Give Way

-So Kajsa, how is your driving going?

Well, that is a long story, unfortunately including:

... eight dangerous and crowded practicals where tree fellow driving students sit in the back seat, mind you WITHOUT seatbelts, whilst I drive. Now I am not allowed to continue practicals until I pass the theory test, which I thought would not be all that difficult, however...

... two failed theory tests later in which I scored respectively 18 and 20 out of 30 - Pass is 21, I realize it IS difficult. Noone knows which questions were answered right or wrong (or if the official wants to make another buck at our make-up test-s), since that information is not provided...

... not to mention, the time waste of two cancelled theory tests. You go to the driving school in the morning to "register" your intent to take the test, you go to the Licencing Office to pay your fee (USD 3), you then go to a secondary school here in town and wait until they close so you can use their big hall for the test and then you find out it is cancelled. No explanation. The only talk is the...

...rumors about the practical exam being scheduled months from the date you pass the theory test and so far noone I know from the driving school acctually ending up with a driver's licence. Which ratifies above described rumor.

-Oh, just fine, I'm sure I'll have my licence any day now.

In the picture: Me in, thats right, the backseat.

Africa-Europe 1-0

And yesterday one of these inevitable horrors hit again. A friend's mother here in Ghana passed away. Early in the morning our friend calls my fiance and with a broken voice tells him the news.

What do one say? What do one do? How can you console someone who just lost a mother?

Here the "African approach" is quite different from the "European approach"...From my experience we in Europe tend to say a lot of things, like "how do you feel?", or "maybe it was for the best, now she's not suffering anymore" etc, but then we don't know what to do. I have heard that you are supposed to bring food to the mourning, but I have never done so myself. And when I don't know what to do, I have preferred to just stay away.

The way however my African fiance delt with it was to drive over and pick our friend up. WE PICKED OUR FRIEND UP. We talked, headed to a restaurant and basically just hung out. WE WERE THERE. We talked a bit about the last visit to the mother, her sickness and how the other siblings had reacted, but we also discussed fotball and mean ex-es (see last blog post). WE DISCUSSED FOTBALL!

I still don't know what to say to a person who just lost someone, but I know for sure that to come close and then just be there, was the best thing we could have done while figuring out "what to do".

In the picture two Chinese dragonflies are there in our garden.

Bitter Chocolate

Being an outsider in a place often leads to interesting meetings. In buses, marketstalls, outside my house and most lately at fotball games, I have come to engage in discussion with very different people. As of late, I have discovered what I would call a “new category” of people I talk to: Heartbroken African Men.

The men in this group are, often but not always, in their thirties, middle class (not enough money for a car, but often holding a licence) and they all tell me a surprisingly similar story. The man was in love. He was happy. He gave his whole heart and thought his girlfriend loved him back. But one day, she without prior warning left for a richer/more educated/more affluent/older man. The man begged, grieved, and called. But the girlfriend acted like she had never loved the man. Ever since (and this is normally years ago), he does not believe in women and has not loved again.

At first I thought this bitter story was maybe how moneyless Ghanaian boys chatted up a white lady in the bus line in hope of getting sympathy in the form of a bus ticket, but after having heard the same story from so many different guys, including a Ugandan professional, and a man who already had paid for his food in a popular restaurant downtown Accra, I have made a different analysis. This might be a grand narrative of the African man, not all that different from coming of age by killing a lion or something else oldfashioned and villagelike. The modern way of facing the world, stepping up to it, realizing its not all roses (if ever believing so) is getting your heart crushed by a decieving, mean and ever so beautiful woman.

The only consolation really is that it seems to happen to most every African man before he hits 30.

In the picture the bitter cocoa seed and fruits.

Blogosphere Air

My friend Nadja has challenged me to list the blogs I read.

Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on.

I guess I read blogs in mainly three categories:

1. Friends' Blogs - to see what they are up to/thinking about, because they write well and because I miss them. Nadja, Anna, Marta, Katrine (who's blog now consists mainly of links to things published elsewhere), Emilie. Petra, Matthew and Joel are on a break, but I would read them if they posted.

2. Interesting Life-bloggers, I like these blogs because they write well about their lives in a way that lets me follow them. Petite Anglaise and Sweden's foreign minister Carl Bildt fall into this category.

3.Diary Blogs - I like to read blogs by people who write like they are writing only for themselves. The best thing is if you know who they are, just a little bit. This category of blogs can be found at aquaintances' facebook pages or by googeling. I can't tell you who they are, since that would be admitting to have opened someone's diary...

So there are 10 (namegiven) blogs I read and get inspired by.

Broad Smile

Yesterday, Ghana Telecom came to install broadband here in my house. The whole thing was quite simple since a phoneline had been installed last week. The process was tidious though since it started in the beginning of december, but I shouldn't complain...because now I felt so utterly good!

I couldn't really put words to why I felt so glad, until my friend A said that with the broadband, it was like I now have a real home here in Ghana. Obviously for us twenty-somethings Internet=home. And that is exactly it! It's homey to be able to read Dagens Nyheter or The Economist for breakfast, to check in with my bank from home and update my facebook status with stuff like "having tea and checking emails at home". Not to mention writing this from my dinner table listening to some muzac instead from a sweaty Internet cafe.

The cost for installing Internet here is about USD 100 and then there's a monthly fee of USD 60 for a 256 kbps speed broadband. This is equal to what many people here take home as their monthly wage. I know a guy who makes USD 80 a month for working six days a week in a supermarket, for instance. Internet access more than anything highlights the gaps between people. And countries.

Four years ago Sweden had 756 Internet users per 1000 inhabitants (isn't that something!) compared to Ghana's 17 per 1000, calculated with the help of gapminder. According to the OECD which continously compare global communication prices Sweden had the cheapest broadband in 2006. Later this year the same organization is hosting a meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy. When talking about development, many hope that Africa will skip the step of laying cables and go straight for the wireless, and hence maybe become a player in the future OECD has in mind. However as of now, the guy in the supermarket can barely afford going to a cafe for Internet and even rich expats like myself can't afford wireless Internet.

Fotball Fever

Africa Cup of Nations 2008 is now filling the minds, streets and stadiums of Ghana. Allegedly more Ghanaian flags are flying around town than when Ghana celebrated 50 years of independence last year. I have discussed the reason for this with some friends, and the analysis seems quite clear - independence was political - the ruling party NPP were criticized for spending too much on the festivities, hence any opposer probably was inclined to not join the celebrations last year.

Fotball, on the other hand is "non-political", and as a consequence everybody can join. The Ghanaian red-yellow-green flag with a black star can it attached to cars or t-shirts, scarfs or hats and even full outfits. An example to illustrate the extent of the fotball craze: yesterday at driving school half of the class including the instructors had CAN 2008 t-shirts on! It is quite nice to be a part of a massmovement, but sometimes it also goes too far..many schools and universities have postponed their going back after xmas to mid february when the cup is over...

Anyway, I was lucky to be able to cheer the Ghanaian national team, the Black Stars, to victory at the opening match at the Accra stadium. What a party!

Trying To Fit In

I have tried some different approaches to integrate into Ghanaian society. I have had dresses made in Ghanaian materials and styles, eaten the spicy foods (with my right hand of course) and learned the difference between the different starchy staples. I have drank Star beer and ginger juice, cheered for Kotoko Hearts in soccer and come to appriciate that in social situations providing details is not required (i.e. saying "I'm coming, eh" when leaving).

I have reached some understanding into the culture and I walk my guests out- longer than to the gate -, also I argue about small change when I think the taxi is too expensive and I can sustain a discussion about Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah for hours.

But by far, the most efficient way to become a part of my new world has been trying to pick up the local language, Twi. Me da wo ase (thanks) and Afehyia pa (Happy New Year!) has made people laugh and take to me like no dress or taxi fight ever did. How I wish that in my homeland Sweden a tack or gott nytt! could do the same for those trying to integrate there.

In the pic from yesterday I try to fit in to a kids pool area in a seaside restaurant in Tema.

My Garden

Today, I experienced my first ever harvest! I plucked a watermelon I grew all by myself in my garden! It all started in November with eating a very juicy melon and sticking its seed into the fertile Ghana soil!

Watermelon grows like a earthbound net, and just one seed can make a huge plant with several yellow flowers, later maturing into green, perfectly round melons. In my garden, I am also growing banana, papaya, tomato, ginger, garlic and herbs along with some bushes like Fycus, Queen of the night, Hibiscus and "Big grass". It is of course amazing to see things grow in a tropical climate and being a rookie to this whole thing called cultivation, I fully enjoy every step of maintaining my garden. Drying seeds in the sun, planting them a decimeter a part, adding supportive sticks and - at night - watering them under the stars while the frogs and geckos run about.

Credit for my garden should also go to my father who taught me most of the above described steps.

Oh Lord Won’t You Buy Me...

On New Year’s Eve, a friend came by to ask me what I wanted God to do for me in 2008 so that she could pray for me in church the same night. In Ghana, New Years is an important church event more than anything else. The question surprised me and since I am not really a believer and hence don’t know what to ask God for, I answered

Well, I think I’d like to learn how to drive.

My friend looked at me disapprovingly and pointed out that it in a way already has been granted since I have signed up at the driving school.

Yeah, you are right,

I hear myself saying. With surprising determination I continue,

Then I’d like a car.

What? Has it come to that? A car? For the new year, I don’t wish to become a better person or to make the world a better place. I ask for a gasdriven vehichle of my own. Oh Lord, help me.

Really Fine and Interesting

Over the last few days (as well as the last days of the year 2007) I Have made a very pleasant aquaintance - A refined, bilingual friend, knowledgeable about many things, especially recent events in Africa. The radio channel Radio France Internationale now brightens my mornings with its news in French, insights and reportages in English and call-in-shows about topics varying from Kenya's recent election to birth control pills. I discovered, as so often, my new friend by chance and it is really remarkable how this accident now is enriching my life and language skills on a daily basis. For you who like to listen to some French and English news, download a podcast today!

Et non, j'ai pas recu de l'argent pour ce "blogpost" !

Xmas on the beach

Here in tropical Ghana, I am trying my best to get the xmas feel with the help of santa-hats, jingle bells, candles, Swedish gingerbread, a few ornaments and with little help from my friends...

May your days be merry and bright!

First Gear

So today I enrolled with a driving school here in Ghana. My goal is to sometime next year be able to navigate between goats and Mercedes-Benzes, yellow taxicabs and banana sellers. The registration was surprisingly smooth - I payed the fees ($200) and handed over five (5) pass port sized pictures and got a report card for fifteen driving lessons to start with along with the theory course and a textbook, an exercise book and a notebook.

Then the theory class started, with me as the only student! My inspiring teacher Justice talked me through the roadsigns one by one in preparation for the "interview" later this week where I will be orally questioned by the roads authorities about the roadsigns before I get the go ahead to start practice driving.

If only it was this easy to enroll with the University of Ghana...Right now I am experiencing some time consuming shuffling around - "Oh, then you need to go to the registrar's office and buy the forms", "You come back later", "You need to go back and get a go ahead from that department", and "I can't promise anything, just go back to the registrar". It seems like the first test to pass is one of endurance.

I'll keep you posted on both my educations in progress.

Visiting Perspectives

The last few weeks I have entertained my first Swedish guests here in Ghana. It has been wonderful to introduce them to my new world of exotic sights and scenery, Ghanaian friends and family, as well as local dishes and drinks. Along with the joy of sharing come my guests’ impressions and thoughts about life here in West Africa. Fresh insights about the heat, the quality of the roads, the nightlife, and the family systems and other things has made me look at my surroundings in a different light.

My guests have pointed out funny things - like that you can pay five and get 2000 back in change - and by just being here themselves they have provoked interesting situations (many Ghanaians referred to my father as my brother for instance and my friend as my twin). We have discussed how to deal with the ever so deep inequalities between people here, if it would be possible to introduce composts and solarcells here, and which is the best way to plant a pineapple. We have told Ghanaians about our cold country in the north and learned about their lush green nation. Also, my guests have been able to provide me with interesting comparisons between both Ghana and India as well as between Ghana and Sweden in the 1950ies (!) and the (selected) outcome is as follows: There are less wild dogs than in India but a few more goats running about than in Sweden in the 1950ies…

On a more serious note, having people who know me come to share my realities here means a lot to me and their visiting perspectives continue to enrich my everyday life in Ghana. I hope it has become evident for my guests why I love Ghana and I do have the feeling they, with their experiences of other continents and times, have fallen too...

In the picture a Swedish flag on a fishing canoe in the Elmina harbor, western Ghana.

Destination Unknown

Last week I attended the graduation ceremony for University of Ghana where graduates from the student body of 27 000 was awarded their diplomas. The sun was shining over bright smiles as they one by one were called to the podium to be recognized. But after accepting the diploma, what happens to the graduates?

The research project I am about to start will investigate what people do leave Ghana for supposedly greener pastures abroad and what groups stay. For instance if half of the medical doctors trained in Ghana leaves for Europe and US, why do the rest stay? These days I am collecting and reading articles on the subject and spending time thinking about how to narrow my topic down. Will I focus on groups of university graduates and look at how migration patterns differ between the sexes? Or will I look at other groups too since the educated group is relatively small - although influential on the country's development? What sectors should I choose? Will I compare the situation in Ghana to another African country? The destination is unknown both for me and for my fellow students in Ghana.

Centipost

I blame my poor posting lately on, ehrm, that I am between jobs and have too many fun things to do. Although, over the last two years I have been posting quite a lot, to be precise 100 times!

When I started blogging, the idea was to write about my relocation to France and the inevitable culture shocks. I started off with some inspiration from fellow bloggers and my favorite Piaf song "Non, je ne regrette rien". The blog has since then been about travels, also since I left Paris, but furthermore about similarities and differences between places on this planet and the people I have met. Writing here has allowed me to process and refine some of my thoughts on experiences I have had. Over my 100 posts I have visited four continents and a peninsula, moved to Ghana, discovered the amazing possibilities a blog can offer, and worried about that you people out there can know a lot about me before I know anything about you... Well, that is just a risk I take, and I have plenty of evidence it has been worth it.

To conclude this jubilee post I want to thank all my readers and especially the new ones that I have met through my blog!

Capitalism 2.0

In the world I walk around in this week, change is key. In the markets things that did not exist one year ago are being sold (like digital photo frames that show your pics from a USB memory), old buildings can from one day to the next have been cleared down to make space for brand new, exciting arcitechture - often 10 or 20 times taller. Shops that are not profitable close after a week or two, the club that was in last month is most likely not the place to be tomorrow night. The feel is wonderfully capitalistic-optimistic and today as I walked in to the Shanghai Museum of Urban Planning, the lady at the ticket office proudly told me that the current exhibition would tell me more about the city in 20 years time. The future is here!

The downside to the whole thing is of course the lack of environmental and..ehrm..human concerns. Of course there are many women and men as well as geographical areas that suffer when products are being quickly produced and sold for small change ("Everything 2 yuan Shops" =0.20 cent, are everywhere). Although, it might be changing. It is not easy to get information on these things here, but small signs like that organic foods are available - even if in a small scale and often imported and a well-to-do middle class is emerging, at least here in Shanghai.

Seeing this exploding growth makes me think of the information clash that probably exists since in Europe we can read every week about "The China Bubble". The headlines scream out "Sell your China papers!" and "The end for China is here!" While the concern is almost never about environment or human rights, the economy journalists worry about the "financial fragility" of the Chinese market. Coincidently, a Swedish finance guy I met in a fancy club at The Bund - the Shanghai see shore and business centre since a decade - said that "with the Olympic Games in Beijing next year and the World Expo in Shanghai 2010, people would be crazy to listen to those who predict a soon-to-come downfall of the Chinese market".

Well, if I would trust the vibe I've gotten here in Shanghai over this first week and that handsome financeman, I'd buy into Chinese stocks. Although, my money will more likely be spent on a last minue trip to Beijing tomorrow where I'll look for further capitalism clues.

Snapshots of Shanghai

Pet rabbits for sale, a stop with a private driver at Starbucks, a sweet smell of jasmine, an old lady stretching her leg on the street (almost straight up!), a loud argument in a local restaurant that seemed to be about a dumpling, people at the view point by the famous Shanghai skyline looking at rubber toys being sold on the pavement instead of the amazing architecture, orchids, a policeman telling an old lady to get of her bike, a Turkish business man struggling with his English, five toddlers playing on a balcony overlooking the pretty French Concession area, flowerpots hanging from the sides of the motorway, and me holding a map - something I rarely do, since I hate being obvious about my un-belonging, but in this case its too clear I am new to it all. I'm guessing I can be seen around town with a map tomorrow too!

On Closeness

Sitting in a comfy chair looking out over a grayish blue ocean. The horizon is blurred, the sky is cloudy and there is rain in the air.

Today is my last but one day on the island and it has been a truly delightful experience to reconnect with my previous home, paths I used to walk, friends from the school days and marvellous dinners created by my own parents. I have been telling stories from Ghana and in formulating my new life in the south my Ghanaian relationships and realities seem surprisingly close. Close to this - very different - life in Sweden.

In the picture Sakko is sitting where I am sitting now.

Home Safe Home

Looking at Sweden with African eyes, it looks empty, clean and wholesome, almost too orderly. I am not saying the Ghanaian open gutters, crowded streets and littered beaches are better, but what Sweden strives for, and indeed has come pretty close to, seems to be perfection. If there is such a thing as a too secure society, I think it looks something like Sweden.

In Ghana I get upset with how few people use seatbelts, even though everybody know someone who was involved in a traffic accident. I get sad when I think of all the unwanted and uncatered for children. But Ghana is also a place where it seems to be part of the calculation of life that bad things can happen. There is so to speak a preparedness. An African friend living in Sweden told me about how a collegue's parent died and noone at the work place did anything which shocked my friend. She said, it is like people in Sweden think there's a way to avoid death.

Maybe we Swedes need to invent a better engineered helmet and pass a law that it is to be used at all times, or maybe we should just relax and enjoy the ride though our clean and wholesome kingdom.

Rain in Uppsala

This week, I have moved my physical self to Sweden and am currently experiencing the october drizzle in Uppsala.

But in the pic the sky is blue.