Ghana – Chapter 7

Accra, February 23, 2005

"Accra weather this week"

Accra weather this week (every week) - this about sums it up…

This is the dry season.

Great personal success this weekend: I found a good BBQ grill.  It’s called a “Gyapa Stove”.  It must have been developed by some aid agency.  It is manufactured in Ghana and is all handmade.  It is a round charcoal grill (about 20” exterior diameter) that is lined with clay (about 1.5” thick). 

It works really well – a little charcoal produces a lot of heat.  We grilled up some sausages and steak last night to test it and it was fantastic. 

Now just need a good grill for it and a lid (a round one like a Weber grill).  “We” included Jeremy – a colleague from USAID who is bacheloring it these days while his wife is off somewhere as a UN election observer (Georgia? Armenia?), and Ben – an intern (grad student at Brandeis in Boston) who is working in our office for 6 months.

Sylvanus and I went to the big downtown market in Accra (Makola Market) Monday morning and looked for about an hour before we found some good grills.  I actually bought two of them.  The first one is two metal car wheels that had been welded together, with a grill made of 5/8” re-rod welded into them to hold the charcoal – weighs about 50 pounds, cost $17. 

After we bought that, I came across a small Gyapa stove (~12” across).  The woman selling it said that she could get a bigger one in a couple of hours, so I sent Sylvanus back to the market in the afternoon to buy the big Gyapa stove (sight unseen).  It cost $30, also weighs about 50 pounds (clay lining and a cement floor in the firebox).  Then I sent Sylvanus around the neighborhood to find some charcoal.  He brought home a very large burlap bag full (about 4 fee high and 2 feet in diameter) that cost me $6.  Then I sent him out to find a couple of cases of beer and we set about firing the two grills up to see which one cooked better (and to let the toxic chemicals burn off – paint, tire rubber, etc.).  The Gyapa grill won hands down.

I was movin’ a little slower Saturday.  I got talked into going out to a Ghanaian nightclub Friday night and stayed out a little later than I’m used to.  We started the evening off with dinner and several games of pool at a place called Aquarius (that’s probably where David will want to spend his time when he comes).  The Aquarius is run by two Ukrainian ladies (both build like 1950’s juke boxes – big, square, real solid, but with bangles instead of flashing neon).  The dinner was good and the pool was fine.  But around midnight someone said, “Let’s go to Macumba”.  I had read about Macumba in the guidebook prepared by the local embassy wives association (all the good restaurants, etc.) where it was described as “a good place for music”, and I had been wanting to go hear some good Ghanaian music, so I said “Sure, why not?”

Well, now I can tell you why not.  First of all, this was techno – not “good Ghanaian music.”  Secondly, it was loud and each set lasted about 20 minutes.  Thirdly – no one dances to Techno and it’s too loud to be able to talk.  This place would probably be a hit with Sasha and her friends, but I’m just not that desperate for entertainment (Hey, I like to listen to the BBC).  Luckily, I switched to soda water as soon as we arrived.  I stuck it out until 0300 and then wandered home (this place is only about ½ mile from my house).  My ears are still ringing.  Crossed that one off the Embassy Women’s Handbook.  There are only about 20 more on the list.

Here are a few more photos for your scrapbooks (I’ll include them as they become available).

This is David, one of my guards.  David is from the town of Bawku – way up in the north of Ghana, on the border with Burkina Faso (OK, guys, get out your atlases and maps of Africa – go North from Accra until you get to the next country and then go East until you eventually come to Bawku)

A little closer…  I couldn’t get him to smile for the photo (in Bawku they sharpen their teeth to points) – maybe next time.

David’s a nice guy.  Salutes me when he greets me, helps out around the yard – waters the vegetables on the weekend when Sylvanus isn’t around, carries my briefcase for me when I walk to the car (about 15 feet).

Here’s another interior shot for you.  This is the metal gate on the door to my bedroom (standing in the hall looking into my bedroom).  This is so that if anything really bad happens, I can lock myself into my bedroom and hit the alarm (the “panic” button).  Then whoever broke into the house can throw me peanuts through the gate.  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I don’t have a padlock to lock the door with.  Also, my alarm isn’t hooked up.  So I’ll just have to close it and ask them to respect my “space”.

Here are some of the flowers growing in my garden along the wall:  hibiscus (yellow) and bougainvillea (purple).

Sylvanus and I found some Rose food at the Ministry of Agriculture store this weekend.  He bought some cucumber seed for the garden too.  Now I’ve got to find some sticks and twine so that he can build a trellis for the cukes to climb.  They rot too easily if left on the ground here.

And finally, my new shoes – hot from the Makola market…

These are called “shwi-shwi” here, based on the sounds they make when you wear them.  They cost me $0.65 – after a little bargaining.

Greg

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