Surreal colonialism left overs.

[When you read this blog, imagine me telling this with a shock in my face and voice! Worried, confused and overly emotional/concern about the issue!]

I have already mentioned the monthly Expat meetings organised by accraexpats.com, I went to the 1st meeting about a month ago and now was the time for the 2nd meeting! And gosh, this time it was bigger, more diverse and for me personally also rather fruitful. Nevertheless, some of the conversations I had last night made me wanna run out of the place and scream into the night! I needed some BIG DASH of LOCAL!

I met this elderly British man, who was very cheerful and has this very typical British sense of humor, that I love. He has been here for over 20 years and after having a conversation of him for about 20min, me and my friend Louisa were just rolling eyes and blinking, not being able quite grasp the contradictions he is verbalizing. He spoke all about how expats should keep together and help each other, how one should not be close friends with Ghanaians and most of the time one will not find a close friend in Ghana, as it is all about money at the end of the  night. Expatriates are not like that. How Ghanaians are not helpful, unless you pay them... [WTF?!!!!!!! WHERE HAVE U LIVED, DUDE!?] At the same time, he spoke about how he loves Ghana and he would not be here unless it wasn't so great, relaxed and safe! He spoke about how welcoming and peaceful Ghanaians are, allowing whites to experience their country and culture.

Latter that night I walked up to two couples, who have been hanging together the whole night and not really interacting with anyone else. And had yet another of my BRITISH moments [my dear British friends, have nothing against you, but some of my UK experiences had developed a certain 'love' against the typical-city-Brit].  The two men in the group both work for some big construction company and their wife and gf are stay at home  women [the one couple was in early 20ties and the other one in early 50ties]. When asked what do they do, they responded that they do keep themselves buys by cooking lunch and playing card games on Friday, going to aerobics on Wednesday and luckily they have satellite at home they can watch. It didnt sound like they engage much into the local life, nor that they seek out to meet new people even at the expat party. And it would be ok for someone who is older and perhaps isnt as open minded, but one would think that the kids from 80ties and 90ties are bit more open minded and adventurous, well no,  they are not!

And yes, you can cross the continents and find home in another country and still your old lifestyle like back at home... but the question is - why dont you just stay home?!  I still do not get it! I dont!?

Why would you make some other country your home and still pity the local people, judge them and find it wrong to blend with them. In fact, you should be bending down in front of them for allowing you to be in their country, to be accepted, to see their culture and life. And if you find it too scary, then, perhaps, you should just stay home and watch discovery channel.

I am not worried that I will ever turn in one of them, in fact I have the perfect balance of local life, local friends and local family, along with that of my own back ground, ability to blend with everyone and at all occasions. Thou a 25 year old Ghanaian that speaks English and is proud of his heritage is more likely to become my friend, that a 25 year old expat that is too proud of his own heritage that is afraid to learn of a new culture!

Different happy.

Despite the fact who you are and what you have, we all our own wishes for ourselves and our loved ones. Our parents want the best for us, they want us to be happy and in harmony, they no do not want us to suffer. Our loved ones are the same - they want us happy, loved and loving. Our friends want us to be happy. And at the end of the night... what ever one human is doing, it is his attempt to be happy. It is natural for a human being to want to be happy.

Thou we all face some clashes, we all fight, we all get disappointed, we all miss and long for more. Cause each of us have a different understanding of the terminology - HAPPY. Our parents 'happy' is different from that of our own 'happy', our kids will have a different 'happy'.

I am blessed, cause I am happy. Every day and most of the day. Happy = blessed, loved, cared for, spoiled with options, choices and chances. I AM HAPPY - EVERY DAY, MOST OF THE DAY!

And do not get me wrong - I still get disappointed, I still am hurt at times, I still do not always get what I want and I still cry at times, but it is part of my 'happy'. It is all part of it! My 'happy' has the whole rainbow of emotions.

I believe in myself and my destiny - everything happens for a reason!

I love.

Sunday feeling in Ghana.

This Sunday morning I woke up in a nice beach side hotel and experienced breakfast in bed and a proper Sunday sleep in [checking out exactly at noon :) ]. And that is what I call Sunday morning. Who said that in Ghana and Africa life for me is harsh - I am enjoying it more than I used to do in Latvia or anywhere else!
Despite the fact that the guy at the reception was total idiot and did not know how to make a bill, I enjoyed my stay at the HOLIDAY IN Beach Resort in Kakrobite this weekend.

My noon was filled with more lazy activities, like having a glass of fresh pineapple juice in the beach bar, a swim in the ocean, some sun and delicious lunch [my fav - bean stew with fried plantain] at the Big Milly's place [a very known back-packers's place in Ghana]. It was short, but it was slow and enjoyable couple of hours before I was driven home.

The drive itself took some 45mins, but the surreal feeling from it still hasnt left me. The radio played 80ties and 90ties slow hits, some jazz and country music, my window was open and hair still salty from the swim in the ocean. Over the small village huts, I could see the ocean just 200 yards from us and the road that takes us home. There were fishermen coming out of the sea and looking at the catch, there were little children playing on the road side, a woman with shinny Chinese umbrella used to cover her from the sun. There were birds and green grass along the road, palms on he beach... and once seen in the real life, seeing the things I left out in this description, one would most likely have it hard to believe that these place are the same. Yet it is what you see amongst the other things. I see the beauty of Ghana, the beauty of my life and love I have!

Already miss the beach...

The dress.

In couple of days I am invited to attend a traditional ceremony here and despite the fact that I knew this almost 3 weeks ago, there are some issues with my outfit.

a. I do not have an appropriate outfit in my closet with me;
b. I do not know what is appropriate for such ceremony;
c. I can not find anything in the shops to buy;

So I thought that it would be a great reason to finally make something at one of the local talyors. Task Nr1 - choosing a material, that is nice and will look good on me. This particular bit kept me busy for about an hour on my weekend in Kumasi two weeks ago. Task Nr2 - is to find a tailor that actually cares about how you look in the final outfit. So my landlady and house-mate directed me to the one behind the wall of our yard! Right next door, good quality and result, apparently!

And after I have good through all these troubles...Mr B politely points out that material I got would not look all that great on me, wouldn't bring my natural beauty to attention. I laugh and say that it is too late for any changes - dress is about to be ready. He insists on buying a nice dress. After a day of shopping in the capital, we give up and after few drinks in a local bar, the night results with him calling some smart-ass designer and asking for a HUGE favor - to make me a dress in 48h [this all happens about 4 days before the ceremony]. I still try to argue with him, but pointless. I am accepting the grand gesture and keep sipping my drink.

The next day, some good sounding guys gives me a call to find out where I am and where he could take my measurements....it turns into him chasing after me through the city, till he finally spots me down at an open air concert at about 7pm. I excuse myself from my table and go and see the guy that does the magic! He looks at me, takes some measurement and pulls out a beautiful green-golden fabric and mumbles something about a simple, beautiful dress....

On day three, I am woken up from my nap with a call, asking where should he meet me so that I can try the dress on! [Note - between taking the measurements and the call it has been one night and a morning, so about 16h] So few hours I get another call with request to open my gate. Mr B and the tailor are here with ready made dress!!!

The result is good! I would have gone for something wilder, but also classic is great! heheh And funny enough, my other dress was ready too... they both saw it and Mr B admitted that he was wrong and I look astonishing! :) As a result - I have two BEAUTIFUL dresses and am off to get me some new shoes tomorrow morning!


Viva la vida in Ghana!

My first break down in Ghana.

Yesterday was my first breakdown, my first realy-sheck! It has been a month since I am away from Latvia, magically this time I feel like refering to it as home. I was feeling all super weird the whole day and didnt sleep well the night before. 24h of self-pitty and weeping. And it is normal, it is not the first time and I know that such days happen and some more will come.

In such days, I remove myself from the active social life, dive in the crowd and do some retail theraphy. Spoil myself with food and, perhaps, a movie.  So yesterday, I left home without really knowing where I am going. Went to the touristy centre of Accra, browsed some shops and bought couple of things, like a recycled material purse and trousers for myself. As for food, I spent fortune and got myself some Gauda cheese and pickled limes [indian food] along with marshmellos [that were my breakfast mates on Wednesday, along with a big mug of coffee and my first tropical rain storm behind the window].

And somewhere between feeling confused, alone, displaced, I hopped in a tro-tro and after 45 minutes spent in traffic, I found myself in front of the Accra Mall – also known as the Expat meeting place, the Western shopping place, night club and cinema. This is also the place, where you would find the supermarket ‘SHOPRITE’ that impressed me on my 2^nd weekend in town. 

Ignoring the fact that I was 15min late, I still gave it a go and went to see a movie [things start late in Ghana], I finally saw ‘EAT.PRAY.LOVE.’ and loved it. Despite the fact that entire movie I would compare and try to recognise bits and pieces from the book, trying to find differences, I loved the scenes, the nature, the places... all of it! And while I felt like my Sunday lunch in Plienciems before going away was similar to her Thanks giving dinner in Italy, and London being my India [retail and art therephy being my meditation], I definatelly think that Ghana is my Bali. I am here after months of wanting to be here. I came with an empty mind, ready for universe to rush in and fill all the empty space in my mind. I am taking the adventure and what ever comes my way.

Yes, sometimes it is overwhelming and sometimes it will be hard, but when after days of disliking this place and then getting an instant click that this could be my new home, you have to follow your heart and give it a go. My dog days are over...I am here to live!

Thank you, Ghana, for welcoming me the way you have! 

Beauty treatments/standarts in Ghana.

This week, like very 3rd week in my life for the past many years, I needed to do my waxing appointment! It took a while to figure out weather something like that is done here in Ghana and where! After some research, chatting to my girl friends here and some more expatriates, I went to the local sport center that also has a beauty treatment room and got it all over done with! I will not get into the details about the actually appointment, but will discuss the concept of beauty in Ghana.

Apparently, people do not tend to wax in Ghana. When I told Mr B that I am going for my waxing appointment and cant quite meet him yet, he cracked up in laughter and asked if I had ever seen a Ghanaian girl waxed! To which I responded - I am white, so that is why I do it!

And after speaking to the lady at the salon, she also said that locals do their manicures and pedicures quite often [very true - u see ladies doing manicures and pedicures on every corner in this town, just like braiding the hair], but not waxing!

The next beauty treatment I got to experience was hair cutting! Not for me thou! Local guys, when their hair reaches the length of about 3mm, feel itchy and feel like getting a hair cut! So this morning Mr B went it to do his hair and I got to witness that!

First of all - on the price list, the men's cut is 3Cds, but for whites it is 6Cds. Latter I was explained, that whites have more hair! hehehe Secondly - the whole thing was hilarious! Basically he was shaved. TOTALLY SHAVED and then the man put some talk on his scalp and hair spray, so that it shines! HAIR SPRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!  I cracked out in laughter at the salon and everyone was telling me that it is not my kind of hair spray, but the whole idea of spraying a bold head.. just funny!

Oh, and if we speak about the beauty standards - then I am beautiful here! VERRRRRRRRY BEAUTIFUL. My skin, hair and body lines - this is what people here consider beautiful! So every day I walk down the street and feel beautiful! Nevertheless, honestly speaking, it is very rarely that I feel so in Latvia, surrounded by the amount of gorgeous women! And to me - loads of the black girls here, could be statues and models - they are gorgeous!

UPSIDE DOWN world and beauty standards.

Less focus on Ghana, more on me: weekend way in Kumasi

Sorry for being gone from the space for a such a long time, simply between place under the sun, my way around and getting used to the local time planning, there is very little space left to spend in front of the PC and blogging about things! Nevertheless, there are so many moments that I would love to tell you all about - just to share some bit of the idea how randomly cool Ghana can be.

I am really falling in LOVE with Ghana on hourly base.

So this past weekend I had the chance to go away for 3 days to Kumasi, a city about 4h north of the capital. The capital of Ashanti tribe in Ghana, where their most respected king lives and also it is the capital of the biggest Ghanaian Kingdom [Note to myself : read more about the Ghana history!]

The drive to Kumasi is very good in comparison with some other roads, that I what I have been told. Nevertheless, after a long week and being stuck in the traffic for couple of hours on the way out of Accra and then finding myself in a car with an angry driver speeding a bit on a dirt roads with holes as deep as up to my knees... it is a situation that requires some prying and booze! hehehe Furthermore, it developed into a night car racing, where the road got very good [really...the past 200km were WAY BETTER done than most roads in Latvia] my driver at some points extended the speed to 150km/h! At that point I had no other chance than trust! And I really do, since the driver has kids and men with more responsibilities drive more carefully, it has been proved with a research!

So anyhow, we got to the hotel around 4am and I didn't have much time/chance to look around the place, yet found lovely continental breakfast in the morning [still no proper coffee, just instant. PLS send me some Merrild coffee!!!] and POOL! And the room had TV and hot shower!!! All you can possibly wish for after 3 weeks squatting at peoples places in various locations! 3 nights of pure peace!

My days weren't particularly very busy - went to see the match between Ghana and Sudan, yet never managed to get into the stadium due to the crowds that were around it! So we gave up 30min after trying and just watched the match from a bar. And we didnt loose much, as the match was super boring, with a result 0:0. I also wondered around the market and bought material for my dress that is yet to be sown this week. [Beg for pictures after October 24th!!!] Oh, and I tried fufu - the typical Asanti food made out of yam and butter, and then placed in some unknown liquid that has various meats in it. Including the bush meat that I tried, but added to my list of things I DO NOT LIKE. :)


Couple of epissodes from Kumasi weekend:

1. Saturday morning at 11am, Ediite in her purple bikini swimming in the pool and about 6 local, young men just sitting around the pool and watching me swim like if I was on a stage. I managed to last that for about 10 mins before I could not take the attention any more and went to back to my room.


2. Saturday afternoon I am supposed to meet a guy whoes name is PRINCE. We agree on a spot and as I am there on time and have no idea how he looks like, I stay there and smile in the sun. So a man walks up to me  [just like it often happens in Ghana] and I ask - ''Are you Prince?!'' He smiles and answers 'I could be!'. This is where I understand that it is not the Prince I am looking for... My Prince was smart and called me as he approached me just to make sure I am me and show he is he!

ps. Speaking about princes... It seems that my might not be from the fairy tale - blond, blue - eyed, riding white horse... matter in fact, it looks that everything, including the horse, is black in my tale! :) hehe And I am loving it - not meeting the standards and making my own!

3. One noon we went to have fufu in some very local place, where EVERYONE eats with hands and there are no whites in the crowd. So I am served my food and for about 10mins I just stare at the brown liquid and other people around my table. I just need to observe a bit and learn how each food is consumed... after about 10min of playing around the meat in my plate and not really getting anywhere with it, I gave it to the boys at my table and moved on with the soft bit and strange looking liquid where I would dip my fufu in. At some point the lady from the place did bring me a spoon, but that would not have helped me with the meat issue. Plus I didn't want to stand out too much... so I continued with my local way of eating - RIGHT HAND! :)

ps. After such heavy foods - BLACK BALSAM is your best friend, or in this region - JEGERMAISTER will do the job! Got one small bottle at the gas station! :D

4. Driving back with a happy driver, good music and day time scenery, seeing the green all over the place, crossing the mountains and cracking up the driver by telling things like - pineapple grows in threes! [Pls help me out - for those not having been in the equatorial countries, how many of you know how does a pineapple plant look like?! Without googling it!? ]


I AM HAPPY! VERY, VERY BLESSED!

Mystery of my garbage.

Ghana, which is many ways is one of the most developed countries in Africa and has loads to offer and we can learn from it a lot, is also in a region that is less developed in terms of community development and social care. For example, issues like equal access to education and medical services. Similar like it is in Latvia, the medical and educational institutions are not equally spread though the country to be equally accessible for everyone in the population.

This country of 20 million people consist of 10 regions, where the Southern Regions are much  more populated and, therefore, also much more advance. History this factor is explained with the fact that the south has the access to the very rich ocean, which provides the food for people.

Ghana being less developed, it also have some serious issues when it comes to garbage and littering as such. Every road side is used as urinal and hardly ever one can find a garbage can on the street side. [And it has nothing to do with bombing like it is in UK and public spaces.] So instead people drop the litter on the ground, just like that. And when that is combined with the amount of plastic used for things, heat and dust coming from the dirt roads... it can be overwhelming. Dirty.

Typical side street in Accra [also with the goats]

This was my impression of Ghana, as I had only seen the South Coast cities, including the 2 million Accra. Big was my surprise this past weekend, when I found myself in Kumasi - a city 4h from Accra inland. It was cleaner than Accra, I even saw multiple signs saying- KEEP KUMASI CLEAN. As well as I was explained that the local Cheap aka King makes every month's 3rd Saturday the clean up day and everyone cleans up the area. I find that fascinating - both for any country and especially for Africa. Look for yourself:

As for the general every day waste at home - I asked my land lady where does it go, she just pointed at the basket by the door and told me to put the garbage there and then the house-boy [a male that lives in our garage and is only seen after dark and very early in the morning, cause his day-time work is somewhere else...and in exchange for the boarding he tidies around the house and the house too.] will take care of it! Mystery of my garbage should be solved some time soon! hehehe

Shop in style in Ghana.

There are various ways to shop in Ghana. One was already described in my previous post - shopping in a Western-style supermarket in the Mall. The other two options will be discussed in this blog entry.

My favorite - MARKET SHOPPING.

There are various markets in the town, the one near by my home is the Kaneshi Market that consists of a 3 story   building and houses everything from raw meat, fish, grain, spices, vegetables and fruit on the first floor, toiletries, plates, electrical devices, can foods etc.  on the 2nd floor and clothing on the 3rd floor. As you wonder through the many stalls there, very rarely will you find that you are looking for straight away. Just ask! The golden rule of ASKING QUESTIONS and you will very soon find the needle in the straw pale.

Past weekend I was looking for a cloth/material in Kumasi market [see a video] which is the biggest market in West Africa - luckily I had a guide with me, who got me to the needed area in no time, so my visit was short and aim was completed in less than an hour [You have no idea how hard it is to choose a material for a dress!!!!]

The 3rd way of shopping, and this one is most unique for me, is the street shopping! As a pedestrian you will pass by many street sellers and ladies carrying goods on their heads. For examples, juice or shoes, but nothing is limited. Depending on the area you are in and the target auditorium, one can find shirts, shoes and ties being sold by the street vendors. They will also move around between the cars in the traffic jams, so you do not even need to leave your car and can combine the shopping with being stuck in traffic! [Note to myself: If I ever become a head of a city in Latvia, this should be implemented in the busy Riga streets in the traffic hours!]

Surreal Ghana moments.

One morning, two mornings, three mornings....many mornings AND I am still smiling and happily enjoying Ghana! The joy, when I see blue sky and sun outside my window and in my room, as soon as I open my eyes, gives me power for the hours to come that day!

And then the smiles and positive attention I get from the locals... charges me up! And the genuine love that my new friends show for me, is a killer. I already feel like at home and it has only been about 10 days since I am here. CRAZY, nah!?

Since my house still doesn't have net and I am lazy to go to the office most days, many things stay untold. I will try to catch up and tell you some of the past days' episodes.

Episode 1: Ediite and the shopping mall

On Sunday my dear friend B took me to the local Mall, as my other friend Akua has told that things in the Shoprite are cheaper and you tend to find everything there! No high expectations, but in my mind I was thinking something along the lines of '1 Pound shop'. HUGE was my surprised when we entered BIG, LIT UP supermarket that had fruit stalls, milk products, meats... frozen goods... I lost it! heheh I was so shocked that I partly lost my speech and just started running between the aisles. I filled up the basket even before I got to look at my list.... heheh Luckily in these cases SEINE men-friends are handy and can speak some sense into me. heheh Rarely, but this time B won! I got back to list and got real with what I want and can afford with the cash I had on me. BUT I will go back! :)


Episode 2 : Exploring city with 'OBRUNIS'.

On Tuesday morning I met Jonathan and Louisa, a British couple that I occasionally stumble upon every other night, they are film makers and sort of in my position - also looking for a job and way to stay in Ghana for longer. So we arranged to meet at British Council to read some UK papers, since there no longer is a library at least a paper for the last weekend to go through. One thing lead to another - we got invitations to attend the British Alumni dinner this Friday! :) Lets see how that goes!

The same day - we came across the National Theater. Both me and Louisa hiked up the stairs in desperate interest to find teh box office and events listing, when all we found was an angry guard who wanted to charge us 1cd for seeing the theater, and pointed at an A4 page glued on the wall that had some events listed and labeled as 22/10 - drama - auditorium! hehehe

Children's Park in Accra

Our next excitement was a park. Children's park - as the sign said. We were so happy to have finally found a park in the city! Excited of the semi green grass,  wondering why the place is empty. Soon to find out by some man that we should not be there and it is closed all days except on Saturdays. And despite the fact that it is a gov. owned public park, it is still not for public. Go and wonder!?

Finally we discovered a research library just to find out that the latest book is from 1995.... :) Go research in Ghana! :)

Somewhere a bad day...

There is no link between the 'bad day' and Ghana apart from the fact that I am in Ghana, once I found out about the bad news that are due to find my future track a bit.

Just today I found out that initial project which was also a reason and excuse why I moved here, was not approved. Thus means that I shall find a new excuse to extend my stay here and make it worth while.

And even if these were supposed to be bad news, I pitted myself for 2 hours and then decided to move on. After all - if one door closes, another opens!!!! And here in Ghana, it seems that not only one will open, but many more!

'Chin up!' as my dad tends to say!

Paradise only 40min away from my home.

It has been a few days without and update and I think 27mins that are left for me to use the net might not be enough. So many things have happened in the past 3 days...somebody should start to write a book about the whole thing.

But everything shall be explained in Ghanaian style chaotic order.  :)


After a hestic week, trying to feed my way around this 2 mil big city [after all this one city equals the amount of people living in my entire country, so there is a lot to cover in just few days], trying to find where things are, how to get there and what are the prices for things, I escaped to Krokrobite beach for the weekend in search of peace and ocean breeze.

After struggling for about 45mintues to find the right tro tro, I sat down to munch on my take away lunch and wait for the van to get full so that we can set off for the village. It took some 40mins to get there and I was proud that I recognized the path how to get there and was surprised of how much information our brain actually notices and stores, and then used uses it in the right moment. Of-course my idea of peace and quite was far from what I experienced on the beach, since it was full with people living their lives there, approaching 'obrunis' and even trying to sell things. I was polite the 1st seller, but told off the other two and finally moved up in the porch with the ocean view and some sofas... It is my new paradise, where nobody bothers you. It is just me, breeze, ocean in front of me, book and which ever drink I have bough at the bar. I spent most of my weekend up in the there and finished yet another book [ my 2nd in the last 8 days].

Since I am not all that posh, I stayed at the dorm, which turned out to be a  mat with mosquito net over it in a...room, well wouldn't call it that way, another porch, perhaps, under the palm trees. Lovely. All I could wish for and there is nothing better than waking up at 6am and seeing the blue sky through the palm leaves over you and realizing - YEAH, I am living this. I am in Ghana!!!


There were few British volunteers and an Ozzie girl staying in the dorm too, so very soon we made friends and I had someone to have lunch with. One of the boys from the crowd, 22 y.o. Samuel, was a copy of my Ozzy ex in youth...The laughter - wrinkles around his eyes, thick eye brows and the way he moved his lips... I couldnt take eyes off from him. Just was so strange to return in the past...