Thursday, January 29, 2009

A big retrospectivey sort of post.

Hello.

Apparently 9 people in the world like me and this blog. That's nice. As such, I will find a way to continue this blog. Well, not 'find a way' so much as 'get off my arse and try to write about things.'

I've been home for a week or so now and am still trying to get back in the swing of things. One of the chief problems relating to that is that I don't really have a 'swing of things' to get back to. This is a problem. Anyhow, I'm back at work, have played cricket, etc. and Ghana is just a distant memory. Well, not really.

Ghana.

Here are some deep thoughts.

First of all - people are really poor. Really poor.
Second thing - I don't understand how things work there. Relationships, customs, courtesies and other day-to-day things are still unknown to me. Sure, I managed to work with it, but I don't understand it - things are so different that it's dangerous to rely on my certain set of expectations, interpretations and understandings of people's behaviour when attempting to 'understand' how things work. Of course, really we don't know how anything works -- how other people think and feel, etc. -- but within our own societies we generally find that our model of 'what goes on' doesn't get proven too wrong too frequently. Additionally, when things happen in our own society that we don't understand, we are able to ignore it or ascribe some other reasoning to it. In Ghana, frequently I had to remind myself to attempt to attenuate my natural second-guessing.

So, there's that.

I found Ghana to be incredibly friendly and accommodating. I suspect that much of this is due to people wanting to know 'the white guy' in case he handed out money. I don't know whether that is realistic or overly cynical. Either way, it made me feel welcome and at times annoyed by the constant greeting.

Also, the ways of teaching and learning are completely different. Everything there is transmitted, taught, remembered and learned aurally and orally. I suspect that I am chiefly visual - when remembering and learning rhythms and music, I visualise what I am playing and am able to remember and analyse it that way, from what I can tell. So, that was interesting too. Yeah. Interesting.

The lack of organisation, truth and care annoyed the hell out of me many times. Of course, much of this is to do with communication, different values and customs (as mentioned earlier), problems caused by poverty and lack of infrastructure (traffic, power outages, people getting sick, etc.) and sometimes just plain laziness. Of course it's possible to explain laziness and tardiness as effects of the hopelessness that poverty can induce, but let's not worry about that. It still is and is still annoying.

Ok. I'm bored of this. Maybe I will do some more semi-intelligent ramblings later on as they appear to me. In dreams.

I would strongly recommend a trip to Ghana. If you are at all interested in music, whatever instrument you play, it will help you understand things in a different way. Also, if you are looking for a holiday, it's more interesting than Bali. I think anyway. If you want any advice or have any specific questions, feel free to let me know.

Melbourne.

I'm finding it a little bit hard to 'get things done' back here in Melbourne. This is largely because I have an intimidatingly-large list of things to do. And I have no money. Anyhow, I am chipping away and slowly becoming (more) the awesome person that we all want me to be. Yeah!

Also, my communications are a bit weak at the moment so if you want to contact me, email is your best bet.

Have fun. If I hear of anything interesting I'll let you know.

Thanks for reading. Please continue if you want. Or don't. Whatever.

But please do.

Bye.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I'm back.

Hello. I am in Australia now.

Hoorah for me.

There is still more to come here - the song Jessica for one (I couldn't finish it in KL because I needed an internet connection to use Live because I am running the demo and that made me cry because I didn't have an internet connection).

I arrived this morning, spent an hour or so arguing with customs and eventually allowed them to take a heap of my stuff (some of which they want to destroy. Bad customs! No!). I spent the rest of the day trying to get some shit together, failing and wandering around the house with things in my hands which I would later put down at some unknown location. Oh what fun.

I have put a poll up allowing you to decide whether or not this blog shall continue. If it does, I will have things to put here. New songs, thoughts, ramblings, etc. We'll see how it develops. If you think I should quit while I am only slightly behind, let your vote count.

Obama. Woo.

I am pretty gosh darn tired.

Ok bye.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

I'm leaving Malaysia

I'm in the airport in Malaysia. I'm leaving now.

Bye.

See you soon.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

I'm in Kuala Lumpur

Hello. I am in Kuala Lumpur.

Here's what's been up.

In Amsterdam I met up with Zonto (after waiting at Amsterdam Centraaaaaal station for 40 minutes in the cold) and then walked around in the freezing cold. That's about it. Of course we walked through the red light district. Man, those guys love their dope and whores. I couldn't really see what all the fuss is about, however. Maybe that's because it was during the day and freezing, friggin cold.

Anyway. Now I've been. So there.

Then, Zonto had to go off somewhere. I found this awesome old video games shop and bought an old Booster Boy accessory for the original gameboy. If you don't know what it is, don't worry - I couldn't find it anywhere in the Google. But I was excited. It was 3 Euro, which is about 4 million AUD, I think, but worth it.

Then I went back to the airport.

After some time (I bought a book which I've now read and slightly regret. But not really. But a little bit...) I flew to Kuala Lumpur. Out flight was delayed by an hour or so, by the way. That was fun. Apparently the plane was undergoing 'minor' repairs on a 'minor' part. I understood that to mean that one of the wings fell off and they had to gaffer tape it back on. That was a nice thought.

I had a shitty time on the plane, literally and figuratively. This was most likely due to a Burger King meal at Schipol airport. I felt that I just had to. Anyway, I spent some effort associating the filthy hamburger with my gurgling spurgling stomach so as to discourage myself from such foods in the future. Good on me.

Regardless, we got to Malaysia with just the one wing (circling to land was easy. In fact, we could only go in circles...) (I think that was a joke. Sorry). Once there, I discovered that my bags had been checked through from Accra all the way to Melbourne, where I wouldn't be for 4 days. I figure this was just Ghana's way of saying goodbye. So, this meant a few hours of waiting around while my bags got taken off another flight and brought to me. Not very interesting really. Or fun.

Then I caught the (relatively but not actually) expensive express train to KL Sentral station, wandered around a bit with my heavy bags, found my way to the Monorail station, caught the monorail to a few hundred metres from my hotel, checked in, showered and then collapsed. It felt like I'd run a marathon or two - it was Saturday and my last semi-decent night's sleep was Tuesday. That was fun.


Anyhow, I slept deeply, had a (free) buffet breakfast at my hotel, then went back to my room and drifted between crappy TV and sleep. It's about 10pm now and I thought I'd have a wander out and find an internet cafe (hotel internet prices are ridiculous. Something like $1 a minute. I mean, come on.) so I could let you all know what's going on.

Finally, regarding my situation just before leaving Ghana (ie. waiting for people to help me with last-minute things): Ablo didn't get my Ngony finished. I gave him a pretty stern talking to and arranged for Theofo to go and pick it up from him asap and I'd work something out when I arrived in Australia. This annoyed the shit out of me (it still makes me angry writing about it)
for the obvious reasons as well as others that I can't be bothered listing here. Regardless, I'll have to work it out later. Nana Danso didn't show up with the flutes - I asked him to give them to Jane instead so that she could bring them back for me. I don't know if this happened or not (sorry Fiona, we'll see). Okuley came from Accra to see me off but forgot his clippers. Luckily, he was nice enough to go back to Accra, pick them up and then return. So I got my hair cut. Also, Otu turned up to record the things I wanted, albeit apparently begrudgingly and quite rudely. Maybe he was just very upset that I was leaving. I would be.

So, that's what's up. I'm in Kuala Lumpur and will maybe do some stuff tomorrow. Or I might just go and sit by the pool for a day. We'll see.

Ok Bye.

Friday, January 16, 2009

In Amsterdam

Hello. I got to Amsterdam. Unfortunately the computer I am using (3 euro per 15 min net access in Schipol Airport) feels like it was designed in communist Russia. So, this post is short and painful (for me, not you). It's about 7am here - the plane got in about 5.45. I leave at 9pm or something. I'm off now to meet Zonto in Amsterdam and waste a day.

ok bye..


Frickin Russsians..

Thursday, January 15, 2009

I leave in 10 hours

At about 10pm today, my flight leaves Ghana. I'll probably be on it. From there, I have a day in Amsterdam and three days in Kuala Lumpur, so you're not free yet - this blog still has a little bit to go.

The last few days have been pretty good - a little bit busy but nothing too frantic. I have all my stuff pretty much organised and ready to pack but am taking time out of my packing time to write this for you. However, while I do have a lot of deep, deep thoughts and feelings to express about my time in Ghana as well as a few nice stories about my last few days here, I don't really have the headspace to structure it all right now. I figure I can plan it in my head as I fail to fall asleep on the way to Amsterdam. So, stay tuned.

Also, the song, Jessica, is coming - I've made the music and written the lyrics (as of about 5 days ago) but haven't had the time/privacy to record the beautiful, angelic vocals. So it's coming - I have a hotel room/studio in Malaysia waiting for me. Stay tuned. Luckily, to console you in your time of need, I have added my Song of Freedom to the playlist (on the right, of course). It's something I had to write when I went to music school once in the past. This is a new 'made in Ghana' version. So, yeah. Enjoy and stuff. Again, please stay tuned.

Finally, a note regarding my earlier description of my packing up and leaving experience as comprising 'nothing too frantic'; at the moment I am waiting to hear from Ablo who is in Accra 'fixing' my Ngoni, waiting for Nana Danso to bring me some flutes, waiting for Okuley to come from Accra with his clippers to cut my hair and waiting for Otu to come and record some things for me. We'll see how frantic things are in a couple of hours' time when no-one shows up.

Awesome.

I'll post again today if I get time and space, but I doubt that will happen. Next post will probably be from Amsterdam, or Kuala Lumpur.

Thanks for reading. Really.

Bye.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A waking vigil...

That title sounds good enough to me. That may be because I haven't slept very much.

Here's why:

Attempting to get to bed at 'a reasonable hour' last night, I managed to be in bed sometime shortly after 12 listening to some podcasts.

Snug. Warm. Comfortable. Drifting away...

I must have got some sleep because I was woken to a drowsy, semi-awake state at about 2.30 by scratching sounds. Little harmless scratching sounds. The little, innocent, harmless scratching sounds of a cockroach in my bed, next to my head.

Alas, the rhyming nature of my situation didn't make it any more pleasant.

All of a sudden, I was fully awake and looking for my nearest available whacking-thing. I then spent the next hour or so hunting and (eventually) destroying this incredibly dangerous and menacing creature (Dan, it's ok. I didn't eat it). By the time I emerged victorious from battle, I was fully, fully woken up and unable to relax again. So, I checked my email and spoke to some of you on the computer.

It was nearly 3.30am.

While on the computer, checking my email, I discovered that, as alluded to in an earlier post, I am indeed to be stranded in Kuala Lumpur for 3 days on my return journey. After some email correspondence with my travel agent and mother (hello mother) and determining the likelihood of my being detained at Malaysia airport due to my 'unusual' luggage (not very likely, apparently and fortunately), I managed to wangle the situation so as to have my hotel and breakfast paid for, along with some small cash to cover other food, transport and the like. So, while still being a pain in the arse, I guess this means that I will have a mini-holiday in a nice hotel in Malaysia on my way home.

Could be worse.

By now it was after 4.00 and I figured I really needed to try and get some sleep.

So I went back to bed, relaxed, thought of a Malaysian poolside and began drifting...

and then heard scratching sounds.

With some naughty words and thoughts, I very reasonable and calmy figured that I would just stay awake.

THAT'LL LEARN YOU YOU d*&ING COCKROACH! I'M NOT GOING TO SLEEP, TAKE THAT! YOU LIKE THAT!? SCRATCH AROUND NOW, FOOL!

So, yeah. Now I'm tired and semi-incoherent

Bye.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Nah... False Alarm...

They were just stuffing around...

Back to waiting...

Today was Monday

Today was Monday. That is either the first or second day of the week, depending on whether you think Monday or Sunday is the first day of the week.

As you may be able to tell, I don't have a lot to write about.

I had beans and plantain for lunch:


Which was more delicious than it looks (like a beany turd).

Ummm... I did some practice... Theofo went into Accra to get a talking drum bag made for me. That was nice of him.

Uhhhh... that's about it. Last night I went to Otu's for dinner and hung out, which was good. I took my camera which made the kids excited - I ended up taking quite a few photos of them. Maybe I will upload them. If you are lucky.

Do you feel lucky?

Also, I am starting to think about getting my stuff organised - I leave very soon. I am also starting to think about how it is too soon that I am leaving. This is sad. Unfortunately, I have a finite amount of visa time and money. So, yeah. Soon it is.

At the moment I'm waiting for Theofo to come and give me a lesson (for a change). Baby Kusun are rehearsing outside, so I think I'll go and join them.

Bye.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Voting is stupid

Well, all the millions of votes are in and have been counted, checked and checked again - the results are 50/50 (from 4 votes... thanks. You guys must really care).

So, my next song will be Devo Go to Ghana or Jessica, depending on what I feel. Although, the reason I did the poll was so I didn't have to choose - for you, dear readers, I will do so anyway.

Because I care.

In other news, I went to the Accra Mall yesterday. This was a bad experience. The Accra Mall is like a mini chadstone - all white tiles, Nike and air conditioning - in the middle of surrounding poverty. So, yeah. Feel free to feel righteous about that.

Although I am a little bit ashamed, I did have a chicken burger and chips at Barcelo's, a Nando's ripoff which I think was actually nicer than Nando's. It was delicious.

Also delicious are these biscuits I saw in the supermarket and subsequently bought:



They're coming back with me and will find their way to the stomach of some lucky person back home. Yummy.

Today I went out with Thomas, an old friend of my mother's and lecturer at the teacher's college in Winneba. I went and saw a couple of the schools that he helped set up in Teshie then went and had coconuts and lunch at his house with his family. This was nice. Because he's been in Winneba for most of the time I've been here and his kids (the youngest two are around my age) have been at Uni, I haven't seen as much of them as I would have liked to, I realised today. Oh well. Next time.

An interesting tidbit for you sentimentalists: when I was here 9 years ago I went to Thomas's house and had coconut from the same tree and sat in the same spot and so on. So there. Take that.

Thanks for reading. Home soon.

Bye.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Yesterday

So, yesterday I did a bit of 'stuff'. No lessons- Theofo was in Labadi doing some stuff at his mother's house. I did some practice, had beans and plantain and, in the afternoon, went into town to do some stuff. First, I took my ngoni in to Ablo at the arts centre market to have it fixed/un-broken from his last fixing. Nothing too important and hopefully won't be too much trouble. When I got there, his group was rehearsing, so I spent 40 mins or so watching them. That was nice.

Then I went and met Jane and Okuley in Circle, had some food and then bought some shoes. I'm very happy with my purchase. Also, those who are sick of my usual Converse shoes (that I love so much and you should get off my back about it - I like them, all other shoes are just ripoffs, so why not get the original? And they're cheap) can finally breathe a sigh of relief. I have changed:



Although, perhaps not for the better. I am now officially Jewish, my shoes say so. Cool.

And that's about it. Then I went to bed and woke up and it was today. Who knows WHAT exciting stuff I'll get up to!?

Oh yeah, the new President was inaugurated yesterday, so Accra was a bit crazy. The end of politics in Ghana for Jacob. Change is HERE.

By the way, in case you don't read my comment-replies to the comments, Anonymous, just post as anonymous if you have that much of a problem. By my plea for people to identify themselves in the comments, I was just trying to make the world a better place, but that doesn't matter. Whatever makes you happy dear, deer readers.

I'd rather have comments on my blog than live in a perfect world.

Ok Bye.

Vote.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

A desperate effort.

Hello again.

I have made a new poll in a desperate effort to draw some form of participation from you information-hungry, never-satisfied parisites that read this wonderful blog (many thanks for reading, hope you enjoy it).

By voting in this poll you can choose which is the next song I write. As I am leaving soon, I have to start it shortly so voting time is limited.

So hurry, vote now!

On a further front, my travel agent is having trouble with my return flights - my current situation involves me spending 3 days in Kuala Lumpur. This is not particularly good as I have no money and would have to spend 3 days in Kuala Lumpur. Ah well, we'll see.

QUICK! UP THERE! VOTE!


Bye.

Talkin' 'bout last night.

Good morning.

Last night was good, so I thought I'd tell you about it. Briefly.

It was the birthday of one of the two Swedish ladies who are currently here learning dance, so there was a do of sorts. This was busy - there were a lot of people hanging around (not as many as my birthday though). The nice part involves Baby Kusun performing and me joining in. This was good - we did a long version of the Fume Fume with lots of impromptu dance solos. Also, Theofo turned up half way and took over the drum solos which was rad. After that I stuffed around on talking drum and Tettey, Theofo and I had a delicious sort of 'jam' thing. That was nice.

Merriment was around and I got free Coke (a Cola). That was nice.

Yesterday was really hot though. Just thought you should know.

At the moment, I'm just waiting for Theofo to turn up and teach me stuff. Grouse.

Ok bye.

Monday, January 5, 2009

I'll be home soon. Here's a song.

So, not really all that long to go now. Pity, really - I like it here.

I haven't been up to much. I've been having a heap of lessons with Theofo and practising. Also, I've been trying to learn PHP and how to set up and run an online store. More about that later.

The song is in the player on the right and is called Jackie Goes to Ghana. It's a cover. Yes, it's a cover of that song. I've been wanting to do it for a while and now I have. It's more of a proof of concept than a particularly well-thought-out cover, but you'll love it anyway.

What's up with you? How's the new year?

Ok Bye.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

It's Official

NDC won. For real now. Every other time that they've 'won', there has been some sort of shifty business where the old party (NPP) has managed to delay or alter the results somewhat. Now, however, it's official. Professor John Evans Atta Mills is president and the NDC are back in power after eight years of NPP rule.

So, change... Still looking for it.

Regardless as to whether this new government will be as good as everyone hopes, it's good (well, something, anyway) for Ghana as an African country that has had a fairly peaceful, 'democratic' election resulting in a change of power. That's pretty interesting really and doesn't seem to happen a lot on this continent.

Here's me with Professor Mills on my shirt:



Ok. Enough of that.

Bye.