Eli has been composing songs on his piano lately and seems to really enjoy doing it with his head instead of his hands. We find it quite amusing. Maybe he likes to look at the lights close up, or maybe he's preparing for America's Got Talent, or maybe he's just tired and can't keep his head up. Regardless, we'll continue to encourage his musical talent.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Drying Out
This week there were tremendous rain storms and flash floods that hit Accra. I've never seen anything like this before and many Ghanaians have said the same. It started on Monday night with a ridiculous rain and wind storm. Around 5:30 the sky turned to black and the heavens opened and rain just unloaded. The wind was so strong I actually worried that the new high rise apartment building in front of our apartment was going to come down. The next morning we saw the damage which included the metal canopy for cars in front of our apartment collapsing. Luckily it collapsed in a parking space where there was no car.
Alan and I sort of thought this was just some weird weather passing through until Tuesday night, the same thing happened. I was up a few times with Eli during the night and at each waking watched the rain as it just kept coming down. Then Wednesday morning at 7:00am I got a call from Rita who explained that her house had flooded because of the rains and she couldn't come to work. I thought it was perhaps because her house is in a low lying area. But, then we learned of what the storm really did to the city. We live in a little bubble here in the Villaggio Primavera and if we did not interact with people outside this bubble, we would have had no idea what the rest of Accra was dealing with on Wednesday.
Frank arrived to work miraculously and explained that he had to walk through water waist deep to get to our house and he even showed me a picture on his phone of what he had to walk through. I can imagine that in many more developed countries that kind of commute would definitely be a deterrent for showing up to work but not here. Alan reported that the Guinness plant had also flooded (right in the middle of their audit no less) but they quickly got things dried out and all will be ok.
As I ran a few errands with Frank later in the day, we saw pockets that had really been flooded. People were laying all their things out in the yard to dry, shop owners were surveying their losses, and I caught a glimpse of a few faces that really showed what devastation this was for them. And when I think about it, it is really hard to imagine that in such poverty and with so little safety net, one or two nights of heavy rain can wash away everything that many people have worked for years to save for or to build. There is no homeowners' insurance here and I when I mentioned the idea to Rita, she was shocked to learn that in other parts of the world, such a thing exists.
The sun is finally shining and last night the rains didn't come so hopefully this is the end of it.
Alan and I sort of thought this was just some weird weather passing through until Tuesday night, the same thing happened. I was up a few times with Eli during the night and at each waking watched the rain as it just kept coming down. Then Wednesday morning at 7:00am I got a call from Rita who explained that her house had flooded because of the rains and she couldn't come to work. I thought it was perhaps because her house is in a low lying area. But, then we learned of what the storm really did to the city. We live in a little bubble here in the Villaggio Primavera and if we did not interact with people outside this bubble, we would have had no idea what the rest of Accra was dealing with on Wednesday.
Frank arrived to work miraculously and explained that he had to walk through water waist deep to get to our house and he even showed me a picture on his phone of what he had to walk through. I can imagine that in many more developed countries that kind of commute would definitely be a deterrent for showing up to work but not here. Alan reported that the Guinness plant had also flooded (right in the middle of their audit no less) but they quickly got things dried out and all will be ok.
As I ran a few errands with Frank later in the day, we saw pockets that had really been flooded. People were laying all their things out in the yard to dry, shop owners were surveying their losses, and I caught a glimpse of a few faces that really showed what devastation this was for them. And when I think about it, it is really hard to imagine that in such poverty and with so little safety net, one or two nights of heavy rain can wash away everything that many people have worked for years to save for or to build. There is no homeowners' insurance here and I when I mentioned the idea to Rita, she was shocked to learn that in other parts of the world, such a thing exists.
The sun is finally shining and last night the rains didn't come so hopefully this is the end of it.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Exploring
I'm pretty certain Eli is going to be a curious fellow and a determined one at that. He's definitely in an exploratory mood lately which includes getting his paws on anything and everything, especially if it's new to him.
Last weekend we were at Alan's boss' house for a BBQ and Julie, his boss' wife, pulled out some great Fisher Price toys from back in the day (why don't they make cool toys like this anymore...so simple but so much fun!) which she found at an estate sale in South Africa where they are from. Eli, who had been getting a bit cranky, took great interest in the toys and was equally interested in her wooden spoon.
However, surprisingly he took absolutely no notice of their two huge dogs. I guess maybe they were too big for him to play with? Not quite sure. And to our relief, they didn't take much notice of him either.
All this exploration means it's getting harder and harder to keep Eli interested. His Ghanaian basket full of toys, which we thought would keep him entertained for weeks, is now old news for him and he is constantly on the look out for new and interesting objects to play with.
Like our bronze Benin tiger for instance...or maybe some travel books (which now have been moved to a higher shelf!).
He's even recently started to realize that the wheels on his stroller are great fun. But when I think of what grit and grim must be on them, I cringe and quickly distract him with something else.
As much fun as it is to watch him explore, I suppose we're just getting used to that nervous feeling that all parents must feel when you can foresee danger around every corner. I'm trying to resist the urge to follow him around and instead am developing that mom skill where I can be doing something but constantly have an eye on the boy too.
Last weekend we were at Alan's boss' house for a BBQ and Julie, his boss' wife, pulled out some great Fisher Price toys from back in the day (why don't they make cool toys like this anymore...so simple but so much fun!) which she found at an estate sale in South Africa where they are from. Eli, who had been getting a bit cranky, took great interest in the toys and was equally interested in her wooden spoon.
However, surprisingly he took absolutely no notice of their two huge dogs. I guess maybe they were too big for him to play with? Not quite sure. And to our relief, they didn't take much notice of him either.
All this exploration means it's getting harder and harder to keep Eli interested. His Ghanaian basket full of toys, which we thought would keep him entertained for weeks, is now old news for him and he is constantly on the look out for new and interesting objects to play with.
Like our bronze Benin tiger for instance...or maybe some travel books (which now have been moved to a higher shelf!).
He's even recently started to realize that the wheels on his stroller are great fun. But when I think of what grit and grim must be on them, I cringe and quickly distract him with something else.
As much fun as it is to watch him explore, I suppose we're just getting used to that nervous feeling that all parents must feel when you can foresee danger around every corner. I'm trying to resist the urge to follow him around and instead am developing that mom skill where I can be doing something but constantly have an eye on the boy too.
Contrast
I recently got an order for a Hello Kitty birthday cake for 2 American girls living here in Accra. They are turning 3 and 7 on Saturday and their parents are throwing them a big party for 50 people. I researched Hello Kitty images online and looked at Hello Kitty cake after Hello Kitty cake before coming up with just the right design. And after 5 hours of work this morning the cake is finally done along with 25 cupcakes!
Eli was licking his chops just looking at the cupcakes, especially now that he's gotten the hang of eating more solids.
But while I was decorating the cake this morning, I got a call from my friend Gilda who had awful news. Her driver did not show up for work yesterday and was not able to be reached by phone so we had a feeling something must have happened because this was not like him. He had told us about 1 1/2 weeks ago that his 6-year old daughter was hit by a motorcycle but that she was ok and just had a broken arm. Well, this morning he reported to Gilda's for work and told her that his daughter died yesterday due to internal bleeding that was not diagnosed initially when she went to the hospital. We were both so shaken up by this news and so frustrated that something could have been done about her internal bleeding after the accident and maybe she would not have died. But, here in Ghana, your medical care is only as good or as comprehensive as you can afford, and so I can't help but wonder if the family could not afford the extra exams it would have required to diagnose the bleeding. Or perhaps it was just incompetent medical care but either way it is a tragedy that will definitely be on our minds. And, as I was decorating this cake this morning for a 6-year old going on 7, it struck me as such a contrast to the fate that met this Ghanaian young girl and her family. As one 6 year old will be celebrating her birthday with a big party, another one will be buried this weekend.
Eli was licking his chops just looking at the cupcakes, especially now that he's gotten the hang of eating more solids.
But while I was decorating the cake this morning, I got a call from my friend Gilda who had awful news. Her driver did not show up for work yesterday and was not able to be reached by phone so we had a feeling something must have happened because this was not like him. He had told us about 1 1/2 weeks ago that his 6-year old daughter was hit by a motorcycle but that she was ok and just had a broken arm. Well, this morning he reported to Gilda's for work and told her that his daughter died yesterday due to internal bleeding that was not diagnosed initially when she went to the hospital. We were both so shaken up by this news and so frustrated that something could have been done about her internal bleeding after the accident and maybe she would not have died. But, here in Ghana, your medical care is only as good or as comprehensive as you can afford, and so I can't help but wonder if the family could not afford the extra exams it would have required to diagnose the bleeding. Or perhaps it was just incompetent medical care but either way it is a tragedy that will definitely be on our minds. And, as I was decorating this cake this morning for a 6-year old going on 7, it struck me as such a contrast to the fate that met this Ghanaian young girl and her family. As one 6 year old will be celebrating her birthday with a big party, another one will be buried this weekend.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Big Hat Tea
Last Friday I attended a South African Women's Tea which was an event to raise money for an NGO here in Ghana that provides micro loans and other services to woman in the North of Ghana where conditions are very poor and services are sparse. I was invited by Alan's boss's wife, Julie, who is South African and was part of the organizing committee. The invitation said we must wear a hat, flower, or feather in our hair, as I suppose this was tradition at tea's back in the day. Having none of the above handy at home, I was a bit worried that I would not find an appropriate hat but low and behold, the other day while shopping for batik fabric, I came across the biggest and brightest hat I've ever seen and it had to be mine! Of course, I'm not sure what other occasions I will need this hat for in my life, perhaps this will be the only one, but it was still a must have.
After a few wardrobe changes to get the dress and hat combo just right, I found in my closet a dress that was made for the hat and despite looking a little ridiculous, I was off to my fundraising tea.
This type of occasion is common here in Accra because many expat wives become involved in NGO's whether volunteering at orphanages or offering to hold fundraisers. This happened to be my first such event, and I was really impressed with the what a production it was. There had to be over 100 ladies there all decked out in pretty dresses, hats, feathers and flowers. It was held at a woman's house on her huge lawn and rented tables and chairs scattered the lawn.
Each table had a coordinator who decorated the table, provided the sweet eats, and tea, coffee and juice. Some tables were filled with desserts bought at bakeries in town while others, like ours, were filled with homemade treats such as coconut macarons, chocolate cupcakes, and a traditional South African milk pie.
My table was also filled with Guinness wives and so we had quite a good time as we devoured the desserts and sipped tea like proper ladies. However, my hat got in the way of feeling too proper because I could barely see out from under it and when I went to give someone a hug, the thing usually wound up poking them in the face or flying off my head.
Part of the fundraiser was the sale of baskets and beaded jewelry that the woman, who receive the NGO's help, make and so we all bought a few items.
And there was even a giveaway of prizes that local shops and companies (most of them were companies that the wives' husbands work for like Coca-Cola) donated. It was a simple procedure of drawing names out of a bucket and despite my low odds of winning, I actually won a set of cooking pots!
It was a hoot and now I have a bright pink hat for my next tea!
After a few wardrobe changes to get the dress and hat combo just right, I found in my closet a dress that was made for the hat and despite looking a little ridiculous, I was off to my fundraising tea.
This type of occasion is common here in Accra because many expat wives become involved in NGO's whether volunteering at orphanages or offering to hold fundraisers. This happened to be my first such event, and I was really impressed with the what a production it was. There had to be over 100 ladies there all decked out in pretty dresses, hats, feathers and flowers. It was held at a woman's house on her huge lawn and rented tables and chairs scattered the lawn.
Each table had a coordinator who decorated the table, provided the sweet eats, and tea, coffee and juice. Some tables were filled with desserts bought at bakeries in town while others, like ours, were filled with homemade treats such as coconut macarons, chocolate cupcakes, and a traditional South African milk pie.
My table was also filled with Guinness wives and so we had quite a good time as we devoured the desserts and sipped tea like proper ladies. However, my hat got in the way of feeling too proper because I could barely see out from under it and when I went to give someone a hug, the thing usually wound up poking them in the face or flying off my head.
Part of the fundraiser was the sale of baskets and beaded jewelry that the woman, who receive the NGO's help, make and so we all bought a few items.
And there was even a giveaway of prizes that local shops and companies (most of them were companies that the wives' husbands work for like Coca-Cola) donated. It was a simple procedure of drawing names out of a bucket and despite my low odds of winning, I actually won a set of cooking pots!
It was a hoot and now I have a bright pink hat for my next tea!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Yom Kippur in Ghana
The Jewish community in Accra is pretty slim as you can imagine and is made up of all expats, many of them from Israel. Alan and I have made a little mini Jewish community in our compound and we usually get together for holidays and eat food together. It's very nice and has become our little Jewish Accra family. This year, my friend Gilda, convinced us to go to Yom Kippur services last night at the local Chabad house. For those of you who may not know about Chabad Jews, they are Hasidic Orthodox Jews who are dispersed all over the world. They set up centers for Jewish worship and activities and to our surprise, they exist in Ghana! We decided we'd check it out in the hopes that we'd meet some other interesting people. Unfortunately, the word "disappointment" was an understatement of the experience.
So Gilda and her husband, Allan, our other friend Dyane, and the 3 of us headed out to find Yom Kippur services in Ghana. As usual, the evening began with total confusion about where this place was and aimless driving in traffic trying to find the house where we were told the services would be held. Only an address was provided to us and addresses are totally useless here. as street names and numbers don't really exist. We thought we had found it at one point after we saw loads of cars parked on the side of the road so the 6 of us piled out of the car and walked down the street to find a party that was most certainly not Yom Kippur services. So we piled back into our cars, Eli virtually asleep on my shoulder, to continue the search. After 20 minutes we finally found the place that was actually guarded by Accra police! So of course we were now late and so when the 6 of us entered, stroller and all, we found ourselves in small crowded room divided into two sections - one for the men and one for the women - and all 30 eyes turned towards us. They were right in the middle of prayers and we must have looked like a motley crew who wandered in off the street! Or at least that's what we felt like. So we quickly took our seat according to gender. There were no prayer books for us so we just listened as the Chabad Rabbi lead the prayers in quickfire Hebrew. Eli was fast asleep in his stroller but I held my breath in anticipation of the noise he'd make when he woke up. Since I had no idea what was taking place during the services (this service was much different from the kind I grew up with in a reform synagogue), I took notice of all the details around us. It was really a quite strange space they tried to create for a synagogue. It reminded me nothing of the peaceful serene synagogues I've been in before. It was really a horribly ugly room. The low ceilings were covered in some fake wood paneling lit by florescent lights. Fans hummed above us. The chairs were covered in the most tacky white ruffled silk covers that might have been more appropriate for a wedding (but even then would have been pretty horrible looking). There was a ripped satin sheet separating the men and the woman which was thrown over some African metal status (I could see the little statues' legs poking out underneath). And to top it off, the sheet was secured with plastic clothespins. I mean, really....could we have not done a little better? It was as far as you can get from a spiritual place of worship. And to make matters worse, cans of Raid were line up on the shelf on the wall next to us. So for an hour, I sat there as the Chabad Rabbi would read off a page number of a prayer book we didn't have, then chant in Hebrew for 5 minutes before reading the next page number and so on and so on. Gilda, Dyane and I, who all sat in a row, just kept throwing each other glances like, "when can we leave." Gilda even whispered to me, "when is Eli going to wake up so we can use that as an excuse to leave?" Luckily, before we knew it, people closed their prayer books and made movements towards the door which we took as a sign that it was over. And Eli woke up just then!
So, I think we'll be sticking to our Jewish holiday meals together which somehow feel much more spiritual than that service did. I guess maybe we were looking for some sort of connection to other Jews but this made us feel even more disconnected and unwelcome. A bit of a disappointment but definitely an experience.
So Gilda and her husband, Allan, our other friend Dyane, and the 3 of us headed out to find Yom Kippur services in Ghana. As usual, the evening began with total confusion about where this place was and aimless driving in traffic trying to find the house where we were told the services would be held. Only an address was provided to us and addresses are totally useless here. as street names and numbers don't really exist. We thought we had found it at one point after we saw loads of cars parked on the side of the road so the 6 of us piled out of the car and walked down the street to find a party that was most certainly not Yom Kippur services. So we piled back into our cars, Eli virtually asleep on my shoulder, to continue the search. After 20 minutes we finally found the place that was actually guarded by Accra police! So of course we were now late and so when the 6 of us entered, stroller and all, we found ourselves in small crowded room divided into two sections - one for the men and one for the women - and all 30 eyes turned towards us. They were right in the middle of prayers and we must have looked like a motley crew who wandered in off the street! Or at least that's what we felt like. So we quickly took our seat according to gender. There were no prayer books for us so we just listened as the Chabad Rabbi lead the prayers in quickfire Hebrew. Eli was fast asleep in his stroller but I held my breath in anticipation of the noise he'd make when he woke up. Since I had no idea what was taking place during the services (this service was much different from the kind I grew up with in a reform synagogue), I took notice of all the details around us. It was really a quite strange space they tried to create for a synagogue. It reminded me nothing of the peaceful serene synagogues I've been in before. It was really a horribly ugly room. The low ceilings were covered in some fake wood paneling lit by florescent lights. Fans hummed above us. The chairs were covered in the most tacky white ruffled silk covers that might have been more appropriate for a wedding (but even then would have been pretty horrible looking). There was a ripped satin sheet separating the men and the woman which was thrown over some African metal status (I could see the little statues' legs poking out underneath). And to top it off, the sheet was secured with plastic clothespins. I mean, really....could we have not done a little better? It was as far as you can get from a spiritual place of worship. And to make matters worse, cans of Raid were line up on the shelf on the wall next to us. So for an hour, I sat there as the Chabad Rabbi would read off a page number of a prayer book we didn't have, then chant in Hebrew for 5 minutes before reading the next page number and so on and so on. Gilda, Dyane and I, who all sat in a row, just kept throwing each other glances like, "when can we leave." Gilda even whispered to me, "when is Eli going to wake up so we can use that as an excuse to leave?" Luckily, before we knew it, people closed their prayer books and made movements towards the door which we took as a sign that it was over. And Eli woke up just then!
So, I think we'll be sticking to our Jewish holiday meals together which somehow feel much more spiritual than that service did. I guess maybe we were looking for some sort of connection to other Jews but this made us feel even more disconnected and unwelcome. A bit of a disappointment but definitely an experience.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Practice Makes Perfect
Since I can't figure out how to share videos through email, the blog seems to be easiest way to make the videos of Eli easy for people to see. We seem to be taking more and more video these days as Eli gets more and more mobile. It's funny to think back to the days when he just ate, pooped and slept. Now he seems so active in comparison and I can barely get him to stay still...although CNN or BBC seem to do the trick.
Eli's been really determined lately to get this crawling thing mastered. He'll "chase" after anything we put in front of him. On Sunday it was his package of new diapers that caught his eye, this morning it was a random toy. But regardless of what it is, he goes after it with such gusto and strength. We are realizing that Eli has superbaby strength that can prove hazardous at times. This weekend he broke one of the plastic toys on the Baby Einstein Exersaucer in half - literally with just his brute force. I don't think that is supposed to happen! So we know that when he really gets on the move we're going to have to lock down or hide everything in sight. Recently fistfuls of my hair, or even my face have fallen victim to Eli's strength. Watch out world!
Eli's been really determined lately to get this crawling thing mastered. He'll "chase" after anything we put in front of him. On Sunday it was his package of new diapers that caught his eye, this morning it was a random toy. But regardless of what it is, he goes after it with such gusto and strength. We are realizing that Eli has superbaby strength that can prove hazardous at times. This weekend he broke one of the plastic toys on the Baby Einstein Exersaucer in half - literally with just his brute force. I don't think that is supposed to happen! So we know that when he really gets on the move we're going to have to lock down or hide everything in sight. Recently fistfuls of my hair, or even my face have fallen victim to Eli's strength. Watch out world!
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