A campus walkabout part III

Now in surround sound!!

There were birds a plenty at Bungalow No. One, but now that I am back at the Guest Centre I have a full jungle outside my window. Hence, I sleep with ear plugs jammed inside my head. Tossing around in the night one usually pops out, and at some point I will awaken to this. (Just a little something I assembled on my computer — with apologies to Mike, who will know that not all the bird sounds are indigenous to West Africa, but you get the idea.)

As I type this in my office mid-day there is a chorus of birds outside, singing joyously. I just turned around to my window to see if I could spot any of them, and realize it has become ominously dark out. This happens. Rain here is always preceded by ominous dark, and frequently by complete dark, as the power shuts off. I'm also surprised, given how hot it is and how strong the sun, that it takes a couple of days just for the ground to dry off — including pavement.

Speaking of rain and looking out my window, this is a typical scene following a typical downpour — a work crew cleaning the gutters (and the roads) of plastic, leaves and branches, and sand. That wheel barrel is full of sand that has been scraped off the road, a delta of red Ghanaian soil deposited as the waters abate.

 

 

After the first rain I experienced, now months ago, I was impressed with the sudden blooming of flowers, not just right up out of the ground and on bushes, but all over the trees. After each new rain there are still flowers that pop up, flowers that had yet to show themselves. And other things too. The front lawn of the bungalow recently sprouted a half dozen of these beasts. I suspect they are not edible, but what a meal they would be.

 

There is no shortage of edible food on campus, though the selection is not very broad. Most serve Ghanaian food, and it's a limited palate. I'm working on a separate post on food that will be coming up soon. But one of my regular spots is the Farmer's Kitchen. The offerings here are no different from a host of other spots on campus, but I can get a large container of quite tasty fried rice for about $1.20. My hosts:

Not all my meals are fast food; I do actually cook at home on occasion. Though the move back to the Guest Centre has again limited my cooking options to cold food. But fresh mangoes and pineapples can be pretty satisfying in the tropical heat. Most days I start with granola, soy milk, and fresh fruit. At my office I crank on the AC and have two cups of coffee. But in addition to the night market where the fruit comes from, there is CitiVeg, which sells produce grown right behind the stand, a component of one of the agriculture departments (there are several departments). Available are garlic, onions, lettuce, spinach (though it tends to be bitter), carrots, cukes, corn, brown rice, and some spices. I took the picture at the end of the day; the selection is usually much grander.

The campus also has lots of little private fruit and snack sellers. Family businesses.

The down side of so much take away food is the garbage. And most Ghanaians seem oblivious to it. I joke that if there was a plastic ban in Ghana, about 90% of the population would starve to death. Everything comes in plastic, sometimes several layers of plastic. When I buy pineapple the ladies in the market want to put it in two bags. The nice thing about buying pineapple in the market is you pick out your fruit and then the seller tosses it in the air and flails around with a machete and you end up with a peeled and diced bag full of goodness. Which they then want to put in another bag. The chopping is convenient. It also eliminates fruit garbage at home, which in this climate quickly ferments. But I don't need two plastic bags to get my fruit home and in the fridge.

On the other hand, Ghanaians are very clean and well dressed. Everything is pressed. Before I came here I asked if my initial accommodations would be furnished, and if so, how completely. I was told I would need to buy a few necessities like a cook top, plates and cutlery. But at the top of the list was 'an iron'. Most of the rooms in the residence halls are multiples, from two (rare, really only for grad students) to twelve (four and six are most common). But with that many to a room, everyday is laundry day for someone.

I know I've posted a lot of pictures of buildings. I've explained I can't help myself, since my father was an architect, his father a carpenter, and I've spent a good part of my life building and renovating houses. It seems to be in my blood. So there is no easy way to put this. This is just wrong:

That scaffolding is not tied off. All I can think is you get nine guys hanging off the right side, while one guy gets up on top to do whatever repair is necessary. And you work quickly.

Finally, again because I like architecture, we don't see this at home:

Homage to Richard Tuttle