Tidbits from Accra

"A farewell is necessary before you can meet again." - Richard Bach 'Illusions'

I see ressemblances between the Andoh family and the Buendia family featured in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. The Buendia family reuses names over and over and descendants start to take on the personality traits of those they are named after. In the Andoh family, given names must be present somewhere in the family lineage, resulting in 3 Nana Yaws, 2 Barbaras (and one on the way if Carmen and Nana Yaw turn out to be expecting a girl), 2 Wendys and one Caroline (Carol) and Carolina (Nina).

The last night that I was in Mali, the moon glowed bright as if was a source of light in and of itself.

Mommy Andoh (Shirley's mom) wears Ghanaian outfits in NYC and western outfits here in Ghana.

As we lunched at the resturant in Cape Coast we looked down on the beach at a man who was swimming completely nude there and seemed oblivious that many others could see him.

Malians and Ghanaians historically traded with each other. The name Ghana is actually the name the medieval Ghana Empire of West Africa (which existed 500 miles north of present-day Ghana) and absorbed into the larger Mali Empire in 1240. Present-day Ghana was settled by people coming down from the Gao and Timbuktu regions of Mali. With the constant interaction and the exchange between the cultures, I wonder how much of our modern concept of nationality holds weight in this case. Or if those who were within the borders of Ghana were just called Ghanaians and vice versa without considering from whence they had come.

For the first time in more than two months I ate some chips, Doritos from a Costco box the Andohs brought with them. After a diet of fresh foods, they did not taste like food, rather like oil, metal and cardboard. Even the spices they were dusted with offered no flavor. I looked at the expiration date and it wasn't for months to come. I left the bag for whoever could stand to eat them.

There is no gas available anywhere in Accra. The Andohs have a gas canister hooked up to the stove and it is now empty. I had just commented to Shirley yesterday that when the apocalypse came I wanted to be in Africa, as people know how to survive without all of technology's amenities. Sure enough, the gas episode is not fazing anyone. They pulled out their small charcoal stove (that everyone in Mali uses) and a fan to give the charcoal proper air and they were back in business.

We visited the University of Ghana, tagging along with Nana Yaw who had an appointment there. The campus looked like a typical campus, was rather large and green, with quite a few traffic circles. The main library was built in the Japanese pagoda style. We spent a lot of time in the bookstore.

I bought more books from the African Writer's Series. Weep Not Child by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, now a Professor of Comparative Literature and Performance Studies at New York University. The book is simple tale about a family who must decide where their loyalties lie when revolution comes to Kenya, if they will join the fight for the land that was stolen from them by settlers or find their salvation in education and patience. Also I read The Girl Who Can by Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo who analyzes African womens' struggle to find their rightful place in society through a series of short stories. Aidoo was the first female minister (of education) in Ghana and she is now the Executive Director of Mbaasem, a foundation to support African women writers and their work.

Last night we visited the house of the mother of Eugene's friend in the States. SHe welcomed us and immediately started bringing out drinks and then plates for food. We looked at each other a bit astonished as we hadn't planned to eat there but the food was delicious. Banku with fish, and then a spicy soup with whole crab and fish in it. I said this looks like gumbo. My family is from Louisiana and we love gumbo which is a spicy soup cooked with many different types of meats including: chicken, sausage, crab, shrimp, and fish. I tasted it and declared it was gumbo....it just needed some more different meats and to be served over rice.