1. I was excited when I found out that the sartorialist was in South Africa, specifically Johannesburg. He captured some amazing fashion shots. His pictures were able to capture a sense of modernity and the vibrancy that is associated with the African continent. I love that he did not succumb to the usual pictures foreigners take while here. As an African I cringe when I see pictures taken by non-Africans depicting the same things and that are stereotypical (the poverty, hungry kids etc). Granted, they do exist and must be highlighted. But I often wonder if they intentionally go to look out for such dire circumstances. When portraying people, a photographer must try to be objective. On your way to a remote village, you can capture the city dwellers and the infrastructures and also capture the villagers.
I remember once an international magazine came out with an edition where they had an expose on the ‘new Africa’. I was so excited I grabbed one to read. What I saw shocked me pictures of forests and a small dusty town. The expose was done in two countries, one of which was war torn or still at war. I could not identify with this ‘new Africa’ they were showing, I kept on asking myself how come they didn’t go to other lovely African countries for photos. Back to the sartorialist, I could identify with his pictures, it also opened my eyes to SA street style (eclectic and amazing). Recently he also posted pictures from Poland, I find them refreshingly different from the usual New York, Paris and Milan shots.
You can click here to see the shots or go to www.thesartorialist.com
2. This week at church I heard this sentence during sermon: ‘Happiness depends on your circumstances but joy comes from within you’. So profound and true.
Saturday, 3 November 2012
Friday, 26 October 2012
FACT: The people of Cambridge are some of the nicest people ever
I have been away for a while from blogosphere and Ghana. I spent some time in Cambridge, UK with my mum. Even though I did my postgraduate in Southampton I had never been to Cambridge so naturally I was quite apprehensive. At Heathrow the custom officer I met was so rude and I felt tried to put me in my place (I don’t know what kind of place) I had never had such experience and wondered if that was a sign of how my trip will end up turning. I had left earlier for Soton and had a lovely time there. My former pastors (God bless them) allowed me to stay at their place. Their house is lovely and is in a very nice neighborhood. The only downside was that I felt very cold. I later found Soton to be warm (lol) because Cambridge was colder.
A few days later I met my mum at Heathrow and together we left for Cambridge. Gosh the National Express coach took so long… almost 4 hours, we stopped everywhere: Gatwick, Stansted, Hatfield etc. It was a good way of seeing England but I don’t we appreciated it at that time, we were so tired we wanted to get straight to Cambridge and rest.
Now to the crux of this post, before going to Cambridge I hadn’t arranged any sleeping arrangement (big mistake) but my mum had somewhere at her conference venue. So from her place I made calls to a couple of B&Bs but most were fully booked or expensive. I was also nervous because after 2 years back in Ghana I had reverted back to my heavy West African accent. So as I was calling I was wondering what impressions I was creating on those B&Bs operators. One man was quite rude but one lady was so nice. Even though she couldn’t offer me some days at a stretch she said she had a room for that day. Finally my mum and I decided to go to her because she had been sooo nice on the phone. She and her Husband were even nicer in person and their B&B was lovely. I enjoyed my room so much. Let me do some free marketing for them, if anyone is in Cambridge and wants to stay in a B&B please check out Worth House. At breakfast I saw so many ‘thank you’ cards from customers from round the world and the guests that day were also from all over. This lady later went beyond duty to made calls on my behalf trying to get me a longer time at several B&Bs. I later left for the conference venue and managed to get a room near my mum’s (sigh of relief). Let the shopping begin. Funny thing is that the rude’s man B&B was near Worth House. But the owners of Worth House made me forget that unpleasant event.
On our first day which was a Sunday we decided to walk to the city centre and get food. Any random person we stopped to ask for directions was nice and spent an extra minute to guide us further. I decided to purchase a laptop and was told to go to a center where they had a big PC World, Argos etc… Complete strangers told me which bus to take (it was quite far). At the bus stop I met a lady who decided to show me the way since she was taking the same bus. At Argos and PC World the sales people were nice. I even met a UK born Ghanaian girl at Tesco who worked there. A couple of days later we went to Huntingdon to another Argos. The taxi driver advised us to take a bus instead of a taxi or train. On the bus back to Cambridge the driver was Ghanaian (we are everywhere).
The porters’ lodge staff at the conference venue were charming. I had to go back to Soton and I decided to take train. I had been on the London underground on a few occasions with friends. Using the train meant using the underground and since I was alone and wasn’t familiar with the city I was a bit unsure. But the residence staff were nice they printed out a colored map took their time to explain things to me. Due to this, I easily found my way to Soton and back to Cambridge. I have countless stories where everyone including sales assistants, drivers, cleaners, waiters, passersby were helpful and polite (we ended up giving lots of tips, these guys are smart). I will just include one last instance. On the day we were coming back to Ghana we decided to use the National Express. Even though we were quite loaded (you how we Africans travel) the driver gently chided us and let us off the hook. Contrast this to two years ago in Soton where a National Express driver insisted our bags were over 20 kilos (he estimated by just lifting the bags with his hands) and so took a 10 pounds fine from us. We knew our bags weighed less than 20kgs but because of his behavior we started doubting ourselves. Lo and behold when we got to the airport and had our bags weighed, they were far below 20 kilos. Just thinking of that day makes me angry again.
Anyway Mum and I while in Cambridge got talking about how most people we met were nice. She said the people she attended the conference with were friendlier than on other conferences she had been to. We have travelled quite a lot so trust me when I say we found something rare. The only downside we agreed was the weather lol. I had to layer up more than in Soton. We also agreed we could pick this virtue and take that back with us to give better customer care (Lord knows we truly lack that in Ghana) in our workplaces/businesses. I admire the pride in which everyone did their job and the courtesy they extended. I pray the good Lord helps me to act in the same way. Generally niceness pays off, would it not be great if every service provider in Ghana strives to really be courteous and helpful? Instead of giving the proverbial retort ‘you kraa you are too known’ or 'fa ne saa' (take it as it is). I think our economy would really benefit since productivity would be high.
P.S- Soton is short form of Southampton
P.P.S- Unfortunately I didn't go punting, how i wish i had... :(
Enjoy these lovely pics I took while there.
A few days later I met my mum at Heathrow and together we left for Cambridge. Gosh the National Express coach took so long… almost 4 hours, we stopped everywhere: Gatwick, Stansted, Hatfield etc. It was a good way of seeing England but I don’t we appreciated it at that time, we were so tired we wanted to get straight to Cambridge and rest.
Now to the crux of this post, before going to Cambridge I hadn’t arranged any sleeping arrangement (big mistake) but my mum had somewhere at her conference venue. So from her place I made calls to a couple of B&Bs but most were fully booked or expensive. I was also nervous because after 2 years back in Ghana I had reverted back to my heavy West African accent. So as I was calling I was wondering what impressions I was creating on those B&Bs operators. One man was quite rude but one lady was so nice. Even though she couldn’t offer me some days at a stretch she said she had a room for that day. Finally my mum and I decided to go to her because she had been sooo nice on the phone. She and her Husband were even nicer in person and their B&B was lovely. I enjoyed my room so much. Let me do some free marketing for them, if anyone is in Cambridge and wants to stay in a B&B please check out Worth House. At breakfast I saw so many ‘thank you’ cards from customers from round the world and the guests that day were also from all over. This lady later went beyond duty to made calls on my behalf trying to get me a longer time at several B&Bs. I later left for the conference venue and managed to get a room near my mum’s (sigh of relief). Let the shopping begin. Funny thing is that the rude’s man B&B was near Worth House. But the owners of Worth House made me forget that unpleasant event.
On our first day which was a Sunday we decided to walk to the city centre and get food. Any random person we stopped to ask for directions was nice and spent an extra minute to guide us further. I decided to purchase a laptop and was told to go to a center where they had a big PC World, Argos etc… Complete strangers told me which bus to take (it was quite far). At the bus stop I met a lady who decided to show me the way since she was taking the same bus. At Argos and PC World the sales people were nice. I even met a UK born Ghanaian girl at Tesco who worked there. A couple of days later we went to Huntingdon to another Argos. The taxi driver advised us to take a bus instead of a taxi or train. On the bus back to Cambridge the driver was Ghanaian (we are everywhere).
The porters’ lodge staff at the conference venue were charming. I had to go back to Soton and I decided to take train. I had been on the London underground on a few occasions with friends. Using the train meant using the underground and since I was alone and wasn’t familiar with the city I was a bit unsure. But the residence staff were nice they printed out a colored map took their time to explain things to me. Due to this, I easily found my way to Soton and back to Cambridge. I have countless stories where everyone including sales assistants, drivers, cleaners, waiters, passersby were helpful and polite (we ended up giving lots of tips, these guys are smart). I will just include one last instance. On the day we were coming back to Ghana we decided to use the National Express. Even though we were quite loaded (you how we Africans travel) the driver gently chided us and let us off the hook. Contrast this to two years ago in Soton where a National Express driver insisted our bags were over 20 kilos (he estimated by just lifting the bags with his hands) and so took a 10 pounds fine from us. We knew our bags weighed less than 20kgs but because of his behavior we started doubting ourselves. Lo and behold when we got to the airport and had our bags weighed, they were far below 20 kilos. Just thinking of that day makes me angry again.
Anyway Mum and I while in Cambridge got talking about how most people we met were nice. She said the people she attended the conference with were friendlier than on other conferences she had been to. We have travelled quite a lot so trust me when I say we found something rare. The only downside we agreed was the weather lol. I had to layer up more than in Soton. We also agreed we could pick this virtue and take that back with us to give better customer care (Lord knows we truly lack that in Ghana) in our workplaces/businesses. I admire the pride in which everyone did their job and the courtesy they extended. I pray the good Lord helps me to act in the same way. Generally niceness pays off, would it not be great if every service provider in Ghana strives to really be courteous and helpful? Instead of giving the proverbial retort ‘you kraa you are too known’ or 'fa ne saa' (take it as it is). I think our economy would really benefit since productivity would be high.
P.S- Soton is short form of Southampton
P.P.S- Unfortunately I didn't go punting, how i wish i had... :(
Enjoy these lovely pics I took while there.
 |
| Cambridge |
 |
| punters on river Cam |
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
writing writing writing
I recently attended a short course at the Ghana Institute of Journalism on ‘Effective Writing Skills’. I felt any pointers that will make me a better writer was welcome. I enjoyed in particular Mr. Quashigah’s classes.
His approach to teaching was very different and he really wanted to instill in us the love of writing. Everyone definitely finished the course with a new perspective of writing. One thing he said that stuck with me was to write a persuasive introduction that immediately grabs the reader. He said winning pieces almost always began uncommonly. They sometimes defied orthography and grammar rules and they are sometimes an indicator to how good the piece will be.
I have now been on the lookout for beautiful writing starters and today I stumbled upon one. The thesartorialist.com had a competition running for commentaries to untitled pictures. One of the winning commentaries was beautiful and got me hooked from start.
She just started by a simple ‘I know this man’. Wow I had to double check to see if I had read correctly. Such a short and bold statement takes guts. You can read the rest of the entry here. Is funny how once you get alerted to something, you begin to notice it around you. Here is to great starters! Happy writing.
His approach to teaching was very different and he really wanted to instill in us the love of writing. Everyone definitely finished the course with a new perspective of writing. One thing he said that stuck with me was to write a persuasive introduction that immediately grabs the reader. He said winning pieces almost always began uncommonly. They sometimes defied orthography and grammar rules and they are sometimes an indicator to how good the piece will be.
I have now been on the lookout for beautiful writing starters and today I stumbled upon one. The thesartorialist.com had a competition running for commentaries to untitled pictures. One of the winning commentaries was beautiful and got me hooked from start.
She just started by a simple ‘I know this man’. Wow I had to double check to see if I had read correctly. Such a short and bold statement takes guts. You can read the rest of the entry here. Is funny how once you get alerted to something, you begin to notice it around you. Here is to great starters! Happy writing.
Monday, 2 April 2012
this 'fufu' thing kraa...
I have to admit; i am not a fan of 'fufu' (a Ghanaian dish made of pounded plantain, cassava or yam). (Gasp) I know that's very unghanaian of me but chale i don't care. Anytime i mention that to people, i get reactions like "you must be kidding" or "as for you, you are obroni or are behaving like one". An older lady in Maryland
Yesterday after church i got home to find my parents in the kitchen, since i got home after noon i thought they had already had lunch. I was looking forward to having the kitchen to myself and cooking some spaghetti stir-fry. Instead i found palm nut soup still cooking on the stove and mum asking me where my brother was so he could help her pound the fufu. Since he wasn't home yet, we had to get on with it. As mum started preparing it she said she was tired and her waist was aching so i told her why “is she bothering herself by cooking something difficult when she is tired, why can't she eat something simple and then later eat her 'prized fufu'” anyway as expected she wasn't amused with what i said. To cut a long story short, we later had a funny conversation where my mum and brother where teasing me on how i would be expected to prepare fufu for my husband and my in-laws. I responded by saying powdered fufu is now available and they laughed (and did the ‘hmm’ thing). Afterwards on the phone with a 'Mr. Potential' he asked me to sometimes learn and be interested when traditional food was being cooked since i didn't know who i was marrying. Good advice but see this one too, tying fufu to marriage, what kind of wahala is this, lol.
I was quite happy when i found out that there were other ladies like me, a friend told me she had no clue on how to prepare it and she planned on learning it this year. As for me, my one good but true excuse for why i can't do fufu is "because i wasn't raised in Ghana enhance my feminity, utter rubbish! Like we are still in the 19th century, anyway what do you think about this very Ghanaian food.
Sunday, 1 April 2012
first post
First post! and a newbie to the blog world. I am sure this will be a wonderful adventure chronicling my experiences. I was motivated by the quirks of living as a young lady in the crazy, beautiful and unique city of Accra.
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