Twofer Tuesday

Today you get a twofer since I am able to take a minute and post what I wrote yesterday and didn't get to post, and a little snippet about today.

June 28

Started the day by finishing packing and heading out to the airport. I was told that the helicopter crew would only permit 15 kilos per person. I had wno idea how much or how little that was, but Google converted it for me and said 33 pounds. Since I was bringing computer equipment with me as well, I had to pack pretty light. At the airport the scale read 13 kilos, so I did pretty well!

We took a puddle jumper to Takoradi and when we landed no one was there to meet me. Fortunately I have a Ghana phone and had the contact number programmed. A phone call and ten minutes later I was on my way to the West African Rescue Association for a physical. They drew blood, did an EKG, tested my vision and hearing, and had me blow in a tube. I did pretty well on everything but the breathing tube. You inhale really deeply and blow as hard and as long as you can. But it's been a good 20 years since I played an insteument and I don't have the lungs I used to. Guess I need to stat jogging or something. Anyway I passed and we went to lunch at a place called Captain Hook's. It's a cute restaurant with a patio. We ate outside on the patio but I liked the inside better. It felt like you were inside Captain Hook's ship! Pictures will follow once I have some bandwith to work with!

After lunch we went back to the airport to take a helicopter to the Kobayashi Maru. In the waiting area we watched the Netherlands play Slovakia. Even though we were not leaving Ghana waters and therefore this was a domestic flight, they still insisted on checking our passports. Twice. They were taking forever to leave so I stretched across 3 seats and napped until they were ready for us to go.

Putting on the life vest and watching the helicopter safety video was pretty sobering, but the flight was smooth. The helicopter started by raising straight up a few feet, then went up and forward like an airplane. We flew up above the cloud layer most of the way, and they were using a GPS to direct them to the target. Once we descended I could see the outline of the Kobiash Maru, my new home for the next several days. For all its remoteness, it's a huge place.

Upon arrival we went through another orientation, then we were given room assignments. I do have a roommate, but only one, and I am told room assignments are changing daily since there are so many people on board. This is truly an international operation, with people from all over. Primarily, though, representation seems to be the US, Australia, the Philippines, and India. Based on the location and the crew I no longer feel like I'm in Africa at all.

June 29

Today I got a network orientation from the main guy and worked on a virus they are dealing with. I'll spare you the details since this isn't a technology blog. My classmate from law school is here as well to work on some things. It's so weird seeing him here. I found out today most people on board work 28 days on and 28 days off. The IT guy I'm working with has been here over 50 days! Still don't know for sure how long I'll be here, but I'm not minding it so far. They have a gym (sort of) and an entertainment room with plasma tvs. My only complaint is the food isn't great. I know I'm a picky eater but allow me to rant for a moment: They are serving rice with every meal--including breakfast! Someone said it's because the chef is Filipino. I don't know anything about that. Speaing of breakfast, they had something this morning that looked like barbacoa but smelled like fish... I didn't eat that. All coffee in the galley is instant. They didn't have orange juice; they had only warm mango juice. There is one fridge for over 100 guys and the drinks are never stocked long enough to get cold. Oh well. Between that and the stairs I am walking up and down I may get in decent shape before I leave!

Brief Update

I just wanted to let everyone know I am alive and well an the Kobiashi Maru. It's a bigger operation than I had envisioned and I will post more later. Obviously there is limited Internet here after all, but it's only for a privileged few and I am assuming it's an expensive link. Most people don't even know it's there and the Internet For the Masses is still weeks away, so my access will be our little secret... I am currently on a bug hunt trying to kill some viruses that won't go away.

The helicopter ride over was a trip. I was right behind the pilots and could see them flying by GPS! I have one roommate. Food is ok. Lots of stairs. Bye for now!

Street pics

I had a few minutes to upload some pictures while I wait for my ride to the airport. Most of these were taken randomly while driving around yesterday looking for an extension cord. (No Home Depos here!) Hopefully I will have a chance to explore the city when I get back from this side trip. Enjoy!

Going on hiatus, maybe!

Spent the day putting servers together for the main office. I have to pack tonight to head out to Kobyashi Maru. I am told I will be there at least a week. Since they don't have Internet yet, I probably won't be able to send updates; we'll see whether I can work out an alternative! If not I will record some things and save them till I get back. Wish me luck! :)

US vs Ghana!

The FIFA match between the US and Ghana starts in 15 minutes! Most of the guys we work with are from Australia or New Zeeland and couldn't care less who wins. But we are going to (discreetly) root for the US! Everywhere you see people in Ghana sports jerseys or wearing scarves supporting the home team, the Black Stars, and they are selling vuvuzelas at the malls. Game on!

Side Trip

I found out yesterday I am needed for about a week at a remote location where I may not have Internet access. I can't explain further since I am reluctant to discuss details of my work here, but imagine a remote compound and you have the idea. There should be a primitive email system in place that I can use to keep communications up. I'll code name the project Kobyashi Maru, which is a sort of a joke if you are among the initiated.

I leave Monday morning!

Few more pics

Updated with a couple more pictures! Internet here is very slow so it's hard to post a lot of pictures. We haven't really had a chance to do any sight-seeing yet anyway. I know these are kinda lame but here are a few from the hotel:

My room:


View of the airport from my room:


The patio bar where we watched the game:


A statue in the lobby:


Random street peddler:

Slow News Day 2

Today we got a partial shipment of the equipment we will be setting up. It came on two big trucks and there are six ro seven crates that are each small car sized. Tomorrow we will be inventorying it all. Otherwise no news of interest...

For your entertainment...

The Obrunis! Below is a sample of their show from a few days ago. Just click and enjoy. No, this is not karaoke...

Slow News Day

Today was low-key... I worked all day and resolved a couple of issues. One oddity was that a number of machines were ignoring external hard drives. You could plug the drives in and they would power up but then the computer didn't recognize or mount them. Apparently Microsoft has a patch that breaks them. The fix is to replace the two usbstor files under C:\WINDOWS\INF with copies from a machine that isn't broken. I'd upload one for people who need it but Blogger doesn't make file sharing so easy.

My African Moment today was watching the Ghana vs Germany match in the patio bar by the pool. The waitresses were all wearing Black Stars jerseys (the uniform of the Ghana team in the colors of the flag with a black stars in the center). Some locals came to watch the game. Germany won but the Ghanians who were watching the game seemed to take it in stride.

Everyone here speaks English, though sometimes the accent is thick. But some people here and there try to teach us phrases in Twi. We're trying but it isn't sticking. If they say something like Wo ho te sen, which is "How are you?" You reply with something like Me ho yeh, medasi which is "I'm fine, thank you" or you can run it together and say "ey-yeh" which is more or less "I'm fine." I didn't learn it; I had to look it up!

Roadside Shopping

On the way to the office there is a two-lane road that is bumper to bumper traffic in both directions, all day. Like lines of ants marching in formation, cars and trucks and vans of all levels of repair creep along towards their destinations. Hawkers are all around, selling anything from bags of onions or apples to football jerseys to cold drinks. They try to make eye contact and wave their wares at you. Sometimes they carry trays of goods balanced on their heads. Today somone in my group rolled down his window and yelled out to a guy selling African style masks, "How much?" "10 cedis each." My companion whipped out 20 cedis and bought two. When everyone saw there was a car dispensing money, they were on us like files. Four more hawkers were right behind the mask vendor, two kids started cleaning our windshield, and a guy was at my window calling "Obruni! Obruni!" I wish I'd video recorded it. We may have to do that again so I can. I need to learn how to say "back off" in Twi...

By the Light of the Blackberry

Not much to tell you about today since we were so busy. We got up early to be ready for pickup at 7:00 AM. We were headed over to the office where the company currently has people working. The client was experiencing some issues with their desktops they wanted us to look at. When we arrived, there was no power to the building! After the jokes about “Hey well there’s your problem” we hung around waiting for the power to come back on. This took maybe a half hour, and helps demonstrate the kind of infrastructure issues that can cause a project like this to take a long time. I knocked out several items on the list but the day faded into evening and then the lights went out again. Then they came back on, but the breaker to our part of the building—wherever it is—needed to be flipped, so our lights stayed off. The server cabinet had power, but most of the other outlets didn’t. The only light came from our laptop monitors. By this time of course it was totally dark outside, and all the building maintenance people were gone. No one knew where the breaker box was. We could continue working but needed to move one appliance to a hot strip. Using light from mobile phones we traced the power cord back to the outlet and moved it. The appliance came on and we went back to work in the dark. About the time we finished the lights came back on.

I had the chance today to try the infamous Ghanian shito—a spice that tastes of chili powder. You have to put it on something like chicken or rice, but it was good!

Few Photos

Sorry but I haven't had a chance to take any good photos yet. Here's a couple that were supposed to be embedded in the Akwaaba post:

Akwaaba!

For some reason Blogger is formatting embedded photos oddly so I will post a couple of pictures separately.

When we arrived at the airport in Accra the weather was warm and somewhat humid but more mild than the weather we left behind in Texas. According to weather reports on the web, Accra warms up to the 80s during the day and 70s in the evenings. Inside the airport was decorated with banners, flags, and football-themed items. Here’s a shot just inside the airport. Notice for example the floor rug in the shape of a soccer field. We were met by a guide from the company who assisted us in getting through customs and out to the waiting car. Everywhere is the word Akwaaba, or Welcome.

Based on what I had read I expected to be hassled outside the airport by taxi drivers and enthusiastic “guides” who wanted to carry my bags in exchange for a tip. That didn’t happen. Outside the airport there is a large LCD TV screen. Ghana was playing in the World Cup and there were hundreds of people gathered outside to watch the game. There were excited hoots and cheers and drums and even some of those stupid vuvuzelas. No one paid us any attention. I wanted to get pictures but the rep from the company seemed to be in a hurry to get us to the hotel so I didn't get to. The drive to the hotel was very short so we didn’t see much of Accra.

The Holiday Inn in Accra is supposed to be one of the better hotels. They say Obama stayed here when he came to Ghana. As a Premium Rewards member I get a free upgrade to a better room, but looking around I can’t believe the President stayed here. Don’t get me wrong; it’s a decent room. But it’s simple and small and the ceiling in my room drips a little when it rains. Some of the guys want to move to another hotel but I would rather stay and collect rewards points. I have a feeling I will be outvoted but we’re in no big hurry to move.

First order of business after checking in was to get money. In Ghana the unit of currency is the cedi, pronounced “seedy.” The currency symbol looks like a cent mark. The closest symbol I can type is Ȼ. I exchanged US $100 and was given Ȼ120, which was a poor exchange rate. One issue I will deal with is that the overwhelming majority of ATMs in Accra take Visa but not Mastercard. My bank card is a MasterCard. We discovered at least one ATM that will take MasterCard, but the location isn’t very convenient. Cokes at the hotel are Ȼ2 and beers are Ȼ3, which isn't bad considering typical hotel prices.

We learned we would be picked up for our first day of work on Sunday at 10:00 AM. Since we had the evening free and didn’t have to get up too early, we set off to see what Accra had to offer. There is nothing within immediate walking distance of the hotel—as far as we know—so we decided to take a taxi. The hotel recommended a restaurant called Monsoon in a part of town called Osu. I didn't know it at the time but TripAdvisor ranks Monsoon as the #1 restaurant in Accra. We took a cab and I will launch into a diatribe about the taxis in a moment. Along the way we were stopped by traffic and a woman came up to the window begging. When we didn’t give her money she started tapping on the window and gesturing for money. She didn’t stop until the car pulled away, and this was my first experience with Ghanian tenacity. We arrived at Monsoon at about 8:00 PM and the place was empty. We later learned that people don’t even think about eating dinner until after 9:00. Monsoon has some exotic items on the menu, but we were trying to eat on the cheap so we all ordered hamburgers and Star, the local ubiquitous beer. We learned that Star is similar to Heiniken, which I don’t like. The burgers, though, were actually very good. We met the owner, Steve from New Zealand. He was friendly and gave us his views on Ghana from the perspective of an expat who’s lived here a while. He predicted if we gave Ghana a chance we would grow to love it here like he does. By the time we had finished and paid the place was filled with people--mostly expats from around the world. I will probably eat there again and try something more exotic.

After leaving Monsoon we walked along the street a few blocks. There are large spaces within the sidewalks, between the road and the buildings, where people set up outdoor makeshift shops and try to sell you their wares. For example, we saw lots of pairs of shoes laid out for people to buy. Both men and women carry boxes and baskets on their heads. Most people wear Western clothes but you see a few people in the African robes. Sorry I don’t have pictures of the street hawkers. It being our first night, and knowing people might demand tips if you photograph them, I decided not to draw too much attention. There would be chances for photos later. No one hassled us on the street, other than a hawker who invited us to come visit his shop. We didn't; no one was selling anything we would have wanted to buy.

We then took a taxi to Ryan’s, a famous Irish pub where a number of ex-pats hang out. On the way we passed through sections of road where there were street lights that were not turned on, even though it was by this time very dark. The driver explained that the city didn’t have the money for the electricity to run the lights.

We arrived at Ryan’s. Ȼ10 gets you admission and two Ȼ5 drink coupons. Inside the décor is not as dark as your typical Irish pub. It’s unusually well-lit and filled with expats. I tried the Guinness but it’s some odd Ghanian version of Guinness with an extra bitter aftertaste. There is an outdoor patio with a stage. We went outside and waited for the band to start. The band was called “The Obrunis.” (Obruni is a Ghanian word for a white man. No one has called me that yet. They don’t use it as a derogatory word; I guess it’s the equivalent of anglo.) The Obrunis selected good songs to play, but the singing was… well… bad in a way you can't imagine unless you see for yourself. I will try to upload a video but uploads are extremely slow. We may go back to Ryan's on a different night for fish and chips.

So now a word or two about the taxis. The taxis here do not have meters. They make up whatever fares they want. They might tell you the fare is 15 cedis when it should be 5. If you pay for something that cost 5 and you give them a 10 they won’t bring you change. A taxi driver agreed to a rate of 8 and when I gave him a 10 he refused to give me the 2 back in change because that was his tip! I told him that was up to me to decide and not him. He just shrugged and kept the change. Now 2 cedis may not sound like a lot and it isn’t. Ȼ2 is worth only about US $1.40. It’s not really enough to get worked up over. Not to revisit the well of clichés, but it’s the principle of the thing. Also they don’t carry or provide receipts. Ask a taxi driver in Accra for a receipt and you will get a blank stare. If you insist he may scribble on a piece of notebook paper the amount you paid and the date and the driver’s name. Try turning that in to Accounting for reimbursement! Curiously, all drivers in Accra are named Emmanuel. Kidding--but there are a lot of them!

Ich Bin Ein Frankfurter!

You can’t fly directly from Texas to Ghana. You have to stop somewhere else first. Our first hop was to Frankfurt. I won't tell you which airline but here's a hint: they had Warsteiner! Stepping on board the plane was like stepping into a kiln. The announcer told us that the A/C was out and they were working on it! I was afraid it would be hot the whole way but by the time we were on our way the cabin had started to cool. It’s fine now. And yes, cold Warsteiner had helped.

I watched a German movie on the in-flight system called Friendship! (The exclamation point is part of the title, not an expression of my enthusiasm.) It’s a typical teen road trip movie. It’s set in 1989, and after the Berlin Wall falls, two friends from East Germany go on quest to San Francisco. They only have enough money to make it to New York, and they decide to hitchhike the rest of the way. It takes them two weeks and they have some crazy adventures on their way. It got me to thinking about my own trip to Ghana. I have been on the plane now for 3 and a half hours and we are already over Goose Bay in the far northeast corner of North America, crossing the threshold of land to sea as we soar above the Atlantic at 600 mph. From the time the driver picked me up at my house to the time I land in Ghana, less than 24 hours will have passed. You know the timeworn expressions. Getting there is half the fun. It’s not the destination; it’s the journey. Choose your preferred cliché. They’re clichés because they’re often true. That’s what road trip movies are all about. So I am trying to decide whether I am missing out on The Journey. Before flight, before cars, how many weeks, even months, would it have taken to get from Texas to Ghana? How many people would you meet? How many towns would you see? I am certain that we would have some adventures travelling by land and sea rather than by air. But I am not such a romantic as to think it would have been all wonder and stargazing. I’m sure on long voyages the days grow longer and longer until they become interminable. Without doubt, I am travelling with more efficiency and comfort than our forebears would have. But at what cost? Shall I now regale you with stories of how they had to reboot the in-flight entertainment system?

Ah well. I do have one interesting tidbit for you. You should know that there are four of us travelling together to work on three related projects. I saw one of them waving at someone he knew. I looked over and recognized this individual from law school! It turns out he’s an engineer for the company that we are doing the work for, and he is headed to Ghana too. Small world! If anyone from law school is reading and wondering who it is, it’s the Benelux guy who’s named after a ghost…

Unfortunately we were only in Frankfurt long enough to go through security and power-walk to the other gate for our connection. We settled in on the second flight, and I noticed that the CGI character the airline uses for the inflight videos looks a little like Edward the vampire. See for yourself. The flight to Accra, Ghana wasn’t too interesting except we crossed the Sahara. I was in a seat in the middle section of the plane with no window access but I peeked out a couple of times. There wasn’t much to see but a vast brown featureless landscape. I watched more German shows. German films appear to be quite distracted with post-war Berlin and the fall of the Berlin wall. I get it, but it seems like if you took those topics away, none of the shows I saw would have had anything to talk about.

Next post: Ghana!

First Post

I recently had an opportunity to travel to Ghana for work. I plan to use this blog to keep those who are interested informed of my adventures. I am writing from the perspective of an American who's travelled off the beaten path before, but never in sub-Saharan Africa. Comments are welcome; that way I know someone is reading it! I don't know when I am leaving yet but it could be June 16 or 17.

Update: Leaving Friday afternoon.