A glimpse of me and the city

I'm back!

2008-10-04T06:45:00.000-07:00

Look who's back!!! :)
Yeah, this blog has been dead for a long long time, but it's not dead for good. I knew I'd be back, but just didn't know when because it just feels better when I share bits of my life.So start watching - it's going to be better and juicier than ever! :-)

More of Egypt

2008-04-21T13:23:00.001-07:00

Updating on "adventure in Cairo" - been to the pyramids, meet cool expats and partied, been to Alexandria (which I loved) and preparing to go to Sawa - this cool desert safari kinda thing.
Otherwise, all good - i like Cairo for the energy, the nice people and closeness to a lot of amazing places. Would live here, but only if I can stay in Zamalek :-)
Oh, and if you ever go to the pyramids make sure you know how to ride the horse, have all your pockets and bags closed, are in good shape (if the next day you don't want to feel like someone had beaten the hell out of you) and are ready at any time to run like the wind - with or without your consent. Enjoy the pics now. I'm out.

Still in Cairo

2008-04-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hello again! So I'm still in Cairo. The plan was to stay 10 days, but it got extended to 30 which is not that bad considering that I still haven't seen the Pyramids or too much of Cairo.
But I did get another peak at it for one colleague's birthday - nice food in a local (I would call it) taverna :), shisha and going around shops in Huzein - this very touristic but nice place.

First day in Cairo

2008-03-22T02:06:00.000-07:00

My first day in Egypt was split between sleeping, working and sightseeing at night. I've met here with Adham which is one hell of an interesting person and a really really cool host and friend. So thanks again Adham.
Harumi, Alexandra and friends – the latino girlfriends back in Dubai – which I don’t get to hang out that much unfortunately – are here for a short holiday. So we got to make up a little bit for the not hanging around Dubai. Adham took us to this mountain which has an amazing view to 40% of Cairo. Chilling there was a perfect way to end a day. Along with a taste of local koshary.
Oh - almost forgot about the introduction to Egyptian traffic and driving. A bit like Ghana, only that more speedy and random:P

Cairo

2008-03-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! It's been a while. Again. Anyways, the story goes like this - I have a lot of things to post about Dubai - new impressions, beach getaway, the awesome snorkeling session in Fujairah, but in the meantime I will be posting about Cairo.

Yup, I'm in Cairo for work purposes. It's my first work trip actually. Like ever. Although I won't have too much time to go sightseeing, I hope that I least get to see the pyramids.

So I will be here between 21^st of March – 2^nd of April with loads of work to do. Here are the first pics of Cairo I’ve taken from my hotel room. I'm staying at Royal Marshal hotel (aka Royal Crown Hotel), but let me tell you there is nothing royal about it. That's Ok cause I do have a nice view from my room. And wireless connection. :)

Inspiration

2008-02-29T03:15:00.000-08:00

I personally recognize it by glittery eyes and the urge to move my ass and do something.
There are a lot of things that inspire me, but I think mostly they are people who have courage and inspire others. It's not actually that often that I feel inspired and when I do, I don't think I take full advantage of it. That's when I'm supposed to act and do those stuff that I'm alway postponing and procrastinating about. I think inspiration is a chance and it is up to us to take it because on those rare ocasions that I did take it, I've done some amazing stuff. So it pays off to quit being lazy or scared and just go with that flow at least once in a while.

Talking of inspiration, I just want to share the things that inspired me today. One of the best places to find inspiration for me is Aljazeera. I feel they are presenting more than the news all the other similar TV stations are showing - they do stories, they cut the surface and show details to add substance and emotion to facts. I was watching today and two things got my attention and glittery eyes - Karim Rashid and the movie Captain Abu Raeed.

Karim is an industrial designer who has worked in this field for 25 years and has done some outstanding work. I feel in love with his vision of beautificating the world, something that I have always dreamed of myself. And Captain Abu Raeed is a Jordanian movie about a janitor who gives hope to a group of poor neighborhood kids by telling them fantastical stories of his imaginary pilot career. The director/ screenwriter Amin Matalqa and the lead actor - Nadim Sawalha were absolutely adorable and loved their vision as well.

So yup, that is about inspiration for now. Going out now to find some more! :)

PS: I know some people are waiting for new stories and pictures from Dubai. Don't have that many though, but some pictures will be up soon. Byeeee

Global Village in Dubai

2008-02-12T09:32:00.001-08:00

So this weekend we finally made it to Global Village - this place where you can experience a little bit of almost every part of the world. Those who are familiar with AIESEC would instantly have a visual image to work with. All the others, imagine a huge place where each county has a pavilion inside which you can buy all the traditional stuff - from clothes, to jewellery, to foods and many many more other things. Yes, you can BUY....why else would you go there? :) But actually there are some traditional shows as well and a lot of wheels and machines to make your fears decrease and your blood pressure increase. I'm fine with my own blood pressure, thank you very much :) No, I'm not a fan of things that shake your body, keep you upside down and scare the hell out of you. Anyways, the entire place takes a lot of time to be seen completely and that is why I'm planning to go back again before it closes, but I will try week days cause in the weekend is crazy.

Romanian dinner

2008-02-12T09:20:00.001-08:00

Few weeks ago we had the traditional Romanian dinner so the pics should have been up a while ago, but well... I could not have missed posting about this always amazing Romanian dinner. It was a success and it was yummy :) You can only catch me cooking again if you are really really lucky. Until then, enjoy your KFC :P !

The sun

2008-02-09T06:29:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we had a sand storm here in Dubai. It reminded me of the Harmattan in Ghana last year.
This is how it looked the third day when the storm slowly when away and the sun found a way out of the clouds.

The best view

2008-02-09T06:14:00.000-08:00

This is the view from my office window. Awesome, right?
The tall building on the left it's Burj Dubai - the 850m building that is going to hold the record as the tallest building in the world.

UFOs in Dubai

2008-02-09T06:05:00.001-08:00

Frequent flying objects

Teodora and I had a good laugh when we saw this announcement somewhere near Burjuman Mall.
Maybe they were talking of pigs, eh? :)

Fluffy

2008-02-09T05:38:00.000-08:00

This is my fish - he is a blue fighter fish. Yes, it's a he and his name is Fluffy Blue Wing, but we just call him Fluffy.
I know, the bowl is kinda small, but the fish is small too, isn't he? I'm actually planning on a bigger bowl soon.
Fluffy came into my life a week after I arrived in Dubai and I hope for him to die of old age and not of unfriendly environment or bad care. :)

Episode one of the Dubai adventure

2008-01-27T06:59:00.000-08:00

OK, I didn't write that much last time. I was just trying to let you guys know I've made it safely and happily to Dubai. Yep, two weeks ago, I know - I still feel guilt over not writing sooner, but don't panic now, I'm here! :)

Settling in was easier than I thought - it actually feels like two months, not two weeks - although I have to share the bathroom with other 6 girls (imagine the crowd:). To be honest with you, that does not really bother me - we have different schedules and we all clean after ourselves - house rules :)

So what do I think of Dubai so far? Uh. I feel good here and why not - clean streets, nice neighborhood (was lucky on that one), groceries (and even shawarma :) delivered to my door step if I want to (free delivery - that's how it goes here, it's not just my luck:), great diversity in nationalities, nice and peaceful people, cool and impressive buildings, lots of stuff to do, lots of things to see and to buy. Oh yeah, shop till you drop because this is the best place on Earth for that - especially from January 24th to February 24th when the Dubai Consumerism Festival...ups meant Shopping Festival :P is taking place all over the malls and streets here.
I took and plan to still take full advantage of that...you know, being a girl and all :P But actually this festival is more than discounts, it's also about celebrating diversity, nationalities, art and culture. So if you plan on a trip, come over - there are going to be a lot of things to entertain and amaze you.

Since I don't want to generate any misunderstandings, there is one point I wanna make - this city (and any other experience for that matter) is understood in different ways by each and everyone who's taking on the challenge to discover it. My experience is different than the one of my Chinese roommate (yeah, we are 3 girls in a room - everybody here shares their rooms or apartments), the one of a Pakistani construction worker, of an Indian who was born here or a local woman, an English man coming to develop another branch of his company here or even different from the one of my Romanian roommate, Teodora. (Hi, if you're reading this:)
Therefore, this is my view of things and is not even my complete opinion and observations, as this blog is called "a glimpse of me and the city" and not "everything i believe about me and the city" :) A little bit of mystery never hurt anyone!

More thoughts and impressions in the next episode :)
I might have not satisfied your curiosities. If so, feel free to leave me a comment and ask me stuff you'd like to know. Hope I can help :)

Hello again. This time from Dubai.

2008-01-26T01:31:00.000-08:00

Deserted blog? You think? Well, I have to admit that's how it looks like, but not for long.
I've finally got settled in Dubai - the city of diversity, malls, luxury and many more other things I'm going to discover along the way and fill you guys up on. It's true I've been here for two weeks, but you got to give the girl some time to adjust, right? :)
So stay tunned and join me while I discover one of the most wanted places on Earth! Here we go...

It looks like winter

2008-01-02T05:53:00.000-08:00

Indeed it does. The wind is crazy, the degrees are like -8 Celsius or something, the snow has started falling and I cannot convince myself to get out there. Thank God there is still some food and some drinks left in the house so going out is postponed until spring. Actually until next week when I have to fly to Dubai where is hooooooooot. Let's hope the weather here will get at least a bit nicer and my plane will safely take me to 25 degrees Celsius! Sun sun sun, here I come!!! :)

Happy New Year!!!

2007-12-31T03:24:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it's the last day of 2007 - my last chance to have something written in here with that year on it. This is a time of meditation, new plans and lots of partying as well. And I’m going to do all of them. In moderation, though. Must be the age...or something :)

I just want to say that I'm very grateful for this past year, even if it wasn’t as I wished for it. It’s important that my family, my friends and I are still alive and kicking and that they are there and close to me. It was a year of up and downs, mostly downs, but ultimately they become ups because I learned more about myself and gained more strength for all those downs that no matter what you do still find a way in your life.

In March I came back from Ghana and started to make a new life back home in Bucharest – and damn hard it was. With a boyfriend dumping me after a long distance relationship (or so I thought) and with a very unclear idea of what I wanted to do, I practically started it all over again. I was lucky to have old friends by my side and some new ones that helped me get through not so fun times. With their help and some good self motivation I managed to make drawing – one of the things I love – a profession. Even if I’m not a full time illustrator, I am one and that's what matters. In the last part of the year I’ve met some nice people and now share some beautiful memories together. So even if it wasn’t like I imagined it, this past year was a good one, with lots of pleasant surprises, personal growth and very cool friends (all over the world).

Yeah, I’m getting a bit sentimental, but why the hell not – it’s my blog after all! :)

Anyway, I’m really excited and a bit scared about next year since I’m starting a new life. Again.
I will be working and living in Dubai. Like all new things I have mixed feelings about it, but I’m positive about the whole experience because I know I can handle it no matter what happens. Yuppy yey!

Going to start the party now and have myself a drink! :)

Happy New Year everyone!

The first snow

2007-12-20T15:00:00.001-08:00

playin' with words

2007-12-04T14:09:00.001-08:00

Here are some cool word manipulation.
The wedding invitation is the best! :)
via

Working

2007-11-26T13:00:00.000-08:00

communication

2007-11-14T14:37:00.000-08:00

I love this idea that was implemented in Dubai. Would love to see more of this kind of initiatives. :)

the business of death

2007-11-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

The business of death explained below. Creepy or not, but definitely true.

The boy with the incredible brain

2007-11-05T12:21:00.000-08:00

This is the name of this movie which shows the breathtaking story of Daniel Tammet.

A twenty-something with extraordinary mental abilities, Daniel is one of the world’s few savants. He can do calculations to 100 decimal places in his head, and learn a language in a week. This documentary follows Daniel as he travels to America to meet the scientists who are convinced he may hold the key to unlocking similar abilities in everyone.
He also meets the world’s most famous savant, the man who inspired Dustin Hoffman’s character in the Oscar winning film ‘Rain Man’.

And as a guy from the movie says, I also believe that "There's a little "Rain Man" inside each of us". Our minds are amazing and only unlocking them we can find the answers we've been searching for for ages. I don't know how, but I'm positive it's all possible.

Daniel is not an exception, I think, he's just a clue.
The amazing thing with his ability is that he does not make conscious calculations, but sees shapes and colors. He associates emotions to numbers. Why not and...what if? I think emotions are energy, but how many forms can that energy take, how far can it go or how it interacts with other people's or living creatures energy, I really don't have a clue.

It's so fascinating to ask yourself these questions and I don't know if it even matters to know the answers. We are probably going to find them anyway at some point of our existence, whether we want it or not.

here's another example of what we now call "brilliant brain"

see more on the subject

Cats will be cats

2007-10-23T12:40:00.000-07:00

This is a really funny and well made animation.
As a cat co-owner I totally relate to this one! Hahaha!
You'll love it too, whether you have a cat or not!

Some great music

2007-10-17T23:58:00.000-07:00

Here is a girl who has found her unique personal style in music - Ruth Renner aka Miss Platnum. She was born in Romania, but lives in Germany for the past 18 years - she's 27 now. She likes to call her style "rythm&balkan" and is definitely a different look and sound on the international market. Love her freshness, creativity and voice, together with the fact that she points out and presents in a casual and ironic meaner, some of the Romanian stereotypes. Miss Platnum didn't forget her roots and knows how to use them to the fullest!

Here she is with her first two videos and an awesome live performance in Berlin:

Mouse party

2007-10-17T13:52:00.001-07:00

Yet, again another attempt of mine to organize myself and share to the world the daily online findings of cool, fun and unique stuff.
For this first episode - a funny animated scientific description of how alcohol and drugs affect our brain. As usual, here are the mice ready to take it all for us.
Enjoy, drink responsibly and stay away from drugs!

Dance baby dance

2007-10-02T15:05:00.001-07:00

Finally uploaded this awesome dance video on youtube. This is of course from the huge (60,000 people, like 15 stages and about 100 DJs I guess) and fun Mysteryland house party Patrick, Stevan, my best friend and myself joined later in august this year. That was definitely the best party I have ever been to and have to give it to the dutch people - you guys really know your parties! Oh and the girl...no comment - it's like she was born on that pole! Enjoy! :)

This is indeed addictive

2007-09-12T13:26:00.001-07:00

Lemon Smash

Maybe would work better with your boss's head?! ;-)
Drooling already? Then play till you drop! My personal record is 107 - I had to stop when I still was able to - the damn thing was starting to take over my life! :)

My trip to Holland

2007-09-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

So last week I was on Dutch land. Me and my best friend went to visit one of my house and work mates from Ghana and another friend from the Ghana adventure joined us.

OK since I'm not very keen on telling detailed traveling stories, I'm going to be short and let you see more from the pictures. Basically we've seen parts of Amsterdam, Arnhem, Nijmegen, Utrecht and Volendam - this cute little fishing village, though very touristic. The headquarter was in Dieren - a small town in the middle of the woods as we liked to say.
Another highlight of the trip was Mysteryland 2007 - this huge house party - I enjoyed it so so much - the energy, the craziness, the diversity and the music were awesome! And also if you're ever in Holland don't miss the zoo in Arnhem - they reproduce the dessert, the ocean and the amazonian forest with all their climate, vegetation and life. It was an interesting thing to see.

As I promised I'm not going to write too much - I have to say I really enjoyed Holland and it is a beautiful country - great landscapes, fat sheep and cows, absolutely beautiful horses, cool boat trip through the canals, different and interesting architecture, tons of bikes, tons of coffee shops, nice people and good looking men :) I have to go back to Holland someday and discover it some more - especially that last part. ;)

About creativity

2007-09-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

ted.com is a great place for ideas and inspiration. Recently discovered this speech on creativity - Sir Ken Robinson speaks my mind so well - we grow out of creativity and it's actually one of the most important assets in a such unsure environment like our life on this Earth is. I think world has changed so much and so fast lately and we do need to make some structural changes in our way of seeing things and in our way of getting prepared for life.
When people ask me if I believe in God I say I believe in people, in the power within us and I think if we would unlock that creativity we each have inside by default and make it grow, we will at least be happier beings. So...I'm going to further research this fellow and do some creative stuff as well. :)

Movies

2007-08-12T02:13:00.000-07:00

Oook, so I'm taking longer and longer breaks between posts - that must mean I'm busy, right? Well, not exactly, but not inexactly either. These days I fill my days with drawing - I actually get paid to do it for most of the times and watching movies - no, I don't get paid to do this. Yet. :)
So there's been a lot of movies added to my viewed list and I wanted to write them down so I don't forget them...Here it goes with some sort of short comments :)
An Inconvenient truth - scary- we're gonna die soon!!!!!! aaaaaa... i'm jocking, but it's a serious matter that needs to be addressed by each of us
Sicko - I wanna live in France! Oui, oui!
Super size me - crazy guy - love people who dare to make a point no matter what
Thank you for smoking - loved it. once again the games behind the scenes with great dialogue
Fracture - kept me guessing, good movie
1408 - waist of time
The Holiday - boosted me up a bit and depressed me a bit too
Freedom writers - I'm a sucker for movies where people fight to make a change in other people's lives...
Gandhi - All about his life - inspiring movie
Babel - Hmm, could have lived without...

Phil Hansen

2007-08-09T01:08:00.000-07:00

Wow - Phil Hansen - amazing talent! He is fabulous - the medium he uses for its art, the concept of his pieces, the passion he puts in all his work and the bit of craziness together with the smart "put it in the web" thing - this is how I think a commercial artist should act in the 21st century! I'm blown away and speechless!

Concert in the city

2007-07-05T03:31:00.001-07:00

OK now, so someone is actually reading my blog. Thanks Rrramone :)
This last Friday I went to a great concert - it was a 3 days festival called Bestival. I've only joined the first day cause I loved all the 3 main bands performing there - Hooverphonic, Morcheeba and Faithless.
Hooverphonic was amazing, very coll, chilled and stylish just like I've imagined they will be. The sound was great as well so I was able to enjoy the full package.
Morcheeba was ahhh..ok. It was their first concert in two years so we "cut them some slack". The two front girl singers that replaced the one we've seen in videos were trying too hard and they didn't really clicked.
Faithless..oh Faithless - They were amazing! It was their third time in Romania and I've heard from a friend they are great, but this was more than I've expected. They have attitude and every member of the band gave their best. That's what made it such a wonderful show from first class entertainers!

Apparently the whole festival was a blast, but I got what I wanted. Hehe Marylin Manson and Alice Cooper sang on the same scene. Would have been fun to watch :)

stole some pics from anca's blog (i know u won't mind ;) and some got from friend "mihai a lu shola" :P Thx guys!

How am I? How r u?

2007-07-01T14:12:00.000-07:00

Did this test today.
Seems I'm messy, outgoing, open, self revealing, ambivalent about chaos, unpredictable, not good at saving money, social, likes large parties, likes to stand out, risk taker, quick to make friends, does not like to be alone, rash, fame seeking, sarcastic, craves attention, social chameleon, low self control, food lover, not rule conscious, weird, assertive, not a perfectionist, anti-authority, thrill seeker, vain, likes to fit in, reckless, emotionally sensitive, leisurely, trusting.
Not contesting the results. Many are true. Or all at one point or another. :)

PS: Don't know if I should continue with this blog, but I think I will.

Budapest

2007-06-01T15:34:00.001-07:00

I see this blog developing more into a photo blog. Hmmmm... that's cause I'm lazy. Speaking of lazy here are some pics from my trip to Budapest from mid May together with my best friend Adriana. We spent 3 days in the city and seen most of the things there were to see as a tourist. We walked like crazy, laughed a lot and took hundreds of pictures. Budapest is a wonderful city, we enjoyed it so much and hope to be back there sometime.

A walk in the park

2007-05-23T05:45:00.000-07:00

A glimpse of the city

2007-04-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

Some pictures I've taken yesterday walking on the streets of central Bucharest. Love the area. It's called Victoriei.

Remember the times?

2007-04-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

Well, there was a time when I was on African continent playing some sort of trivia game called Thursday Quiz Night, eating the most delicious brownie ever (the apple crumble is in the photo - not too keen on that), laughing, calling friends for answers and sometimes winning. :)

PS: I found this quote I like - Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win. Random. :)

Schiphol airport

2007-04-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

miss it. miss travelling.

What's goin' ooon?

2007-04-19T05:56:00.000-07:00

So what's happened since the dog post?
Not much I would say, but definetly something.
So, this is what's happened and also this. All of it makes me happy and scared in the same time (like all the good things:), but need to keep that motivation going, right? :)

Who let the dogs in?

2007-04-10T15:07:00.000-07:00

I went home for Easter. Look at my cute dogs. Ahh- Love them. How can you not?
Just thinking the other day - am I a dog person or a cat person?
Don't know exactly what that means but I guess basically it reduces itself to a more simple question - If there was a big hungry crocodile going very fast and definite towards a (motionless and absent-minded) dog and a (motionless and absent-minded) cat (both of average cuteness on their own species cuteness scale) and you could (and should) only save one of them, which one would it be? Of course you were in a safety suit or just a floating spirit and had no emotional or other kind of connection with any of them.
Now let me see...yup, this indeed made things a lot easier. :)

Freelancing - here I come

2007-04-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

I'm so very happy! I had to announce this here just for future generations that would need my biography for school papers on great commercial artists of the 21^st century. ;)
I've finally got (and successfully completed) my first paid job as an illustrator (did some storyboards for a commercial)!! Yuhuuuu!!! It is not the first time that drawing got me some bucks, though, but surely is the most significant for me. So, I'm now oficially in the freelancing business. At least for 15 seconds...
Storyboards, anyone?

This is cool 4

2007-04-05T06:27:00.000-07:00

out of stock though
the tie I mean, don't know bout the guy :)

Summer camp

2007-04-04T16:12:00.000-07:00

I wanna go to this summer camp! Where was this 10 years ago? (Still there and me here) The (2) camps I've been to were not nearly as much fun. Oh, except that first smooching - hmmm, actually that one was disgusting. Fortunately time does wonders to your (to be read mine, cannot bet on his) smooching abilities. And practice of course. :)

Cat in the hat

2007-04-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

This is Cuchi (Cookie) and he is a cat. We hang out together when I'm not ignoring him. But I know he's always thinking of me.
...as his next meal :-)

Found this on the web tday

2007-03-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

Me too :)

Old young friends

2007-03-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I held a presentation about my traineeship in Ghana for AIESEC SNs - meaning students or graduates that are going to enter the same program that allowed me the Ghana adventure. After a month back home felt good to finnaly talk about my experience with people that actually found it more useful than entertaining. Or so I hope :-)
In the picture you can see my neighbours back on Zoti Link Street in Accra. Yep, managed to download some of the last pictures on Ghanaian land. More posts to come.

This is cool 3

2007-03-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

I really like this campaign by w&k london - smart, simple, fresh, inspirational and visual delighting. See rest of prints here.

Ahhhh.....memories

2007-03-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Still job hunting....oh sorry, I ment career :-)

I need one of those for my bathtub

2007-03-19T05:34:00.000-07:00

He is Mr. Suicide. Hehe
via

This is cool 2

2007-03-15T02:46:00.000-07:00

3 Romanian girls learned how to sew and now they are bringing to life free spirit pouffes.

This is cool 1

2007-03-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

LELO
via

PS: Blogging from Bucharest now. Yey!

Last moments in Accra

2007-03-03T07:35:00.000-08:00

The gang. Just before boarding. Yeeeah, I miss Ghana. A bit. :-)

Is there life after Ghana?

2007-03-01T05:36:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's finished! My Ghanaian adventure is over, but in a sense it will never be over. ;-) I still need to post my last weeks on the African continent by the way.
Right now I'm in my apartment in Bucharest enjoying fast internet connection, my old play list and the wonderful smell of spring! I love spring and I'm so happy I’m here to enjoy it! Today in Romania we celebrate "Martisor" (which symbolizes the beginning of spring) and the town is full of flowers, presents and people running around - I love all this energy!
Ghana together with all the nice people and great friends will always have a special place in my heart, but it's time to move on! Let's just hope this blog will have interesting things to say after Ghana as well.:-)

Closer to home, but still a lot of adventure

2007-02-08T01:56:00.000-08:00

Two weekends and one full week of not updating the blog. You all must have missed me, haven't you?

The 27-28 of January weekend's highlight was attending a Sunday Service. It really was an interesting experience and I liked it cause it had 3 of my favorite things - passion, unity and dancing. I felt the power of community and the joy, something that I've never felt in a chrystian-ortodox church where I've only gone few times dragged by my grandmother. If I had a been religious person and all alone in this country, churches would make the perfect place to feel welcomed and part of the community - very nice people everywhere.
We’ve also been to a new beach that weekend – Bojo beach. It’s cool we had to cross a river to get there. Guided by some Romanian friends we’ve met here in Accra, we found this beach to be clean, quiet and relatively cheap.

The whole week after that I was in Tarkua – at a gold mine - one of the biggest in the world - where my company was delivering a training session. It was nice to break the routine and to also have hot water, electricity, cable TV and 3 meals a day.
I hanged out (mostly at the pool and bar) with my South African friends from Christmas (Green Turtle) and also some other nice South African people. Thanks Johan for allowing me to go on a tour of the mine and see the whole process of extracting the gold – Gosh, it’s long and complicated, but apparently it’s worth it. Was sad I didn’t see any gold – must be frustrating not to see the outcome of your work. At least for me.
Anywayz, top security everywhere. After I left the last process before the gold room (we were not allowed to see this one), they’ve made me take my shoes and socks off to check if I didn’t take anything (What could have I had taken, I wonder? Chemicals, rocks with gold in them?!?). It is good though that was all I had to take off. :-P

From Tarkua I’ve headed to Cape Coast on Saturday morning to join my first Ghanaian AIESEC conference – LINK 2007. That was fun, felt like a normal AIESEC conference less the crazy games and parties (apparently the night before I arrived the party ruled).
Managed to see The Cape Coast castle and have another slice of colonization history - scary and sick. For example, the women found pregnant just before being sold, were thrown overboard. Sometimes if they had discovered them earlier, they were sent in the village to have the baby and then sold as slaves losing any contact with the child. There are lots of stories, but they will never make it as “bed time stories”.

Sunday evening the new wave of trainees started arriving – David and Linn from Norway and Lenka from Czech Republic - a fresh breeze that feels good and fun. Too bad I’m leaving soon. But well, there is enough fun waiting for me back in Bucharest. :-)

Squash

2007-01-26T02:47:00.000-08:00

Sweat, action, screams!!! Yes, it’s squash - another thing I didn't think I would try in Ghana. (Thanks Karim for that). Yeah, yeah - talking about the indoor tennis like game.

So I've discovered squash and rediscovered my muscles - they're there - wasn't exactly sure since the only exercise I get is one long minute walk from home to work.

Enjoying my last month in Ghana. ;-)

Back

2007-01-23T01:00:00.000-08:00

Last post - a while ago. Meantime - priceless. I have to start of with the highlight of all this postless time - a wonderful present from the Harmattan - a cold, that is never just that here in Ghana.

As malaria has similar symptoms with a cold I had to go to the clinic - sat down, got weighted (Hmmm...what do you know? - I've lost some. Good), got a number and a file, then moved in another room, waited, got my temperature taken, waited some more, heard my number being called, moved in another room, waited few minutes, got into the doctor's cabinet, got my eyes and throat consulted with the light from his mobile phone, went to have some blood taken, waited again, got the results, talked to the doctor, went to the pharmacy to buy medicine and taraaaaaa - in about 4 hours I found peace of mind – “It might not be malaria - it didn't show in the blood, but it can be in the bone marrow or liver so you better take the medicine”. I feel this traineeship wouldn’t have been complete without the malaria fear.

Anywayz – before all this I went to the beach on Sunday – Fete Beach. The atmosphere was so charged with dust and some kind of winter feeling – my friends were saying it all looked like a winter day if there weren’t people dressed for summer running around. The beach time was all about chillin’ and watching the families all around us – some of them were so well portraying the perfect family image that my camera couldn’t be tamed.

In the evening we were all treated to some nice Lithuanian dishes thank to Dalia and her parents - worried she does not eat enough here (which she doesn't :P).
Then last weekend started with a “small small” trip to Akosombo where my company was delivering a training – that part of Ghana is so beautiful and clean. The coolest thing that happened in that trip was seeing baboons on the side of the road – they’re big and they were just standing there. Then few baboons of all ages crossed the street and I managed to snap a shot.
Rest of last weekend was hanging around in Osu, cooking and eating Romanian dinner – ahhhhh so yummy – mamaliga (the yellow stuff – it’s made of corn flour), cheese and sour cream, some sort of tochitura (meat balls) and papanasi (the Romanian traditional doughnut :-). Oh and palinca (traditional Romanian (very) alcoholic drink made of plums usually) which people didn't really appreciaed... :)

Gata. (I’m done)

Go horsy

2007-01-08T01:44:00.000-08:00

Cool thing this past weekend - I went horse riding for the first time! Never thought it would happen in Ghana, but it did.

Peruz, my horse was very nice with me although when he saw a fellow horse running towards the stables, he started doing the same thing so all of a sudden the speed increased and the comfort decreased and there I was screaming at the guy in front of me: "What do I do? What do I dooooooooooo....???!!". Following the instructions of pulling the harness worked pretty well and so I eventually calmed down.

Afterwards we enjoyed watching a polo game and getting covered in dust - they do play on the grass, but there were not enough players or something of the sort at that particular moment.

The day ended with plenty of Norwegian salmon, French pate and Romanian wine("Lacrima lui Ovidu" = "The tear of Ovidiu" brand).

2007 in Ghana

2007-01-04T02:35:00.000-08:00

The New Year's Eve Party happened in Takoradi - this small town 3,4 or 5 hours from Accra depending on the traffic - where some of the other trainees work and live. Three things highlighted my end of one year and beginning of another - wonderful, amazing, unique and extraordinary stuff! ;-)

On Saturday I had my very first surf lesson – thanks David for that one! Of course I didn't make it past the paddling part and getting there was quite a funny experience for people watching me struggling to get on the surfboard. But I begun and that’s a fact – just few hundreds of pushups and I’ll be ready to start practicing standing up on the board. Maybe. It’s damn hard - Respect for surfers!

Second thing was falling asleep in the disco (Paragon in Takoradi) at the New Year’s Eve Party – oh noooo, it was fun - if you really enjoy endless minutes of the same Ghanaian song or something that seemed like the same Ghanaian song. We were not really in the mood for that music and we were tired, but the others were more hopeful in a change in style or at least some diversity than I was. The DJ kept teasing with "Who let the dogs out" intro until everybody had enough. Ultimately, even the greatest believers (Hi Dalia ;P) realized they've had hoped in vain and I finally got my soft bed back at Daniela's place, although that couch near the bathroom was somewhat cozy. :-P

Third thing was actually a fulfilled New Year’s resolution: See a monkey in Ghana! I had been here for more than 4 months now and I hadn’t seen one single monkey – not one! But that was about to change while we were carelessly driving back to Accra on the trafficless road. There she (looked like a she to me) was – a cute little monkey jumping around on the side of the road – I almost scared the shit out of my friends screaming “I’ve seen a monkey, I‘ve seen a monkey!” – not because of the screaming, but because of the stupidity of the affirmation for anyone but me.Anyway, you’ve got the idea – Symbolism of a fulfilled New Year’s resolution of a weird mind!

Oh…and the food we’ve had was great! Drawling when thinking about it these days! ;-)

Christmas in paradise

2007-01-02T08:21:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful Christmas - not in your traditional around the Christmas tree with the family kinda way, but in the "I always wanted to spend a different Christmas, if possible on the beach, hanging out with friends and cool new people" kinda way!

Decorated the Christmas palm, got a tan, ate fish for Christmas dinner, over relaxed, got bitten by mosquitoes, missed my guy, friends and family back home, relaxed some more, faced the big waves a bit, walked to a secret not so secret beach, got a present from my secret not so secret Santa, celebrated a really worldly Christmas with cool people from South Africa, US, Venezuela, Lithuania, Germany, Serbia, Finland, Syria, Belgium, discovered different ways of life, smoked loads of shisha (narghila) thanks to Basil, talked to a pole (that was the only spot with mobile connection), went in a quest for tutles in the middle of the night and almost saw a big one laying her eggs. :-P

So... Merry Christmas everyone!

2006-12-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

I made this card and put it on the news board in the office in the hope of gaining some Christmas spirit. Not really a successful attempt...but then again what is Christmas spirit? Is it the result of yearly routine, of media preaching, of advertising hypnotism, movie industry imagination or religious dogma?
Do we have to care more now, to give more now, to share more now, to love more now? Apparently we do cause otherwise how would we feel the Christmas spirit? Or do you think tiny lights, weird looking trees in the middle of the house, smell of special kind of food or high notes songs will do it?

See, people do need specific dates to remember them to display more of those basic human feelings that all year long get lost in reports, meetings, phone calls, emails, budgets, plans, strategies and worries. Following this logic, 14th of February is just as good of a celebration, riiiiiiiight?! ; -) I have too much free time on my hands these days, don't I? : ] ...or maybe I just miss people at home... noooo, it has nothing to do with this time of the year when everyone or most of people are with their loved ones - i'm not a sheep, ok? just acting like one :P

PS: The first thing on the card means Merry Christmas in twi, the second means the same thing in ga and the last one is in Romanian.

Christmas party at Champs

2006-12-20T11:33:00.000-08:00

A very important place in every trainee's life(and probably of most obrunis in Accra) is... Champs. And that's where we were last Saturday for their Christmas party.

I'm mentioning this mainly because I wanna brag about winning one of the 3 bottles of red wine. The whole thing was so strange - I said "I want to win a bottle of wine, I want wine" and the next thing, what do you know?! - the elvette (feminine of elves, one of Santa's helpers) picked my name out of all the people in the place. Call it luck, destiny, chance, coincidence, mistake or whatever, but I'm still happy, even now, after we drank the wine which by the way was very very good. I would have also won the Karaoke contest with a prize of 500.000 cedis which is about 50 dollars (to spend inside the bar and restaurant) if I wouldn't have been such a scared chicken and actually sang. Oh well, next time will definitely drink more. ;)

This about sums it up

2006-12-19T04:09:00.000-08:00

in a cab.

Boat trip on Volta Lake

2006-12-18T11:55:00.000-08:00

Volta Lake - you might have heard about it in Geography classes back in the days, but just so you know it is the second largest artificial lake in the world - after the one in China. Not that this would help when it comes to providing the country with energy.

Now the story. In an early Sunday morning we all - Dalia, her Lithuanian guests, Misha and myself - headed to the trotro/bus station to find our ride to Akosombo - that's the name of the dam. And so we did - a bus, not a trotro - which made us wait for a while for it to get filled. Since I was kinda bored in the process and not comfortable enough to catch some sleep, I bought one of those games most of us had when we were kids - tetris and some other 99999 "fun"games - from the guy's head you see in the picture - quite impressive variety of stuff, wouldn't you say so? :)

I was entertained for about... 30 minutes, then Dalia got entertained for a while and in a few days after I'm getting really tired of it (I will have fun when there's no light....yupiii) I will give it to one of my neighbors - Hugh, a 9 year old bright little guy. Very noble of me, huh?

We had to change transportation in one small and cute little village with a really nice big bridge - forgot the name of it - and we got a trotro which was going to our destination - that's cause it was filled with "The Band" on board - a good moment for me to show off my impressive knowledge of twi. :) The Band sang the whole 5 hours of the boat ride and people danced and danced and danced. Yeah, Ghanaians like to dance and they're not shy about it. I like that.

The boat ride wasn't spectacular for me (I'm referring mostly to the landscape we've seen which was just water and some islands - talking from a landscape point of view the boat ride I took while in Greece was much better), but it was relaxing and fun, although a bit too touristy for my taste. It actually reminded me of the boat ride I took back home in Romania from Tulcea to Sf. Gheorghe (a small village in The Danube Delta) on the big and slow boat - but I have to admit this was much nicer. We had food and one drink included and the service and entertainment was really good. All for about 16 dollars.

Oh...and we stopped at an island, 27 km from the shore where people live - main occupation - fishing - some will say bagging cause that's what they do the two days a week the boat stops on their island, but the rest of 5 they fish. :-) It is true they also dance and sing and have canoes for short rides, but as you set foot on that ground many kids start grabbing your hand and ask for money. We didn't like that last one activity. We appreciate when they provide a service or something for some money and NOT BEG. And apparently there was no school on the island so they had to go with the canoes on a neighboring island for education where is also a training camp for military force...or that's what I've heard between big hungry bites of chicken (we've got all these infos after we came back on the boat, in case you were wondering).

Now, how can I forget the beads?!?! See pictures for enlightment. I loooove, or better say I'm addicted to the local bracelets, necklaces and earrings - so original and colorful. They were selling those before getting on the boat. Not enough money to satisfy my huge urge of shopping, though.

Oh wow...look at me...I've written quite a lot this time. Not bad! :)

Hand in hand

2006-12-15T05:48:00.000-08:00

A major cultural difference I've noticed is that men hold hands like me and my boyfriend hold hands without any gay connotation - it's a symbol of friendship. Weeeeell...100% of the straight men in Romania wouldn't be caught dead holding hands in that way.
I have no idea about the sexual orientation of the men in the picture, but most of them hold hands like that or even touch like those other two without any romantic interest. How can I be sure you ask? I've observed and asked around about this strange to me habit. I'm pretty good at observing and asking - so that should do it. :-)
Of course there are gay people in Ghana also. One may think they’d be more difficult to spot (that’s if they “don’t wanna get out of the closet”), but it must be hard for them since this is a very Christian values based society. Anywayz - it's never easy I assume...

Christ Embasy

2006-12-15T00:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I passed by " Christ Embassy" while in the car. So if you wanna go to heaven, that's where you get the visa from. Forms available after death. Interviews now and forever. :-)

PS: As you probably figured out if you read some of the last posts, The Ghanaian society is a very religious one - they have a lot of churches, missions, preaching sessions, healing seassions, they go to church every Sunday and everyone believes in God. Yeaaaah...not an ideal place for a non-religious person like me. :-P
They are also a very tolerant nation in what concerns other religions or non-religions. Hihi :-)
I haven't yet been to a Sunday service, but hopefully this weekend I will go to a "baby outdooring" - the naming and showing of a new born child - to see and understand more of the culture. If I do that, I only have a wedding to go to and I've covered all the important stages of life - birth, marriage and death. :-)

Don't wanna miss out on this one ;-P

2006-12-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

I'm dreaming of a sunny Christmas...

2006-12-11T11:33:00.000-08:00

...and my dream is going to come true soon. Here's where I'm gonna be 4 Christmas - Green Turtle Lodge. With friends. Can't wait!
I'm really happy I can skip few months of winter....but time goes by and soon I'll be back home where is still going to be winter, but a lot of warmth from my loved ones...:-D

I'm thinkin' to get my hair did soon....

2006-12-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

rasta style....

But I'm afraid of the headaches it is said I might get.

The biggest snails I have ever seen

2006-12-08T08:12:00.000-08:00

On our way to the bush. They were for sale. Hmmm..I should have bought them and set them free....oh, next time.

Thank you Budapest....oh, sorry Bucharest!

2006-12-05T13:18:00.000-08:00

Hehe - forgot about the highlight of the trip - watching Episode 404: Quintuplets 2000 from South Park: Season 4 - with me the only Romanian in a group of different nationalities. See the plot to understand why I'm saying this:

plot:

The boys discover 8-year-old contorting quintuplets from Romania. Cartman decides to stage his own performance.

The quintuplets and their grandmother try to escape from the Romanian government hoping to bring them back. The five end up at the Marsh house, asking for shelter. After Grandpa Marsh "loves to death" the girls’ grandmother, the boys decide to show the quints how great America is, hoping they'll stay and do their circus.

The girl's father is brought in by the Romanian government to demand his daughters back. In the US, the Marsh house is surrounded by protesters, hoping to let the quints stay. Janet Reno comes to the rescue!

In the end the quints tell off all the groups on their shortcomings, that America just wants them for money, Janet Reno for doing it for publicity, Romania for being selfish and wanting them for recognition, and the boys for their ignorance about Romanian culture. They then go on Oprah and start a press tour.

Wikipedia has the full info on the episode here.
YouTube has last part of the episode here.
IMDB has its share of info right here.

So watch it and laugh. The crying part [of "Oh my God, that's the way Romania is always portrayed outside the borders - cause media only shows the bad stories, blablabla – it’s so unfair, the world is so ignorant, why don’t they show “all the beauty we poses inside”?-yadayadayada] you can skip if only for the reason that South Park makes fun of everyone and everything and plus all that nice things are not entertaining at all- not for this kind of show - dumbly obvious and not for media or people like you and me.

Yes, there is a serious part of the problem, but this post cannot solve it and wishes not to get into. Anywayz, in my proactive kinda way I will give a homework equation to those interested in further understanding of the issue:
Reality + x = Perception. Who is x?

In the same proactive way I'll shut up, go to sleep and continue my traineeship as a Romania representative in the morning. Good night and good luck! ;-)

Trip to the bush

2006-12-04T13:41:00.000-08:00

3 days weekend - long and tiring, but very fun one. First – what’s the bush? Well… “the bush”, “the jungle” or “middle of nowhere” is the place (a Ghananian timber factory) where all the other trainees in Ghana (working for the same company) are at these days. Some of them still hope to come back to the city where they normally work, but the spirits of the forest might have other plans with them. ;-)

The trip started with an almost 10 hour’s drive (including stops and trying to figure out the way to the jungle) and ended with a desperate search for petrol at night (9 pm) after we kept discovering closed petrol stations – was just like an oasis – here it is…oh no, it’s not - it's closed!

Conversation between Stevan and a taxi driver on our way there:

Stevan: "Excuse me, this is the way to Kumasi?"

Taxi driver: "yes, yes"

Stevan: "Ok, thank you"

Taxi driver: "I love you"

The trip was possible by the great power of The Red Thunder - the trustworthy car that has proved itself better than a Patrol or any other car that thinks it’s cool. It has won our lives and

our love forever. :-)

So what is there to do once you get to the bush? "Not much", my friends who have been living there for the past few months would say, but since it was our first time, there were a lot of new and interesting stuff to discover. For example Saturday we've seen the inside of the timber factory - all the work processes involved - interesting stuff.

The afternoon was chillin at the poll. Really cool - especially the scenary of the tropical forest!

Next day we went in the forest where they cut the trees. It didn't really felt good seeing the trees being cut - but then again it looks like the forest is under very specifc regulations- they cut trees, but they also have to plant, they have a map of the forest with all trees and species and cut in such a way that it can grow back. Well..it creates jobs, furniture and wood stuff and of course money for the nation. hehe

I was a bit scared I will get knocked dead by a falling tree, but it was fine - everyone is ok - yeah, they know how to cut it and everything, but "Believe me, I know what i'm doing" is one of the most famous last words. ;-P

people co and people bra ;-)

2006-12-04T13:05:00.000-08:00

OK, so I'm the only trainee at my company. Feels lonely a bit, but now I'm even more special. Muhahahaha. :) Tobi left on Sunday. Tobi's from Nigeria and has become a good friend in the past 3 months. Good luck with everything and keep on writing on your blog so we know where you're at and whatcha doin!;-)

A traineeship is like a miniature life - people come and go - but in a more compressed period of time. Dalia had an interesting theory about it in one of her old posts. ;-)

Oh, almost forgot one thing that makes me terribly happy - a Romanian gal will join me soon here at my company. Romanian invasion coming soon in Accra - Yuhuuu!!!!So watch out!

Before a long weekend

2006-11-30T01:59:00.000-08:00

No blackouts for few days. But no water either. Nothing is perfect, eh? :-)

Oh, today is Friday!!!! Yupeeee! Tomorrow is a holiday - because it's Romania's National Day and since they love me so much, they gave us all a free day at work!!! :-))) Sure, I even don't believe that - the truth is 1st of December is Farmer's Day - National Holiday- a special day in which the government awards the best farmers. That's all I know. People don't seem to care that much, except for the fact that is free. So I'll probably be heading to the jungle in the weekend! Tell you all about it next week!

Triple b-day party

2006-11-28T12:08:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a fun day - Thanks to Farah and Hisham we got a triple b-day party - for her, me and Stevan. Different days, different ages - 24, 25, 26, same fun party.

We had awesome food I missed a lot. "There are good chiken in Ghana!", we've all discovered - I mean with more meat than bones. There was even b-day cake - Thanks Ramona for that. ;-) All yummy!!!

Playin with the dogs, with Melina - Farah's and Hisham's 3 years cute daughter, eating and laughing, was a great way to spend the Saturday. It all continued with alcoholic drinks at the other trainees' house, more fun and funny faces, me discovering I can play golf (when tipsy) and a true singing performance from Lars - the lost Backstreet Boy! :-P

5 more things to tell Ghana apart

2006-11-28T10:58:00.000-08:00

1. When I take I cab, I always have to negotiate the price first.
They don't have meters - it's too expensive. But I think this activity has helped me with my negotiation skills - especially getting over that moment when he really doesn't want to lower the price, but you know he's asking more than it's worth. So you hold tight to you offering and say "fufurobeba" - "another one will come" if all your arguments haven't convinced him. By the way, negotiation is a very creative process - for those of you who haven't figured that out by now. ;-)

2. Looks like I'm not the only child anymore - I have hundreds of brothers and sisters -"Hey sister!!" it's something I hear a lot. :-)

3. ... and all my brothers are all called Charlie. Yeah, Charlie’s a pretty famous guy, although nobody has met him so far. "Charlie how!" - That's a way to greet people and Charlie is the equivalent of friend.

4. Every management meeting starts with a prayer. Found it very strange at first - I'm not religious - used to it now, but it's still strange. I'm always amazed by the great faith everybody has in God.

5. When I go out at night, instead of perfume I use mosquito spray. Keeps men away also ;-D

Cricri, we're not in Romania anymore!

2006-11-23T00:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday it was my 3 months in Ghana anniversary and tomorrow is my 3 months to go in Ghana anniversary. :-)
I feel like I should write something meaningful at this mid-way. I will just write something and don’t worry bout meaningfulness.

One thing I do want to mention - so I don’t forget and also to maybe help people who feel the same in the beginning of a new experience - is how uncomfortable (despite the fact that everyone was nice) and homesick I felt in my first month, how slow the time passed, but as day went by I started to enjoy it more and more. I was truly saying “I so love this!” to myself after like 2 months.

I think what I was (and still am) enjoying the most was the fact that I have the chance to emerge in a new culture so I can see there are other ways of living and also that I have the ability to adapt to them. I really enjoy the relaxed way things are done here, less pressure, less expectations, people don’t seem to get mad that often or to hold grudge. And maybe that is way most of Europeans say Ghana is a free place. Dunno.

7 ways I know I’m not in Romania:

1. I keep bumping in a palm tree leaf that's outside my door when I go to the shower in the morning.
2. The water coming out (if any) is cold, but I don’t really mind – I actually enjoy it a lot.
3. I’m welcomed every morning with “Etesey” (that’s “How are you”) and a big “Yoooooo” (That’s their way of acknowledging I’m fine after I answer “Eieeeee” (which is “Fine”)).
4. Although from my home to the office is only 1 minute walk (I live on the company's premises), I get to work all sweaty.
5. When I go out for a meeting in the middle of the day, I can see people sleeping in the trees, under the trees, on benches or fences, in the stores or outside the stores. I guess is the heat ;-)
6. When we stop at a traffic light I can shop for all week since there are people selling everything from, fruits and vegetables to toilet paper, shoes and even maps to hang on your wall.
7. Sometimes when I go to buy stuff at the stores near my house I get compliments from men - not in the form of whistles, but just a simple and not intruding "Uhu ye fe" which is "You're beautiful" in twi, therfore it's not annoying, it's just nice. Yeah, I'm a sucker for compliments, but who isn't? :P

Another post bout food and eating

2006-11-22T00:25:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post these pictures for a long time, but always something else came up.

These are pictures of my boss eating fu-fu with groundnut soup when we visited his village, a while ago.

I don't find them attractive, but he always seems to really enjoy his food - regardless of the mess. :) I tried it, but couldn’t really get used with this style of eating food or the food, for that matter. They always find it strange when I use both of my hands to eat fried chicken. The food here is only eaten with the right hand. Left is not used because it is said you wipe your ass with that one. I think they've invented toilet paper, water and soap since that custom appeared, but you know the thing about traditions - they're followed - even if not logical (which is usually the case) - because they give a sense of belonging to a culture. So I think.

The weekend

2006-11-21T14:22:00.000-08:00

After a German Party on Friday and a shopping day on Saturday, came beach (Kokorobite BEach to be more precise) and eating lobsters on Sunday. I've documented the preparing lobsters process - long one, but with extremely tasty results. Too much work for too little reward, though. I'm not complaining cause Farah (one of our new friends we've met on Friday's party) did most of the work. Thx Farah! :)

PS: Someone told me they're shrimps. Weeeeeell, I like calling them lobsters, whatever they are. :-P

Dacia Logan has arrived in Ghana

2006-11-14T14:23:00.000-08:00

If you have read some of my Ghana posts you would probably know that here in Accra - the capital of Ghana - most of the cars on the streets are old (I don’t think I’ve seen a taxi which has a functional speedometer - and I do ride taxis quite often), made from parts, very polluting of course and look like they'd break into pieces at the next bump.

But fear not! Logan is coming! After the success of TICO (you can see a lot of them on the streets of Accra - grabbing aTico cab negotiates you a very good price/ride), from Romania here comes another box-office hit - Daaaaaaacia Logan at only 2.745.000 cedis/ month!!!
It is so strange to see this billboard promoting Dacia Logan near my house - hehehe - feels like home.

It makes sense though - the market here is an appropriate one for selling Logan - the new car you can afford - targeting probably high income Ghanaians. I would say the core target is male 28-35, in a management position or entrepreneur, newly married or married with small kids, believer in family values, but also that he is the head of the family and has to provide a good income which he makes by working long hours and weekends, proud to show off his new acquisition and happy to provide with technical details and the great deal that he made, as a rising successful business man that he is. Well, just flexing my advertising muscle a bit. So that's what I think on a late evening about Logan's target in Ghana. Any comments on this one? I would love to hear them.

Pictures of the billboard coming soon!

PS: I believe Tico was also produced in Poland and Turkmenistan or something like that - don't remember where I've seen that, but I did and I couldn't find it now.
PPS: Since Africans like bright colors - the color of the car in the ad is red. I don't remember seeing it red on our billboards when it first launched. I might be color blind or it's just that Romanians like grays a lot more than vivid colors. Hm.

Only for girls :-)

2006-11-11T04:31:00.000-08:00

Went wild last night

2006-11-11T04:29:00.000-08:00

- slept without a mosquito net. It's too too hot. :-)

Summary of last weekend (4-5 nov)

2006-11-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

After a house party that might as well been in Bucharest or anywhere else in the world followed a ride with a bus at 4 am on a bumpy road while trying to sleep; a funeral of a mother's friend; a paradise beach - Axim beach; slaves' history while in an old castle; walking through the water to a light house island where slaves got through an underground tunel only to be sold; then another paradise beach - Ankobra and ride back to Accra with "the beautiful" tro-tro - the more expensive, faster, confortable and cooler one - worth the money - and so did the weekend.

My fairy shoes :)

2006-11-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

I bought these shoes in Accra somewhere near Kaneshie market for 100.000 cedis which is about $10. I call them Cinderella shoes, my colleague Desmond calls them "the silent shoes" and my colleague Khalid named them fairy shoes. I kinda like that last one. So my fairy shoes made the big snail appear - Adacabraka ;-P

Late post of an early Halloween

2006-11-03T01:42:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday in Champs.
OK few explanations - Champs= sports bar, obruni place (place where a lot of white people hang out), thematic nights: Thursday-quiz night, Friday - karaoke night, nice atmosphere, great food, many nationalities.

My first Ghanaian joke :-P

2006-11-01T05:37:00.000-08:00

A man dies and goes to hell. There he finds that there is a different hell for each country.
He decides he'll pick the least painful to spend his eternity.

He goes to Germany Hell and asks, "What do they do here?"He is told "first they put you in an electric chair for an hour. They lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the German devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day". The man does not like the sound of that at all so he moves on.

He checks out the USA Hell as well as the Russia Hell and many more. He discovers that they are all similar to the German hell.

Then he comes to the Ghanaian Hell and finds that there is a long line of people waiting to get in. Amazed, he asks, "What do they do here?"
He is told "first they put you in an electric chair for an hour.Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour.The Ghanaian devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day."

But that is exactly the same as all the other hells why are there so many people waiting to get in? "asks the man.
"Yeah, but because there is never any electricity, the electric chair does not work. The nails were paid for but never supplied, so the bed is comfortable to sleep on. And, on top of it, the Ghanaian devil used to be a Civil Servant, so he comes in, signs his time sheet and goes back home for private business."

Christmas is less than 2 months away

2006-10-31T10:59:00.000-08:00

Today I've heard the first carol on the radio.
This year I'll be at the beach for Christmas. :)

Bye Twick!

2006-10-29T14:47:00.000-08:00

Today we said goodbye to Patrick – my coworker, housemate and friend. His traineeship is over so he went back home to Holland. Sad thing, goodbyes, but they’re part of life.
Patrick, also known as Twick was the one to give me my first pointers in Ghana and showed me around the block. We had some fun times, both at work and going out. So good luck with all your plans, Twick and see you soon in Romania or Holland.

Prampram

2006-10-29T14:02:00.000-08:00

This weekend we went in my first AIESEC reunion since I'm in Ghana - it was actually a day at the beach - having fun, playing games, getting to know each other. We went to Prampram beach - less than an hour drive from Legon area - where the University of Ghana is. Prampram was a beautiful place, though not quite appropriate for swimming beacuse of the rocks and not so clean wather. I had a lot of fun with the lovely people from AIESEC, played voleyball and as usual - took lots and lots of photos.

Some more things about life in Accra

2006-10-29T07:07:00.000-08:00

Ohhh, this is a whole lot better blog about life in Ghana (and some other adventures) than my own! Actually, if I think better, my own didn’t really have that aim, but the one to show a glimpse – like the name says – to make people curious and give them an idea about things. I still am amazed, though by the accurate description of life in Accra and kinda ashamed by my own lack of patience and constant laziness. Oh well :)

Anywayz, I have the tendency to only post about my weekends. I guess I’m at that stage where everything has become familiar (more than 2 months already in Ghana), but the truth is every day life is fascinating here since is so different than home.
That’s why I’m sure most of the people reading this blog (if there are any:) will find the simple details of every-day-life at least interesting. So I'm going to make up for my laziness and mention some more things about life in Accra, things that Leanne’s blog reminded me of. For example -

the currency – 20.000 cedis is the biggest nominal of paper money - you start counting at 100 cedis, continue with 200, 500,1000, 2000, 5000, 10.000, 20.000 and you’re done. 20.000 is about 2 USD – and it’s so funny when I get my salary in a biiig pile of 5000 bills. To make the measurement system easyer for some – 25.000 is how much a beer costs in a club. :) I have to confess that I hate the paper money – they are always soooo dirty. Well, not to be ungrateful or anything – it’s good thing I have them, yey? :)

“the after mefloquine (the anti-malaria pill) dreams” – so real and at times frightening – especially few weeks ago when I heard gun shots outside our house and found out later it was a robber’s chase – police killed 2 and one escaped or something like that – yeah, my area is known to have people that use guns to get money. Was even written in the newspaper about it. Fun, huh? To include another major cultural shock while I’m at this story, the armed robbers must make sure they’re never seen by anyone while “using their magic” because the mob (big crowd of people) will chase them, hit them with whatever heavy object they can find till they bleed to death. Haven’t been as “lucky” as some of my fellow trainees to see that one event live. Yet.

the leaking rooftops when there’s a heavy rain – it’s good thing the rainy season is over if you wanna consider this reason. Yep, the rooftops are leaking – in the office, in my room – not a big deal, actually - as long as I have a rooftop over my head, I’m cool. :)

men urinating on the side of the road is apparently an unwritten rule here - sooo funny and such a shame I didn’t have my camera with me when we saw a man who was urinating on a wall that said with biiig red letters “DO NOT URINATE HERE!”. We (me and my house mates – Tobi and Patrick) started laughing and he did too – almost a bonding moment there :)

getting directions in Ghana – from “it’s far”, “not that far” and “close” classification; the streets with no names or numbers to the confident hand pointing in the sometimes right direction and the taxi drivers that ask you mid-way where to turn cause they don’t know the way they’ve themselves taken.

knowing which tro-tro to take – which is quite simple cause there’s a man shouting the name of the destination and making signs out of the window, if available - like Circle – which, by the way, is the biggest, most crowded and polluted junction around the city.

having another winner for “the weirdest thing carried son the head” – which is……trrrrrram - liiiiiiiiive chicken – yep, like 7 of them in a basket on a head, just laying there not knowing of the cruel faith that awaits them. Thanks Dalia for pointing them to me :).

the traffic - with some few simple rules like the one Leanne’s mentioning - “And never forget your horn. It's called "hooting" or "popping" here. Your horn is your #1 car accessory.” Using their hands to signal directions or ask permission is also common. Another funny observation is when two cars are not seriously bumping into each other and they just continue driving like nothing happened. These are the remarks of a pedestrian.

Let’s call it a post for now – just to make it length friendly. Hopefully this un-laziness is not going to be a “one hit wonder”. :)

hippo

2006-10-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

This is so funny. Old, but funny :)
Haven't yet seen the hippos here in Africa, but I sure hope are as cute as this one. :P
One must be careful though because "hippos kill more people each year than lions, elephants, leopards, buffaloes and rhinos combined."

Aburi Botanical Gardens

2006-10-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

Long weekend - 3 days of fun in the sun. :)

Monday was also a free day - since it was the end of Rammadan - there are about 16% percent of muslim people in Ghana.

A rather quiet weekend which also qualifies as nice mainly beacuse we went in a small trip to Aburi Botanical Gardens. I was happy i could see some more of Ghana - Ghana is indeed nicer than Accra :) - they should really make some parks in Accra for people to hang out and enjoy - it is so ironic - Ghana is this green, full of wonderful landscapes country, but Accra doesn't really reflect that.

Anyways, Sunday we went to Aburi Botanical Gardens which is an hour or more of tro-tro ride with a transfer in Medina - North Accra. It was funny trying to find the right tro-tros to go from one place to another - we went someplace, we were told to go further, we went there, sat in the tro, been told to get down and sit in another one and so on. But we did make it to the gardens and had a nice day just walking around the beautiful nature, taking pictures and simply relaxing. The fresh air was quite a treat comparing to the dust and car polution in most of Accra. I cannot really complain that much since we do have a nice garden at our place. :P

Watching nature

2006-10-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

Today we had no electricity - from 6am- 6pm. If I haven't mentioned, this happens for already 6 weeks, I believe. Apparently there is not enough water to produce enough energy for everyone. But this is another discussion. So they came up with this rotation system - every 3 days the lights are off for 12 hours - one day is from 6am-6pm and after 3 days it's from 6pm-6m and so on. Sometimes we get bonus blackouts - they are the real fun, not those announced ones. Phhhhhh :-)

Anyways, I wanted to say that today, while waiting for the lights to be back on, I spent some time watching the birds and bats from the summer hut out in the garden . I realized I like watching this intense life going on around me. It's a life only available if you pay attention and are probably not used to it already.

There are many different kinds of birds, some are more colorful then others, some are more noisy and some are eagles :-) - today I saw a big brown one flying above the garden. The butterflies are bigger and of many colors. The lizards are always doing their usual rounds on the walls and in the bushes. And in the evening the bats start flying from one tree to another - big ones, small ones, brown ones, black ones.
It is fascinating. At least for me.

The past weekend (7-8 October)

2006-10-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

Another awesome weekend! I was very lucky to also travel this past weekend. We went to Kakum National Park and to Anomabo - a dream beach as the pictures will show.

Here is some general information about Kakum and its attraction - canopy walkway:

"Located in Kakum National Park in the West African country of Ghana, Africa's only canopy walkway is suspended 100 feet above the ground, offering you what is truly a bird's eye view of the rainforest. At this height, you don't have to be an expert to identify the colorful patterns of tropical birds as they glide through the forest below you.

You don't even have to climb to get onto the walkway. It starts at ground level, and as you walk along, the land below you slopes into a valley, and you find yourself twelve stories up in the forest canopy. The horseshoe-like pattern of bridges — made of steel cable, netting, and narrow wooden planks — are connected by tree platforms that serve as observation points for viewing the rainforest. You circle back to complete your tour on level ground.

Among other species, more than 300 kinds of birds and about 550 types of butterflies make their home in the forest canopy, and many of the canopy's inhabitants have never set foot on the forest floor. You can hear the distant rustling of leaves as a troop of monkeys travel through the canopy, but don't expect to see them. Kakum's mammals are known to be extremely elusive.

Kakum National Park is an island of tropical rainforest in a sea of agricultural lands — an isolated fragment of what was once a continuous belt of rainforest extending from Guinea through Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Cote d'Ivoire to Ghana. Degraded by mining, farming, and settlement, and combed by hunters and timber extractors, Kakum now covers less than 140 square miles, but it provides one of the last remaining habitats for six globally-endangered species, including Diana monkeys, bongos, yellow-backed duikers, and forest elephants. "

Yes, Di, Diana monkeys :-P
I have to admit the walk was a bit intimidating and i was a bit scared, but it was a rush of adrenaline and we all made it safe and sound.

We spent the night at Hans Cottage Hotel - very nice place, with pool and crocodiles - no, not in the pool, but in the lake around the hotel. I took hundreds of pictures of the crocodiles – it was like I was under some kind of spell – the Japanese one probably. :-) At first I saw this big crocodile resting, but I actually thought it is a statue - they do have statues of crocodiles so that's where I got the idea. It was only when I realised it was actually a real one that the photosession started. And lasted a while. :-)

On Sunday we went to the beach. I was so excited since it was my first time at the Ocean and first time at the beach since I have been in Ghana. The beach was incredible – the colors of the Atlantic, the palm trees, the sand, the sun – they all amazed me. Got a tan as well :-)

The weekend ended with what I can call – my first real tro-tro experience. That’s what we took to come back to Accra. If I haven’t mentioned it before – tro-tro’s are like maxi-taxis back home, just that they look like they are going to fall apart any minute. They are used for common transportation in Accra and also to connect cities. The road was not the best and the distance was not the shortest, but we’ve made it and it was kinda fun and adrenaline rising. :-)

Food related observations

2006-10-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

On Friday we had staff meeting. It was a very interesting and motivational gathering that ended with a big lunch for everyone.
My story is related to what happened over that lunch. That is when I've noticed some major cultural differences. For example - there were some pots on the table and I leaned towards one of them to smell it. Many voices around me: "Oh, don't smell the food",”No, no, no don't do that" etc. I was like: "Why?”. Was later explained that "Only dogs smell the food. We don't smell it. If you smell it, the others might not eat it". I didn't really get the real reason for this custom, but apparently they don't do it in Netherlands either. So, mental note - "Do not smell food".

Next I wanted to try one of the local dishes which I haven't tried before, but was available at this lunch - banku. My boss, Fred heard me and since I was saying I don't want a big portion and I just want to try it, he offered to let me try from his plate. I have to remind you food is eaten with the hand here - especially traditional one like banku. So my reaction was: "You put your hand all over it, I can not try it from your plate". But then he told me it is like a bonding thing and friends do eat from each others plates. He showed me by trying the food from Ruth's plate (she is the receptionist, she’s cute and nice and also sewed my African wear – Oh, Fridays here are "African wear day”) – and then she tryed food from Fred's plate. Hands were used for the entire process. :-) I was like: "Oooook, if it's a bonding thing" :-)....but used a fork.
By the way banku was good. Better than fu-fu in my opinion. There are pics of fu-fu on one of the previous posts - banku looks similar, but tastes different.

Desmond

2006-10-06T14:33:00.000-07:00

This is my colleague Desmond. He's a fun, driven and ambitious guy. He likes girls, Dutch music, delivering trainings and handling the paper cutter. If interested in developing further collaborations, leave your number in a comment and he'll get back to you. Boys, ignore that last sentence :-)

My little friends

2006-10-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

I was mentioning small lizards on the walls of my room in a previous post. Here they are - my constant, true friends. They're cute and harmless. Or so I think. Hmmm. :-)
Actually I believe they eat spiders and bugs and stuff.

Goats

2006-10-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

They are cute, they are many and they are tasty.

Trip to cocoa farm and Boti waterfalls

2006-09-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a really nice day - I finally got out of crowded Accra after few good weeks and managed to see new places and faces.
My boss (Fred), my fellow colleagues trainees [Tobi (Nigeria) and Patrick(Netherlands)] and me we all went to Fred's village (where he was born) - around two hours drive from Accra on good road.

Fred's mom cooked for us, which was wonderful - I got to finally try fu-fu with groundnut soup - and she also took us to see a cocoa farm - she's on of the big bosses in the business ;-). Ghana has the best cocoa in the world - they produce a lot (around 560000 tones/year - second after Cote d'Ivoire) and export around 70-80%.

So we've seen where the process of making chocolate and other cocoa products actually starts. It was all very interesting and new for us. We ate cocoa directly from the tree - totally different taste than you know cocoa has.
The process goes like this - they take out the white cocoa beans (which is what we ate) inside the yellow fruit and let it ferment for 6 days, then they dry it for another 8 and only then it gets the taste we all know. After that it can be sold to different factories - it's around $50 a sack like the ones you see in the picture.

Another highlight of the trip was seeing the Boti waterfalls - there are two of them and they say one is a female and one is a male - didn't exactly figure it out why - but i guess that because one has a rainbow must be the female. :-P It was amazing - really beautiful green surroundings with rainbows and everything.
Ahhh...loved it all. Great trip!

short post

2006-09-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

This blog reminded me this quotation:
“If you love something, set it free; if it comes back to you, it’s yours, if it doesn’t, it never was.”
Richard Bach

Things get carried on the head

2006-09-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

I am constantly amazed by the things people carry on their head. It is so fascinating when I go out and discover new stuff. So far a sewing machine and tables were probably the most unusual. Oh!...and some big empthy plastic containers with chairs on top. Sorry - no pics. :-)