Filed under: Travels
Johnson picked me up this morning at 8am. I ate a bowl of instant oatmeal as he shared a bowl of rice with Pele. They’re both Liberian refugees who are attending the University of Ghana on UN scholarships. Johnson is finishing up a B.Sc. in agriculture. Apparently he’s got 1000 hectares lined up back home that he wants to use for rice cultivation. We take a cab to the tro tro station, we take a tro tro downtown Accra. Johnson tells me to watch my bag on the street. Someone hands me a phone number that originated from my pocket somehow. Weird. We get on another tro tro headed to Budaburam, the refugee camp that has been home to Liberian diaspora for 17 years. On the tro tro, the doorman attempts to sell passengers balm for pain, then Vitamin C tablets. Taken from citrus fruits? Then toothpaste. With Chinese herbs that will apparently make all of the problems in my mouth go away.
The ride to the camp is about 2 hours and we see some beautiful country. The soil is very fertile down here and there are a lot of people farming outside of the city. Banana, watermelon, pinapple, plantaine, yams, there is no doubt I have been eating the majority of my food from origins >100km away. We pulled up to the camp and I was a bit surprised with what I saw. Being that my only conceptions of a refugee camp come from Western media, I was not expecting to see the little community before me. Apparently 20,000 people populate the camp which is approximately 15 square city blocks.
The dense population lends itself to packed housing conditions. I hesitated to bring my camera but Johnson insisted so that I can show kids back home what it’s really like. So what’s it really like? People have to pay rent there so a ton of people have little businesses ranging from shoe-making, to artisans to the ladies at the supermarket selling strange little coloured vegetables. I asked for permission to take some photos and the residents gladly let this displaced Canadian snap a few shots of what people do to sustain themselves.
Then we headed to the school. I was surprised with the delapitated classrooms here in Ghana and that was nothing. But the kids show up and are way into their education. In fact, while I was there I met several people who attended university while living at the camp. On blind man was a Sociology graduate, eagerly awaiting to be repatriated next month. Should I mention the frat house next door at home, where young men live 8 months of the year in a drunken stupor pissing away daddy’s hard earned?
Anyways, off to the ghetto. Intensity? You’ve got it. Cesspools, mosquito breeding grounds that are open sewers, children defecating in the alleys. Off to Johnson’s sister’s place where she prepares us a meal of Fufu. I’m not a huge fan of fufu, a rather bland dipping dish, usually prepared with a meat soup. The gesture was kind and I had a few bites. The houses are so small. 10×10′ to house families of 4, 5, 6…
Chickens and dogs roaming freely. I’m greeted several times by the locals who ask for my story. I tell themabout the snow, some say they want to move to Canada to find work. Most are looking forward to going home to Liberia within the coming months. Johnson estimates 30% will probably stay behind because the camp is the only life they know.
Off to the community college, then the wells. The UN has moved out and there are a couple of private companies that sell drinking water in little plastic bags for 5 cents. There is plastic litter everywhere. A trip mto the bathroom costs me 10 cents. The bathroom is 4 outdoor walls with a door. A shower costs 20 cents. You have a bucket of water and a sponge to wash yourself with.
We walk by the Toronto Blues Bar. Some bible school in Toronto made a donation to the school a while ago I guess and the locals give the city props.
You know, I can only really give a brief description of my day and it feels pretty contrived. I took some photos. I will show you when I get back if you’d like to see them. I guess I just wanted to give people a taste of something happening in the global south that isn’t all touristy. I’m down here as a student and I learned a lot today.
Tomorrow I will be at the beach and back to soaking in the sun and swimming, but I have a strange feeling in my mind that I’m going to have to wrestle with tonight. Hopefully this mango will help me hash it out.
Attitudes are up. The group is getting along. I really enjoy their company. We’re all so ridiculously diverse. I still do not like the cold showers however. It’s been two weeks and I still shutter before standing under that stupid cold water faucet. Jeeze, at least I’m fortunate enough to be able to do so. Ok, I’ve got to get off this computer and get to my journal.
Much love.
Friends and family are paramount.
Filed under: Uncategorized
The last couple of days at the school have been incredibly boring. We’re just supervising the kids as they write their exams and there’s not much more to it then sitting there for 3 hours making sure they don’t cheat. I’ve found a place to eat lunch for 50 cents. I used the money i banked from the cheap meals to spend on a delectable dinner last night at an indian resteraunt. The food was better than fantastic, but now my guts are grubling so today should be interesting. People are starting to come out of their shells a bit and it’s been fun to get to know them, hear their stories etc. There are a few people who hardly leave the hostel which is a bit weird to me, but then again, everyone came for a different reason. Last night we wound up at an outdoor club with a live latin/jazz band comprised of these old dudes. Like 60 year old mac daddies totally ripping it up. It was a great way to spend the night. Met some more people, a girl fromnewfoundland, a guy from Lebanon. Found a place that serves real coffee. Pretty excited about that. Also found some peanut butter, I think it’s handmade since it’s sold in tupperware containers. I’ve been reading a loit lately, it’s been great to not have the distraction of computers and high speed internet. I just finished a book I’ve been meaning to read for ages and borrowed No Country For Old Men fromanother student. Excited to give that one a go. Today I’m just going to take it easy. We have a trip planned to the refugee camp tomorrow and we’re leaving to Apenmanem on Monday so I’d like to get some alone time in before I’m surrounded by a ton of people. There is no concept of personal space here, which is fine for me most of the time, until I get hot or stir crazy. Then I long for my spacious apartment back home or a bike ride in the river valley. Actually, the only thing I’d really like right now is some solid food, like a felafel or something. Most of the food I eat is spicy and rice based. I’m out of granola bars and my palate is yearning for some tofu… oh man. When I get home… Anyways, what else… Some of the students are not able to wrap their heads around when to haggle and when not to. This resulted in a brief argument between me and another. The aformentioned individual thought that she was getting ripped of by being charged 50 cents for a ride into town, instead of the regular 35. I don’t think she had rush hour in mind when she made he comments, and I told her to bit the bullet and caugh it up. She responded that it came down to the principle of the thing and I said something like “I think the principle of the thing is that you’re being a cheapskate”. Then I felt like an ass. But it is important for us to keep context in mind while we’re here. A lot of westerners I met here are constantly complaining about being ripped off, but it’s really the lens they choose to use when looking at certain situations. From what I’ve gathered anyway. If you leave your place with a paranoid attitude of being ripped off, you will find it wherever you go. If you leave with an attitude that people are friendly and trustworthy, you will find that. I prefer the latter, consequentially, everyday has been better than the next. Westerers are so needlessly paranoid. Myself included and it’s definitely a trait that I’ve been working on dismantling while I’m here.
Filed under: Uncategorized
An excerpt from my journal this morning:
08:25 – The students sing a song as they march from the morning assembly to their first class. The lyrics go something like “The way to make people happy, is to make someone happy… I am so happy” and their perfect cadence is a spectacle to a foreigner. I should mention that the kids refer to the other student teacher and I as Aunt Betty and Uncle (veganteacher). From what I’ve gathered, this school does a pretty good job at creating a caring, family-like environment. Not that it’s perfect in any sense, just different from how the west conceives the ideal school atmosphere. It’s funny, because teachers are often late for class. Well, late is a cultural imperialist term forgive me. Teachers run on Ghanain time which could mean they’re anywhere from on time to half an hour early, to not there at all. The material they have the kids learning is mostly based on rote memory. From spelling to definitions, these kids are able to recite nearly anything I ask of them. But when it comes to their creativity, it’s pretty stifled. I might add that the school I am teaching at is a school for kids of upper-middle class parents. So as usual, context is everything.
11:30 – Marking English exams, mostly just checking for spelling mistakes. I am outside with 12 other students who have separated their desks from the students inside to prevent cheating. It’s raining like crazy and while I’m impressed with the large amount of water falling, the kids don’t really seem to pay it any mind and continue writing on. The majority of the tests I’m marking are responses to a question asking them to describe their family. A lot of them respond that they like their families because they are kind, humble and good-hearted. A lot of them do not know how to use a period.
Currently, I’ve taken the afternoon off to finish a book and get some rest. I’ve been very tired today and I want to make it out to Reggae on the beach tonight. My stomach is gurgling a bit more than usual and I’m hoping the joloff rice I ate for lunch isn’t in the process of triggering an unfun evening. A few people in the group have had some stomach problems, mostly from using the tap water to brush their teeth etc. I’ve been alright though and I’ve been eating things that are a little more authentic then most of the others. Why can my gut deal down here but does not as fair as well in the West?
I went to the Museum of Anthropology yesterday. They charge you an extra $2 if you want to take photos. I think I took 3? I ended up taking more on the tro-tro ride home. Being that it was rush hour (which is basically 2pm-10pm), the driver took us through a bunch of back roads. We saw some pretty intense stuff back there. Little one-room 10′x10′ shantis that house families of 7. Lots of plastic, everywhere. Like everywhere else, environmentalism is starting to take serious president here so hopefully it won’t be long until Ghanaians can recycle water bottles and such.
Plans have changes, I think we’re going to try to make it to the Volta Region this weekend to check out a monkey sanctuary. In Ghana, plans are always changing. I fly more by the seat of my pants than anything so who knows really what I’ll do on my weekend off. However, we were told there was also a hip hop show in Accra this weekend. We’ll see what happens.
I think I’ve drank more Coke in the past week than I have in the past year. It’s hard to abstain when you’re thirsty and a bottle is $.35, while water is about a dollar.
My roomie bought a Ngoni, a lovely harp-sounding instrument. We were up all night last night playing around with it. He’s an MC back home and was beat-boxing over some riffs. Crickets and bullfrogs provided the soundtrack for the rest of my evening.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Just got back from a rugby game. Ghana vs. Chad. it was fun and after the game ended, music was cranked and there was a dance party on the field. Everyday has blown my mind in some way or another. For instance, this weekend I traveled to a small beach village called Kokrobite to see a reggae band play. during the set, I met a Rasta named Otchie who is a drum instructor at the music academy. We were up until 3am talking on the beach about music. He was unaware of the commonalities between the rastas and the punkers. I told him about the Bad brains and he told me about how most of them are vegan. he also gave me a recipe for Rasta Pasta. he asked me if I’d like a drum lesson. I said sure, he said he’d pick me up on the beach at 9.
9am, i’m on the beach eating a mango, watching kids pull in a fishing boat. Otchie strolls up and we head to his village to get the drums. People in the village do not have much (to a spoiled Canadian), but life is good and in ways much richer. Along with teaching drums, Otchie has a watermelon farm. People either spend their time farming, playing music or on the beach socializing. it’s pretty incredible, they are very vibrant and so full of life. Anyways, we get the drums and head off to another beach where I have my lesson. during the lesson I’m told several times to relax. In fact, you can’t really play any African percussive instrument unless you’re totally relaxed. Quite a difference from some musicians/music I’ve seen at home.by the end, I’ve learned a new rudiment, a traditional African rhythm of a name I can’t remember. finish the lesson, head back to the hostel.
Adventure #2: the Tro-Tro (pronounced: tchro-tchro). there is not much for public transportation here. A few buses, but mostly cabs and these independantly owned and operated vans that get about 12 people from station to station on approx. 30 cents. tro-Tros roll up, a man in the passanger seat leans out his window yelling the name of the next station and you flag him down if you want it.True people’s Wheels and if you want to, you can take a 30km ride for about 2 dollars.
Other randomness from Ghana; the kids refer to me as “obrone”, which is basically “hello white person”. I was in a grade 5 class last week, this week they’re going to put me somewhere else. I hope to read them a book I picked up at the bookstore about plastic, written by a Ghanian. you see there is a lot of plastic litter around. An interesting phenomenon. A few years ago, the government mandated that people use these little plastic bags to sell water instead of the traditional cup and jug methods. it’s a bit more sanitary, but there are no recycling facilities and the result are these little plastic bags riding the zephyrs. Also, the traditional way to despose of waste is to make a pile of it and burn it. for organic compostables, this has obviously never posed a problem. But for the petrochemicals. Yeash.
Anyways, I’ve started showering right before bed as it’s the best way to deal with the layer of sweat and dirt built up on my skin thanks to the wicked humidity. That and the sounds of crickets help put me to sleep in about 3 minutes. Believe it or not, I actually wake up when a rooster crows at about 6 every morning. I go down into the open market and buy either a banana muffin or mango for breakfast and I’m set until lunch. Don’t find myself as hungry down here, but I’m always in need of water. Can’t drink it from the tap (can’t even get in on the toothbrush) so I buy big bottles for about 70 cents.
The group is good. A fun bunch of people to be down here with. When we’re not teaching or venturing about, we’re playing cards or mancala. Tomorrow there’s 2 for 1 pizza and a joint off campus. The pizza’s are about 4 dollars each.
Oh, looks like my time is up. I’ll try to post again by the weekend. If we make it out to see the teachers at the Liberian Refugree camp on Friday, I will likely have something to put up here. Until then, much love from Ghana.
Filed under: gettin' er done
Listening to Sun Kill Moon on the porch. Loose ends more or less tied up as of today. Have packed, unpacked, rearranged and repacked. Ready to do this.
The great thing is that I’ve been good to go for two days so I’ve got nothing to stress about, allowing me to spend my last day home gardening and hanging out in the sun with my cats. My ipod is loaded up with some Canadiana and I picked up some tofu-jerky for the plane ride. A friend tipped me off last night to make sure I request a vegan meal for the flight or else it’s “chicken or beef”. Uh oh, forgot to call the Grandparents…
Filed under: Uncategorized
Well, I did the responsible vegan thing today and got my blood tested for iron and whatnot. Figured it might be a good idea since if I happen to be running a B-12 deficiency, it is probably easier to leave here with supplements than to have to track them down when I get to where I’m going. I also went to the doctor to relieve some anxiety I’ve been having over a bout of nausea I experienced a while back. After conducting several funny tests on me to make sure my brain/nervous system is in good shape, the Doc told me the cause was likely Labyrinthitis (see: inner ear infection). Ain’t no thing, so I picked up some gravol and I’m good to go.
Tonight I am selling a trusty steed from tours gone by, a 15 passenger 1983 Ford Club Wagon otherwise known as Big Danger. This old grey mare carried our band across Canada twice, down to San Diego and throughout the states a few times. I think we put 35K on it throughout the last few years and I’m saddened to have to let it go. I bet in total, I’ve lived 4-5 months of my life out of that thing and subsequently, getting it ready has brought back many a fond memory.
The reality of it is that gas prices are making it harder for smaller bands to tour and filling a 100L tank these days every 500Km is not very economical when you might not even make $100 a night. I guess this has good consequences as well in that only more serious bands are getting out, which seems to be taking some pressure off promoters. The worst is booking a band comprised of spoiled rich kids who want to tour so they can re-enact whatever rock star fantasies they think come along with it. The reality is that touring is hard work and things, like not having the dough to fill the tank or get repairs, can break bands if the relationships between people aren’t built on solid ground. That being said, I’m looking into the ability of doing future tours with a van powered on bio-diesel. From what I’ve gathered, the network is there, you just need the initial financial investment.
Got a ton of things done today. Had a bunch of mailing to do, registered with the GoC as a visiting citizen (which apparently comes in handy should anything unexpected go down when I’m in Ghana), bought some money orders and went to my cohort meeting. We talked a little more about the program and I guess it’s best described as follows; there’s a lot of emphasis on North/South relations in any globalization class you take post-secondary, but it’s all textbook information. Simply put, the point of this trip is going to be experiencing some of the things that are going down in the developing world (many a result of the consumptive patterns and exploitative nature of the West), in the context of being a pre-service teacher interested in creating little global citizens. I still know very little about what I’m getting myself into, but I’m making sure to keep an open mind in order to have it (for lack of a better word) exploded. It seems to me that this year is all about shaking up my little routines and I have come to really embrace all the new challenges that keep popping up. But I digress.
I picked up the new Nightmarchers record yesterday. They’re the new project of one Mr. John Reis, aka Speedo (see: Rocket From the Crypt, Hot Snakes). The album is fantastic, not only does it pick up where the last Hot Snakes record left off, but there’s a lot more of a 50’s rock and roll feel to the album and hey, it’s nice to hear Speedo’s voice again. I was always a big fan of “Mystery Boy” on Auto Midnight and I feel like he finally made the record I wanted to hear since then.
It’s very humid here, my hair is huge and it seems like the tomato plants are not enjoying it. Last night an old friend dropped by unannounced and we spent the evening on the stoop with a bottle of wine catching up. It’s a magical thing when you can pick up where you left off a long time ago. In some ways it feels like it’s been forever since we last had to opportunity to really hang out but in others, it’s like yesterday we went on our first tour together.
Last night I witnessed the glorious rock spectacle that is Iron Maiden. Being that arena concerts aren’t typically my bag (due to the often copious amounts of Kokanee-Brahs attempting to re-enact mtv music videos on the dance floor), I was a bit unsure as to what to expect. But let me begin by describing how before I even entered the gates, I witnessed a firey-eyed metal fan tear his shirt off and toss it in the trash in order to don his brand new Somewhere Back in Time Tour ‘08 tee. This essentially set the precedent for the entire night.
The set was killer. Name your favorite Maiden tune, it likely made an appearance. I found myself in the various stages of rock throughout, cycling mostly between fist-pumping and air guitar. The backdrops were very thematic and were switched up between songs. One moment there’s a red-eyed devil rising from the ground, the next a 10 foot tall Eddie would walk across the stage with a laser. The pyrotechnics were in sync with several key points during songs and Bruce was running around like a wild man. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a band work a crowd like Maiden did last night. Wait, a stadium-rock band that is (Fugazi blew my mind a few years back).
Anyways, we ended up playing the afterparty which was totally fun. Then I slept for 11 hours. Tomorrow, we’re demoing a bunch of new songs then it’s back to school for me on Monday.
Things are coming together nicely. Half of the things on my pre-Africa departure list are crossed off and the malaria meds aren’t giving me any strange side effects.
Here’s where I’m going to be:
June 15/16 – Fly to Minneapolis, Amsterdam, Accra
June 16-29 – We’re at the University of Ghana in Accra, working on a variety of assignments and presentations. I believe at some point we’re going into a school nearby. Weekends off to check things out.
June 30-July 4 – We head to the village of Apemanim where we are to stay at the Chief’s house (who is also our instructor) and check out the elementary school there (which apparently consists of half the population of the village).
July 5/6 – Travel to Elmina where I believe we’ll be checking out one of the largest slave trading posts that existed.
July 7-12 – Back in Accra. Classes, school. Not too sure. A bunch of TBAs are listed on my calendar.
July 13-16 – I’m in Amsterdam. Apparently Blondie is playing while I’m there so I’m going to try to marry Debbie Harry.
July 17th – Home. After 5 months, cease living life out of a suitcase.
I’m back home for 10 more days. The shows went really well. In fact, I think it was the most successful jaunt I’ve ever been on. There are a few things that help keep spirits high when you’re on the road with your band:
The first is people actually coming out to the shows. Since we were opening for a bigger band we had nothing to worry about in that department. Sometimes you can hit a town half a dozen times and still only get 10 people out. On this one about 100 people watched us every night which is rewarding after sinking hour after hour into writing and rehearsing.
The second is promotion for the shows. We had some awesome people work really hard for us on this tour. That and the fact that we’re charting nationally now added to people actually being aware that we existed before we hit the stage. It’s neat to be out of town and have people sing along to your songs. I’ve never experienced that before, though the last touring band I played in was an instrumental one.
The third is pay. It can be a real bummer when you get paid out $6 at the end of the night when you have to find food, a place to stay and put gas in the tank. Fortunately for us, we were paid handsomely by each promoter and sold some merch to boot. This alleviates a ton of stress and I don’t think any of us had to dip into personal savings. A huge success in the world of independent music.
Fourth: tour tantrums. Spending a large portion of your day in a hot van with your bandmates can be grating. If people aren’t careful to keep their attitudes in check, the day can easily turn into a drag. Being that we’ve all run this gamut before in other bands, we made a point to air our grievances which helped raise awareness of things that can be done on a personal level to improve the overall enjoyment of the experience. It’s neat, we’re all older dudes and we were all pals before we started this thing, so it feels like everyone is a little more invested in making sure people are having a good time.
Anyways, our homecoming show was bananas and we were offered a spot to play at the Western Canadian Music Awards which is kind of neat. It’s a strange thing, this band. Things just seem to keep coming our way. The band we played with wants to bring us to Montreal in the fall. They really dug our stuff and would like to help us out so we’re starting to draft plans for the fall, which brings me to my next topic.
When I returned home, I arrived to find that I got a B in my ethics class and a reply from the public school board. Turns out my application was accepted and I was provided with information on how to apply for a job subbing this fall (which I will be able to do once I finish my last class and get my teaching certificate). That’s really what I’m going to shoot for. Having the flexibility to do the band thing and be in the school environment when I’m at home seems like the bees knees to me, for the next while at least. You know, you’ve got to keep moving forward, but you can’t forget who you are or what keeps you in love with the world. This is a lesson I’ve come to learn in the last couple of years re: happiness.
Ok, Africa time. Today I begin making with the preparations. First thing’s first; getting my itinerary together as well as a making list of supplies I need to pick up and things I need to take care of.
