Back in the City

May 29, 2008

Today was a good day. I sat in on this intense discussion with one of the professor, one of the chaperones, and two of my group mates. They were talking about how in the Ghanaian courts the judges still wear the white wigs and how they should get rid of them because they represent an oppresive system. One of my group mates disagreed and she was saying that you have to look past the symbols because otherwise you will always be sad and upset. I agreed with the majority, but I could see what she was saying and why. The group mate who disagreed is Jamaican and it is different when you have a home. It is not exactly the same for Black Americans in America.

It felt good to finally be back in Accra just because I know er're not going to have to pack for the road again. Also the big city is... well it's cool. I've been trying to connect with the woman I was supposed to meet here, but it is proving quite difficult.

The biggest distraction from calling when we arrived around 5pm was this big launch that MTN were hosting at the hotel. I met Fionna, Douglas, Oscar, Akill, and some other people who were really cool. They all worked for MTN and having a good time. I liked talking to Fionna. She was the event planner and was talking about how she worked her way up. She was saying when you get a good job you hold on to it and that's it. No one seems stressed, but the gender divide in work is obvious. I think there were maybe six women in the whole place, out of about 100.

Akill said I looked like a journalist after I told him what I was studying. I don't really know what that means, but I took it as a compliment.

I was trying to tell everyone goodbye before dinner started, but I had to run to the room to get on some bug spray first because it was getting dark. Unfortunately, when I came back out they were breaking down and I didn't get to say bye to anyone, but Akill does have a Facebook, so I'm going to add him as a friend.