I'm the biggest boss that you've seen thus far

Everytime I try to blog about something new I keep thinking about Mali. At the time I thought going to Mali was a terrible mistake. It just isn’t quite ready to fulfill my ragein. Never the less I guess it had a strong impression on me and looking back I always remember one more thing to let you in on. I remember complaining more there than any other country in West Africa. I was hot, thirsty, disgusted, had malaria and was dirty, but the people were nothing but friendly. Except for the tailor with a sick mustache that Emily F***ing Doerr yelled at for a good half hour while trying to get back her clothes that I don’t thinking ever got tailored. Anyway our last night in Kaye, Emily F***ing Doerr’s host mom had a cousin or sister or daughter, some kind of relative who was getting married the next day. So we were invited to the pre-party. It was kinda like a rehearsal dinner but also nothing at like a rehearsal dinner. When we arrived we were greeted by probably close to 40 old Malian ladies all decked out in there nicest African wears. They were old, like I had more teeth than all of them combined old and were just wild with excitement for the ‘Toobah boos’ to have arrived at their little party. We brought all the fixens for a traditional Malian meal, and greeted all the old ladies.

Our main dish for the affair was spaghetti rice. Krista blames spaghetti rice for all of her problems, but I think it is bomb like Bamako (so cheesy). They prepared it right there in front of use from scratch making the fires and mixing in all the food stuffs while we played with the little children running around. There were probably 80 people in the concession just sitting around chatting and having a merry ol time. Throughout the festivities there was a large goat that they were saving for the feast tomorrow. This goat was not pleased with his role in the celebration and made it known throughout the night screaming his big ugly goat head off. We pleaded with the host to just kill the goat now so it would shut up. No luck though, goat just aint the same unless it is killed the day of the wedding. By the time the meal was all prepared it had gotten dark. They pulled a TV outside for everyone to watch, and some people went inside to grub up. We sat around a huge bowl of spaghetti rice that is just rice with some macaroni and tomato sauce and im sure some other things, and we ate with our hands. After that we went back outside and chatted with some people letting them make fun of us for being Coulibalys. We also enjoyed some Malian tea as a dessert. It was real sweet but the best part was watching the ladies pour it into the tiny little tea cups lifting the teapot high above then dumping the tea back in the pot and doing it a few times to get bubbles on the top of the tea that you were supposed to avoid drinking. All very strange, but it was cool that these Malians just let us crash their party and serve us up some dank food. I could only imagine what a party the wedding would have been.

So skipping ahead to me in bed with the A/C on full blast and CNN international playing in the back ground, I had started to feel better after a day of the anti-malaria pills but was still really tired. I had little time to waste though since I was staying at this baller resort I had to figure out what my job would be. So I met with Lankesha for a meeting to clear up some of my questions. He pretty much told me that the he wanted me to manage this small community radio station in Elmina. Apparently, the old manager was stealing a bunch of money, doing inappropriate things with underage girls in the studio and doing an all around shit job. I told him that I have no experience being the manager of anything and my only experience in radio was the last 2 months as a reporter for Peace FM. He still thought I was perfect for the job. He paid for me to change my plane ticket to February and allows me to stay at the resorts for free with free meals and the best part of all free booze! It might sound too good to be true, but it’s pretty incredible. I’ve never heard of anyone landing a sweeter job straight out of college.

*Sidenote: My old man received my diploma in the mail about a week ago so I’m an official Univeristy of Oregon Alumnus. Go Ducks!

A college graduate with access to free food and booze. Although that might seem like enough, of course there is more. My radio station is in Elmina so I am based at the Coconut Grove Beach Resort. I live at a beach resort with an 18 hole golf course, swimming pool, tennis court, basket ball hoop, a couple horses, some new donkeys, the beach, a crocodile pond and I get maid service. More on my living situation later.

My radio station in Elmina is called Ahomka FM which loosely translates to ‘satisfaction’. It is owned by the Coconut Grove Hotels that own 4 different hotels in Ghana: Elmina Beach Resort, Elmina Bridge House, Obuasi Miners Lodge and Accra Regency. These resorts as well as some other businesses in Ghana are all owned by Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom. He is the CPP flagbearer one of the many political parties in Ghana and is running for president of Ghana this year. The elections are in December and I’ve been kinda active in the campaign already. In fact while we were staying at the Regency in Accra the Krista and Michelle, the ladies who traveled with me all through West Africa had takin flights back to the states. So I am the only one still in Ghana from the study abroad program. Actually most of them have been gone for months now. Anyway, while I was staying at the Regency getting my visa checked out and recovering from malaria. I met the video guy for Dr. Nduom’s campaign. He said he wanted to do a short documentary on the Dr. but needed someone to write the script and he could put all the video together. So I wrote him up a short script and the documentary should air some time next week. It was proofread by Ms. Nduom, crazy. I also got a chance to ride around in one of the Dr. Mobiles, these are trucks with the Doctors face painted all over them and loud speakers that play the CPP fight song. More on the politics later, but I did attend a press conference that the Dr. made and hung out at the CPP campaign headquarters. So I’m sure you have questions there is just so much to tell, please feel free to ask if im missing something you want to know about. That’s all I can do for now, I think I’m gonna go eat for free and then play a round of golf, or sit by the pool, or both. Go Ducks!