And I will start with the cliches!

- The colours, oh yes the colours! Compared to Belgium it often feels like you have moved from black and white to full-on, rich colourschemes. Compared to Belgium with it’s grey skies and brownstone houses, Ghana is so colourful with its red dusty roads, houses painted in the most bright and odd combinations,  the colourful clothes worn graciously by its inhabitants, all against the deep green of the splendid nature here in the south of Ghana.

- The laughs and smiles. Ghanaians like joking paa. They will laugh with something said on radio, things happening in the traffic, or generally talk jokingly.

- The animated conversations with wild hand gestures. I like just listening into conversations, watching the liveliness.

- The sun of course. In our household, contrary to what you might think, I am the cold one. I might be going in for jackets and scarves, while my husband is still walking around in his t-shirt!

- “Feel Free!” And they sure feel free, free to say their opinion on anything, you can call in on a radio-show and complain about the water/road/electricity/… situation in your area. It all happens in such a way that the politicians responsible feel the need to go on air and defend themselves or promise changes. But also “Feel free”, do what you want, what you like, and take your time doing it.

- The convenience of Road Side Food. It is just one gigantic drive-through, or walk-through. Sometimes I catch myself when in Belgium, feeling hungry or thirsty looking out for a basket of oranges or biscuits or water, floating by on somebody’s head.

- How everything is so chaotic but yet there still is a system in it. Once you think you have figured out the system, it all shakes up and the rules of the game have changed.

- The hospitality and generosity. When I just started my work here in Accra people were worried if I could find my way to and from work, catching the right trotro, dropping of at the right place, not such an easy thing considering the chaos mentioned before. But I assured them they shouldn’t worry and all would work out, I just have to ask somebody and I will be directed. It is so different from the mentality in Belgium. Strangers easily come up to you to make friendly conversations, not necessarily asking for something! And when you are in trouble, you can sure expect help from a passer-by.

- Music. Music is such a vital part of life here. It is everywhere, from the churches and the mosques, to the bars, the schools, the trotro’s, the streets, etc. You shouldn’t be surprised when you suddenly hear somebody starting to sing, out of the blue when sitting in a deadly quiet and hot trotro or any other place for that matter. And together with music is dance, dancing seems to be in the blood! You can see small children dancing on the cheers and claps of their parents.

- The heart of society is the street. Oh, how full of life a street can be! Everything happens on the road side! Whole families put up camp for the day, selling ANY thing, street-mama’s serving breakfast or dinner for their hungry customers.  You can spend hours watching life pass on your street, an activity I have been engaged in often, especially with the recent black-outs in our area, which makes literally everybody flee from their hot houses to the street. And it makes me remember how we laugh in Belgium with old people pulling out their chairs on a nice summer day to sit in front of their house.

I am sure I am missing so many points, there is this energy here in the air, a vibrant and lively atmosphere that makes me realize so many times a day “yes, I enjoy being here”.

Those of you who have been here you can add yours!

I finally was able to get a good shot of one of the many hilarious inscriptions I come across daily.

Klothing – Second Skin Creation: made me laugh for a long time!

Things are going good here, I am starting to love what I am doing after the initial clash with the UN-administrative reality. It is funny to be at the other side of the critiques and theoretical discussions we had during CADES. But I am learning a lot here and seeing a lot of new things and witnessing the energy that is on the ground here. Last week UNESCO co-organized a conference on cultural cities here in Accra. Delegations from other African cities aspiring to be cultural capitals were also present. There were lots of presentations, discussions, ideas, opinions, etc. Particularly interesting was a meeting organized for policy makers, with civil society present, which brought a special atmosphere to the conference hall.

I am also loving being in Ghana. I have been trying to think of reasons why I like it so much here, trying to move beyond the clichés of the sun, the people and the colors. Slowly I am coming up with a list (I do like lists!). Of course I don’t like everything here: in Accra the dust and dirt make me long for the green hills of Koforidua and the loud music played until late by some neighborhood clubs/churches/individuals is disturbing at times. But the loves still outweigh the hates, luckily.

Being abroad in a different culture from the one I grew up in gives me an interesting viewpoint on the culture I am currently in but also on my own culture. Airing ideas for project proposals or making a contribution to a conference or workshop, I have had comments of ‘we being here wouldn’t think of that’, or ‘we don’t see the value in our own culture as outsiders do.’During the conference that my department co-organized the question was raised if there is one Ghanaian national culture, shouldn’t we rather talk about all the separate 70 something cultures. I as an outsider couldn’t understand how they couldn’t see this national identity I see. There is no such thing as a cultural vacuum, there is always cross pollution and cultural borrowing. There are cultural elements like the adinkra symbols, kente, the phrase ‘Akwaaba!’, beads, foods, etc. that now symbolize the national identity.

Being here also makes me look at my own culture with different eyes. Any conversation will start with the question of my name, it being a difficult for English mouths dutch name it will lead to the language I speak as a mother tongue. Some people will assume I am from Holland, until I correct them to say I am from Belgium. People knowing Belgium will get confused and ask me if I speak Flemish then. Which to me is such a weird question that I will answer loudly: ‘NO, I am a BELGIAN. I speak DUTCH.’ I never ever heard somebody say ‘I speak Flemish’!

Anyway, I’ll leave you with some pictures of how my morning looks like. Have a great week!

I am getting used to the routine now, waking up early and finding my way to work. They are starting to know me at the station, pointing me to the correct car when they see me coming so I haven’t been dropped at odd and faraway places for a while now. Even though it is supposed to be the harmattan (dry) season it has been raining for the last couple of days/nights. Rain is heavy rain, and in combination with Accra’s characteristics it has caused serious damage and flooding. I always loved watching the rain here in Ghana. It starts with a heavy wind, cautioning people to pack up their things and start running for a car. And then it comes down, playing a drum-concert on the iron-sheet roofs and everybody is huddled inside looking forward to a good nights of sleep because of the cool breeze.

I’ll try my best to write a post soon on what I am exactly doing here.

A picture to close:

The American flag is everywhere, I could start a whole series: ‘we love america!’. In my neighborhood there are businesses completely decorated with the stars and stripes. Oh and another funny thing are the ‘obama biscuits’! Don’t have a pic of that…

See you soon!

The lack of blogposts is a good thing, since it means that my internship has picked up speed and I now no longer have too much time to spend freely on the internet!

But I will quickly post before I leave my comfortably air-conditioned office to stand in the blazing sun waiting for a car home.

These two pictures display something that has captured my attention. I have also seen men walking around in t-shirts or security jackets with similar inscriptions. If people think Asia-Africa they will directly make a link with construction work conducted by Chinese with Chinese equipment. These kinds of trucks I see daily at the construction zone that the road to the office has become.

It is the bag that surprised me. A little girls schoolbag, with some unidentified script on it. These goods are flooding the market here. With not so good consequences for local producers as, for example the once booming textile industry of Ghana is experiencing now. I found it a funny juxtaposition to see this foreign bag on a chair decorated with a symbol that has turned into national heritage. The adinkra symbol Gye Nyame, which means except God, referring to the omnipotence and immortality of God. Is this globalization?

My roots are very important to me, my roots are my parents, my family and now my husband too. People most often refer to countries or cultures as their roots, but for me it is these people that I love so much that give me my roots, the strength to do what I want to do and to tackle challenges. It is because of my parents that I am here today. They gave me a ‘multicultural’ childhood. They instilled this curiosity for otherness in me. They encouraged my urge to see and experience the world, as they too feel it. They gave me the opportunity to come to Ghana for the first time. Some people ask if this is why I went to study African cultures and languages or is it because of my husband? But NO, it started way earlier, it is in my genes, it comes from my childhood, it is in my upbringing, and it is because of the encouragement of my parents to do what I love to do. It is in my roots. My roots who stand by me, support me, whose existence and love roots me and strengthens me in difficult times.

Children, teenagers, young adults often harm their parents willingly or unwillingly. But as Sankofa says: there is no harm in going back and undoing mistakes. I am grateful for my strong roots. Thank you for all that you did for me.

Love you all

Looking around the city you find inscriptions everywhere: nailed on a tree, on cars and busses, on big billboards, on lightposts, etc. What I always find so interesting is the creative use of language (I even wrote my masterthesis about it). People often laugh at these ‘unfortunate misspellings’ but in reality it should not be viewed as a mistake or sign of illiteracy and underdevelopment. These signs show a creative interpretation of the global language English. Multiple forms of English exists, each with their own spelling rules. For example nowadays the language used in texting can be viewed as a new form of literacy. I’ll make a series of these creative inscriptions because they are literally everywhere and it will give me something to do when I am stuck in traffick! Plus some of them will really make you giggle

First one is a sign found close to my office. K9 services, together with the picture of the dog it should give you an idea what it is about!

Have a good day!

The first days I seem to be walking in a dream. I cannot believe I am finally back, alone this time to do my internship with UNESCO. A dream that secretly grew inside me that now is reality. As always Ghana is good to me, I am well taken care of with several friends and inlaws making sure I am alright and where I have to be. Which is a good thing as it turned out to be quite difficult to locate the office on the first day. People tend to navigate not on streetnames but on landmarks like ‘Fieste Royale Hotel’, on top of that it seems that also here the name UNESCO doesn’t ring a lot of bells. Of course it didn’t help that UNESCO recently moved and didn’t update its address yet.

It didn’t take long to get used to the environment again. I was curious to see what changed in Accra. There are some new shiny highrise buildings but generally Accra is still traffic and road works. My days begin early since office hours are from 7.30 until 16.15. The first time it took me one hour and a half to get there, so I have to get up early and see the sun rise and feel it getting hotter sitting in the trotro (small bus). I see the city awake from my spot at the window, if I am lucky to get one. Goods are being arranged on rickety tables at the roadside, shops are being opened. A few unlucky sleepy schoolchildren stand in their uniform at the roadside, waiting for their car. Teeth are being brushed standing over the gutter. The morning task of sweeping the courtyard is being completed. The foodstalls with breakfast food are busy. In the car, people are getting sleepy from waiting in the hardly moving car and the increasing heat…

So far it is not as bad as I feared, or I decided not to care if I see the last seat being snatched away before my eyes or if I have to wait in line for the next car. There is always so much to see that I don’t realize time is passing in the meantime. In the traffic the only rule seems to be survival of the most persistent. And boy are they persistent! A crossroad can turn into an untie-able nut in a matter of minutes. Cars diving into every gap they see, no matter if it is at the wrong side of the road, people trying to overtake each other and thus creating five lanes in stead of perhaps three. Throw in some big men who belief every body should give way for them and you have chaos.

My first week at UNESCO will be spent getting to know my colleagues and their current activities since my boss is out of the country. Next week the real work can start. Exciting!