Rear Window

Ghanaians like to profess their feelings to the world, using the back windows of their cars. You are likely to see on the rear of any taxi or tro-tro (micro-bus) a decal of words or phrases. Sometimes they are in a local language, but frequently they are in English. They seem to run from religious ("praise God") to rude ("shut up") to narcissistic ("darling boy").

Yesterday I saw a new one:



Then there were also some of the classics:



Some others seen in Accra include:

Still Wonderful Jesus
Pray For Life
Rock Fella
Showers of Blessings
Show Boy
In Jesus Name
Psalm 121
Don't Rush
Trust & Obey
Life is War
God is God
Say Yours
Still the Boy
God's Property
No Jesus No Life
Your Time Go Come
Dallas, Man

PCS* from Accra

We're moving! Last week was pack-out week. On Monday, movers came over and took away our air freight, which is going to join us in DC. Dan looks happy about it.



On Wednesday and Thursday, the movers came to pack, inventory and weigh the remainder of the stuff, most of which will be shipped by sea to Europe. We hope to see it again when we get to Italy in 2009.



They were supposed to load the stuff onto a truck on Thursday, but the truck was taking a long time to arrive, and then it started to rain. They decided to postpone the truck till Friday avoid getting everything wet.

We still had a little drizzle on Friday, but it cleared up, so they were able to load the stuff onto the truck.



It's Ghana, so some of the movers were barefoot and carried items on their heads.



Dan checked box numbers off the list from our porch.



Less than one week left for us in Ghana!

*PCS = permanent change of station, i.e. move

Ouch

The other day, Dan was playing soccer. Another player collided with him, and this is the result:



His ankle swelled up a lot right away. Luckily, according to the x-ray, it's not broken, just sprained.



Now he's on crutches. Any touch to the ankle hurts quite a bit.



Please send "get well" thoughts Dan's way. He probably will be sticking to such sports as backgammon and Boggle for the next few weeks.

Dan commissions school

Last week we went to Nkawkaw, 3 hours from Accra on the way to Kumasi. The occasion? The T.I. Ahmadiyya Primary School, one of the projects funded by the Ambassador's Special Self-Help Program, had been completed and was ready to be commissioned. Dan represented the embassy and performed the commissioning.

Between formalities and speeches, the school's choir entertained us with some songs.



After the singing and speechifying came the cutting of the ribbon.



Then we got to see the inside of the classrooms.



All officials present posed for a group photo.



The resource center has the one of the best views in Ghana.



The event got press coverage. Read about Dan's speech here.

Ghana needs ladders

So, the other day we came home from work to find some guys painting the exterior of our house. They were up on the second-floor balcony, which they had reached by climbing an unbelievably rickety-looking, crooked-runged ladder.



Are there no ladders available here? So if you need one, you just have to make it yourself? Or are these the kind that are available here?

Akosombo Dam visit

A while ago we went to Akosombo Dam as part of an official visit by some US congressional staff. This dam is the primary source of electricity in Ghana. It was built in the 1960s.



The dam is located in Volta Region, which is pretty and green. This is the view from the top of the structure.



Dam officials gave us a tour. It seemed well maintained, but the 60s feel was unmistakable. Engineers hand write instrument readings on a ledger pad. Well, hey, it still works.

Egypt vacation, part eight

On our last day in Egypt, we visited Saqqara, not too far from Cairo.



There is a decent museum on site, containing some of the antiquities and mummies found in the tombs there.



To let us inside the tombs, the gatekeeper unlocks the sturdy door.



These figures depict the servants...



... and children of this tomb's occupant.



The stepped style of this pyramid is distinct from the style of the pyramids at Giza. The steps remind me of the Mayan pyramids we saw on our trip through Latin America. This particular pyramid is supposedly the world's earliest surviving stone monument, built in 2650 BC. That makes it 4,658 years old!



Here's a shot from outside the tourist site. I believe the stick is for herding sheep, not for chasing away tourists.