Recap: Weekend in Paradise and more

Well, it's definitely been awhile since I last posted. Time is flying now and just one short week stands between me and home. It's bittersweet really - I am going to miss some things dearly...the azonto dance and people's unbelievably friendly natures in particular. On the other hand, I'm down a few pounds and can't wait to get some American food in me again.

Anyway, down to business, lots of pictures to share.

Starting most recently, I'll share pictures from our group's last weekend trip to Busua Beach. This is one of the few areas in Ghana where the water is clean and safe to swim in, and I have to say, it takes the cake for my favorite spot in Ghana. I swear that there is nowhere else on earth where one can find such a beautiful beach with so few people at such a low price....I soon might eat this words when visiting the beaches of Koh Samui, Thailand, but until then, I'm sticking to it. The first thing that I liked about our stay in Busua was what I found in our hotel's 'backyard'. Dozens of yellow birds (really wish I knew the name) live in the trees behind the hotel, making for a great photoshoot.

I spent an hour or so shooting the birds from different angles and was able to get some pretty sharp pictures. As everyone on my Ghana trip has come to realize, I really love animals and wildlife photography, so this was a nice opportunity for me.

I'm still hoping to get to the zoo in Kumasi before I leave, but will be hard pressed to find the time. I might not be able to risk making the 4-5 hour trip there in case the road is shut down and I'm not able to get back in time for my flight.

Of course, I didn't ride 5 hours in a cramped van just to take pictures of birds, there was a beach to experience too. The waves were big, big enough to surf, but for me, doing some bodysurfing was more than enough. It's been a long time since I felt ocean water that wasn't freezing - not a huge fan of the New England side of the Atlantic - and I have to say I really enjoyed the warmer temperature.

I might have to reupload this picture when I get home. The size is limited because I don't have unlimited data to use, and it just kind of looks bad.

The guys also got in some solid beach football, thanks to Dawn for capturing the action. She said I didn't have any pictures of myself and offered to take some more. Not sure they're the most flattering self-portraits, but at least I can prove I was in Ghana now.

Totally missed the ball, but it looks cool.

Who gets the pass interference penalty?

Being the good guy I am, helping Max up.

Now part of what makes Busua so special is what makes Ghana so special for me. The people there, from bartenders to hotel staff to rastafarian juicemaking beach bums, are wonderful. One kid in particular caught my attention and had really warmed up to Catherine, so I had an opportunity to take some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Joe does his best, but really can't compare to the kid in the awesome factor.

Naptime on Catherine's lap

Rocking Catherine's shades, a bit too big for her face I guess.

Still trying to figure out exactly what kind of expression this is. Almost like she's saying, 'are you done with the camera yet?'

It's a good thing adoption isn't an easy process.

This trip really was what we all needed. It served as one final chance to really get away and enjoy Ghana's best parts. Accra can sometimes be overwhelming, stressful, and noisy - sound familiar? Sitting on a beach listening to a live reggae band and watching a bonfire burn all night is a nice change of pace.

Max and Eric with drinks from the bar, enjoying life.

Bonus points if you can guess which two aren't local (just kidding).

Brian and Mike enjoying Busua at its finest. I had to convince them that I could take an awesome picture of them, so hopefully they can thank me now.

Either they celebrate birthdays just like we do in America, or our hotel has had plenty of guests from the States before. The cooks put together this surprise birthday cake for Dawn and Mahlet's birthdays.

Happy times.

This was by far my most enjoyable weekend yet and I left Busua with the feeling that I was going to miss a lot about Ghana. It just isn't every day that you get to dance like a fool on the beach and be surrounded by nothing but support and other foolish dancing.

Couldn't figure out where to incorporate this in the article, but I like the picture, so consider it a bonus?

I'm also posting some pictures from the weekend prior to last. I was very, very sick all weekend, so many of  my pictures from the weekend were taken by Ashley. I'll try and give credit where credit is due.

Our first stop was in Ada Foah, where Bentley has some close contacts. Isaac, our closest friend in Ada Foah, works with local farmers, many of whom are disabled, to teach sustainable farming techniques. The results have been very successful and his farmers make more profit than most others with bigger plots of land do.

Joe in the maize field.

Capturing Dan's flow, one unwilling portrait shot at a time.

Got the entire group together for a picture - 15 cameras later, it hurt to smile.

After visiting one of the farms, we took a boat tour out to a few of the surrounding islands. I was already throwing up with whatever illness (probably Malaria) that I had come down with, and I get seasick. I was miserable most of the time, but felt decent enough to take a few pictures on the first island.

I'm really not sure if this boy knew what my camera was. He had this sort of stare going on the whole time.

Not sure what these guys were doing out on the water  as I don't see fishing nets or anything. It's possible they needed to get to the mainland I suppose, as many people do live on islands.

I was impressed to see a boat rowed by all women.

Shortly after taking the picture above, I was leaning over the side of the boat throwing up. Ashley proved that I have absolutely no skill though, and took some really great pictures like those below.

A portrait (caricature?) of Max.

Most pets one sees in Ghana are strays it seems, but one hotel we stopped at for lunch had some cats. I had no interest and put my head down to rest, but Ashley seemed to feel otherwise.

To conclude, I'll show a pretty bad picture I took of a classic tro tro in Accra. This van, old and rundown as it is, is likely carrying at least 15 people and, as you can see, a huge amount of baggage. It amazes me that these things don't just fall apart in motion (they do sometimes actually).

I hope you enjoyed the photos and writing. It's tough to find the time to really write in depth, but I at least tried to get my thoughts across. Stay tuned for many more photos when I get back to the U.S. and have unlimited net access again.

Street Photography - Time for Reflection

I know it's been a while since I last posted and I apologize (nearly typed apologise, really getting way too used to British English) for that. I've been busy and also find it hard to motivate myself to write when I don't have pictures to accompany my words. I know many people are much more inclined to read if they have some pictures to break up the text, so I wanted to wait until I had some to share. Well, last weekend after sleeping in I motivated myself to get out, get some confidence, and try and take some pictures of the streets of Accra. Street photography is rapidly becoming one of the most popular type of photography, so what is it exactly? Well, I don't really have a good definition, but my best interpretation is that it is an attempt to capture the world, and particularly people, in a natural state. This often means taking photos of people without first notifying them or asking permission - not to be rude, but because to ask would ruin the natural element.

Right around the corner from home. She was taking a nap.

The results in Accra were pretty positive, but not without some minor issues. I'll cover those later in this writing. Now rather than writing just about my experience walking around the city, I thought I'd cover a bit of a broader topic. So, I'll be writing about some of the more interesting feelings I've been having over the last few weeks and will just put pictures in as I see fit (for the most part, this will probably mean just every paragraph or so, I know others attention spans might not be better than mine).

The Little Things


At Bentley, my Cross-Cultural Understanding course that I was required to take before being eligible for a semester abroad program focused heavily on the stages of culture shock. It made some sense at the time: start with the honeymoon stage where everything new and different is awesome and perfect..."Oh wow! Look at how the cars don't stop at red lights, so cool!" Then, progress is made towards the disintegration and stage where those little things that were once ever so cool become ever so annoying. This might result in me screaming at my taxi driver to look before he crosses over wildly into the next lane.

A great photo subject. Shortly after I took this he ran inside. At first, I thought I'd scared him. His mom told me that he'd run in to change clothes to look better for the camera!

This could continue into the re-integration stage which is best summed up as "America is the best and that's that". Really, I just miss American food, but this has at times left me with the undeniable conclusion that our country is leagues ahead of anywhere else in the world. But from here, and I hope that I'm entering this stage now, we reach the autonomy stage. Here it's easy to still recognize and note the major differences between the new culture and the old one, but as one might say, it's easy to "take it with a grain of salt." Now, I've come to enjoy cab rides that are pure insanity. I've even resorted to bringing my camera along in hopes of capturing video of some of the more death-defying rides. Max and I share many good laughs on the way to work together. There is a fifth stage too, independence, but I don't expect to reach it as I'll only be here for two months.

A bike shop, minutes walk from my home.

Of course, traffic violations aren't the only major differences I've noticed. There are countless ones, but I wanted to mention a few that you just might not normally consider. First, the aforementioned British English, coupled with thick Ghanaian accents. Not only did it take me a few weeks before I could even begin to understand most people's speech, it took me even longer to understand just how different British English can be at times. Especially on the job I've found myself completely distraught when I haven't the faintest idea what a word or expression means. On the topic of language, Ghana may be english-speaking but I would hesitate to say that English is the most frequently spoken language. Twi (pronounced closer to tree, still working on saying it correctly) is the most common native language and can be heard regularly, even in a professional setting. Today, my co-worker said to me something along the lines of, ".... prepayment vouching ...." with the ellipses representing a quite extensive use of Twi. I think she may have forgotten who she was talking to.

Had to throw in this duck photo to break up the serious mood.

People hiss at you when they want to get your attention. It feels at first like a rude gesture, but it's not at all really.

Yes, that is half of a Beetle sticking out of the building.

Everything is cheap, but not that cheap if you get paid in the local currency. Inflation is killing the Ghana Cedi as the exchange rate has gone from about 1.3 in March to about 2.00 now. I learned quickly that rationalizing my purchases by converting to USD is a bad idea. After all, I'm not getting paid in USD.

A common sight - these kids are likely watching a soccer game happening on the other side of the wall.

Ubruni (or something like that) means "white man". I hear this a lot. It's never in bad taste but more likely would be used to get my attention. I guess they assume I understand it, and I actually do, which is nice.

There was some serious talent out there despite how young these kids are.

The trotro is an experience like no other. This is Ghana's attempt at public transportation, only it's entirely private. The lack of regulation means anyone can more or less get into the business. They just need to get their hands on an old van and have a "mate" to travel with. When I say old, by the way, I'm talking about vans that are often more than 40 years old. I'm yet to ride in one that had anything left on the inside but the sheetmetal itself. These vans are packed with people at all times and there is DEFINITELY no air conditioning, but hey, this all comes together to deliver what could possibly be the world's cheapest transportation system. If I wanted to, I could travel all the way to Ho, probably a 5 hour commute, for less than 5 cedis. That is less than $3. Granted, I might be not comfortable on the way.

In the background you see Nima, a slum next to Kanda. Kanda is where I am living.

Regarding my street photography experience, it was easy to make some observations. Most obviously, kids absolutely LOVE having their picture taken.

Really had to do some serious editing of this one to get detail in the kids faces, so I had to add a dramatic effect.

Post-game shot, interesting how not everyone chose to smile.

As eager as the kids might be to have their pictures taken, parents can be just as upset. I did have a few people yell at me when I pointed my camera at them, but this is my fault. I'm still working on getting the courage to ask people ahead of time, and again, it kind of ruins the point of street photography. I had an equal amount of people yelling to me to take their picture, though.

The most startling thing about my trip - and I want to be careful to point out that this was an isolated incident and absolutely is not reflective of Ghana or its people - was a man who yelled at me when I walked by him. I wasn't trying to take his or anyone's photo at the time, but I had my camera with my largest lens attached, and I guess it looked fancy. He said to me, "Hey, white man, you bring that fancy camera around to take pictures of people on the street, but when they come calling for help, you don't answer!" I kept walking, and he yelled a bit more to me as I passed. I didn't really feel threatened but the moment offered some interesting insight as to why people might not want me taking their pictures.

Happy to get some attention.

As you might detect from my tone, I'm really beginning to fit in here (despite how much I will always stand out). I'll even say that I'll miss it when I leave, although there are so many things I can't wait to be back home, and then abroad again, to experience.

I  posted this picture because I wanted to show what happened moments after I pointed my camera at just the two kids you see above. They were literally shoving each other out of the way to be the star of the shot. Afterward, they then all swarmed me to see what the picture I'd taken looked like.