Thursday

I was just at the internet café for a bit and at this particular one, they have satellite TV in the background. MTV was on. Having lived in Canada, I’ve never watched MTV, but MuchMusic is pretty similar. They’re both so dumb. I don’t know why, but right now, I can’t think of anything stupider than celebrity culture. Like, oh-my-god, Ashlee Simpson is number 2 on TRL. I mean, who really cares about this stuff? I guess it’s a bit hypocritical of me, especially considering how much time I spend following sports. But tell me that there is a difference. Television has never seemed so vapid as it just did. “I wanna give a shout out to all my friends...WOOOOOO!!!!”

There’s my online rant. I’ve been at the office today working on new fundraising proposals. Pretty standard. Right now there are about half a dozen young men yelling outside on the street. Why, I don’t know. I’d have to say that Ghana is a pretty loud place in general, especially in the cities. I once tried to count the number of car honks I heard in a minute, but quickly realized it was impossible! After a short while, you adjust to it and it doesn’t bother you. In the cab on the way home, Dr. Addae and I were talking about the problems associated with water delivery, namely, that no one in the communities takes responsibility for the well if something goes wrong. If the pump breaks, it just sits there. This fits into the greater theme of the fact that the education system doesn’t turn out development-minded people. The guy sitting in the front of the cab (shared taxi) cut in in Twi, though it was pretty easy to understand what he was saying. He was agreeing with what we were saying, but saying that Dr. Addae shouldn’t be giving off such a bad impression to a foreigner. Dr. Addae explained that I was here volunteering and he seemed satisfied. I understand the man’s point though and it’s good that he had pride in his country. Today marks 8 weeks. Hopefully I’ll get this posted tomorrow before I leave to Accra.