and got them set up and then went into my living room to get some things done. There were three guys and I thought it was a little overkill to just hang voile in the bedroom but didn't give it a second thought. Then about halfway through, one of them came out and told me that he had some liquid soap in his car. I though, "is this code language for something" because it just seemed so out of context and random. So at first I thought maybe he was asking for soap because he got dirty hanging curtains...but that didn't make sense...and then I thought maybe he's selling liquid soap and that's what it turned out to be. So I politely told him I did not need liquid soap and he went back to finish the curtains with the other two guys. They finished up and left. As I was heading towards our bedroom, I saw something glistening on the floor and realized it was one of my small diamond earrings. And for a moment I thought, that's weird because it wasn't here earlier and our housecleaner was just here yesterday so she would have seen it when she swept. And then I realized how it got there and ran into my bathroom attached to the bedroom where I keep my jewelry and low and behold, the little paper box I keep my small stud earrings was ripped and earrings were missing. I bolted down my stairs shaking with anger and caught the 3 guys just as they were leaving and asked them to come back to the apartment because there was a problem. So they thought I had a problem with the curtains but I brought them into the bathroom and explained that this morning, the box was not ripped and the earrings were all there, and now it's ripped and there are earrings missing. They just stood there looking at me stunned and then began insisting that they didn't do anything and did not step foot in the bathroom. I was so furious. I guess I didn't expect for them to just cough them up but it had to have been them. I was so frustrated and felt so powerless standing there that tears started flowing and then I thought maybe if I tell them that these earrings were really special and important to me, they might confess but no, why would someone who steals something actually care what it meant to the person they stole it from? So that didn't work and I couldn't think of what else to do so I just said, "I just hope that one of you didn't decide to make a stupid choice today" ...not the best line I could have come up with but that's what came out as I brought them to the door to leave.
After they left, I got even angrier because I realized the whole piece about the liquid soap was an attempt to distract me and make sure I was not entering the bedroom. So I decided that this store needed to know what happened. It's a very posh (well, posh for Ghana) and well-established store with a wealthier clientele made up of Ghanaians and expats and I figured these guys will just be encouraged to do it again since they got away with it. So as my driver, Frank, took me to the store I explained to him what happened and showed him the ripped box and he got furious. He said that I cannot trust Ghanaians because Ghanaians are black and according to him, you can't trust black people. This was hard for me to hear him say, and shocking considering he is Ghanaian and black, and I told him that I cannot think like that. I told him that people, all kinds of people, get desperate and do stupid things and that it does not have to do with them being black, but he still didn't agree with me. I think it makes him so angry to see this sort of thing because it confirms this belief that he has that black people are fundamentally inferior to white people. He said I should have gotten him and he would have taken them to the police station and the police would have made them strip to see if they had the earrings. So that's how things work here...there is no 911 and there is definitely a different system here for these kind of things so now I know that Frank and I should have done a "citizen's arrest" on these 3 guys and driven to the nearby police station. When I arrived at the store, the woman who works there who knows me now by name because I'm there so often, said, "Emily, they are supposed to be installing your curtains this afternoon!" and I told her there was a bit of a problem. When I told her, her eyes got wide and she shook her head and knew right away who at least one of the guys was because the bit about him trying to sell liquid soap sounded familiar to her. She indicated that there is one particular worker who sells this soap and so that must have been him. So in the end, the little scheme that he had to try to distract me wound up being the thing that helped the store identify him. I was put on the phone with the company's manager and explained what had happened. I was impressed with how professional and apologetic and responsive she and the lady at the store were because I really didn't think I'd get much of a response. The manager said that she would bring this to the company's owner's attention and perhaps they would confront the men and search them. I'm not convinced that will happen but certainly felt better having told the store what happened.
So I learned a lesson and that is that I will from now on both lock up my valuables when we have people doing work in the apartment and will have to watch them as they work. Both of these things challenge my desire to trust people and assume the best in people but losing two sentimental and valuable pieces of jewelry today was enough to teach me this. Who knows...maybe these guys will feel bad and cough up the earrings but I think it's unlikely.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Setting Up House in Ghana - Part II
Alan and I were overjoyed when we got the call yesterday saying our furniture would be delivered in 1 hour. Thankfully the timing was perfect because an hour after the movers left, torrential rains came. We've entered the rainy season so the weather can go from beautiful and sunny to dark skies and torrential rains within minutes.
We've been waiting for the furniture for almost 3 months and the estimated arrival was April 6th so needless to say there was a bit of delay. And then making matters more frustrating, when the furniture arrived 2 weeks ago it was just sitting at the port a town away in a container. To understand how exciting this is, just imagine having moved into a wonderful apartment but not have any comfortable place to sit, eat or sleep for a few months. Our borrowed couch was so uncomfortable, that in the evening we just went to bed early because there was no place to sit and relax.
Now we have our new bright red couch, our leopard print chair and few pieces of Ikea furniture as well as our big plush bed.
.
And still, we have plenty of room to spare, as this is no NYC apartment. We're not used to having all this space and we hope to soon buy some pieces of African furniture, art, drums, masks, etc. to fill up the space and walls. On that note, we've been exploring some of the local Ghanaian artists and their work to see what we might want to purchase at some point while we're here and so last weekend we went to a great gallery called the Artist Alliance that was started by a famous local artist here. The gallery is right on the ocean's edge and has 3 levels filled with all sorts of mediums like paintings, metal sculptures, masks, wooden furniture, beads, tapestries and more. We found a few pieces that we'd love to have some day.
We've been waiting for the furniture for almost 3 months and the estimated arrival was April 6th so needless to say there was a bit of delay. And then making matters more frustrating, when the furniture arrived 2 weeks ago it was just sitting at the port a town away in a container. To understand how exciting this is, just imagine having moved into a wonderful apartment but not have any comfortable place to sit, eat or sleep for a few months. Our borrowed couch was so uncomfortable, that in the evening we just went to bed early because there was no place to sit and relax.
Now we have our new bright red couch, our leopard print chair and few pieces of Ikea furniture as well as our big plush bed.
.
And still, we have plenty of room to spare, as this is no NYC apartment. We're not used to having all this space and we hope to soon buy some pieces of African furniture, art, drums, masks, etc. to fill up the space and walls. On that note, we've been exploring some of the local Ghanaian artists and their work to see what we might want to purchase at some point while we're here and so last weekend we went to a great gallery called the Artist Alliance that was started by a famous local artist here. The gallery is right on the ocean's edge and has 3 levels filled with all sorts of mediums like paintings, metal sculptures, masks, wooden furniture, beads, tapestries and more. We found a few pieces that we'd love to have some day.
Friday, April 23, 2010
The Expat Life
As I approach the 6-week mark of living in Ghana, I feel like I've completed "Expat Life 101." I've certainly traveled abroad before but you really can't compare that to living abroad and my only experience living abroad was as a college student in Sri Lanka. And although that experience was amazing and eye-opening, it was not "expat life." I lived with a host family and took courses and was guided around the country by my program. So this is officially my first expat experience, whereas most of the expats I've met thus far here are on their 3rd, 10th or 20th year living as an expat. I am frequently faced with the question of "what number tour is this for you" and I'm realizing that expats often make a life of being an expat...something I guess I had never really thought about before. A few examples include a woman who told me the other day that she left Canada 20 years ago and has been traveling ever since doing "tours" with her husband, who she met doing development work in Zimbabwe. They now have two teenage kids and have lived all over the world and now are at their post in Ghana. Then there is this guy who might also be from Canada, who is selling us some pieces of furniture because he and his family are moving on to Switzerland for the next "tour." When I went to his house to see what he was selling, each item was from a different country where he and his family has lived including Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Bolivia (We're buying his chairs from Bolivia!). They've been "on the road" so to speak for quite some time with their two children as well. There are many more examples like this and I'm learning that as these families pick up and relocate they must find housing, find drivers, find cooks, find maids, settle their children in schools, and subsequently make friends and build a network all over again. It seems exhausting but at the same time fascinating that these families don't have a home base. They are in a way like nomads. But I assume, their "home" is wherever they are as a family which is sort of how it should be I think. I just imagine the kids of expats as being incredibly interesting and socially experienced..."wordly" doesn't even begin to capture it I suppose. But, simultaneously, the challenges these families and children face are also probably very real and in some ways unique to this life. Like I wonder, do families make the decision to go somewhere new all together and at what point, if ever, do they settle down somewhere permanently? Interesting topics for conversation I guess. But, as one of Alan's colleague's explained, the advantages of expat life in 3rd world countries (or 10th world as Alan likes to refer to Ghana) often outweigh the disadvantages, especially for families with young children. This particular person explained that in other places they've lived like Spain and London, life with young kids can be very stressful (duh many of you might say)...both parents working and little if any help. Whereas, in places like Ghana, these families can have one parent working, the other home with the young children, little to no financial stress because housing and many other expenses are taken care of by the company, and in addition they can have a maid, cook, nanny, and driver! So these parents who have 3 kids, a 1, 3. and 5-year old, get to go have lunch with friends, take yoga classes, have date nights with their husbands on a whim, spend time with their kids without being exhausted, go to parties, take in a movie, etc. without the stresses of family life in the Western world. And the best part according to some families here...the parents are happy, the kids are happy, everyone is relaxed and enjoying life. Have I tempted anyone yet?
So, as I find my way in this crazy expat life, I'm trying to figure out how to make the most of it and how to build my network. I've realized I won't be able to just volunteer, knit, sew, and bake but I've also got to make friends! All I know is that I think it was easier making friends when I was 8 at summer camp. It's not that expats (I should specify the wives mostly) are not nice, socialable, interesting, etc. but people have their networks and it mostly comes to figuring out entry points into these networks. At least at summer camp, everyone was new and didn't have friends and had to build social bonds at the same time. But here, it's like I'm the new girl in school and have learned there are clicks of people but they are much less nasty than in high school...not nasty at all really...but warm and helpful mostly. There is one American woman in particular who has been very helpful and has put me in contact with all kinds of useful people and places. She teaches yoga at her apartment complex 3 days a week and there are about 15-20 people per class and I've learned that yoga is an "entry point." I'm not really into yoga but I've decided I might need to get into it to make friends so I went to her class yesterday. And aside from being ridiculously sore, I enjoyed it and socialized a bit, even got invited over for coffee afterwards. It's through this same woman that I got invited to the book club which meets monthly. I'm in no way an avid reader, but again, if that is what it takes to build a network, I'll up my reading activity and be part of the book club. And it was through the book club, that I met a Russian woman that lives in my apartment complex. I've discovered she also teaches yoga at our building at 6am 2 days a week so I might have to join that class too! She also is open about loaning her DVD's out since she has quite a selection so she loaned me a movie a few weeks ago. So when I went to return it, we sat and had tea and cookies together, and she was inquiring about my entry into expat life here. She shared with me some of her networks and activities. She is quite impressive with her networks so I've decided she is a good person to know. She even told me she is part of a Mahjong club that meets to play weekly. I've never played but she told me that she hadn't either and that since she's been in Ghana, she has gotten tutorials in Mahjong and then got approval to join the Mahjong club. I guess you need to know what you're doing according to the lady that runs the club. In fact there are several Mahjong clubs here and some are even divided by nationality. So she now tutors other women in the game and offered to teach me and hopefully get me into the club. Again, Mahjong is not necessarily something I've been dying to learn but why not! So my forays into social networking have been somewhat successful and perhaps I am ready to advance to "Expat Life 102"!
So, as I find my way in this crazy expat life, I'm trying to figure out how to make the most of it and how to build my network. I've realized I won't be able to just volunteer, knit, sew, and bake but I've also got to make friends! All I know is that I think it was easier making friends when I was 8 at summer camp. It's not that expats (I should specify the wives mostly) are not nice, socialable, interesting, etc. but people have their networks and it mostly comes to figuring out entry points into these networks. At least at summer camp, everyone was new and didn't have friends and had to build social bonds at the same time. But here, it's like I'm the new girl in school and have learned there are clicks of people but they are much less nasty than in high school...not nasty at all really...but warm and helpful mostly. There is one American woman in particular who has been very helpful and has put me in contact with all kinds of useful people and places. She teaches yoga at her apartment complex 3 days a week and there are about 15-20 people per class and I've learned that yoga is an "entry point." I'm not really into yoga but I've decided I might need to get into it to make friends so I went to her class yesterday. And aside from being ridiculously sore, I enjoyed it and socialized a bit, even got invited over for coffee afterwards. It's through this same woman that I got invited to the book club which meets monthly. I'm in no way an avid reader, but again, if that is what it takes to build a network, I'll up my reading activity and be part of the book club. And it was through the book club, that I met a Russian woman that lives in my apartment complex. I've discovered she also teaches yoga at our building at 6am 2 days a week so I might have to join that class too! She also is open about loaning her DVD's out since she has quite a selection so she loaned me a movie a few weeks ago. So when I went to return it, we sat and had tea and cookies together, and she was inquiring about my entry into expat life here. She shared with me some of her networks and activities. She is quite impressive with her networks so I've decided she is a good person to know. She even told me she is part of a Mahjong club that meets to play weekly. I've never played but she told me that she hadn't either and that since she's been in Ghana, she has gotten tutorials in Mahjong and then got approval to join the Mahjong club. I guess you need to know what you're doing according to the lady that runs the club. In fact there are several Mahjong clubs here and some are even divided by nationality. So she now tutors other women in the game and offered to teach me and hopefully get me into the club. Again, Mahjong is not necessarily something I've been dying to learn but why not! So my forays into social networking have been somewhat successful and perhaps I am ready to advance to "Expat Life 102"!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Garden Birthday Party
Last night Alan and I went to a birthday party of one of his colleague's husband, Gregor. A little background...Gregor and Rebecca are from New Zealand and are only here for 6 months. They have also only just arrived in Ghana about a month ago. It turns out that Gregor and I are both going to be volunteering with the same NGO, Chance for Children (http://www.chance-for-children.org/en/index.html) which we found independently of each other. The NGO works with street children in Ghana who often live and work on the street and aims to help them either reunite with their family or find alternative living arrangements as well as receive schooling and vocational training. He has experience working for NGO's in London and will be assisting them in writing the processes and procedures into a handbook of sorts that might help other similar programs. We attended a meeting together with the founder and director, Daniella, on Friday and discussed what my work was with street children in New York and what my work with this NGO might consist of. I am really excited about what they are doing and they are quite well-established and have been existence for 12 years. I will be presenting my work in New York to the NGO's managers in about a week and then will begin collaborating with their outreach team and drop-in center staff to see if there are some new ways in which they can approach their work. So I assume that Gregor and I will also get a chance to work together over the next few months. His wife Rebecca is consulting in the marketing department at Guinness and is very nice and it turns out the apartment they are renting is down the road from where we live so we hope to get together with them sometimes.
Anyway, so it was Gregor's 40th birthday and Rebecca really wanted to make it special so she invited Guinness folks, some people from Chance for Children that Gregor has been working with, and the dancers/drummers that are friends of Alan's colleague, Joanna and her fiance, Bobo. They were asked to perform at the birthday too.
I offered to make the cake and spent a lot of time trying to perfect my cake so that perhaps I could wow the guests and get a little cake making business started with some of them in the future! In fact, Joanna, who is engaged to Bobo, talked about having me make their wedding cake for the wedding in June!
They have a great backyard garden at their apartment complex with lush foliage, orchids, and guinea fowls!
The dancing and drumming was even more amazing than their last performance at the Chinese restaurant.
This time, Bobo, who does the acrobatics did a whole routine with rings of fire and demonstrated his impressive fire eating. I've never seen fire eating to this extent before. Sometimes a bit of fire would get on the grass and Bobo would just pick it up and eat it instead of stomping it out! He then jumped through rings of fire and balanced the rings on his forehead. I was quite scared we'd turn the lush backyard into a fireball but it all turned out fine.
We dined on skewers and sausages that were grilled in the backyard and cooled off with ice cold keg beer from the brewery. And of course Alan got in on the action too again causing the crowd to break out in laughter!
Anyway, so it was Gregor's 40th birthday and Rebecca really wanted to make it special so she invited Guinness folks, some people from Chance for Children that Gregor has been working with, and the dancers/drummers that are friends of Alan's colleague, Joanna and her fiance, Bobo. They were asked to perform at the birthday too.
I offered to make the cake and spent a lot of time trying to perfect my cake so that perhaps I could wow the guests and get a little cake making business started with some of them in the future! In fact, Joanna, who is engaged to Bobo, talked about having me make their wedding cake for the wedding in June!
They have a great backyard garden at their apartment complex with lush foliage, orchids, and guinea fowls!
The dancing and drumming was even more amazing than their last performance at the Chinese restaurant.
This time, Bobo, who does the acrobatics did a whole routine with rings of fire and demonstrated his impressive fire eating. I've never seen fire eating to this extent before. Sometimes a bit of fire would get on the grass and Bobo would just pick it up and eat it instead of stomping it out! He then jumped through rings of fire and balanced the rings on his forehead. I was quite scared we'd turn the lush backyard into a fireball but it all turned out fine.
We dined on skewers and sausages that were grilled in the backyard and cooled off with ice cold keg beer from the brewery. And of course Alan got in on the action too again causing the crowd to break out in laughter!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Becoming the Ghanaian Martha Stewart
With a tad bit of time on my hands, I've decided that until I find something more constant to fill my time with, like maybe volunteering with and NGO, I will become the queen of all things crafty and hobby-like. I already have a few under my belt like baking and knitting and so in addition to bringing these up a notch, I've decided to take on a few more. I should preface this review of my new hobbies with an explanation of exactly how much time how I have on my hands. It's more than I can ever imagine having again in my life so I'm making the most of it...or trying to. Without children to care for or even a house to clean or a car to drive around in, it's a ridiculous amount of free time that is quite difficult to fill with just day to day operations of grocery shopping, daily hygiene tasks, exercise at the gym/swimming laps, cooking dinner, pool lounging time, writing in my blog, and...yes, that's all folks. I wrote previously about my search for household goods which we desperately needed when I first got here, but we've decided without our furniture (it hasn't come yet and apparently might be another week or two!), it really doesn't make much sense to buy anymore goods for the house until it arrives. So no more shopping for lamps, curtains, etc. to fill my time. So my quest for new hobbies has officially begun.
I started filling the hours with knitting, which I already knew how to do and enjoy, but knitting is not something I can be entertained with for too long and I certainly don't want to get arthritis prematurely. So after finishing a complicated argyle sweater and starting a few more cute baby outfits, I decided I'd have to find more crafty projects. In my search for fabric for curtains, I became enthralled with the gorgeous batik fabrics in Ghana and I kept envisioning all the beautiful clothing and pillows that could be made with them but without a sewing machine and knowing how to sew, this would be difficult. After a few weeks of pondering whether I really wanted to invest in learning how to sew, I decided it was worth it. So I had seen some inexpensive sewing machines at this store called Melcom, which is like a Kmart of sorts and decided I'd head there one day to pick a machine out (after consulting my mother about what to look for in a machine). However, when I told Frank, our driver, what my intentions were, he said "No! Melcom is too cost (this is how he says too expensive which took me some time to get) for sewing machine!" And he immediately got on the phone to his "brother" who I later found out was his uncle who happens to be a tailor. His uncle, Yao (he was born on a Thursday...), suggested we go to the market in Accra Central. This is where we also went to get my handmade baking pans a few weeks ago. So I'm now realizing that everything is less expensive at the market but not too many white folks appear to go to the market and instead head to Kmart like shopping centers, I suppose because of the comfort, ease, and set prices. But, certainly I'm always up for a good deal and as long as Frank is willing to accompany me, at least in the beginning, I was happy to go! So we got to the market and of course it took about 30 minutes to park the car because there is a parking lot but the way it works is, the attendant lets cars in but there are no spaces available so the cars wait in a line of sorts until a space opens up. We were lucky to finally get a spot. We head into the market which is crowded and hot and eventually found our way to the sewing machine shop that only sells refurbished used sewing machines. I start looking and ask the shop owner questions but really have no idea what I'm looking for. All of a sudden Frank comes to me and says his "brother" Yao is down the street and is coming to help us find one. I can't believe it and am thrilled because Yao will certainly be able to help me figure out which machine to get. So Yao arrives and tells me he goes by Newman and he's the sweetest gentlest man and spends about 30 minutes with me testing machines, asking prices until we finally find the perfect one. It's a 1960's Singer (all metal parts...no plastic, as Newman told me the new machines always have plastic and plastic always breaks).
So then Newman had to run to get some fabric for something he was working on and so Frank took me to a cafe to sit down for a while as maybe he thought I was going to pass out from the heat. It was ridiculously hot that day and the sun was bearing down so I was happy to take a break. Frank has turned out to be quite a great driver. He may not know where everything is in town, and sometimes I might have difficult understanding what he says, but he is always looking out for me and helping me find the best deal in town (even getting out of the car one time to help me bargain for woven baskets on the side of the road!). Anyway, when Newman came back we drove to his shop to drop him off and on the way I negotiated some sewing classes from him. He then joked that when I return to the US from Ghana I can leave him my new sewing machine...guess I got a good one! So Newman came to our apartment on Saturday and gave me my first lesson. We had bought some cheap batik fabric and thread already so I had done a little practicing on my own but had already messed up the bobbin and couldn't figure out how to get it back in so Newman came to the rescue. We practiced threading the machine, learning the different controls and then got our hands dirty so to speak and actually made a pillow case!
I was quite proud and my homework is to make another like it. I took detailed notes so hopefully I'll get it right. He's coming next saturday for lesson two. As he was leaving and saying goodbye, he offered to make Alan some work shirts so he took his measurements and we'll see what he comes up with. I sent him with a cupcake and about $10 for his time and about $20 to pick up some sewing supplies for me.
So I now have officially begun my next hobby. But, I won't stop there...I've started taking tennis lessons from Festus (our local Ghanaian tennis coach) at the complex, have learned how to make sugar flowers at the bakery I spent time at last week, joined a book club, and who knows what is next!
All I know is that I am slowly filling my hours and that's quite an accomplishment I think. Just so Alan doesn't feel left out...he's working on his hobbies too and is currently engrossed in a 5000 piece puzzle which we had a table made for!
I started filling the hours with knitting, which I already knew how to do and enjoy, but knitting is not something I can be entertained with for too long and I certainly don't want to get arthritis prematurely. So after finishing a complicated argyle sweater and starting a few more cute baby outfits, I decided I'd have to find more crafty projects. In my search for fabric for curtains, I became enthralled with the gorgeous batik fabrics in Ghana and I kept envisioning all the beautiful clothing and pillows that could be made with them but without a sewing machine and knowing how to sew, this would be difficult. After a few weeks of pondering whether I really wanted to invest in learning how to sew, I decided it was worth it. So I had seen some inexpensive sewing machines at this store called Melcom, which is like a Kmart of sorts and decided I'd head there one day to pick a machine out (after consulting my mother about what to look for in a machine). However, when I told Frank, our driver, what my intentions were, he said "No! Melcom is too cost (this is how he says too expensive which took me some time to get) for sewing machine!" And he immediately got on the phone to his "brother" who I later found out was his uncle who happens to be a tailor. His uncle, Yao (he was born on a Thursday...), suggested we go to the market in Accra Central. This is where we also went to get my handmade baking pans a few weeks ago. So I'm now realizing that everything is less expensive at the market but not too many white folks appear to go to the market and instead head to Kmart like shopping centers, I suppose because of the comfort, ease, and set prices. But, certainly I'm always up for a good deal and as long as Frank is willing to accompany me, at least in the beginning, I was happy to go! So we got to the market and of course it took about 30 minutes to park the car because there is a parking lot but the way it works is, the attendant lets cars in but there are no spaces available so the cars wait in a line of sorts until a space opens up. We were lucky to finally get a spot. We head into the market which is crowded and hot and eventually found our way to the sewing machine shop that only sells refurbished used sewing machines. I start looking and ask the shop owner questions but really have no idea what I'm looking for. All of a sudden Frank comes to me and says his "brother" Yao is down the street and is coming to help us find one. I can't believe it and am thrilled because Yao will certainly be able to help me figure out which machine to get. So Yao arrives and tells me he goes by Newman and he's the sweetest gentlest man and spends about 30 minutes with me testing machines, asking prices until we finally find the perfect one. It's a 1960's Singer (all metal parts...no plastic, as Newman told me the new machines always have plastic and plastic always breaks).
So then Newman had to run to get some fabric for something he was working on and so Frank took me to a cafe to sit down for a while as maybe he thought I was going to pass out from the heat. It was ridiculously hot that day and the sun was bearing down so I was happy to take a break. Frank has turned out to be quite a great driver. He may not know where everything is in town, and sometimes I might have difficult understanding what he says, but he is always looking out for me and helping me find the best deal in town (even getting out of the car one time to help me bargain for woven baskets on the side of the road!). Anyway, when Newman came back we drove to his shop to drop him off and on the way I negotiated some sewing classes from him. He then joked that when I return to the US from Ghana I can leave him my new sewing machine...guess I got a good one! So Newman came to our apartment on Saturday and gave me my first lesson. We had bought some cheap batik fabric and thread already so I had done a little practicing on my own but had already messed up the bobbin and couldn't figure out how to get it back in so Newman came to the rescue. We practiced threading the machine, learning the different controls and then got our hands dirty so to speak and actually made a pillow case!
I was quite proud and my homework is to make another like it. I took detailed notes so hopefully I'll get it right. He's coming next saturday for lesson two. As he was leaving and saying goodbye, he offered to make Alan some work shirts so he took his measurements and we'll see what he comes up with. I sent him with a cupcake and about $10 for his time and about $20 to pick up some sewing supplies for me.
So I now have officially begun my next hobby. But, I won't stop there...I've started taking tennis lessons from Festus (our local Ghanaian tennis coach) at the complex, have learned how to make sugar flowers at the bakery I spent time at last week, joined a book club, and who knows what is next!
All I know is that I am slowly filling my hours and that's quite an accomplishment I think. Just so Alan doesn't feel left out...he's working on his hobbies too and is currently engrossed in a 5000 piece puzzle which we had a table made for!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Bakery Sight Seeing
For most people who know me, it's no surprise that I would find a way to bake cakes and pastries in Ghana but unfortunately I did not bring all of my supplies with me. So this last week I've been obsessed with finding baking equipment, baking ingredients, baking supplies, and bakeries in Accra. It is not an easy task, as you cannot just Google things in Accra and find them but instead you have to ask around and talk to people which I actually sort of enjoy. It does take a bit of time but I think it makes actually finding the store or bakery I'm looking for that much more rewarding!
Step 1: Find cake pans
There does not appear to be a huge baking industry in Accra so I figured this step would be challenging. My driver took me to a store he thought sold kitchenware and thank goodness the store owner was familiar with what I needed because I'm not sure my driver has ever baked a cake before! She suggested we go to the main market in town called Makola Market where we would find a little stall where men make the pans. I didn't know quite what to envision but never in my life did I imagine what we found. The market was amazing...a whirlwind of action, people, colors, and smells. Tons of people crowd the sides of the street selling their goods and then behind the street on both sides was just shack after shack where I imagine people live and work. So we parked our car in a tiny little opening on the side of the road and asked a shopkeeper to keep an eye on it and ventured into the market. My driver, Frank, kept a close eye on me as I kept a close eye on my purse (as I was told pick pocketing was possible there). We squeezed through people most of whom were carrying their wares on their head (you'll have to imagine this in your head because I didn't have my camera with me that day...which I kicked myself for later!). We weaved in an out of people stepping over debris and garbage almost like an obstacle course and asked every so often where we would find the baking pans. We finally cut inside the market and made it back to where, low and behold, about 4 men pounded away at sheets of aluminum to create baking pans...somewhat rudimentary but clearly baking pans in all shapes and sizes. There were heart shaped ones, clover leaf ones, and the usual square and circle. So Frank spoke to them in Twi (one of the local languages spoken in Accra) and the men took me even further back to show me their stockpile. I put in my order for 3 pans and with help from Frank, we bargained the price down to the equivalent of 6 dollars for 3 pans! I was thrilled with our success and Frank agreed to pick the pans up for me in the morning since it was a quite a trek to get there. I now have baking pans and plan to order more as I need.
Step 2: Find Ingredients
This bit of the story is a little less interesting but basically has involved me going to ever possible supermarket and grocery and then going up and down the aisles until I find what I need. I decided I would make a list of all the things I like baking and then a list of all the ingredients I need and I would keep track of where I have found them and how much they cost since prices can vary a lot here. Easy things are flour, sugar, eggs, cream, and baking powder/soda but the harder ones have been things like chocolate, gelatin, and cream cheese but I've almost finished my list and found everything.
Step 3: Find baking supplies
This would be perhaps the most laborious part of my quest to bake in Ghana. Although I did come here with some basic supplies, I knew that I would need things at some point in time like even just some traditional white bakery boxes and cardboard rounds for the cakes to sit in. I'm used to just going to my favorite baking supply store in New York and picking up everything I need in one place but it's not so easy in Accra. I started asking around to expats but they had no idea. Then I started asking some locals like my maid who knows there is a place but couldn't remember where it is or what the name is. Then I started going to the bakery department within the grocery stores and asking them but the sales people had no idea either. So Step 3 led to Step 4: Find local bakeries.
I figured the only way to get the inside scoop on baking in Ghana was to visit some local bakeries and ask the shop keepers where I can find supplies. So getting the names of local bakeries was no problem. I have been using this website called No Worries Ghana which the North American Women's Association has put together and although it's a fairly simple website, it's a good resource for almost everything. But the one problem is that there are not really addresses in Accra in the traditional sense we Westerners are used to. There are street names but most often drivers and pedestrians don't know or use street names and instead use landmarks and neighborhood names. So even on NoWorriesGhana.com they will list a bakery as being near the Ridge Hotel in North Ridge. If my driver was more familiar with the neighborhoods and shops, hotels, etc. I might have been able to just tell him that information and we could have found it but he's not so familiar with Accra. So, I went to my trusty google map of Accra and mapped out the locations of 4 bakeries all in opposite corners of the city and wrote detailed directions for how to get from one to the other. But, it is very difficult to explain to Frank how to go because he doesn't know the street names and I don't think he is literate and definitely has told me he cannot read maps so I have to convince him that my directions are correct but most often he likes to try his own way which is just as well because I am not convinced my directions will get us there either. So after getting a bit lost and turned around we made it to our first bakery which was pretty cute on the outside but unfortunately was less impressive on the inside. I've found that the whole sense of visually appealing bakeries lined with shelves full of mouth watering cakes and pastries does not really exist here and probably because sweets are not that big of a deal in Ghanaian cuisine. There were a few lonely sad looking cakes in the display with very little fan fare and a few danishes as well as some muffins but overall aesthetics seemed to be to the bare minimum and the place was pretty dingy. I figured I'd need to buy something to get any information from the sales lady but because the place was packed with waiting customers, my two muffins didn't get me much help or information that I could use. So on to the the next one. After asking a few folks on the street how to find the next place we arrived at a very cute and quaint little bakery with a seating area that would rival any Western bakery! Like the other one, there were a few sparse cakes in the bakery display but at least they looked appetizing. Only one thing missing...no salesperson and the place was empty. So I waited for a few minutes and finally the Ghanaian owner came out. What a sweet woman! I told her about my interest in baking and my quest for baking supplies and we quickly found out we had a lot in common. She was also self taught and started her business about 10 years ago. I started telling her how I used to read cookbooks like novels and she said she did the same thing. So after 5 minutes we were in deep conversation about baking and her business. She gave me a tour of her modest but quite well run looking kitchen with about 8 staff who were all busy making 500 sugarpaste roses for a wedding cake that was to be the replica of Donald Trump's last wedding cake (see below)! She gave me one of the roses to take home with me.
We browsed through some of her cake magazines and she showed me where I could find a baking supply store down the road (I would never have found it if it wasn't for her). And then I got up the nerve to ask her if I could spend time at her bakery and maybe help out and learn a few things and she welcomed me with open arms. I met her right hand man who runs the show in the kitchen and I'm all set to join them this Friday for some baking adventures. I am really excited to not only do some baking but also to get to work with and get to know her staff and see how they run this business.
So that is the finale of my bakery sight seeing adventure. I did not even bother going to the other places I had on my list as I've now got most of what I need to do my baking. Below are some examples of my first few baking experiments in Ghana.
Step 1: Find cake pans
There does not appear to be a huge baking industry in Accra so I figured this step would be challenging. My driver took me to a store he thought sold kitchenware and thank goodness the store owner was familiar with what I needed because I'm not sure my driver has ever baked a cake before! She suggested we go to the main market in town called Makola Market where we would find a little stall where men make the pans. I didn't know quite what to envision but never in my life did I imagine what we found. The market was amazing...a whirlwind of action, people, colors, and smells. Tons of people crowd the sides of the street selling their goods and then behind the street on both sides was just shack after shack where I imagine people live and work. So we parked our car in a tiny little opening on the side of the road and asked a shopkeeper to keep an eye on it and ventured into the market. My driver, Frank, kept a close eye on me as I kept a close eye on my purse (as I was told pick pocketing was possible there). We squeezed through people most of whom were carrying their wares on their head (you'll have to imagine this in your head because I didn't have my camera with me that day...which I kicked myself for later!). We weaved in an out of people stepping over debris and garbage almost like an obstacle course and asked every so often where we would find the baking pans. We finally cut inside the market and made it back to where, low and behold, about 4 men pounded away at sheets of aluminum to create baking pans...somewhat rudimentary but clearly baking pans in all shapes and sizes. There were heart shaped ones, clover leaf ones, and the usual square and circle. So Frank spoke to them in Twi (one of the local languages spoken in Accra) and the men took me even further back to show me their stockpile. I put in my order for 3 pans and with help from Frank, we bargained the price down to the equivalent of 6 dollars for 3 pans! I was thrilled with our success and Frank agreed to pick the pans up for me in the morning since it was a quite a trek to get there. I now have baking pans and plan to order more as I need.
Step 2: Find Ingredients
This bit of the story is a little less interesting but basically has involved me going to ever possible supermarket and grocery and then going up and down the aisles until I find what I need. I decided I would make a list of all the things I like baking and then a list of all the ingredients I need and I would keep track of where I have found them and how much they cost since prices can vary a lot here. Easy things are flour, sugar, eggs, cream, and baking powder/soda but the harder ones have been things like chocolate, gelatin, and cream cheese but I've almost finished my list and found everything.
Step 3: Find baking supplies
This would be perhaps the most laborious part of my quest to bake in Ghana. Although I did come here with some basic supplies, I knew that I would need things at some point in time like even just some traditional white bakery boxes and cardboard rounds for the cakes to sit in. I'm used to just going to my favorite baking supply store in New York and picking up everything I need in one place but it's not so easy in Accra. I started asking around to expats but they had no idea. Then I started asking some locals like my maid who knows there is a place but couldn't remember where it is or what the name is. Then I started going to the bakery department within the grocery stores and asking them but the sales people had no idea either. So Step 3 led to Step 4: Find local bakeries.
I figured the only way to get the inside scoop on baking in Ghana was to visit some local bakeries and ask the shop keepers where I can find supplies. So getting the names of local bakeries was no problem. I have been using this website called No Worries Ghana which the North American Women's Association has put together and although it's a fairly simple website, it's a good resource for almost everything. But the one problem is that there are not really addresses in Accra in the traditional sense we Westerners are used to. There are street names but most often drivers and pedestrians don't know or use street names and instead use landmarks and neighborhood names. So even on NoWorriesGhana.com they will list a bakery as being near the Ridge Hotel in North Ridge. If my driver was more familiar with the neighborhoods and shops, hotels, etc. I might have been able to just tell him that information and we could have found it but he's not so familiar with Accra. So, I went to my trusty google map of Accra and mapped out the locations of 4 bakeries all in opposite corners of the city and wrote detailed directions for how to get from one to the other. But, it is very difficult to explain to Frank how to go because he doesn't know the street names and I don't think he is literate and definitely has told me he cannot read maps so I have to convince him that my directions are correct but most often he likes to try his own way which is just as well because I am not convinced my directions will get us there either. So after getting a bit lost and turned around we made it to our first bakery which was pretty cute on the outside but unfortunately was less impressive on the inside. I've found that the whole sense of visually appealing bakeries lined with shelves full of mouth watering cakes and pastries does not really exist here and probably because sweets are not that big of a deal in Ghanaian cuisine. There were a few lonely sad looking cakes in the display with very little fan fare and a few danishes as well as some muffins but overall aesthetics seemed to be to the bare minimum and the place was pretty dingy. I figured I'd need to buy something to get any information from the sales lady but because the place was packed with waiting customers, my two muffins didn't get me much help or information that I could use. So on to the the next one. After asking a few folks on the street how to find the next place we arrived at a very cute and quaint little bakery with a seating area that would rival any Western bakery! Like the other one, there were a few sparse cakes in the bakery display but at least they looked appetizing. Only one thing missing...no salesperson and the place was empty. So I waited for a few minutes and finally the Ghanaian owner came out. What a sweet woman! I told her about my interest in baking and my quest for baking supplies and we quickly found out we had a lot in common. She was also self taught and started her business about 10 years ago. I started telling her how I used to read cookbooks like novels and she said she did the same thing. So after 5 minutes we were in deep conversation about baking and her business. She gave me a tour of her modest but quite well run looking kitchen with about 8 staff who were all busy making 500 sugarpaste roses for a wedding cake that was to be the replica of Donald Trump's last wedding cake (see below)! She gave me one of the roses to take home with me.
We browsed through some of her cake magazines and she showed me where I could find a baking supply store down the road (I would never have found it if it wasn't for her). And then I got up the nerve to ask her if I could spend time at her bakery and maybe help out and learn a few things and she welcomed me with open arms. I met her right hand man who runs the show in the kitchen and I'm all set to join them this Friday for some baking adventures. I am really excited to not only do some baking but also to get to work with and get to know her staff and see how they run this business.
So that is the finale of my bakery sight seeing adventure. I did not even bother going to the other places I had on my list as I've now got most of what I need to do my baking. Below are some examples of my first few baking experiments in Ghana.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Street Dance Kick Off
Last night, Alan and I went to a Guinness sponsored event to kick of a national street dance competition that is now in its third year. It was held at an outdoor patio/pool area of a local Accra hotel and it seemed that most people in attendance were Guinness employees all decked out in bright yellow t-shirts to celebrate the event.
Malta Guinness, which is the specific brand that sponsors the event, is a non-alcoholic malt beverage that is fortified with vitamins and minerals good for the body. And for those of you not familiar with "street dance," it mostly looks like breakdancing but has a theatrical component to it as well. I'm not sure what the street dance culture is like in Ghana but I know from my days in New York working with youth, that most kids learn from their peers and they do not have any formal training so that it is literally born from the street culture. It is highly energetic, acrobatic, and takes an amazing amount of strength! When I worked at my last job directing the drop-in center for youth in New York, I participated in a breakdancing class to see what it was all about, and could not complete one move because I didn't have enough upper body strength. I have tremendous respect for this guys and especially because it's not as if they've had comfortable studios to practice in with instructors and such...they've probably learned and practiced on concrete outside!
Anyway, this event was meant to kick off the competition. They have picked 10 dance groups as the finalist competitors from around Ghana and then in May the final competition will take place which is judged by professional dancers, performers, and choreographers from Ghana who were also at the event last night. So last night the groups had 30 seconds to come on stage and show a sampling of their skill. There was a stage set up with lighting, television crews filming it, and the music was blaring (hip hop mostly). It was quite an event and of course the Guinness (an local Star and Gulder) beers were a plenty. Here are a few favorite shots of the dancers.
The afterparty was a good time and we enjoyed more Guinness Malta and spicy goat skewers that came around on trays. The performers just kept dancing during the afterparty and Guinness staff joined in. We didn't stay too long because the goat skewers weren't going to cut it. So Alan and I joined his Irish colleague and some of his colleague's family that were visiting from the U.S. and Ireland to go to Champs...a sports bar of sorts...for some good old sports bar food and football (not the American kind) on the big screen. It turned out that it was trivia quiz night at the restaurant which was maybe half full of expats and half locals so of course we joined in the fun. It was a long night of trivia that proved pretty successful for us. Our team won a round of tequila shots for the table and got second place overall...we lost by one point! We would have won if it wasn't for Alan's insistence that he was right over one of our Irish teammates on one of the questions (what U.S. state has an element on the periodic table named after it?). It was California and Alan insisted Oregon! What was he thinking! Well, I didn't know the answer either but regardless we won some money off of our bill. I think we'll go again next Thursday and redeem ourselves!
Malta Guinness, which is the specific brand that sponsors the event, is a non-alcoholic malt beverage that is fortified with vitamins and minerals good for the body. And for those of you not familiar with "street dance," it mostly looks like breakdancing but has a theatrical component to it as well. I'm not sure what the street dance culture is like in Ghana but I know from my days in New York working with youth, that most kids learn from their peers and they do not have any formal training so that it is literally born from the street culture. It is highly energetic, acrobatic, and takes an amazing amount of strength! When I worked at my last job directing the drop-in center for youth in New York, I participated in a breakdancing class to see what it was all about, and could not complete one move because I didn't have enough upper body strength. I have tremendous respect for this guys and especially because it's not as if they've had comfortable studios to practice in with instructors and such...they've probably learned and practiced on concrete outside!
Anyway, this event was meant to kick off the competition. They have picked 10 dance groups as the finalist competitors from around Ghana and then in May the final competition will take place which is judged by professional dancers, performers, and choreographers from Ghana who were also at the event last night. So last night the groups had 30 seconds to come on stage and show a sampling of their skill. There was a stage set up with lighting, television crews filming it, and the music was blaring (hip hop mostly). It was quite an event and of course the Guinness (an local Star and Gulder) beers were a plenty. Here are a few favorite shots of the dancers.
The afterparty was a good time and we enjoyed more Guinness Malta and spicy goat skewers that came around on trays. The performers just kept dancing during the afterparty and Guinness staff joined in. We didn't stay too long because the goat skewers weren't going to cut it. So Alan and I joined his Irish colleague and some of his colleague's family that were visiting from the U.S. and Ireland to go to Champs...a sports bar of sorts...for some good old sports bar food and football (not the American kind) on the big screen. It turned out that it was trivia quiz night at the restaurant which was maybe half full of expats and half locals so of course we joined in the fun. It was a long night of trivia that proved pretty successful for us. Our team won a round of tequila shots for the table and got second place overall...we lost by one point! We would have won if it wasn't for Alan's insistence that he was right over one of our Irish teammates on one of the questions (what U.S. state has an element on the periodic table named after it?). It was California and Alan insisted Oregon! What was he thinking! Well, I didn't know the answer either but regardless we won some money off of our bill. I think we'll go again next Thursday and redeem ourselves!
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