Mi-e dor!

I miss moments and friends…

Lucia made this for me... MyAfrica MyGhana

This is it!

This morning’s feelings:

“I am in Dubai. Just for the next 2 hours. And it feels weird. My gate is number 221 which is situated 5 meters to a McDonalds. I don’t feel tempted in any way. It’s weird because in the last 5,5 months I complained lots and lots of time about the fact that there is no McDonalds in Ghana. I used to talk with Tanja about how the first thing we’re going to do when we leave Ghana is stop in a McDonalds!

The last 3 days feel like so far away. Ghana feels so far away. It’s like a fairytale. Once upon a time there was a girl that decided to do something crazy and go to Ghana. Not that going to Ghana is something crazy. This particular girl going to Ghana is something crazy. When you are the baby of the family for 20 years of your life, and the spoilest person for 25, going to Ghana just like that is something crazy. And don’t trust all you read on the internet if you ever decide to overcome your limits in Africa. The info is never enough !

But this is it. I am back to my idea of civilization. I am back to McDonalds, hot showers and feeling totally safe. It doesn’t feel like it’s me against the world anymore… And I can’t believe there are so many obrouni around me (white people ) Yesterday I was surrounded by obibini, and today there isn’t even one in my proximity. And it feels weird. I guess I can call it reintegration.

I was so close to crying on Tuesday night. It was my farewell party, sort of. And every hug and every kiss was telling me that I might not see these wonderful people ever in my life. These were people that made my cry and laugh, smile with joy, feel embarrassed, people that teased me like hell. These were the people that helped me grow as a person I said again and again that I will miss them. And it’s true. I already miss them so much!

William, Sahil, Lidia and Sushil came at the airport yesterday. I ate fried rice with chicken for the last time, and I had my last Blue Skies: pineapple, mango and passion fruit. Tanja was the last person I spoke on the phone before my departure.

It’s never easy to say good bye.

It’s so hard now to make peace with 2 feelings that are so different. I am sad to leave Ghana behind and so excited that I am moving on. Not that I know where I am going I am going to Vienna for 5 days but that’s not where I am going…

This is it! The ending of a love affair! A love affair with a country, with people, with ideas… A love affair with a house, a job, a street… A love affair with a part of me that I only just discovered…This is it! And quoting a singer I don’t remember the name… It’s never the right time to say good bye…

But I guess this is what it must be… a Good bye!”

5 is a magic number!

I have 5 more full days in Ghana. Wednesday doesn’t count because I will spend it in the airport or in the plane. I was looking at “My 50 days of summer” and at my 5 rules, asking myself if I managed to respect them. Not really!

Rule number 1: No more homesickness! – I didn’t totally respect it… I learned that being homesick is not something that you can control. There are small things that remind you of home, a smell, someone’s smile, someone’s laughter, an e-mail from your friends… all this things that you can’t control and that have the power to take you for a second in the past, where you are surrounded by friends or family. I also learn that homesickness makes the adventure more intense, more powerful, shows you new perspectives upon things and life that otherwise you might have missed!

Rule number 2: No more counting down the days! – Well I did try but when you have a calendar on your desk is kind of impossible to stop doing it And again… I did try! I only cut down the days when I was angry or sad or homesick… I even had days when I didn’t noticed the calendar and I had to cut down 3 days or even 4 at a time… mostly after weekends

Rule number 3: Spend enough time with the friends I made here! – I will never be able to say that I spent enough time with the friends I have made here. This shouldn’t have been a rule from the beginning. It’s just not possible! That’s why we have to meet again A Generation2009 Ghanaian reunion … not necessarily in Ghana… It can be Germany, US, India, New Zeeland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mexico, The Nederland’s, Canada, Romania… It’s just too soon to choose

Rule number 4: Make sure I visit everything I haven’t so far… like Togo or Cote d’Ivoire – I didn’t visit Togo or Cote d’Ivoire, I didn’t have the time or the money… but now I see it as one more reason to come back to Africa! And I will come back; it’s just a matter of time

Rule number 5: Don’t leave the shopping for the last week… – I managed to respect this one… I have only a few minor things to buy… Like getting the last 5 skirts from the seamstress. I am coming back with 13 skirts… And this is kind of funny when thinking that until I came to Ghana I wore a skirt maximum 5 times a year! In the last 5 months I spent 90% of the time wearing a skirt… and this says a lot… I don’t know if about me or about the weather in Ghana

I have a weird feeling when thinking about my decision to come here. My sister asked me today why I came here. Why didn’t I wait to find an internship in Europe, for one year, which would have given me a sense of security?

Why wait? We only live once and we don’t get younger or bolder. With age comes responsibility… There was no better time for me to come here! Yeah, now I am going home… The world is in a financial crisis, Romania is in a political and financial crisis. I don’t have a job. I don’t have money. So what? When did any of these things stopped the world from spinning, stopped the time or stopped people from achieving personal success? It’s a crisis… Screw it! I am going home!

Me happy!

How would you feel to have a monkey as a pet?

On Friday we went with Lucia to visit a family that owns a school in Accra. Lucia needed some pictures for her postcards We arrived there and we were surrounded by kids in less than a minute, although it was a national holiday and everybody had the day off.

Lucia took the pictures and then we went and had a chat with the school owners. They have a monkey as a pet A quite aggressive monkey if you ask me I understood that it’s not common at all to have a monkey as a pet in Ghana and it was so much fun to watch the monkey jumping around.Nobody stood too close to it, not even the owners. When I wasn’t careful enough she grabbed my skirt. It happened so fast I didn’t even have the time to see it. Lucia took some pictures to freeze the moment

:D

Later on we went to Champs and I must say it was the best Friday in Champs ever. The karaoke singers were amazing, I felt like Beyonce, Kanye West and Gloria Gaynor came to entertain us.

Ivan left yesterday. It was the last trip to the airport before my departure next week. Oh, how I will miss these wonderful people that I spent my last 5 months and a half with. William cooked turkey again and we had a kind of “Goodbye lunch” and then spent the last 3 hours with Ivan at the airport bar. I feel this weird emotion when I think about my very soon departure and when I think about the friends I have here. How each one of us goes to a separate way… At the beginning of my internship I told myself that I refuse to cry in Ghana. I have a feeling I will cry the Wednesday after this one!

Me happy!

My first TVC Shoot :)

And probably my last As I probably have mention before I am doing my internship in a full service advertising agency. Yesterday we had a TV Commercial shoot for one of our clients that produces textiles I wasn’t supposed to be there but who can resist a curious obroni that is leaving soon

So I went. I spent around 7 hours there. At the beginning everything was more than interesting. The dresses, the models, the director giving instructions and saying “Again”, and then “Again”, and then “Again”. “Action!”

I had fun Of course after 3 hours spent snooping around I kind of got bored

The location was in this amazing residential area in East Legon. My colleagues told me that the cheapest house there is about 440.000 dollars. It was like I wasn’t even in Ghana. It looked like Beverly Hills in the movies. I can’t even compare it with Kaneshie. No red dust anywhere!

Another aspect that was funny to watch was the make-up set. There was this huge table with so much make-up that I felt like in the make-up heaven. And at every 5 minutes the make-up artists (3 of them) where making sure that the girls were ok, not to shiny, shiny enough and so on… I have changed my opinion about models. I got tired just looking at them. It looks quite hard to spend your day wearing these huge heels and dresses so tight that you need help to get up. And to spend 10 – 12 hours like that. This isn’t an easy job my friends.

And then arranging the scenes and the lights… Moving the furniture, making sure the cables are on the right spot… All this kind of details that if they are in the wrong place, they can ruin everything

Yep, so now I know how they are shooting TVC’s in Ghana. I don’t know if the information will prove useful any time soon but I had satisfied my big big curiosity

The day ended with an event that I became used with by now. Somebody stopped their car, told me they have seen me around and that I am beautiful… and that of course we should meet. When I said I am leaving soon the guy told me its ok, he will visit me in my home country…. Of course, why not!

Me happy

Dear Ghana,

It’s time for me to leave… I am sure you have noticed how restless I have been in the last weeks. I am sure you were aware of my desire to fly away to colder areas of this world You don’t have to take it personal. It’s just the way I am, terribly attached to my family and friends and kind of inpatient most of the time!

Hello/Goodbye/See u soon?/Whatever

I want to thank you. You have been truly amazing and this has been the biggest adventure of my life. I will miss you. I will miss the things you have shown me, I will miss the friends I made with your help. I will miss places and people and plantain… the fried one is the best I am thinking about packing some to get with me but since I am stopping in Vienna for a few days, it’s kind of impossible

I guess I could make a list with the things I will miss… but it will be kind of big and you will get bored reading it It’s enough to say that with both good and bad, you more than overcame all my expectations I am returning back home more mature and more aware of myself, and this my friend… is the biggest achievement of them all

You were a very interesting friend. You made me hate you, and then love you, and then hate you, and then love you… and now I am confused And we both know how much Ghanaians love this word. For the (soon to be) almost 6 months that I have spent in here you were a brother, a sister, a friend, an enemy, a mother, a father… not exactly a lover but it was close Because of you I experienced so many feelings and it was a wonderful journey

I will not invite you in Romania! I don’t want to hurt your feeling but you are kind of a big mama and you will not fit in the plane… or in the country! But I am taking back home with me things that only you could give! And I am grateful to you for that

You are probably asking yourself why I am writing to you this letter, when I have 2 more weeks to enjoy you… I don’t know… it just felt like the right thing to do… or maybe because the mail is so slow around these parts. My friends sent me a Birthday card in October and I still didn’t get it…

This being said I wish you well. I may come back sometime in the future, who knows When I do, I do hope to find you bigger and merrier

Alexandra,
That pain in the ass intern that hasn’t always been your friend!

PS: If you have any tips and tricks for my last 2 weeks here please write Even if I will not get your letter in the end

PPS: I attached a picture in case you don’t remember me… with so many interns I am sure you are having a hard time

The 3 days weekend

We had a 3 days weekend. Friday was a national holiday so everybody had the day off. It will be the same next week Most of the interns went travelling to Wli Waterfall or Axim Beach. I have already been to Wli and Axim is too far and I am too lazy, so William and I stayed at his house and hang out… which was really restful

What’s so great about William’s and Sahil accommodation is that they live in this huge 2 floor house that is really clean. And when I see clean I mean the red dusts seems to stay away somehow And they also have Stella, which cooks great and takes care of everything

The weekend was without great events On Friday we went and saw “The time traveler’s wife” We had to choose between it and “New Moon” and I read so many bad reviews about New Moon that we decided that no matter what, “The time traveler’s wife” must be a lot better. And it was…

During the weekend William made Christmas Cards to send to his friends in US and I read and watched movies… I almost got lost in Sahi’s bathroom, which is bigger than my room, but otherwise everything was great

Of course the weekend couldn’t finish without me learning something new about the way things are done in Ghana. While I was waiting the tro tro to go home, I saw this car with a water tank. They were washing certain portion of the street. Nothing interesting so far… till I saw the way they spread the water on the street. There was this man in the back of the tank that opened the water tap and kept his hand there in order to make the water spread wider… I call this creative thinking Why keep it normal when you have the chance to amaze an obrouni girl on the side of the road

Me ready to start a new week As in a 4 days one

Patience…

I don’t have the patience anymore. I don’t feel like laughing when I go home and there is no electricity and water. I am not amused when I want to buy something or go somewhere and the money they ask is the triple of the normal price. I am not ok anymore with the dust that surrounds my entire existence. I am sick of the unknown to me people that grab me on the street or feel the need to talk with me. I am sorry! I know they are trying to be friendly but I am tired of it.

The thing I hate the most is people talking in Twi about me in the tro tro and making jokes.  They look at me and

Patience

laugh. I speak to them in Romanian just to show them it’s weird when people do that to you. They ask if I insulted them. I ask: “Did you just insult me in Twi?” Thank God is not happening very often!

I have never been a party girl so by now I am bored with the party places in Accra. I like travelling but I finished seeing all I wanted to see and it’s no fun going to the same place more than twice. My job was never extremely exciting like AIESEC used to be, but it becomes more annoying every day. And I hate that.

The only thing I will miss about my experience here are my friends. We will all go to our home countries in the end but somehow I am positive we will meet again, somewhere, somehow!

I am more than ready to go home…  Although I am so scared! I don’t know if I will find a job or another internship. The idea of asking money from my family makes me really sick. They have always always been there for me, no matter what. But I am 25 now and I want to be ok on my own.

I have made plenty bad choices because I wasn’t patient enough… Rushing into things just because I hate the lack of action or not knowing what my next step should be. I always had a plan. In 2 year from now I will do that… in 200x I will be there. Not knowing and not having a plan from January 1 makes me scared. But I do hope my next step will not be made because of lack of patience!

The only thing I am certain about is that I will do my best. I still believe that good things happen to good people and I like to think about myself that I am a good individual.

Me trying to be patient!

Taxi Drivers!

Each time I am saying to myself that there is nothing more that could surprise me in Ghana something happens. On Sunday I was going to William’s place for Thanksgiving. I took a tro tro and I stopped in Shoprite to buy some things. Because I didn’t remembered how to get to William I decided to take a taxi. Taxis in Ghana are/look really old and once you are in one, you have the feeling that it will fell apart. The doors are broken; the chairs are in a bad condition and so on. In other countries in this world you wouldn’t be allowed to drive those cars because of public safety!

I got in the car and in that moment my big surprise came. The taxi driver started the engine and music filled the car… Classical music! I asked him what he is listening and he said Mozart. He had a tape with Mozart and some other tapes with other composers!

In 5 months here I have been in lots of taxis and tro tros. I listen to religious ceremonies, really bad music, really stupid radio shows and so on. I have never imagined that I will listen Mozart on the Spintex Road, in a taxi. My shock was huge… And then the driver told me to wait in the car until William comes to pick me up from Oando Filling Station because there is too much dust outside! Wasn’t that nice? So for 5 cedi I received a taxi ride in a really nice atmosphere

When I got to William’s place and told him about it he told me his own taxi driver story. About 2 months ago he forgot his favourite pair of shoes in a taxi. On Saturday the taxi driver came back with his shoes. He would have come earlier but he was out of Accra for 2 months, visiting his family in another region of Ghana… Why is this so incredible? Because if you lose something in Ghana, you never get it back!

These 2 stories restored my faith in Ghanaian taxi drivers. 60 % of the time I was annoyed with them. I walked to Circle many times because I got angry with taxi drivers asking the triple of the normal price to take me somewhere. My favourite sentence: “Thank you very much but I would rather walk than pay you that much!”

My time in Ghana gets shorter and shorter but I feel ready to leave. I want to go home. I miss my home. I will not be the intern that is sad in the airport because he/she is leaving!

Me very sad and asking myself why life is so unfair sometimes… One minute you are young and owning the world, the next you are gone!

The things I am thankful for…

We celebrated Thanksgiving this weekend. William got up on Sunday at 5:30 am and started cooking. Lidia joined him and thanks to them I had the first and the best Thanksgiving ever They actually cooked 2 turkeys and all kind of delicious dishes that are traditional for this holiday. I stayed in the kitchen and I learned a few secrets just by watching them and Stella and of course tasting the food to make sure it’s perfect

When William sent us the invite he made a very nice parallel between the pilgrims that went to North America and us, interns discovering a new world, completely different than anything we were used too, at least in my case: “Thanksgiving is a time in the United States when families and friends come together. But originally it was about a group of people who left home to face adversity in a new world. This may be the perfect holiday to celebrate our own achievements in this new world.”

It felt wonderful to gather all of us, together. More than 20 people from so many different countries. For a moment I felt like home, celebrating Christmas with my family. Thinking about what I am thankful for, I started remembering all the adventures I had here… and believe me… life in Ghana is an adventure… every single day! And every single day this group of wonderful people stood by me, laughing, making fun, listening my complains, sharing a drink, sharing a meal, giving an advice! And I am thankful that I came to Ghana and met them. And I know that my experience here wouldn’t have been the same without them!

Thank you:)