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June 13th

On Friday I got my first substantial work assignment from the lead Partner of the firm I'm interning with. I don't think it's really appropriate to talk much about it on here (if my law school nerds want to talk about it I can tell you as much as I'm allowed).

As for the weekend, the adventure for me, Shara (henceforth Eliza Thornberry) and Drea started as soon as we got to Nkurma circle to catch the bus (aka a TroTro with a little extra room, and air conditioning) . When we heard that we had to go to Keneshi station (a short work from the circle) we think “oh yeah no problem”...but nothings ever that easy in Accra. The first challenge was finding the “station”. We asked the owners of a bunch of different new stands and they pointed us in some general direction but never really helped us more than that. When we finally found the damn thing it turned out to be a giant parking lot filled with tro tros. None of them were clearly labeled so you had to ask the all of the drivers for the one you want. With a little luck we finally found it and were able to get on shortly before we left.
After the 3 hour ride (with traffic) we checked into our hostel where I encountered the first forigen people (outside of the ones that I live with) all week. The 3 of us had a pretty chill night on the roof of the hotel and prepared for our long Saturday
The next morning we set out to see Cape Coast Castle. As I alluded to in my mini post on Friday, the castle served as a slave trading center. I've read about all of the atrocities of the slave trade in several works books and biographies, so I all I can do as our tour guide led us through was shake my head. Many of the Ghanian's made loud exclamations of anger and I couldn't help but wonder if they blocked out the history of the slave trade in their minds? Do they even bother to teach it in school? Or was it just that time doesn't heal all wounds?
One of the Ghanian castle visitors approached me as we walked around, declaring “ I think you are Ghanaian”. Confused I told him shyly that I was American but he retorted “oh no, no, you may live in America but I feel that your heritage is Ghanian”. That's all together possible. This gentleman was the first of many Cape Coasters to advise me to further explore my African heritage, no matter how distant in time. Even young Ghanian men that we hung out with after watching the USA game implored me to explore as much of Ghana as I can while I'm here.
After the castle we went the kakoom national park. It is home to leopards, elephants, snakes, rare butterflies, monkeys, all types of strange ruffage and much more. However during the day many of the animals are afraid to strut their stuff so we were (resided) to simply the trees. What better way to enjoy them though than from above? Here's where the scariest time of my trip so far came. Most people who know me are probably away that me and heights aren't exactly best friends forever. At the suggestion of Elyse and the chiding of Eliza Thornberry and Andrea I had no choice but to face my fears and partake in the “canopy walk” which is basically a series of 7 narrow , shaky bridges, surrounded by flimsy nets, in between trees about 40 meters high. Although my fears were faced, they certainly weren't conqured because I probrably wouldn't do it a second time.
Later we went to Hans cottage, where Eliza Thornberry (note: this is a Nickelodeon cartoon reference for those who don't get it. She's an explorer who lives in Africa with her parents and talks to animals) was souped to touch some crocodiles. Though we saw one, we didn't get close enough to touch it and instead opted to swim in the hotel pool and eat a snack of plantain chips, rather than swimming with the crocs and becoming a snack for them.
That night we watched the USA battle England to a draw at the Oasis hotel. It was a pretty chill beach side spot, costing all of $7 a night per person. Here we met some local dudes who were putting on a street show later that night (I'll post those pictures tomorrow). The star of the show was Xman. Despite his name he was a pretty down to earth dude and was one of the biggest advocates of me getting to know as much of my heritage as I can. Another guy I met, nicked named “Fish” is a chef at a healthfood/breakfast spot we tried to go that morning, but was closed. (There was a surpising number of vegetarian reasturants in cape coast, including bobab tree which Elyse recommended to me. Unfortantley the oweners chef hadn't shown up for work yet :-/ )
Surprisingly the highlight of the weekend wasn't our excursion to cape coast, but rather Ghana's first match of the 2010 World Cup against Serbia. We all donned our Black Stars Jerseys, painted our faces and went to Eso's pub, a sports bar across the street from my law firm. The girls were amazed by how developed the neighborhood of Osu was compared to the neighborhood we live in, a fact I suppose I took for granted. The atmosphere during the match was like none I ever experienced in any sporting event, live or on Television. Red, Green and Gold the bar and the volume was defeaning, from the vuvuzelas (South African Trumpets) , to chants and songs. When Ghana finally scored their first goal in the 80' or so minute, the owner had to run out from behind the bar to warn us that if we jumped and celebrated too hard, the deck we were watching the game on might collapse. After the match, jubilation sweept the streets of Accra ...





June 9th

Court was much the same song and dance as my first day. I did get to see a whole hearing from start to finish regarding an estate issue but that's kinda dull for my non-law school readers. The most interesting part of my day was my trip home. I was planning on meeting my friends at “labadi beach” for “reggea night”. I set out for the “tro tro” and I was fine until all of a sudden the thing starts smoking (not enough water on the engine). So then I catch another one that went to “labadi” but wasn't close enough to the beach for me to walk. Luckily a kind teenager named Agnes walked me all the way to the stop to get one that would put me right out front (and she even talked to me while I waited and made sure I got on the right one this time! If you haven't figured it out by now, I'd be screwed without the kindness of strangers so if you come across a foreinger who seems to talk funny and can't seem to figure out how to get exactly where he needs to get, try helping a brother out if you can.
Well I get to labadi beach but it starts pouring. If you thought getting around was hard in the hot sun, the rain is impossible. I wish I can say I ducked in to some small chop shop and chatted the locals about the Black Stars chances against Serbia this Sunday but I can't. The only thing around was the “labadi beach hotel”, a high-end joint for foreigners doing “Africa Lite”, so I escaped there for a bit. After dark, I set out to try my chances with the tro tro. I took off my shirt to add a layer of protection for my netbook and sought cover under a small bus shelter. Hours past and I felt like I could still see the same cars not too far in the distance, and every tro-tro and taxi that past was not accepting customers. I knew then it would be impossible to get home without a little luck. Again luck twice in the form of a teenage Ghanian girl who shouted out from a newish volkswagen “hey you, where are you going”. I took a few seconds to check my gut, and it told me this was the only way I was getting home. I told her first junction and she waved me over. There a found a father, the girl and two other kids. So was less than a week in Ghana and I've already been in a car accident and I've hitchhiked. After about an hour and a half in traffic we made it to first junction and from there I grabbed a “shared taxi” to my street. I'll never complain about the Metro again.


Today I met the lead partner of my firm for the first time. Everyone has spoken so highly of him all week and I can see why. He's extremly sharp and eloquent, and has a good sense of humor. He wants me to brief him on my first week in the office tomorrow so he can figure out how to use me better for my remaining time here.

This weekend Shara, Andrea and I are going to “Cape coast”. It's most famous for being a hub for slave trading (possible that my ancestors once past through there”. We're going to see the castles (as Elyse suggested) the national park, and possible take in Ghana's world cup match at a local bar. I hope to have some great pictures to finally share!