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Kumasi Observations

Money Matters

A friend of mine in Colorado asked me over the phone the other day if there was poverty in Kumasi. For a few seconds I searched for an answer. “It depends.” I said. If you are measuring the lifestyle of Ghanaians by American standards, then yes, there is poverty here.  The CIA world factbook states […]

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Kumasi Observations

The Two Faces of 2012

It’s that time of year again, time to look back and sum it all up. What stands out most in my mind is the difference between the first and last six months of the year. In June, Bob and I left the American South to live in Africa. We moved from Pittsboro, North Carolina a […]

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Kumasi Observations

Aftermath

It happened yesterday on the Winter Solstice. The Mayan calendar ran out. As far as I can tell, not much has changed here in Kumasi. Back in the States many of our friends have been looking forward this day, certain it would herald an end of the world as we know it. Or at least […]

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Cookie's Bliss Observations

Out of the Ashes, Saturday Morning Bliss Moment #1

This morning I received my first bliss moment when Bob pointed out that investigations into the construction of the fated Ahimota Melcom were already being called for. He had come across an article exposing the building contractor as a “night builder” in which the President of the Ghana Institution of Architects, Osei Agyemang was demanding […]

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Observations

Got Religion?

The last two weeks of Ramadan were punishing. Not only were the Muslims forbidden to eat or drink during the day but they were also not allowed to sleep at night. The call to prayer which was already being broadcast at midnight, 3:00am and 5:00am had escalated into nonstop harassment from midnight until 3:00 followed […]