Funeral Politics

It's been a weary two weeks. The shocking news of a friend's death left me out of sorts. I spent the week looking forward to the weekend for some moments of peace and time to deal with the sad news. It seemed I'd forgotten where I'd be for most of the weekend: at a funeral! Yes, three weeks ago that was the shocking news that hit, my uncle died suddenly at the age of 67.

So Friday evening was spent planning for our trip at dawn to the Eastern Region. Now, you only need to spend a few months in Ghana to realise that funerals are the greatest social event. This is where businessmen network, politicians work up their political capital and... single men and women look out for a future partner! Of course, with so much focus on the event, there are rules that go with it too.

1. We sent Em to her (paternal) grandparents for the weekend as children and pregnant women are not meant to go to funerals (the dead person's spirit can enter the child's or foetus' soul).

2. I searched through my funeral clothes for something black - since he was under 70 years old, black is the colour to wear, unless the family selects other colours, e.g. black and red, or brown. If he were above 70, black and white is accepted and if over 80, white is worn to celebrate the long life lived.

This picture refuses to turn upright, sorry!

3. I then made sure I didn't select a sparkly or one of the shinier outfits as that would not be appropriate considering my close relationship to the deceased (my dad's brother). In addition, I picked out a pair of dark pearl earrings, again, solemn enough for the event. Although, once we got out into the sun, my mum complained that they were too bright, but once I had my dad's approval, I kept them on.

4. During the week we also had to make sure my new little family was presented, so Virgo came along, and from my mother's family, my uncle and cousin, to ensure we fully represented the other side of my dad's family.

There are so many other rules that make up the funeral politics of Ghana, how to shake hands, what to eat and drink and who gets buried on which side of the cemetry, but I'll save that for another day. Interestingly, we somehow managed to get into some real politics as my second cousin, an MP in the area, was holding his mother's funeral the same day.

So the sad day ended on a pleasant note after Virgo met his political chums, we all said goodbye to relatives and enjoyed the beautiful green scenery on our way home. Well, that was until we hit Winneba junction. More on that later...

Marie Antoinette lives in all of us.

I think it happens to most of us, well those of us who live a 'privileged life'. At least once in a lifetime there's a moment in which, if you're humble enough, you'll realise the everyday assumptions you make and be grateful for what you've got.
I'll give two examples:

A family friend went to complain at ECG after tehy had turned off the electricity one too many times. Very upset, he explained to them "all my meat, fish and chicken are spoiling due to the lights off!".
To which the ECG man responded " Ey, whilst some of us are struggling to find food to eat, you are complaining about a freezer overflowing with meat!".
Needless to say, he walked away feeling a bit ashamed about his 'frivolous' complaint.

The 2nd example is my own (and I'm still embarrassed by it). Two years ago when we went to Takoradi, just around Cape Coast we first saw a funeral by the roadside, then for several hundred meters afterwards we saw many people in funeral clothes walking towards the funeral. After a while, completely confused, I asked Virgo, "Why did they park so far away from the funeral???".
Virgo, turned to me quite horrified (probably picturing Marie Antoinette in front of him in all her pompidouesqueness) before he answered, "they don't have cars, they're walking from their homes!".

Never before or after has it been so clear to me what a comfortable life I lead. I hope I never have such a moment again as it means I would have lost touch, then again I am grateful for it as it was a reality check and gave me a lot of giggles.

What's your worst Marie Antoinette* moment?

*Marie Antoinette's cry of, "Let them eat cake!" was the straw that broke the camel's back during the French Revolution. The story goes that Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, was informed that her subjects were starving because they had no bread. She was so pampered and out of touch with the reality of life for the poor that she responded, "Let them eat cake," which is what she would have done if she were out of bread. Marie Antoinette was convicted of treason and executed in 1793, months after her husband, King Louis XVI, had suffered the same fate.
Marie Antoinette explanation borrowed from here

Ted Turner & Co unnoticed in Ghana

Did you know that Ted Turner, Gro Harlem Bruntland, Andrew Young and Kofi Annan were (possibly are) just in Ghana? I wouldn't blame you for not knowing, if you're not following to the news too alertly, you will only hear that 'Kofi Annan and some NGOs visit Old Tafo in Kumasi'.

I think Ghana journalism has hit another low point when our major television networks firstly waste a good ten minutes on a phone conversation with a party footsoldier discussing why he believes a certain political figure should run for president, only to then spend just 30-45 seconds on the report of NGOs and Kofi Annan in Kumasi with the camera filming, and missing to acknowledge or even better, interview these world known figures (who knows which other renowned persons may have been there but not in camera view?).

They were in Kumasi as part of the UN Foundation Board of Directors to raise awareness about the immunization against measles, a national programme that will take place between the 3 and 6th of November. I just hope that message about the measles vaccine was clear and got to the general public. After I realised their blunder, I kind of zoned out...and started blogging!

Immigrants shot in Malmö, Sweden

I read something to day which really depressed me. A young man of foreign descent has been shot in Malmö and it seems this is one of many shootings targeting foreigners in Malmö. This evening two women have been shot (Swedish) through a window to an apartment. This makes the police' advice that foreigners ought to avoid going out after dark completely useless, clearly even in their (our?) own homes they'll be targeted.

This is bringing forth memories of Lasermannen, the man who in the early Nineties targeted, shot and murdered immigrants around Sweden. It is also completely in line with the recent elections and the entry into Parliament by the nationalistic party, the Sweden Democrats. It is typical that the election result would boost some racist's confidence in that he/she can do anything to foreigners in Sweden.

I hate the idea of these innocent persons being targeted for nothing other than their features and ethnic background. Unfortunately, I have no reason to have faith in the Swedish police service, they've disappointed the country on far too many occasions. As foreigners are being cautioned to consider where they go and at what hours, I can't help but agree with Alexandra Pascalidou (Swedish), surely the Police' actions and advice would have been very different if the offenders had been a moslem 'terrorist' group targeting Swedes?

Here's hoping there's some positive news tomorrow. Goodnight.

Life is a soap opera!

This afternoon I've been tuning in and out of CNN to follow the rescue of the Chilean miners. As we are discussing the impressive planning and organisation that Chile has shown the word, suddenly a Facebook friend of mine reveals a side drama that is going on behind the scenes: Apparently the 21st miner, Yonni Barrios Rojas, has both a wife and a mistress who only learnt of each other's existence when both applied for compensation in his name.

Both wife and mistress were expected to be at the mine to meet him, but only one of them turned up. The news networks have been speculating whether it is the wife or the mistress who was there, I followed it through my Facebook friend who said:

"Conflicting news on the identity of the woman who greeted Barrios at the surface. Chilean TV say wife. CNN go with mistress. BBC reckon wife."

According to this website, the wife (of 28 years!) decided not to show up, so he will be met by his mistress.

Never again will I think that the storylines in telenovelas are exaggerated!

Introduction to potty training.

I usually let Em run around without a nappy for a bit every day to air her little botty, it just feels a bit cruel that this little person should have to wear a nappy 24 hours a day. Also, I read somewhere that children who go diaperless are pottytrained faster. This evening, she was running around, no nappy in sight, being a little busybody, when my mum - who had been taking care of her all day whilst Virgo and I were in business meetings - said "She still hasn't pooed today". We continued doing what we were doing, watching TV, on the internet, eating dinner when suddenly I catch something happening. Almost seeing it in slowmotion, I watched in horror as a solid, soft, brown mass fell between Em's legs on to the marble tiles.

"Poo, poo, poo!", I heard mysef yelling as the next few minutes turned into what looked like a well choreographed farce. I threw myself over the newly bought toilet roll, ripping of the plastic as fast as I could, as my mum tried to identify any other defacated areas (there were four in total) and Virgo simultaneously picked Em up, took her to the bathroom and washed her down.

All this took place in a matter of about 90 seconds after which we all got back to normal as if nothing ever happened. Well, it's good to know what to expect in the next few months when potty training begins!

Spare me a drop, please!

Yesterday morning around 6 a.m. my mum luckily caught the radio news where it was reported that the whole of Tema (stretching all the way from Sakumono/Lashibi to Ningo/Prampram) would be without water for 48 hours due to a fault at Kpone. Immediately we gathered all bowls and buckets and fetched as much water as possible before the taps dried up. Somehow, that day we managed our loss of flowing water smoothly.

Today, however, I am fed up. Not only has the last week been so hot that one could use a good 3 power showers a day to survive, I'm sick and tired of having to think through every step of ordinary life. Need to brush my teeth? Ok, the sachet water is somewhere in the kitchen. Want to flush the toilet? Oops, no water left? Guess I'll have to use Em's old bath water to do that.

This evening, because we're all too exhausted (and sweaty) to think of how we'll cook and clean, we've decided against a proper dinner. My mum's got some snacks out, Virgo's munching on Digestives and apple juice and I'm about to have some crackerbread (knackebrod) and treat myself to a Nescafe cappuccino. After that I'll have to open up a good 15 sachets of water into a bucket to have my evening bath. I hate this!

If the water's not flowing by tomorrow, I will need to sue someone. Who's with me?

Sushi lunch in Accra

There's been a rumour going round town (well, my circle of friends) all year. With no real facts to support it, it was beginning to sound like an urban myth. Is there really a place in Osu that serves sushi at lunchtime? If so where? It got to a point where none of us could figure out who actually said it first, where we could find out more and whether there really was any truth to the rumour.

The reason for our desperation? Ever since Noble House stopped serving sushi, as far as I know, the only sushi restaurant in central Accra (not to be confused with Accra Central which incudes Makola and its surrounding areas) is Monsoon. Its sushi restaurant opens at 7pm leaving those of us who can't be in Osu at that time, with no where at all to find sushi.

Anyways, about two weeks ago, Dee told me that she had heard that the lunch sushi joint was above Tantra, and since I'd been sushi starved for months, it only took a few days before I was there, having sushi with La Baselette, before she left Ghana once again.

The restaurant is called 3121, or something similar, for some reason the name has escaped me. It is above Tantra (the eurotechno nightclub), down the side road between Penta Hotel and Barclays on Oxford street. There's a Chinese restaurant in the same yard...but its name also vanished from my memory.

The verdict?
The food was good, tasty, but the rice wasn't as well prepared as Monsoon's. Everything was about 1 or 2 cedis more expensive than Monsoon, but there seemed to be more options available.

The interior was neat although the decor seemed heavily inspired by Memoirs of a Geisha (including actual promotional pictures from the movie), which was a bit weird.

Now, I think I've told you all you need to know, go taste it for yourselves and bon appetit!

By the way, for you other foodians out there, there seems to be a new website coming out that will be of interest to us, Eat out Ghana.

Sitting at the centre of the world

So much to write about but I am oh so tired, so for now I will just mention my quick stop to the centre of the world. After a week that wasn't half bad, with enough time to relax, reflect, exercise and clean, this Saturday made a lovely weekend day. Lunch at the Poetress',scrumptious as always, consisting of jollof with squid, deliciously sauteed mushrooms and quickfried spinach with sundried tomatoes. From there Em and I met up with Virgo and roamed around town for a bit, then headed back to Tema with a necessary takeaway pack of wakye from Katawodieso (see how easily I can describe my whole life with food?!).

(Picture of Ave Maria borrowed from mokocharlie.com)
Then we spontaneously decided to head to Ave Maria (formerly Tema Beach Club, I think). Somehow it was so rejuvenating and energy boosting to look out at the sea and be able to tell Em, "look, we're at the centre of the world!".

After that short trip of about thirty minutes, we headed home and ate our wakye. After putting Em to bed, I sat down to work on an agreement that I ought to have worked on much earlier in the week and couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for myself for working on a Saturday evening when I was so tired. And still, my little visit to Ave Maria reminded me that the world really is my oyster, anything is possible!

With that thought, I am going to read a chapter or two of Eat, Pray, Love, then sleep!

*Ave Maria is not technically the centre of the world, but Ghana and specifically Tema is the closest land to the centrepoint of the world, and since the Meridian grid is just a few metres from Ave Maria, that's our little reminder anytime we Temaites need to feel special.

Sweden votes 2010 (2)

I was really impressed that when I checked the results at 20:00, i.e. 22:00 Swedish time, approximatey 97-98% of the votes had been counted, just two hours after voting!

As I told Virgo, compared to Ghana, that's really impressive. In Ghana, if I remember correcty, after the last election, 90+% of the votes were in by 5:00 the next morning. Still, even Ghana's votecounting is impressive and must considered advanced compared to Afghanistan. Elections took place on Saturday and we can expect results...in a month's time?!?

Eeeeh.... doesn't that leave ample time for just about anyone to have a whole new set of voter cards printed, distributed and sent to replace the original ones in every corner of the country? I'm just saying...

Sweden votes 2010

The Swedish elections are over and counting almost done. From not showing much interest a few weeks and months ago, I suddenly found myself growing more and more interested this week and have spent most of my free time today getting updates.

I wasn't surprised the Socialdemocrats lost, but for them to achieve the lowest number of votes since 1914 is quite a shock. Interestingly however is that among first-time voters, the Socialdemocratic party was the most popular party. Perhaps, the future is bright?

The other news that left me feeling nauseous is that of the Sweden Democrats getting 5.8% of the vote, and therefore getting seats in Parliament. Still I agree with my friend HF who said (and here I am loosely translating):

SD in Parliament...*vomiting*... perhaps it is good that Sweden is forced to confront its inner racist. How many Iranian doctors don't we have who are forced to drive taxis because they are not taken seriously by the authorities. One can't place blame elsewhere this time - Sweden has a racism problem, and now we'll get the opportunity to deal with it.

It is true that there is a huge problem with racism that is often disregarded, ignored, or brushed off. Now it will be a very real and present issue in Sweden and it will be interesting to see if the number of people who start sentences by saying "I am not a racist, but..." will increase, or rather they'll say "I am a racist and therefore...".

I think I prefer the latter. At least then we know what we're dealing with.

For more on the Swedish elections see Kajsa's blog.

A bloggi-blog world

In the past few (mainly internet free) weeks, I have spent some minutes every night mentally writing blogposts which I know will never be published. Each day I feel a slight guilt for again not posting anything. Isn't it strange? To whom am I feeling guilty: you or me? A bit of both, but mainly to the fact that when I'm doing something I like to do it right, and to me 'doing it right' means writing a few times a week at least. I've considered shutting down the blog at least for a few months til things settle down, but I would miss it too much. I think I'd miss it as much as you'd miss an ex even if you initiated the breakup. And as I go through these thoughts, I am amused by how much emotional space blogging has in my life.

Another example is that one of my favourite Swedish bloggers, Alexandra Pascalidou, a well-known journalist, author and presenter has just stopped blogging. Not only did I feel saddened to read that, I felt genuinely upset on her behalf on the news that she had broken up from her child's father (who had the most adorable temporary blog, in Swedish). Just by reading her words and sharing the experiences of this person so far away, who I have never met, I have managed to in some way become a part of her life (whether she knows it or not).

Anyway, this is a bit of a rambling post, just a quick hello to my IRL and blogger friends to let you know I am still around. Life is a bit challenging at the moment, but the future is looking bright, so hopefully sometime towards the end of the year, we'll have settled and there'll be more time for blogging, blogging, blogging!

Back...for now

Hm I made one little comment in support of Tetekai's complaints about Vodafone and suddenly I was cut off for two weeks. Personal vendetta, anyone? Now I'm back, who knows for how long...

If you see short posts from me with no pictures or links, it means I'm attempting to blog from my phone as I don't think I can handle another blog abstinence. It's been frustrating having so much to say and nowhere to write it. Luckily I know better than to attempt going to an internet cafe with a daughter as headstrong, active and loud as my Em (learnt that the hard way at Vodafone in Cantonments), but hopefully the phone will save me when Vodafone tries to shut me down the next time.

For now I am going to enjoy my delicious light supper of German Rye bread (from Evergreen in Tema) with Mozzarella (Maxmart Tema), some slices of tomato, chopped garlic and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. With that, a 'cocktail' of Cranberry juice and tonic water. Mmmmm!

Happy Friday!

Pakistan needs our help

I feel a bit uneasy when I hear reports of the recent Pakistan floods. Something is missing. At first I couldn’t pinpoint what it was then, as I heard the CNN reporter for the third time mention that Ban Ki-moon calls this the worst disaster he has seen, it hit me: there is no sympathy. It is being reported in the same sensationalist way you’d report a concert with a record number of viewers.

Whilst the reporter sent to China is crying (which cold-hearted Virgo and I both found very unprofessional), the reporter in Pakistan is speaking with an excitement that makes me uncomfortable. It seems I am not the only one who has noticed the unsympathetic reactions to this massive disaster, last night I briefly heard another report that was trying to investigate why we global citizens are not really reacting to these floods. One of the reasons mentioned was that the death toll is reasonably low (if I had stayed, it seemed they were to tell us this isn’t even true). Meanwhile in an article urging us to make donations to Pakistan’s flood victims, the following is stated:

"The U.N. wants to spotlight the enormity of the disaster, which is bigger than the 2004 Asian tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, and this year's Haiti earthquake, yet has attracted far less in donations."

I think you, like me, might be surprised by this statement, especially considering the amount of support, attention, physical and financial donations and empathy that was given during the tsunami and the Haiti earthquake. It is shocking how little is being done to help this time around. From what I hear, 20% of Pakistan is under water. In a cruel twist of fate, the country being flooded has left many in desperate need of clean drinking water (don’t the powers that be have a twisted sense of humour?).

It’s time to push aside all prejudice about Pakistan as a country of terrorists, suicide bombers, or thoughts like ’they’re so used to suffering anyway’, ‘no whites/blacks/Christians are injured’, whatever it is that is blocking the outpouring of sympathy that would usually flow after a natural disaster. If you can, give, possibly to Save the Children here, or if in Sweden, follow these instructions:
"Barn i Pakistan behöver vatten, medicin och skydd nu! Många dör varje dag. Du kan vara med och rädda liv för en liten slant. Smsa BARN till 72950 och ge 200 kr. Sänd gärna vidare! Mvh Rädda Barnen"


And of course, if cash no dey, a little prayer doesn't cost a thing!

Under lock & key

I've been feeling a bit down for the past few days, so down I haven't been able to write. Why? Since Sunday I've been under house arrest. No, this has nothing to do with my political convictions or profession, but rather I made the mistake of leaving my car key on the sofa. Saturday morning, in the corner of my eye, I caught Em playing with it and when I went to take it from her a few minutes later, it was nowhere to be found. We searched as much as we could that morning, but in order to make it to the Homowo celebrations (more on that later), we gave up. Em's car seat was in my car, but luckily, since one of the doors is a bit shifty, I was able to break my way in, unlock the car doors and get her seat out.

After a lovely Saturday that ended too late for key searching, I went to bed and woke up Sunday morning with new energy to look for the key. Every sofa cushion was turned over, I crawled around the floor looking underneath all the furniture, checked any boxes, bags, pots, ANYTHING, that this 17-month old is tall enough to reach into, including her new favourite toy: the toilet brush (nice). Removed all the shoes from the shoe rack and searched through each shoe, thoroughly. Anywhere I'd pass, I'd think 'could the key be here?'.

This routine (i.e. search the sofa, floor, shoes, boxes, etc.) continued on Monday and Tuesday. By Tuesday afternoon I had opened up and refolded all the laundry, checked unused cassette and VHS compartments, emptied all handbags and changing bag, before I finally gave up.

Then I thought, let me check the night stand one last time. On my way there i glanced at the bed and realised there was a tiny gap between the mattress and the bedframe. Need I say more? Of course, that is where I found the key to my teeny, tiny Tata! I swear, I can't remember the last time I felt so jump-up-and-down, screaming-at-the-top-of-my-voice happy!

Suddenly I could feel the joy I should have felt at noon after completing three agreements long before my deadlines. The key-finding energy lasted all the way til that evening, where I pushed away all tired feelings and headed onto the Tema Motorway for la Baselette's cosy birthday celebrations in Accra.

Although this morning I am still on a slight high, somehow I can't stop myself from looking around, for a key I have already found!