Frustrations

This "no internet at home" thing has gotten old fast. They came by yesterday after Jens got home from work at 6:30 - but they came two hours late, at 8:30. And stayed for two hours. And haven't fixed the problem yet.

Today they are giving us a new IP address. Jens has begun to suspect that either their equipment is faulty, or it's the cabling in the house.

So here I am on my phone, making arrangements, writing emails, registering with the US Embassy, waiting all day for people to come make repairs (today it's the washing machine - and if we're very very lucky, curtain rods). I can't go shopping or even out for lunch while I'm waiting for these guys, who are supposed to show up at 10.

It's just frustrating that every new step takes a full day. If we need a new washer, I don't expect to have it for a week. And that's the best case which includes calling and bugging and putting pressure on them every day.

Also our shipment has been delayed five days. Who knows how long that will translate to in real time.

One last thing. The air conditioners in every room display their energy efficiency on a sticker on their side. Out of a maximum five-star rating, these all proudly show their rank: ONE. So much for our electricity bills.

Just frustrated by all these things we haven't gotten used to yet. Like how long things take and the fact that quality is not to be expected, even from these landlords who help us out in so many other respects.

posted from Bloggeroid

posted from Bloggeroid

Chickens

Let me tell you about chickens.
I'm starting to become something of an authority on them. We have about ten living on out street and another dozen within earshot.

They do not merely crow when the sun rises.
They do not crow every hour.
They do not crow once a day.

They can crow three times a minute if they want to.
They crow at any time of day, be it 3am or 5pm.
Wikipedia says this sound means "get off my territory!"

It does not sound like "cock-a-doodle-doo." There are only four syllables, so it sounds more like "cock-a-doodle!" But even that isn't really the right sound.

I don't know who came up with those sounds. It's really just "rr-a-errrrr-rrrr!"

It's something to get used to, and with chickens roaming around the streets everywhere, it's a ubiquitous sound. Hopefully after a few weeks, the crows will stop waking us up before dawn.

At least we have been able to go back to sleep!

posted from Bloggeroid

Moved In!

We are fully out of the temporary apartment and 100% in the new house!  We have internet, though it's on the slow side.  We have electricity and gas and running water.  There are tenants on floors 1, 3 and 5 already; floor 4 has someone committed and LL was showing floor 2 today.  Because the house is so nearly filled up, we are promised a generator "within two weeks."  Power has been consistent here lately, but you never know when it will cut out and it's good to know that we won't be waiting months when outages happen.

We're 100% moved in, but not 100% finished.  Some of our stuff has yet to be installed and some of it's still on a boat headed towards this continent.  But all of our suitcases are here and most of them are unpacked.

On Saturday we went out for lunch and afterwards headed to the road in Cantonments where you go to buy bamboo and wicker furniture.  A dozen craftsmen lay out their stock on the side of the street, right up to (and sometimes over) the sewer.  Though I need to show pictures, I didn't have my camera with me because we both thought we were only going to lunch when we left the house.  

However, I do have photos of the furniture we bought there!  And I'll get pictures of the area, too.  We'll have to go back to the guy who made them, because we don't like the fabric of the cushions.  They were the only ones he had and he told us he'd make us cushion covers included in our price, if we bring him whatever fabric we want.  It's a brown-based pattern with purple and orange hibiscus flowers.  

Not the most desirable color.  But anyway, you can now also see the full depth of our balcony.  This one goes around the corner to the right for even more space.  

On Sunday we went to Melcom (I wouldn't be surprised if the building was made in China... certainly 98% of the contents were!) and stocked up on curtain rods, curtains, shower curtains, kitchen appliances, and a whole lot of sundries we needed to start out a new household.  We spent bundles of money, and Jens even had to go to an ATM midway through the checkout to get some more.  To be fair, we'd wanted to use a credit card but the machine was broken.

Melcom's a funny "department" store, which stocks everything from furniture to kitchen appliances, has a grocery section, stationery, plastic flowers, upholstery, in-home saunas and bicycles... and also little booths that house other shops.  Clothes, Sony, a local bookstore, and two "restaurants" are here, as well as a salon and - of all things - a dentist!

For a decent price, we knowingly compromised on quality but managed to get almost everything we need.  I say decent - these things would have cost a third of what we paid in Melcom if we had been in the US or Europe.  Now, we are waiting for the shipment, which has our couch, bookshelf, and shoe rack - we'll need another of those, looking at the pile of shoes we have unpacked - and still need to find and buy a dining table and chairs, plus more furniture for the balconies.  Plants, too - we have plans for many, many plants.  And I can't stop thinking how much I'd like the companionship of a cat... not one off the street, I'm thinking about an expat who leaves and doesn't take the cat with them.  I missed my opportunity by a few days last week.  Just gotta keep my eyes open and have the right timing!  Though there was this really cute gray and white kitten I saw twice last week near the house... Hmm!

Hamentaschen made by me and Aimee last weekend - happy Purim, a week late!

--THE HOUSE--

This is the dining and living area, with the new furniture all in sight.  We got these four pieces - a double papasan, two singles and a little table which is between the two singles - for 200 cedi (about €100).

Here is the full length of the room!

The spacious kitchen.  Note the rice cooker.  Not visible in photo: microwave, hot plate (for when the gas is out), toaster oven.  (Did we go overboard on appliances?!)

View from the main balcony towards city centre.  To the left of the tall palm tree (outside the frame) you can see Independence Square - a big parade ground.  No bonus points for guessing what they celebrate there every year.

The master bedroom... clearly a work in progress!  See the balcony?  We're gonna put chairs on that, and more plants.  A bed frame should be coming this weekend.  Something simple, until we find a carpenter we like to make a gorgeous long-term one. 

There are also two other bedrooms, a spare/storage room with washing machine and fridge, and a guest bathroom connected to the dining/living area.  For a floorplan, check out the landcouple's website.

There is still much to be done, like having the curtain rods installed and in some cases picking the curtains.  There are tweaks everywhere (at the moment we have no water - more on that later - and there's still a leak in the second bathroom) but hey!  I'm optimistic!  This stuff just takes time, and now we have time.  And more importantly, we have a place to sleep, cook, and live!

Our internet's been spotty today, so I"m posting this now, while it's back up.  Working on a couple more posts in the meantime, for later!

Tro-tro Travels

Yesterday Aimee the Roomie (I'll stop calling her that now - but she will be our roommate until her time in Accra ends in June) took me on my first tro-tro ride.  She's been here a couple of months and therefore is a beacon of experience.

A tro-tro is a public bus.  It has four rows of seats behind the driver's row.  Generally very run-down, but they only let on as many people as can sit down, which is a relief.  The staff are a driver and a "mate" who collects the money from passengers, tells the driver when to let people off, and tells new passengers the destination of the bus.  They are driven recklessly, just like any other car here.  And if you ever want to buy a snack while you're on the road, stick your hand out the window when a hawker walks by selling what you want.  Water, plantain chips, peanuts, meat and fish pies, bottled yogurts, Mentos - all the Ghanaian staples.  I've heard, though, that from April 1st these street vendors will be fined for selling in the streets.  I will have to take advantage of them and take some photos before then!

When Aimee and I reached Oxford Street we heard a mate yelling what I thought was "tet-sev, tet-sev tet-sev tet-sev!"  That was our bus, to the neighborhood called "37."  We went to Max Mart, the only grocery store I hadn't been to yet.  Guess what?  It's another grocery store.  37 has a huge tro-tro depot which also doubles as a market.  I didn't take any photos, though I brought my camera.

House News!  We are meeting LL tonight to collect the keys to our new place!  The internet should be installed today (I know, I know) and I think the cooker's still sitting outside of its bespoke hole in the counter. I am hopeful these things can be fixed today.  That makes tomorrow moving day!

I'll definitely take photos of that.  And I remember now, I still owe photos of the move-out!

aaaanother house update

LL (that's Landlady) said the house was being cleaned up professionally on Monday.  When we called to check up on it, she insisted we'd be "pleasantly surprised" with what we saw.  Aimee the Roomie and I went over Monday night to check it out.  Not Clean At All - open paint cans, smears on the floor, dust all over the place.

Meanwhile, Jens got a phone call yesterday evening, saying that the mattresses we had ordered were ready.  (As the new place is unfurnished, obviously we'll need something to sleep on until the shipment comes in, and we'll use them as guest mattresses once our real ones come in.)  So he went over there to take the delivery and put them somewhere.  He reports the place is now sparkling clean.  All that remains is the cooker (stove/oven) needs to be installed and the internet needs to be set up.  (their promise of last Friday became Tuesday became today...)  If they take much longer, I'm convening a wild party in our flat.  We're directly above their office.  That'll force them to leave the office and go get our internet set up!

Tonight we're off to yet another concert at the Alliance Française (well, March is Francophone Month at the Alliance, so I guess it's full of special events).  The Ivorian Dobet Gnahoré is apparently a singing, dancing, drumming sensation, and we get to see her for the bargain price of 6 cedis.  


The choir's fantastic fun.  I'm in a four-strong alto section along with seven tenors, six sopranos and two basses.  We have a show on April 30th, a benefit for Japanese tsunami/earthquake victims.  The director is dynamic and devoted.  I am so, so excited to be singing again.


In personal news, I'm inches away from calling a local dentist.  My teeth are starting to go crazy every time I have something cold and/or sweet.  No fruit juice in Accra?  I don't think so!  My No Worries guide (in-depth insider-insight Yellow Pages written by expats, for expats) has a good list of recommended dentists, so we'll see.

BeIng (a poem)

I want to live my life
For me
Without without
Without
Waiting
Waiting for opportunity
To overpower me
For chance
To catch up with me

I want to sieze this time I have
On our vast turning globe

Location is one thing, but
Being here really BE
Ing
In this place,
Fully-
That's another feat.

And my fear is holding me back,
Dozens of tens of whatifs
Whatifidon't like it.
Whatifi can't do it.
Whatifi, ifi, if I
Regret this choice?

Life tells me, from experience,
Child, the only regret is taking no path at all. Even "bad" choices are
Learning experiences.
Filed away for don't-do-that-agains
And funny/horrible/exciting
Campfire, coffee table stories.

So
What am I waiting for?

Lightning strikes
Those who hesitate-
And not in a good way.

Enough of paralysis
I don't need to wait
For anybody or anything.
I am a phenomenal woman!
And that means doing things for
Myself.

No one else need be proud of it,
But I'll know it when I have accomplished.
It will be sweet,
I have A, anticipate C
All that stands between is step B:
Getting my hands dirty!



Just a bit of a poem I cranked out (on my phone, hence the capital letters on every line) to try and help myself start doing something. Hope I manage- I know there are opportunities and somehow I need to get myself to pursue them actively. Despite being scared that I'm in a new environment, rather than excited for all these new learning experiences. Just gotta do something!

posted from Bloggeroid

new house, next week!

The landlady called yesterday to let us know that the new house should be cleaned up and ready for us to move in on Monday.  She has a new tenant for the place we're in now who wants to move in Wednesday, though she's trying to negotiate for Thursday to buy us a bit more time.

It doesn't help that Jens has to be in work during the day and my German classes run Tuesday to Thursday evenings, so there's no time the two of us can do the moving together.  But it will work by each of us taking a few bags at a time.  With eight full and heavy suitcases, smaller trips are not always such a bad idea!  Also, I have the number of a taxi driver who helped me move stuff from B's place, where we kept it when we went back to Dublin for two weeks, and I'll ask him to help us out.

Yesterday we went to a bazaar at the "community school" in Accra.  Mostly we found things you see every day in the arts centre's market - beads, baskets, a few masks - but we also saw a couple of independent small businesses that were great to hear about, like a Ghanaian making good Italian pasta and a couple of artists, carpenters and antique sellers whose numbers we picked up for later.

Inconsistencies

Where do I start with a post titled "inconsistencies"? They're everywhere. A house that was supposed to be ready by the time we got here is now going to be done "at the end of the week," and we all know that probably means two more weeks. Taxi drivers say they know where they're going when you ask to go somewhere, then two minutes into the ride start pulling over and asking people on the side of the street how to get there.

But enough about that; I'm talking about inconsistencies I tell. For example, half the people I meet are introduced to my full name while the other half get my nickname. I've already forgotten who has gotten what - this will become royally confusing, I already know.

Also, some people refer to Jens as my husband by default and I don't say anything; it's generally regarded as safer to say you're married. People take the relationship more seriously. I find it easier to do with Ghanaians, though. So when I went to the local internet provider's office last night and they asked about my husband, I had no problem playing along... but I talked to the boss this morning, who's European, and found it really hard to stick to my "husband" story.

I predict I'll end up going with the old nickname as everyone's trying to abbreviate my full name anyway, and I'll start being able to refer to Jens as my husband to people who would be more comfortable hearing that.

At the moment I'm off to Oxford Street to meet with an English expat and have smoothies; after that to the Goethe institut to register for my German class. And then back home to get real internet installed, instead of relying on 3G on the phone.

We have a roommate, I went to choir on Tuesday again, and the new place in the yellow building is making progress towards being ready for us to move in. And it's hot outside!

posted from Bloggeroid

Photo Post: Senegal, Days 1-3

to Senegal!  Jens went to Nigeria on the second week of our visit, and Dakar the third week.  I'm not ready for Nigeria, but Senegal sounded lovely - and it was.  Day 1 was spent lounging at the pool; Day 2 saw me wandering around being guided by some man who I managed to communicate with in English and French. Day 3 was a ferry trip with Googlers; more on that below.

Sunrise from the 10th-floor hotel room

mask

wood carver

these buses go everywhere

guard at the Presidential Palace

on day 3, I went to the Ile Goree with two visiting Googlers and their families, while Jens was in conferences. We walked to the port to catch the ferry, buying oranges on the way...

and came across a dead fish...

presumably for sale.

Googler one: Thierry with girlfriend Shika

playing on the ferry

first view!

beach football

Here's a bright little fish, marinating in the salt of evaporated water on the pier.

There's me in front of a memorial to I don't know what!

art made from reused garbage

monument to freedom

In the evening, we clambered into buses like the one I showed above, took an hour-long ride to the beach, and got to another island on boats like this:

We ate grilled fish and were treated to local dancing with drums.  

Even the obronis got in on it!

After a long day, we went home.

Tomorrow I'll post day 4, but for now I have to scoot around in a taxi!  Pick up our stuff from Bridgette's, bring back the key to the office, then drop the stuff in the apartment before cleaning that up so they can show it to someone... Life, here I come!

Arrived

We're here!  We're in Accra!  We left the house in Dublin at 10 on Sunday, spent the night in Germany with Jens's parents and met his new niece, and then flew to Accra on Monday afternoon, arriving around 6pm.

At the moment we're staying in Landcouple's second-choice place for us (the blue building) as it's finished and furnished, and they're working on getting the yellow building done by the end of the week.  As I may or may not have mentioned, they painted the large internal dividing wall red, and they've named the flat the Moulin Rouge in honor of that.  (How whimsical.)  Jens got in touch with someone who can make us a bed for the Moulin Rouge until our shipment comes in.  LC are trying to get internet to the place by Friday; also, air conditioners haven't yet appeared in their latest photos and that's a must before we move in.  And we've just got to hope that the power doesn't go out too often before they get a generator installed ("by the end of the year," as soon as more tenants move in, they hope).  Things will come together, if not always as quickly as hoped.  That's part of living in Africa, though!

Speaking of the shipment, it's already en route... well, anyway, we have the name of the boat!  Jens thinks this is only the boat taking it to a continental European port, as it seems rather small and precarious for big ocean voyages.  How does he know?  Google the Perseus J and see for yourself!  The container's due to arrive on April 12th, but Jens will be in Nigeria that week so we'll have to wait until the end of the week.  Cross your fingers for smooth seas.  As you can see, the containers on the ships aren't exactly stored with security first.

Up next: some more photo posts.  I have Senegal, a handful more of Accra from last time, and photos of the moving-out!

Banal update: still warm, very humid.  We went to the Irish pub for dinner last night; kind server, average food, will go there Thursday for Paddy's.  And we got to the nearby supermarket and stocked the fridge with essentials.  Heeeere we go!

this is it

we leave tomorrow.  I've said my goodbyes and our suitcases are all full & ready.  We've done all we can... now it's up to life to lead the way.

I'll miss this place.



p.s.- landlady in Accra wrote yesterday- our first-choice apartment is available again!  We'll take it!

Motivation is hard work

As I was getting a haircut two days ago (it's too short!  it kinda makes me feel like a rocker.  I'll take a photo some time), it started to sink in how fast time is flying towards our real, big, serious departure from Ireland.  The movers are coming in on Tuesday to put everything in a 20-foot container and ship it over the seas, to be seen a month or two later (if we're lucky).  Thursday we have a professional cleaner coming in to strip away the accumulated dust and grime of the past 2 1/2 years.  There's a going-away party Thursday night, and then it's just anticipation until Sunday.  We took an inventory of everything insurable inside the house (it turns out that, using rough estimates, we've got about €24,000 worth of stuff in here.  Those estimates are guesses of how much it'd cost to replace in Ghana, which might run higher than the original price.)

I know we have to get things ready before the movers come.  I have to know exactly what they're not packing, so I don't set aside more stuff than will fit in our suitcases.  Also it will make me more psychologically ready to go, I think.  Say "moving" as many times as I may, on a deep level it's hard not to think of that Ghana trip as just a holiday that's over now.  Lease in Accra, what lease?  Sure, I could go back there for a while.  But isn't Dublin my primary home?  

I've decided to sell the bodhran I bought here so many years ago.  I haven't touched it since 2007 and won't use it in Ghana, either.  If I really find I miss drumming, I'll take up the kpanlogo.  I don't know if anyone will want it, but I'm offering it first on Facebook and then will ask Jens to ask around Google.  With such a huge community, surely there are trad enthusiasts out there.  

We're headed to Ikea tonight with a rented van to buy new slats for a bed frame, and tomorrow morning we'll drive the van to the recycling center in Ringsend to drop off all our old broken electronics, lightbulbs, rusty pots, and other big waste.  

Am I really going to love it in Accra?  For the first few months, probably not with all my heart.  I don't think I'll ever appreciate the stink of the open sewers flanking every paved road.  It's also nice in Dublin that I can be outside for more than 5 minutes without sweating.  And the number of beers available in Accra I think you can count on one hand.

However, in Ghana is the first time I've ever enjoyed a papaya, cut a pineapple, or guzzled water straight out of a green coconut.  I'll be able to wear dresses and skirts every day because it'll be so warm, and there will be sun guaranteed practically every day.  I'll be living a block from a gelateria and less than that from a smoothie shop; oh yes, and two blocks the other direction from the Irish pub.  I have a choir.  And did I mention, I already ran into a Jewish lady in Accra who wants me to help with Hebrew-schooling her kids?!?

Lindsay from TCD, who moved to South Africa 6 months ago, advised me early on that it's impossible to compare.  Experience them as two separate things.  Good advice- hard to do.

I'd like to pack a lot, but it doesn't feel real while the decorations and furniture are still there.  Without them around, I'd get to it easier because it'd feel less like home.  And I can't pack those without the movers, for insurance reasons.  Maybe I can at least put them into stacks in one place.