Desba!

Today I thought that I would share with you my morning routine.

At about 4:30AM, I open my eyes as I am nudged from deep sleep by the sound of prayers over the local mosque speakers. They are located on the top of the building and are pointed into the surrounding community. The words “Allah-u-akbar” (meaning God is great). It is hard to be upset at that. If I had any late phone calls (which happens because the free phone calls on the network here can only be made between 12:30AM and 5:30AM, and Toronto is four hours early…8PM for you is12AM for me), then I don’t always wake up.

I usually wake up (fully by about 7am). After stirring out of my bed, stretching a bit and praying, I go to my cd player with it’s computer speakers and put on some gospel. I then make my way to the kitchen, where I light the stove and put on some water to boil. I usually come across Chelpong and Melimba laughing and playing as they are bathed by their older sister Teressa.

I then return to my room, choose my clothing and go to press them. By the time I am done, the water is boiled and I take it into the shower room (it is a room unto itself, and I take a warm bucket bath). I do the showers at night, but I like the hot water in the morning.

I then sit down and have some tea (or Milo…a kind of hot chocolate with lots of “vitamin B” for those who don’t know) and some bread.

I then walk for about 5 minutes down the red dirt road (dodging puddles if it rained the day before) and wait at the main road for a taxi. As the taxi leaves Jisonayili (where I live) and heads into town, we pick up passengers until the car is full. Once I get into town, I cut through the taxi year (a parking lot jammed full of taxi’s) and I get the taxi to Lemeshengu. Most of the drivers know that I get off at Radio Justice. For both fares I pay a total of $6000 cds, which converts to about 0.75cents Canadian.

Once I get into the office, I go to check my email and do a little bit of writing. As we continue to do more stories, the rest of my day will get less predictable. I also have to add that Lieta brings the staff some tea and bread for breakfast at around 10am. That is such a delight. I will be doing whatever and she strolls into my office with tea and bread. I really like how she makes tea too (not everyone can make tea well you know).

Yesterday, I didn’t go into work until a bit later in the day. I did not want to stay home, but my body was telling me to rest. I have been feeling a little bit of chest congestion, but it is getting better. My shoulder needs a massage, but that is not an option in Tamale. I have found a great muscle ointment though. Most concerning to has been a cramp in my upper abdomen that I get when ever I run or walk a lot. I think it is my bodies reaction to the Larium (malaria medication). This afternoon I will be going to the doctor to see about it. If you know me, you know I don’t really like to go to the doctor, but I can hear a whole bunch of family and friends in my mind saying “go get it checked”. I have contemplated not including this part, so as not to worry people, but it I really don’t think there is cause to worry.

After some rest, I headed into the office and then ran a few errands. While in town, I found a copy of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”. I have never read it. I also picked up a couple of movies. This is the list of what I have watched so far (aside from countless Nigerian movies that I can not name):

Cast Away (there are some good lines in that movie
Gladiator (would you believe that I fell asleep the first two times I tried to watch this movie in Toronto…not because of boredom, but exhaustion. I finally saw it and I really enjoyed the allusions to the way that spectacle and public opinion connect to political power)
X-Men III (I just really like X-Men movies…Jean Grae was always my favourite, but I didn’t really like her role in this one)
Daddy Daycare (this movie is very, very funny...it really brightened my day)

Yet to watch, but have at home…
Third World Cop (Jamaican ganster movie)
Mission Impossible III
The Myth (a Jackie Chan movie)
9-11 Doc
Our Song (never heard of it, but it looks good)

Tsosti (this is a South African movie that I wanted to see for a long time. I bought a copy of it, but it was defective…still trying to find another one).

Buying movies here costs just under $2 Canadian, so I have bought a few.

Last night, when I came home, I had two dinners. Cabbage stew and rice at the nieghbours house (I just know her as Lieta’s sister) and spaghetti at home. Both were delicious. I sat with Chelpong and Melimba for a good amount of the evening. At one point, they were both drifting asleep in my lap. They are so sweet.

While eating my second dinner, I sat with Sister Saphora (I said Souka on the last post, but it is Saphora), and Nuri-Haque. We sat watching a documentary on TV about Marcus Garvey. I made a comment, that documentaries are what I enjoy watching most, and that set off quite a passionate monologue from Sister Saphora. We have already had numerous discussions about history, the evil trade, reparations, Ghanian /African politics, development, etc.

She responded to my comment saying that she dislikes documentaries. When I asked her why, she went on to explain the pain that a lot of history stirs up is, in her view, counter-productive. Nuri-Haque countered her point, remarking that we need to know the reality of what has really happened. She felt that we could read about it, but that they should not show movies that illustrate the terrible things that were done. I mostly just listened, then I turned my attention back to the Marcus Garvey documentary.

When it was over, I walked Nuri-Haque to the road. I was feeling a bit sad about what I had seen, as I found the way that his dreams were sabotaged to be quite cruel.

Expressing this to Nuri-Haque, he said that history should never bring our minds to look back, but should gear them towards the future with inspiration. He also added that it would pain Marcus Garvey, or anyone who intended to do good that their legacy was making people feel sad.

His words were true, and I was grateful for them.

From there, I went home to shower and sleep.

The new day has brought new blessings that I have to get to, so that’s all for now.