happy africa unity day!

Africa Unity Day is a holiday, so no work for me.

Things are going well. I bought a phone, lost it in a taxi, and had it returned to me (for a mere $10 reward), to the surprise of all. I forgot both sunscreen and bug stuff, which was stupid, as I am allergic to the bug stuff available here. My work at CHRI is ok--the office is tiny, and there are not enough computers to go around, and the internet is so slow as to make it not worthwhile most of the time. But I like the people, for the most part, and the work seems interesting. I'm in the process of writing an article about a right to information bill (like the Sunshine Act in the US) that's been going thru Parliament for several years now. I guess the goal is to have this article printed in one of the national newspapers here, the Daily Graphic (definitely not a misnomer).

Here's my current cast of characters:
Kristin: another NYU law student whom I have buddied up with. We live at the same hotel and are trying to find an apartment together. She volunteers at a place called Center for Democratic Development, a local place with good funding, apparently. Kristin has spent quite some time in West Africa before, mostly in Benin, I think. The dudes at the hotel refer to us as sisters. She's terrific.

Stefanie: an Austrian woman who is also volunteering at CHRI. She has the Austrian equivalent of a law degree (they get them as undergraduate degrees) She has been here since January and is a great source of information. Stefanie is very animated and fun.

Colleen: a Columbia law school student also volunteering at CHRI. She helped me fix my wireless on my computer the first day.

Edmund: the second-in-command at CHRI. Edmund is a lawyer with a law firm, thru which he works at CHRI. He works a lot b/c of splitting his time between CHRI and the law firm. He has spent time in South Africa and Egypt and is very helpful and fun.

Kingham and Cynthia: also work at CHRI. It's not quite clear to me what their jobs are, but they are very busy and work long hours. They are both very nice.

Gofi: the guy who seems to be in charge of our hotel. He is very good at refusing our requests for discounts for smelly rooms or long stays, and is sometimes very chatty and other times not.

Akan: also works at the hotel, although I'm not sure in what capacity. He is very nice and chats with Kristin and me a lot. He is helping us find a place to live.

I like how some of the Ghanaians have very englishy names. I've met two Bernices, a Harriet, a Leslie (man), two Edmunds, one Benedicta, and one Augustina. And then some have less european names, like Gofi and Akan. Another great thing is the mangoes. They are incredibly sweet. Women sell them on the street, and they will cut one up for you and put the pieces in a little bag with a toothpick for 40 cents. The bananas are also very sweet adn delicious. We eat oranges, with the orange (here, actually, green) part sliced off, leaving the white part of teh rind intact, and then they cut off the top for you and you suck out the juice. The fried plantains are amazing (you can buy them on the street too--they smell so good!) . I have also eaten a lot of fried chicken, salads (sometimes w/ a cabbage base), and omelets. The rice/sauce combos tend to be very heavy on the palm oil, so I don't eat that so much. I am generally a rather timid eater here. But I'll probably get bored after a while and branch out. Kristin and I would really like to move so that we can get a kitchen, and depend less on the "fast food".

There is a little market near the tro-tro (serves the purpose of a bus, but is usually a mini-bus, crammed full of people) station that takes me to and from work (for approx. 30 cents each way), and I bought my first piece of fabric there. I can't wait to go to the big market on saturday and see all the beautiful patterns. And Sunday might be our first beach day. It's wicked hot today, but not bad in the shade. I think we might go find a bookstore next (not much is open on Africa Unity Day). Kristin and I are also learning some Twi. Obroni=white person (not rude--they yell this at us a lot, esp. the children), obibini = black person (they laugh when we yell this back). I have learned to say good morning, good afternoon, thank you, how are you, and fine. The ghanaians are all very happy when we say anything to them in Twi, so I am especially happy to learn it.
Ok, I'm about out of internet time, so goodbye till next time!

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