///WrappingItUp///

Its my last day of work. In thirty minutes I will officially be no longer an employee of Saatchi & Saatchi, only an unemployed wanderer who is left to figure out where this road leads him .Well, who am I kidding I'm trying to figure out which road gets me fastest to the nearest club tonight! But my coworkers are sad to see me go which is a good feeling because I consider them good friends after these 5 weeks and I'm glad to see they feel the same. Plus, as evidence to prove their emotional bleeding I have a huge yellow shirt in my posession now that reads "I REP GHANA", its extremely official.I learned a lot of great things here and I think it will definitely stand out on my resume and set me apart, especially in this shit job market.
So last weekedn we cruised to the Volta region which is as far east as you can go without hitting Togo. It was a quick trip but we go to go to the Wli(pronounced valee) waterfalls, which is the biggest waterfall in Africa. This picture doesnt depict the bottom well but there is a huge pool of water where everyone swims and you can stand under the waterfall as it drills you. It is about a 45 minute walk both ways in a place that looks like you're walking through Jurassic Park. Nonetheless it was legit. The next day we went to the monkey sanctuary where we got to feed the monkeys bananas, then they would peel them in our hands and eat them it was hilarious/really cool.
Anyways, I have one last weekend to take in Ghana and then I am headed to South Africa with my friend Kaleigh fro two weeks. We will be staying in Johannesburg for a couple days then Durban, then Cape Coast. I can't wait, it should be fantastic. Talk soon my friends, miss you all!

///FromThePitch///

As I strum through another stack of endless papers from my desk of despair I will risk lack of job security to enlighten you on a topic closest to my heart, the activity that is athletics. I would be a fool to travel to a country which inhabits the most remarkable athletic specimens I have laid eyes on, and not report back. The problem is that Ghanaians know one sport: Football (soccer, for the culturally challenged).Everywhere you look there is a game going on. As we speak, as the Backstreet Boys pulsate my ears inside office, outside the confines a football game ensues. And let me save you the suspense they arn't playing in a dome where the astrograss can be ejected from the stadium to catch sunlight and then return to its proper posistion. The pitch I describe looks more like a Middle East battleground than a field, with an uneven plain scattered with rocks and all sorts of obstacles that could potentially misdirect the ball, which would all accumulate to frustration and possible retirement for Americans but these players couldn't be more in the zone. As the sweat drips down their faces and their commands echo out to their teammates, their competetiveness is synonnymous with exstacy. Its an escape, pardon the cliche but its true. Cept they're game is on point. Excellent precision and teamwork. As an audience assembles inside and outside the walls and goals go back and forth through unnetted goalposts, it becomes clear that these guys can really play. I think part of that due to their hard labor childhood, where they all worked carrying and moving materials for their parents which has molded their Statue of David physiques (which if the rumors are true, without the small endowment). . And the other is just God given, as I discovered that Ghanaians don't exercise when I decided to go on a run and everyone looked at me like I was running FROM something. Taxis honked as if to imply that they could just give me a ride to wherever I was going. It found me confused as I pondered how jacked these guys are for how little they exercise and simultaneously jealous of course.
But then I tried something.
If Ghanainans are so good with their feet what about their hand eye coordination? I asked our security guard George to throw me a baseball I brought from home. Not only did he throw like Smalls from the "Sandlot" pre-Benny instruction, I could see he craved to bounce it on the ground and boot one over to my glove. It was so bad I felt like he should have been throwing lefthanded. Like just when he was about to release and follow through he was suddenly struck by lightening and had a siezure as the ball spike into the ground. They cant catch or throw like us, but they can kick the shit out of a size 5
Which got me thinking. What if someone we to come over here and introduce American football to these kids, could they catch on permanently? Of course the pure logistics of the game would take time but they have the perfect formula for it. Ghanaians are not very tall but are strong and fast, perfect for the backfield or defensive back. But then I put it in perspective, they would lack enthusiasm this because the best players are still going to play soccer, similar to America's situation. Soccer in America lacks support because the best American athletes don't play soccer. Imagine if this starting 11 starting the world cup:in front we have Steve nash, Reggie Bush., Adrian Peterson upfront. In the middle we have T.O., LeBron, Kobe (prior soccer experience), DWade. Back we have Patrick Willis, Ron Artest, Bob Sanders....and then of course Dwight Howard in goal.
These players would undoubtedly play soccer if they grew up in a place where soccer was the most popular sport growing up. Yes I realized it is a mash up of two different sports so I cheated and these egos could never coexist, but its theoretical. If these players had soccer in their neighborhoods growing up they would be the best soccer players to ever play.
So that's where my point lies. I exclude basketball becasue most Ghanaians are short but I think if these guys were to be around American football or even baseball for that matter I think exponential things may happen.Obviously the money is not comparable to the MLB but it could be if there was demand. Soccer is the most watched sport i nthe world and only America is missing out This is just a fairytail I envision but I think it would help a lot of these people escape their circumstances. And we could tailgate.

///MinorityReport//

It is pretty easy to be repetitive when blogging on a trip about how "I did this today" or "I saw this" which to an extent is what a blog is useful for, a way to update and communicate with my world. But that's too easy. Nobody wants to read what I'm doing they want to read what I am experiencing.
After I was accepted in to this program in February we met every Friday for two hours preparing and discussing what we were to encounter during our 6 weeks here. If I didn't attend these weekly meetings I would have had to leave once I got here (which someone from our group has done already). But nothing you can read or talk about in Eugene, Oregon can prepare you mentally for what you're going to see or do 6,000 miles away from your comfort zone. I've seen people defecating in the street, a slum literally relocated because its pollution was causing the water purification process of the city to fail. When i was walking to work on my first day it was pouring rain and I was lost and couldnt find my office. Then I passed a man who was shivering, being poured on naked in the middle of the road. All my frustration turned to sympathy. It just makes you know that no matter how bad you have it one day, someone has it worse. I'm not trying to compare my directional mishap to this man's poverty because in no wya do they connect, however it put everything in perspective for me. These people work twice as hard to have half of what we have.
But then comes the dilemna. What are you gunna do about it? Someone in our group who works for a newspaper was put on an assignment to cover child prostitution and she was put out to follow a reporter tracking this story who had all these encounters with 10-11 year old girls begging for money and sex. She was shook. Obviously that will have quite the effect but I think it was less due to her not being able to handle the situation than her wanting to take these girls back and show them a different life. These children were doomed from the beginning and as sad as it is, they will be next to nothing for their entire lives becasue of their lack of education and physical abuse. So what are you gunna do? Everytime someone comes up to you are you going to give them change in hopes that that becomes the start to their fortune? Or does that just prove that they can get money when they need it from the Obruni by begging?
It is somehting I can avoid in the U.S.....but not here, no chance. It the U.S. I am generally unsympathetic to the homeless unless they happen to have a physical or mental disablement, because if you really wanted to, you could get a job. I'm not gunna donate money so you can get a 40oz., I'll get myself a 40 thanks. But here in Ghana the poor don't drink alcohol, they can't,and any money you give them will make a difference in that person's week or month. So is it my social responsibility to flip a 20 cent piece to someone if I have it on me? You can see the hopelessness in their eyes...but I still don't know.
But then who am I to say, if this person is not a begger, that they want me to pity them. There are many very poor and homeless people who are too busy to give a fuck what I think and for me to judge them. But i have definitely put in perspective that the richest can make the poorest moral decision and vice versa. These are good poeple they are jsut misunderstood. Just because they don't an ipod or new kicks doesn't mean you are better than them, or anyone for that matter. Ghanainas are simple but full of life. Yes it sucks to have to be on all the time and always listening or observing but I think I am just surprised thatI'm surprised. It's really not that different. I think I was going in to the situation like I was going here to save something, as a humanitarian doing something to become cultured and bring back stories, as a wiser adult comming in to the real world. But its not like that anymore. I've stopped being the tourist. I eat the food, take the public transportation, interact,conversate, bargain, and argue just like I am one of them. Whether they think so or not remains to be seen haha but it really doesn't matter. I'm trying. This is what subconsciously I was looking for out of this trip. Where, if i really engage this, they will really engage me, and I think they finally have. It is not about comming home and sharing my knowledge or somehting cliche (well maybe a little) but it is about living in the moment [shout out to Paul] now and being thankful for what you have. But I don't think this in unbearable my any means. I mean, if you were born into somehting like this and its all you know, you make every day better the best way you can. These people didnt do this to themselves, they inherited it.
I guess I'll have to take a picture to make it last longer.


we forget the unfortunate
sure i ponied up a bill, but i didnt give my time
so in reality I didnt give a dime, or a damn
i just put my monies in the hands of the same people that left these people stranded
nothin' but a bandit
left them folks abandoned
damn, that money that we gave was just a band aid
can't say we better off then then we were before
in synopsis, this is my minority report.

- JAY-Z

///Compare&Contrast///

Things I miss about the United States
Mexican food
Ranch dressing
My car
fast internet
air conditioning
dryer
toaster
microwave
gym
ESPN
family
clean beaches
paved roads

Things I love about Ghana
45 minute taxi rides for 3$
bars and clubs open until 8 a.m.
the culture
the dancing
the curiosity about America
Bounce (my cell phone game, so addicting can't get past level 7!)
my coworkers
my roomates
only cost 20 cents to get to work everyday
the funny things they sell on the street
used clothing
the banter bullshit
our security guards
my house
the fact that nobody is ever on time
Reggae night
how radio and newspaper are the leading mediums)where in America they are the fastest dying
DJ's
the Michael Jackson obsession by everyone
Leslie

///011233261404279///

THIS IS MY CORRECT PHONE NUMBER FEEL FREE TO TEXT OR CALL ME WHENEVER!!!!

///Kumasi & Politics///

Lotsa things going on lately in the Akpungalo Junction. First off my roommate Dan Lawton is catching a national buzz for the piece he wrote about the political affiliation of U of O faculty who are involved in a program that invests millions annually for political diversity. It was first in our school paper but was then picked up by the Christian Science Monitor a huge national publication. Sometime last week it picked up a lot of buzz and led top his subsequent radio interview with Lou Dobbs on CNN radio. The next day he was asked by Bill O'Reilly to be on his radio show and his name was googled over 500 times, all while being in Ghana so it must ahve been just a little strange I can imagine. But the piece is really good and while pissing off most of the faculty and staff it was a very honest piece and goes to show that out of the 111 faculty and staff members, only 2 are republicans, one of them being our President Dave Frohnmeyer. Check it out it is pretty interesting.
http://media.www.dailyemerald.com/media/storage/paper859/news/2009/06/01/Opinion/A.Vast.Disparity-3745308.shtml

Also, we are all doing journalism internships in one form or another. Some are at Tv station, others at radio and newspapers, and then people like me at Ad and PR agencies. My roomate matt works for the Dialy Graphic which is the biggest newspaper in Ghana.
I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Eric Frimpong story but here are the basics and Matt and I plan on reseaching the story that has gained a lot of publicity back home but not so much notariety here. But bascially Eric is a Ghanaian soccer player that went to UCSB and after being part of their national Championship team and eventually being drafted by DC United, he was accused and convicted of rape and sentenced to 6 years in prison. Now anyone who knows Eric would vehemently disagree of the charges and decision and although there was no DNA evidence to convict him and no signs of lying by Eric himself and previous alcohol related problems with Jane Doe herself, he sits in his cell while the appeal process is in motion. Here is the story ESPN the magazine did, its pretty mind blowing. He seems very innocent and non deserving of his sentence while enduring an unfair trial to begin with.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=4300383

What no writer has seemed to capture though in the Ghanaian side to this story and contacting his family here to see how it has effected them. What Matt and I want to do is show how something like this can effect Eric and his 3 families(Ghanaian, American friends, and soccer). Thanks to many contacts from my main man Jeff Foudy (shout outs to Foudy) we are on the brink of executing a really interesting story.


Lastly, we just got back from Kumasi last night which is 4 hours north of Accra. It was rad, we went to many craft villages where yes Mom I got you something nice. But one things will most likely be my lasting image of Africa and that is the Kumasi Central Market, the second largest market in the world next to Ethiopia. It is number 1 on my top ten list of places to never have a panic attack. You can get your True Religion jeans with your Elephant skin, and your diapers with your cow eyes. The meat market was insane, you can walk right through 15 men with machetes chopping animal heads off, It should be the setting of the new Silence of The Lambs movie. People in our group were throwing up, as the smell resonates on your clothes like a bonfire. Google image the Kumasi Central Market. Here are a couple images to give you a feel.

///ObamaInGhana///

So, they man himself finally made it to Ghana is the most hyped president visit ever in the country. There were billboards,songs, TV Shows, and newspapers dedicated just to him for his 12 hour visit. It was literally as if the Jesus Christ himself arrived in town for a short visit. Read this article :
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090712/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama
Now watch this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfHCjv5IWkQ

Pretty crazy stuff.
It was in a way anticlimactic because he didnt speak publicly in town and just addressed parliment, which may have been safer but the people here would have loved to catch a glimpse. Obama definitely identifies with Ghana as both the U.S. and here both recently underwent changes of power peacefully and Ghana is the country in Africa with the most potential and advancement economically, technologically, educationally, and attitudinally. I saw the caravan of secret service vehicles with the family inside when i was in Osu and it was like time stopped, all the roads were blocked and people watched with amazement eventhough they couldnt actually see the man himself. It was funny because in his speech he shouted out Anas the guy who came and spoke to us in our class, who was praised by Obama for his outstanding journalism so that was really cool to see.
We've been going out all weekend to bars and clubs and we had a blast, everywhere stays open until 6 in the morning quite a change from last call at 2 so the adjustment is interesting. Today we went to a professional soccer game, which was average at best. 3 of our group got kicked out of the stadium for having their feet on the seats in front of them haha what a joke, but they were shortly let back in after the guy realized he was a dick.
Work is well I guess I havnt doen a whole lot so far but I have been working with the PR and events staff putting on a presentation at the National Theatre which was successful and then this week I will be working with the media buying team.
Anyways, what new on the home front I could really go for a burrito or McDonalds right about now. Hit me up!!!

///BackINAction///

So I bounced back from my two day stint of possible malaria to make it to my first full day of work. So far i work with a Surreal Life lookalikes cast. My boss looks like Carl from Family Matters, one co worker looksl ike Lil Kim the other like Dave Chapelle and the other like Charlie Murphy. My work is pretty cool, obviously I'm the butt of all jokes but its fun that way. WE are working on a presentation at the National Theatre for tomorrow.
This weekend we are going to a pro Ghanaian soccer game in Accra, the last one at the stadium 18 people died in a trampling accident, so bring on the mosh pit!
My number here is 0110261404279 if you wanna text or call me!
Off to Reggae night Holla!!!!!!

///CAPE COAST///

So We just returned from our journey to Cape Coast which is about 2-3 hours away from Accra(where we live). We did it pretty big- stayed at a resort ate buffet dinners just for our group every lunch and dinner, had hot water, TV-all that. It was a beach resort so we had a bonfire to bring in the 4th and we definitely let everyone know what country we were from, as if they couldnt tell already.
We visited the slave castles in Cape Coast where the slaves were held until they were shipped off to various parts of the world. We learned of the inhumnae conditions some of the 8 million who resided there, lived through. I found it pretty ironic that a church was built by the slave owners inside the compound, I'm sure God was not the biggest slavery advocator.
After that we went to the canopy jungles where we walked across bridges made by Ghanians, similar to something out of Indiana Jones or the latest King Kong movie. Super sketchy and I look forward to never doing that again but it was really cool to be 300 feet above the ground, in the jungle, not knowing if at any moment the chord on the bridge would snap, plummeting myself to my demise.
I start my internship tomorrow at Origin 8, an advertising agency in Osu that is a brnach of Saatchi and Saatchi. I will be travleing in what they call a Tro-tro which is bascially a mini van filled with Ghanians and myself, as a means of public transportation. I look forward to it and its jsut important I dont compare my experience to America but accept it and smile. Everyone loves the Obrunis (white people) and always wave and smile and shake our hands its pretty fun.
BARACK OBAMA COMES ON FRIDAY JULY 10TH TO ACCRA, I HOPE HE SPOTS ME AND BRINGS ME UP ON STAGE FOR A SPEECH. Till next time.....

///Culture Clash///

Day tres. Sorry for my absent blogging the intenret cafe is only 30 minutes and we dont go everyday so sometimes its hard to get it done. Man, we have done so much stuff I could never imagine. Our classes could never portray the type of poverty and state of mind here. Its bittersweet because we get to see it and experience it all but there is not much we can do about it besides be friendly. The other day we took a bus to this extremely extremely financially poor school basically in an alley. We all brought donations like pencils and paper and what not and the kids sang songs and puto n a dance for us it was awesome. It was so cool but so sad at the same time. I gave one little boy my kanye west shutter shades and they all went ape shit, all trying to wear them it was hilarious.
We had our last day of classes today at the university and we are off to Cape Coast tomorrow to go to the jungle and the slave castles so that should be interesting.
Last night we went to reggae night at the beach, pretty self explanatory but it was super sweet, made friends with all the rastas while we danced to Bob in the sand. Anyways I will stpe my game up next week in blogging I promise because Monday I start my job at my advertising agency and I will have internet there. Till next time

TAKE//IT//IN

So much to report. This is my first African internet experience so as I type away in this internet cafe I'll slowly reflect on what's gone down so far. The plane ride was whatever, slow as expected but as soon as I got off that plane I just felt the humidity. So far it hasn't been too hot but I've been sweating my ass off as expected. Our house is enormous. It's like something a South American political figure would reside in. Barbed wire throughout our wall, our own personal security guard 24/7, 5 beds, 3 bath....we call it the compound. The roommate situation is well so far, I'm sure some conflict will soon ensue naturally but for now it's 3 people to a room, nice and stuffy.
We had our first day of school today at the University of Ghana where we had 3 lectures about advertising,media, and the best was the investigative journalist. He was like the Ghanaian Chris Hansen from NBC, he wore a mask and everything so people wouldn't recognize him, pretty official.
I got a phone today and 200 minutes for 45 cedi which is about 20$ U.S. Its cool here, I mean obviously a lot different and a lot poorer, we definitely live in the HOOD but I like it, you really get a feel for it. People don't have shit here and seem to be happy. I'll find out more in the near future, till next time.....

GONE///TILL///SEPTEMBER

What's up guys! thanks for checkin' me out. I never thought I would stoop so low as to update my life via internet outlet. Be that as it may, it is the best way to update my friends and family of my Motherland adventure as well as being mandatory for our class. Also, as most of you live your lives vicariously through me of course it would be fitting to update you of my daily experiences as you meander aimlessly through facebook, download illegal music what have you. If you're wondering what you're boy is doing and you miss me uncontrollably don't worry I'm one click away! haha what a dork.

So here's the deal I leave Friday(June 26th) at 3 and take al ovely 11 hour flight to Amsterdam where I may need to stop in one of those cafes during my 4 hour layover. After that it's another 10 hours to Ghana and let the journey begin. I'm quite nervous,excited,curious, the whole 9 but positive thinking and open mindedness is key. I'll be taking a class about Ghana my first week with the other 13 of us and then doing an internship for the next 5 with Origin 8 which is part of the Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agency, so pretty rad stuff.

I'll update when I know more but I'll miss you clowns and I'll be sure to bring back the next Dikembe Mutumbo instead of AIDS. Be good.