Ghana Updates: Episode 5

So things have cooled down significantly here in Kumasi. Either that, or I'm slowly starting to get used to the sweltering heat that is a reality of living in a country along the equator. I can say for certain that experiencing equatorial heat in Ecuador was a great precursor to the temperatures of rainy season Ghana.

Leah and I work at Kapital Radio, the "heart of music" in Kumasi, Ghana, as observing journalists (read: be as furniture, and twice as silent,) and co-producers of "Know Your Rights", Ghana's only human rights radio show. It's pretty wicked. Our coworkers are awesome - very friendly, very curious about Canada and Canadian journalism, and they seem to love teaching us nonsensical words in Twi and watching us attempt pronunciation. The three great loves among them seem to be, in no particular order, futball (Barca, Man U, and Chelsea are the favourites here, as well as the national team, the Black Stars, and Asante Kotoko, the local squad in Ghana's premier league,) cell-phones (I've received plenty of comments about my "big man" phone, which is my brother's old blackberry, which I have NO idea how to use,) and Christianity. Already within the span of two weeks, we've had multiple indepth conversations with our colleagues about religion, with poor Leah getting blasted for professing to be an agnostic, something which many Ghanaians just can't seem to understand. The concept of not believing in anything is foreign to them. I get off easy because I "confess" to being a Christian (sorry) though I don't have half the zeal (sometimes over the top, always well-intentioned) of Ghanaian Christians.

Days are long at Kapital, where we start at 8am and usually leave the office around 6:30pm... (do the math, that equals a 10.5 hour work day. yeah.) We walk there from the Presby Guesthouse (our humble abode for the rest of the summer,) which is about 30 minutes each way with grueling inclines (I can finally say that I have to walk uphill both ways to get to work!), sketchy sidewalks that lead into oblivion, and hordes of marauding mosquitoes that love nothing more than to feast on obruni blood. Leah's getting it worse than I am, however... guess they know she's half white, and is therefore half delicacy. By the time we get to work, we've downed our Nalgenes, are soaked to the bone with sweat, and usually need to sit for about an hour before we stop sweating. it's a lovely time.

Anyhow, I'll cut it off for now as this is getting lengthy. Thanks for continuing to keep up with my adventures, and make sure to check out my official work blog posts at www.jhr.ca/blog, where I'll be posting my "professional blogs" or something like that. If ever you find them too business-like (which they probably will be, as this IS a job that I'm doing,) then check back here for all the nitty-gritty personal perspectives on what I am loving and loathing about my time here. Here's something juicy: I HATE LEAH (just kidding.)

ok peace