Rethinking slavery

A visit to the museum and conversations made me think of slavery again. You cannot escape the theme in Ghana. West Africa might have been the worst hit by slavery. I still need to go to Cape coast to see the gates of no return but I am coming to a better understanding already.

Slavery already existed in Africa, way before the westerners began dabbling in it. The Arabs sold slaves from West Africa to East Africans. The argument is that this trading was a lot more humane than what the Europeans did. Possibly.

A few months back I watched many documentaries of Cattle herders. The Tibetans were really gentle and cared, the Iranians cared less but they did care. The children carried lambs in their arms while migrating. But the westerners cared very little. The lambs would be dragged around by feet and there was no personal connection with the animals.

Yes the scale of trade matters. But to treat people like commodities was a crime in humanity but justified even in many religious texts. I would say that we must treat every living thing with a lot more respect because at a later day our actions will turn around to haunt us.

The Makola market fiasco

I went to Makola market yesterday with my camera expecting to take plenty of pictures. Some women got real angry and would not allow pictures of the place.
They threatened to pour water on my camera and said the police will catch me. Pretty quickly, my camera went back in to the bag it came from. Too bad because otherwise we would have had some fun pictures. I did manage to get a few. Enjoy!

Some images from Makola market

Our Landlady and the home baked cake she gave me yesterday.

Mango trees everywhere. No shortage of mango pickles in my kitchen.

The school that becomes many churches on Sunday!

About Red Red and other things

Today I had red red for lunch at school. This dish consists of fried bananas (plantains) and bean curry. The bean curry is red. I do not know why it is called red-red. It was good. But now I am too full. With a faculty discount the meal comes to a dollar or less. So if I was complaining about high prices, school lunches are not among those.

In fact this is the second time I have tried outside food, with being sick and busy and all that. I have not had fufu yet but I did taste banku, which is similar to fufu, which I liked very much. The markets around where we live are uninteresting. The land lady and others have offered to take me around. I stop at the Land lady's house for a chat when I go back from school. People here are really friendly and orderly. No rushing, pushing, or shouting. Every one speaks English even road side sellers. They also speak Ga in Accra. In other cities they speak different languages.

There are 37 students in my class right now. It is a pleasure to see them hard at work on the hw which is due on Thursday. A little hard work hurt no one, so they say!

Dust allergy and a wasted weekend in Accra

It is the Harmattan season in Ghana and there is dust from the Sahara desert everywhere. I cannot see any dust but I can feel it. And with my dust allergy, I was coughing and sneezing the last few days. I wore a towel veil all day and that made me feel better. I am sure the French president wont mind a full face cover if a woman is protecting herself from dust.

Everything is quite expensive in Ghana. I was making weekend plans which would have come to naught anyways since I was sick. But the point is that the tour operator decided to charge 400 dollars for a day trip. I say America is quite cheap compared to the rest of the world these days. It is 125 dollars a day for renting a car and you pay for a full tank on top of that. The stores in Ghana, at least in the parts I live, have few choices in goods. A lot of products are imported and costs three times US prices. So my meals are rather simple. In a way that is a good thing. In the US we consume too much whether it is food or other stuff.

I figured the cheapest way to explore will be by bus or hiring a taxi for a whole day. But I will worry about that in the weekend, since I will be busy teaching the next few days.

Wishing all good health and cheer.

Good bye for now from Ghana.

First week in Ghana - Finally in Africa!

I finally have time to realize that I am in Africa. As I walked to school today, I saw this lovely yellow butterfly, I have never seen before. The butterfly was really beautiful. Accra, Ghana, does not spell Africa all the time, because it is a city. Moreover, I am busy with school. But once in a while the flash of colors of a butterfly, a colorful lizard, or a bird I have never seen before brings me to awareness that I am indeed in Africa!

As I walk down the market the beaded jewelry is all ceramic and really beautiful. Africa means strong colors. The people have given up colors but the flora and fauna have not and it is quite a thrill. People of Ghana are really friendly. I have never come across friendly people like this. On Sunday, a school was transformed in to a bunch of churches. All the singing from these different groups made me feel like it is Christmas time. They kept shaking hands and welcoming us, strangers from a different land.

The art and people of Ghana rocks. Now on the down side, Ghana really needs to work on its sewage systems. The current sewage systems in Accra is unacceptable and needs more urgent attention than global warming. I will ask the world to step in and help these wonderful people address this health hazard. I am at a loss how alarm bells did not ring for any one yet, for me it surely did.

Teaching in Ghana is no different from teaching in America. The TA system, course outline, even the books are familiar. This week was busy figuring out school. Hopefully the weekend will be spend figuring out Africa.

Cheers!