When in Ghana. . .

As I expected, there is not much going on at The Development Institute these days. At least nothing that I can jump into. The organization is currently mediating a land dispute in the Volta region, which seems fascinating, but my part in that project is unclear. Other than that, they seem have a few projects going, and a few in the making, and a few that have been “green lighted” or something like that. The ADR (alternative dispute resolution) project that I mentioned below is one of those projects that has been green lighted, but in what form is unclear. Tomorrow, we are having a meeting to discuss what my role in the project will be. Next week, we will “sit down” with some “partners” to discuss the other projects. On another note, there is no internet in the office, although there is air conditioning. Across the road there is an internet "cafe" with no air-conditioning. At the moment, i'm across the road at the non-air-conditioned internet "cafe" with a few nasty looking mosquitoes buzzing about. Mosquitoes are not to be trifled with in this part of the world. This is, needless to say, not an easy work arrangement. I'm told that The Development Institute is working on getting a wireless connection. I guess the wireless internet has been "green lighted."

Right now, i'm thinking that it is a very real possibility that I will finish the one ADR project and be done with my work. I don't what i'll do then, but it seems unlikely that I will make work for myself in a non-airconditioned internet "cafe" when I could be out traveling in an exciting part of the world or wheeling and dealing in NYC, to the extent I wheel and deal in NYC, of course.

Its all the better that work is not taking up much of my time these days since I have some personal things to attend to. First on the list is banking. Of all the useless things that the guidebooks tell you, the one useful thing they don’t tell you is that Ghana does not take MasterCard. There is a Visa monopoly around here, and only one bank in the entire country, as far as I can tell, will process a MasterCard transaction. So if you are like me, and your debit card operates on the MasterCard system, you are S.O.L. Yesterday, I waited for an hour at the bank, on three different lines, to get $200. I had the company of a few other confused Obruni (white people) who were equally as pissed with the guidebooks, the banks, and most of all, Visa.

Second on the list is housing. It looks increasing like I will be setting up shop in the expensive and tourist oriented (although there are not too many tourists as far as I can tell) neighborhood of Osu. I regret this a little bit because Osu is probably the nicest/fanciest area of the city (although still drab by western standards) and as anyone will quickly tell you: its not Ghana. Actually, all of Accra is not really Ghana. In much of the country, other than Accra, the central government is of secondary importance to a fascinating and intricate system of clans, tribes and peoples (which i'm trying to learn). Accra, in contrast, is made of people from many different tribes/clans/peoples who don't really subscribe to the traditional tribal and clan loyalties. Thus, its much more of a western style culture. I wish I knew enough to make a non-offensive tribe/clan/people joke, but I don't, so I won't.

The debate of whether or not to live in Osu is part and parcel of an internal debate I am having about just how Ghana I’m going get. I can easily recreate most western comforts in Accra—its an international city with sports bars that show Sunday night foot ball and a supermarket that sells Ben and Jerry’s, after all. But I’m not here to do that, and its also expensive. For example, last night I spent about $8 for a meal and a beer (ok, maybe two beers) at a western style restaurant. For lunch today I had a huge plate of rice beans fish and a few other things that I can't yet identify for $1.25 (and a coke for 70 cents). Yesterday, a lunch of fried plantains, oranges and papaya on the street cost about 50 cents.On the other hand, as interesting as it sounds to live in the bush with a extended clan in a mud hut (i've meet other volunteers who are doing that after a short stint in Accra), thats just not me and not something I want to do for more than one night. Maybe two nights, tops. And besides, i'm sure the clan, if its like any clan I know in New York, has at least one lawyer, so my services are not needed.

In the end, I think I’ll live in Osu but leave Accra every Friday and head out to a more authentic part of the country for the weekend. A nice thing about living in Osu is that I’ll meet other westerners who want to do the same, so I don’t have to travel alone. Or is that a bad thing? The debate continues.

Pictures are on the way. . . the internet, even in Accra, has been too slow to upload pictures. Miss you all!