It stands to reason that I continued thinking about girls. Especially given changes that are coming over me. I have noticed that I am finding myself more attracted to more girls than ever before. It's like every girl gets +2 on the 1 to 10 scale. And whereas I would have thought myself unworthy of them a few days ago, I no longer feel that. After all, I dumped a super sexy girl because she wasn't worthy of me. The only thing holding me back right now is language. Right now I have as little fear of women as ever. I hope it lasts and isn't just a short term effect of my recent fling. I have a feeling of control over my life that I deserve because many many men who are less than I am have such a sense of control over their lives--at least in the area of romance. Finally I am starting to internalize what I have known intellectually all along. It's nice. It bodes well for the beginning of my 40's. Maybe it's just an artifact of turning 40--there are those who say that life begins at 40. So far, I'm pretty damn happy with my life since my birthday. I feel like I was given a test for my 40th birthday--assert myself and make it to Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso or get stuck in Bla, Mali. And I passed. I didn't let life trample me and despite the fact that they didn't want to let me onto the bus from Bla to Bobo, I got on that bus.
Well, it was Sunday. That means stuff doesn't open early. I went to the Espresso House Cafe. Gee, if any place should open early, isn't it a place with a name like that? I think so. I guess they aren't in accord with me. I returned after an hour when they were open. They had CNN with a CNN sponsored version of the Daily Show. I wonder what will happen to The Daily Show. We are entering a new politics. Obama promises a common sense politics that simply won't be absurd enough to provide humorous fodder. The Bush White House was a caricature of functional organization. He valued loyalty over all else. And as a result of his screwed up value system, he screwed up America.
Anyway....back to my day in Yaoundé. After my failed attempt to go to the Espresso Cafe, I headed downtown. Along the way, where Churchill Avenue terminates at it's north end, there was a woman laying on her back, buck naked, her legs splayed in a diamond, arms a bit out from her side. Just laying there in the mud. I did a double take. That particular intersection, a little bit along Churchill Avenue seems to be the place to go if you need a really quick hooker fix. There are a few women dressed really slutty who engage you as you go by ("vous etês tout seul?") and further down the road there were many opened condom packets. A bit further down the street there a place with security guards. One engaged me and after a brief conversation in French he told me "je connais une petite" if I was interested. My French was up to no more than "je déjà...". I declined. Probably had in mind a girl just a bit to the north at the end of Churchill Avenue.
I was looking for La Terrace which is written up in the Lonely Planet but it doesn't seem to exist anymore. So I headed into a place called Le Café du Yaoundé. At first I though I would be the first customer, but after getting there, I realized that the place has many many customers already and the majority were white. I got a couple of bière à pressions and read Le Zahir by Paulo Coehlo. He talks about his life as a writer in this book and I spent a lot of time thinking about the possibility of turning my West African voyage into a book. If the economy sucks as bad as it looks like it might suck, I might just have a lot of free time on my hands while I look for a job. Turning my experiences into a book might just be the best way to spend my time. I'm already organizing it in my head.
I had lunch at a place a bit beyond the Cafe Espresso right next to the VSO office that has chicken and fries (VSO is like the Peace Corps for Commonweatlh countries like UK and Canada). Well, it turns out their fries are fried plantains, but tasty. And the place doesn't serve with silverware--just toothpicks. But I can do the right hand eating thing so I was right into it. A couple of girls kept checking me out. They were cute, but I already had all the local girls I need for a while.
On the way back, I stopped by the grocery store for a can of ravioli, another Côtes du Rhône, and a few pats of butter, then to the bakery for a nice warm baguette. There was a really cute European girl at the grocery store, but alas she spoke French. I wanted her and if she spoke English I would have invited her out somewhere.
Then I just spent a nice evening in. Ravioli, a delicious baguette, a Côtes du Rhône, my computer, French news on the TV, and my thoughts.
Sunday, December 7, 2008 18:52 Cameroon local time
Showing posts with label news from home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news from home. Show all posts
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Fourth Tiring But Unpanicky Day In Kano
My day was planned to be pretty low key. I wanted to get the second Western Union transfer and see the Museum and send postcards to the nieces. Other than that, no real plans. Just take it easy. The next night I intended to stay overnight in the airport in Lagos. Would it be just hanging out in a food court patrolled by Nigerian security guards and plenty of honest people doing the same as me? Or would it be defending my luggage from an onslaught of thieves eyeing my bags waiting for me to go to sleep or even just show a sign of weakness. Either way, I intend to stay up all night.
I got up nice and late and headed to the internet cafe. I did my usual stuff and lost my connection to my email just when I was going to send my itinerary to my parents. Sorry Mom & Dad. As long as you don't hear of any Virgin Nigeria crashes you shouldn't worry too much.
Then I headed to the post office. I got stamps but no postcards. There was a booth with postcards near the post office but they sucked pretty bad. I should either be able to find them in the Lagos airport or in Calabar.
I headed home to rest. Then I headed out to find the museum. I got lost on the way and I'm not sure how. The crowds in the Old City are thick and it's chaos. I had to cross a stalled convoy of gasoline tanker trucks. Eventually I found the museum described by Lonely Planet as the best in Northern Nigeria. I guess the museums in Northern Nigeria set a low bar. It was only N200 but it wasn't spectacular. It took me only about 10 minutes to blow through it. I passed a white couple who had a guide. The guides are apparently knowledgeable, but frankly from what I heard, he was going into more detail than I was in the mood for. I figured the couple was envious of me when I just read the descriptions by the photographs of the British troops in 1903 and blew past them.
I headed back to the hotel. I was tired and hot and wanted 2 things--a Star beer and to not be noticed by the Abuja woman. I got one of my wishes.
She wanted a Maltina and expected me to pay which I did since it's only a buck. So we chatted again. She was inside and saw me walk through the building. She suggested we go back inside because she was watching a TV show on the TV in there, but I said I preferred the cool outside. She was facing these 2 women at another table and then switched sides. She said they were jealous and saying bad things. They were speaking in their native language so I didn't know what they were saying. I'm not sure what this Abuja woman is. She asked if she wanted me to go get some suya, but I said I planned to eat some Chinese or Indian food later. She didn't know the Chinese had their own food. I guess she's a bit isolated. Also, I thought she knew what country I was from, but for some reason, she thought I was Zambia. I told her that, no, I'm American. We chatted some more about my trip. She asked me which is closer to Nigeria--America or Mali. I found it hard to believe it was a serious question, but it was. I guess as far as she's concerned, they might as well both be Mars. So odd. She got annoyed by the two women again and was a bit disconcerted by what they were saying. I didn't know what was going on. She wanted another Maltina. Dammit, but OK. A few ambulant merchants came by. One was selling cloth. The Abuja woman looked at a couple bolts of cloth. One was really nice and one was not really what I like. She asked me which I preferred. I sensed what she was up to. "I like that better", I said pointing to the nicer one, "but don't let me influence you because you are the one buying it." "You don't want to pay for me?" "Sorry, no." She sent the cloth salesman on his way.
It was starting to get dusky and I wanted to either eat Indian or Chinese food and that's over on the east side of town. She said she would walk with me until we got moto-taxis and she would go back to her town where her sister lives after I left. She led me a couple blocks south of the hotel for some reason rather than just flag one down on the big street by the hotel. One stopped. She talked with the guy after I told him I wanted to go to the Central Hotel. She told me not to take him, but he offered N50 (US$0.40) and I wasn't going to pass that up. A local price rather than a white price. I got on and bid her farewell. She warned me not to answer the door tonight if someone came knocking. Huh? I was a bit disconcerted. Who was she? Was she going to go back and try to convince the hotel staff that she's with me and they she needs the key to my place and then clean me out? I figured the hotel staff wouldn't fall for something like that. My experience is that the hotels are the hardest place to try to rip someone off. The entire staff knows who is staying there and they watch. African hotels have better de facto security than American hotels, in fact, simply because labor is so cheap in Africa that all hotels there have about 4 or 5 times more employees than an equivalently priced American hotel. And they keep an eye out for their guests. So I was a bit uneasy, but not too uneasy to ruin my expected meal.
The moto-taxi ride was great. It was the first one since my crash. I felt dominated by Nigerian since then. But now I was on the back of this moto-taxi and the driver was going up and down curbs and weaving between cars and cutting off other moto-taxis and being pretty aggressive. I had a couple of Stars in me, so I was just enjoying it. I felt like we were now dominating. I was reasserting my presence in Nigeria. I was on top of the world again. It was fun.
I got dropped off at the Central Hotel. It was now dark. I took at look at the Smart Tandoor restaurant and some Chinese place, but they both looked closed. It could just be that it was too early--only about 6:15. So I headed east one roundabout and headed south to where I knew there was another Chinese place and another Indian place. I found the Chinese Palace first and headed in.
As with all Chinese places in Africa, something critical on the menu is rediculously overpriced. It's always the soups and it's usually egg rolls as well. Here the egg rolls are pretty reasonably prices (N80 each) but the rice was overpriced (N280 for a small bowl of steamed rice). I got the mabo tofu (or as they call it, Minced Beef [Kano is heavily Muslim so it's not the usual pork] With Braised Tofu In Spicy Sauce--oh when will the world just learn how to say Mabo tofu?) and 3 egg rolls and an overpriced rice with a small bottle of water. The total came to about N1500 (US$12). It was a nice amount. I left and since this is a high class joint, there were moto-taxis out in front waiting for patrons. It was only N100 going back which is fair since it was night and you generally pay a premium to driver who wait for you rather than just meet on the street in traffic.
I got back and went up to my place. The moment of truth--did the Abuja woman convince the hotel staff that she was with me and get a key to my room? I opened the lock. Nope. Everything intact.
I set my alarm and watched TV. There was Entertainment Tonight which made me want to stay in Africa because I hate their forced insincere positivity and building up of celebrities and David Letterman which was fun to watch after so long--especially since one of his guests was Carla Bruni.
Then I packed a bit so there wouldn't be too much to do in the morning and went to sleep.
Thursday, November 20, 2008 21:22 Nigerian local time
I got up nice and late and headed to the internet cafe. I did my usual stuff and lost my connection to my email just when I was going to send my itinerary to my parents. Sorry Mom & Dad. As long as you don't hear of any Virgin Nigeria crashes you shouldn't worry too much.
Then I headed to the post office. I got stamps but no postcards. There was a booth with postcards near the post office but they sucked pretty bad. I should either be able to find them in the Lagos airport or in Calabar.
I headed home to rest. Then I headed out to find the museum. I got lost on the way and I'm not sure how. The crowds in the Old City are thick and it's chaos. I had to cross a stalled convoy of gasoline tanker trucks. Eventually I found the museum described by Lonely Planet as the best in Northern Nigeria. I guess the museums in Northern Nigeria set a low bar. It was only N200 but it wasn't spectacular. It took me only about 10 minutes to blow through it. I passed a white couple who had a guide. The guides are apparently knowledgeable, but frankly from what I heard, he was going into more detail than I was in the mood for. I figured the couple was envious of me when I just read the descriptions by the photographs of the British troops in 1903 and blew past them.
I headed back to the hotel. I was tired and hot and wanted 2 things--a Star beer and to not be noticed by the Abuja woman. I got one of my wishes.
She wanted a Maltina and expected me to pay which I did since it's only a buck. So we chatted again. She was inside and saw me walk through the building. She suggested we go back inside because she was watching a TV show on the TV in there, but I said I preferred the cool outside. She was facing these 2 women at another table and then switched sides. She said they were jealous and saying bad things. They were speaking in their native language so I didn't know what they were saying. I'm not sure what this Abuja woman is. She asked if she wanted me to go get some suya, but I said I planned to eat some Chinese or Indian food later. She didn't know the Chinese had their own food. I guess she's a bit isolated. Also, I thought she knew what country I was from, but for some reason, she thought I was Zambia. I told her that, no, I'm American. We chatted some more about my trip. She asked me which is closer to Nigeria--America or Mali. I found it hard to believe it was a serious question, but it was. I guess as far as she's concerned, they might as well both be Mars. So odd. She got annoyed by the two women again and was a bit disconcerted by what they were saying. I didn't know what was going on. She wanted another Maltina. Dammit, but OK. A few ambulant merchants came by. One was selling cloth. The Abuja woman looked at a couple bolts of cloth. One was really nice and one was not really what I like. She asked me which I preferred. I sensed what she was up to. "I like that better", I said pointing to the nicer one, "but don't let me influence you because you are the one buying it." "You don't want to pay for me?" "Sorry, no." She sent the cloth salesman on his way.
It was starting to get dusky and I wanted to either eat Indian or Chinese food and that's over on the east side of town. She said she would walk with me until we got moto-taxis and she would go back to her town where her sister lives after I left. She led me a couple blocks south of the hotel for some reason rather than just flag one down on the big street by the hotel. One stopped. She talked with the guy after I told him I wanted to go to the Central Hotel. She told me not to take him, but he offered N50 (US$0.40) and I wasn't going to pass that up. A local price rather than a white price. I got on and bid her farewell. She warned me not to answer the door tonight if someone came knocking. Huh? I was a bit disconcerted. Who was she? Was she going to go back and try to convince the hotel staff that she's with me and they she needs the key to my place and then clean me out? I figured the hotel staff wouldn't fall for something like that. My experience is that the hotels are the hardest place to try to rip someone off. The entire staff knows who is staying there and they watch. African hotels have better de facto security than American hotels, in fact, simply because labor is so cheap in Africa that all hotels there have about 4 or 5 times more employees than an equivalently priced American hotel. And they keep an eye out for their guests. So I was a bit uneasy, but not too uneasy to ruin my expected meal.
The moto-taxi ride was great. It was the first one since my crash. I felt dominated by Nigerian since then. But now I was on the back of this moto-taxi and the driver was going up and down curbs and weaving between cars and cutting off other moto-taxis and being pretty aggressive. I had a couple of Stars in me, so I was just enjoying it. I felt like we were now dominating. I was reasserting my presence in Nigeria. I was on top of the world again. It was fun.
I got dropped off at the Central Hotel. It was now dark. I took at look at the Smart Tandoor restaurant and some Chinese place, but they both looked closed. It could just be that it was too early--only about 6:15. So I headed east one roundabout and headed south to where I knew there was another Chinese place and another Indian place. I found the Chinese Palace first and headed in.
As with all Chinese places in Africa, something critical on the menu is rediculously overpriced. It's always the soups and it's usually egg rolls as well. Here the egg rolls are pretty reasonably prices (N80 each) but the rice was overpriced (N280 for a small bowl of steamed rice). I got the mabo tofu (or as they call it, Minced Beef [Kano is heavily Muslim so it's not the usual pork] With Braised Tofu In Spicy Sauce--oh when will the world just learn how to say Mabo tofu?) and 3 egg rolls and an overpriced rice with a small bottle of water. The total came to about N1500 (US$12). It was a nice amount. I left and since this is a high class joint, there were moto-taxis out in front waiting for patrons. It was only N100 going back which is fair since it was night and you generally pay a premium to driver who wait for you rather than just meet on the street in traffic.
I got back and went up to my place. The moment of truth--did the Abuja woman convince the hotel staff that she was with me and get a key to my room? I opened the lock. Nope. Everything intact.
I set my alarm and watched TV. There was Entertainment Tonight which made me want to stay in Africa because I hate their forced insincere positivity and building up of celebrities and David Letterman which was fun to watch after so long--especially since one of his guests was Carla Bruni.
Then I packed a bit so there wouldn't be too much to do in the morning and went to sleep.
Thursday, November 20, 2008 21:22 Nigerian local time
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Post-Election Day
I stayed up the entire night watching the election returns and reading about the results on the internet. I rested on their couch for a while after things sort of slowed down. But not that long.
At about 10am, the cleaning crew and wanted to clean, but I was still watching TV and refreshing web sites. They eventually decided to leave since I was still going to be there for a little while longer.
At around 11, I was tired as hell and decided to return to the cheap Hotel le Crillon a block away. I checked in and got my same room. It was clean again. I quicy washed some underwear and shirts and then slept until 4pm. Then I headed out again. A quick check on the internet showed bad new for Al Franken and Prop 8. Al Franken would have been good. He's a Harvard man just like Barack Obama. And sharp as a tack. At least he has a job fighting for the progressive cause, though. Prop 8 is pure bigotry. I understand it was sponsored mostly by people from Utah. I can see how they might want revenge for having been forced to change their own definition of marriage to being between one man and one woman. Still, I can't believe the people of California actually went for that. I guess the smart people who moved to VA and NC must have come from CA leaving just few enough behind to allow this despicable proposition to pass. At least it can be undone pretty easily. Gay rights is not a left vs. right issue. It's a young vs. old issue. It doesn't even take much work to change society's views on it. Just wait for the old people to die.
I went to O' Grille on last time for cold draft beer. The big news story of the day, which got everyone's attention when it was on, was, of course, the victory of Barack Obama.
I ate dinner at Le Verdure which is supposed to be a French seafood restaurant, but only had 2 entrées and 2 plats. I got a curry cucumber salad and a steak hâché. For dessert, I had crème caramel.
Then, as I was tired, I came home and slept like a log.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 Benin local time
At about 10am, the cleaning crew and wanted to clean, but I was still watching TV and refreshing web sites. They eventually decided to leave since I was still going to be there for a little while longer.
At around 11, I was tired as hell and decided to return to the cheap Hotel le Crillon a block away. I checked in and got my same room. It was clean again. I quicy washed some underwear and shirts and then slept until 4pm. Then I headed out again. A quick check on the internet showed bad new for Al Franken and Prop 8. Al Franken would have been good. He's a Harvard man just like Barack Obama. And sharp as a tack. At least he has a job fighting for the progressive cause, though. Prop 8 is pure bigotry. I understand it was sponsored mostly by people from Utah. I can see how they might want revenge for having been forced to change their own definition of marriage to being between one man and one woman. Still, I can't believe the people of California actually went for that. I guess the smart people who moved to VA and NC must have come from CA leaving just few enough behind to allow this despicable proposition to pass. At least it can be undone pretty easily. Gay rights is not a left vs. right issue. It's a young vs. old issue. It doesn't even take much work to change society's views on it. Just wait for the old people to die.
I went to O' Grille on last time for cold draft beer. The big news story of the day, which got everyone's attention when it was on, was, of course, the victory of Barack Obama.
I ate dinner at Le Verdure which is supposed to be a French seafood restaurant, but only had 2 entrées and 2 plats. I got a curry cucumber salad and a steak hâché. For dessert, I had crème caramel.
Then, as I was tired, I came home and slept like a log.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 Benin local time
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Live Blogging The Election From Cotonou, Benin
19:39 A little over to 4 hours to the first polls closing. And a little over an hour until the supermarché with the coldest beer closes. I got a bottle of wine to hold me over until the election is called unless McCain starts winning stuff he shouldn't. CNN is on. Firefox tabs have fivethirtyeight.com talkingpointsmemo.com, huffingtonpost.com, slate.com, salon.com, and google reader. I'm watching for the end of Dole, end of Coleman, end of Prop 8, repudiation of the politics of accusation of anti-Americanism, and the continuation of Gregoire. When Sarah Palin says that my region of Capitol Hill is not the real America because we have gays, wine shops, and college degrees, it pisses me off and makes me hate the GOP even more. Fuck Sarah Palin!
19:53 I'm happy that fun Richard Quest is still on CNN. It's the first I've seen/heard of him since his night at the park. ;-)
19:59 I actually get the Hotel du Lac WiFi signal at the Hotel Riviera. They are pretty far apart. Amazing!
20:07 Actually, while I'm excited about Jeanne Shaheen probably winning the Senate, I'll be sad to see John Sununu lose. He is one of the GOP'ers I actually like. He asks good questions in Senate hearings and doesn't take BS. In fact, I saw John McCain smack Sununu down one day when Sununu asked a question and the witness started BSing and Sununu tried to cut him off to get the witness to stop BSing.
20:23 Rama Yade is on CNN. Cool.
20:42 OK, I just got 2 more Heinekens. The nice thing about getting them at 8 is that you don't have 2 way super heavy traffic with 4 moto-taxis for every car zipping in and out between every car. But instead you have a ton of moto-taxis with just headlights so you can't really gauge their speed. It sucks that Steinmetz is under construction and this little street one block off had to take all the traffic. I got back and found McCain on CNN. He just said Drill, Baby, Drill. Fuck the future generations, baby, fuck the future generations--so we can drive our SUVs.
21:09 I shudder to think what would be happening tonight if McCain had picked Mitt Romney.
21:34 I finished my third beer and first can of Pringles. And it's still 2.5 hours till the first polls close.
21:48 CNN is showing their behind the scenes operation. Who cares? I wish I had MSNBC, C-SPAN, ABC, NBS, and CBS.
21:57 Damn! Talkingpointsmemo reports that CNN is doing a live phone interview with Joe the Plumber. And I get European weather. Shit!!! I want to hear this moron!
22:04 What's Lieberman doing behind McCain? He wants to sit behind a loser again?
10:27 TPM headines McCain saying "I feel momentum". It didn't occur to me, seeing J oe Lieberman was behind him, that Joe's coined term was Joementum.
22:34 I can't figure out how to get this air conditioner to make me comfortable as opposed to too hot or too cold.
22:36 John King thinks the filibuster is the Mr. Smith Goes To Washington model.
22:41 Last Heineken is done. I'll wait till the first polls close before trying to open the wine with that horrible Swiss Army knife wine opener.
23:57 OK, polls will start to close soon...
0:00 Polls closing, Baron de Tillac Spanish table wine opening.
0:05 Worst cork ever. It took about 10 attempts to pull it out before I got the whole cork out instead of just chunks.
0:19 Still no results. :-/
0:34 Still not many results. KY? I'd love to see Mitch McConnell go down. Indiana? Long shot for Obama but if it goes Obama, it's over. I live in Indiana so I know that it's like a bit of the south in the north. I don't know why. I guess so Wisconsin and Illinois could get soldiers to the South in the early 1860's.
0:37 Do I need to refresh my C-SPAN AP results thingy or does it update in the background?
0:50 Virginia polls close soon. TPM has the Obama VA scenario and the McCain VA scenario. Poor GOP. Virginia used to be a GOP stronghold, but then smart people started moving there. Poor GOP.
1:03 C-SPAN AP thingy updates in the background. :-) I love C-SPAN. Three of my heroes are journalists: Josh Marshall, Brian Lamb, and H. L. Mencken.
1:05 Gratz to Mark Warner, the Senator elect of VA.
1:15 OMFG! CNN turns its journalists into MMORPG avatars! It's like a Anarchy Online avatar running a shield nano-program.
1:19 Power just went out, generator turned on. Damn you and your power grid, Benin! :-/
1:20 But that got through. Whew! Power is back at least. Life en Afrique....
1:36 Dems are happy about Vigo county in IN. I lived in Vigo county for a while. My first day there, I saw KKK members in full KKK garb collecting donations on the corners of downtown Terre Haute!
1:39 Why doesn't the C-SPAN AP thingy color Vermont blue?
1:40 Goddamn, I love election night!
1:53 I'm happy the internet sites are relatively responsive. :-)
1:56 Why does CNN's thing have Florida blue in their map when they haven't called it?
2:01 CNN projects a shotload of safe states. McCain gets the Okies and the Volunteers. No surprises anywhere there.
2:03 CNN says 71% of white voters voted for McCain in SC. Fort Sumpter, batten down the hatches. ;-)
2:05 CNN, damn you! If you don't call a state, don't color it in on the John King map!!!!
2:08 HuffPo projects PA for Obama. CNN is playing trends. Dammit! CNN, do you have news? If so, cut John King off and report it!
2:12 fivethirtyeight and TPM haven't updated in a long time! Come on! I need you!!
2:27 Sounds like Libby Dole is out. Good riddance!!!! How dare she try to smear her opponent with my religion. ;-)
2:30 NH for Obama by CNN. NH was part of McCain's tightrope. :-)
2:32 McConnell looks like he'll survive. Shit! He's a fucking asshole!
2:39 CNN calls PA for Obama. McCain's got all that Joementum.
2:41 Wow! Still OH, FL, and VA. Not time to celebrate yet....
2:45 Just checke the Senate map. Linsdey Graham who I like survived and Susan Collins, a RINO, did too. Shaheen/Sununu still not called. Sununu is down. I wish him well in his next career, though--one of the likeable GOP'ers.
2:53 CNN officially calls Libby Dole, atheist hater, out.
2:55 Getting glose to 3 am and I'm still excited as hell!!!
3:00 Another slew of Obama victories and McCain gets the lightly populated states of WY and ND.
3:01 It looks like the United States of Canada will get bigger and Jesusland will get smaller.
3:04 New CNN calls. The Udall dynasty continues. Jeanne Shaheen defeats Sununu. Sorry Sununu, but Shaheen will vote the right way.
3:06 Dammit! Microsoft updated my computer and now that damn "we will restart your computer in five minutes" stupid dialog box will incessantly appear.
3:19 Fuck! McConnell survives. He's such a prick.
3:25 HuffPo, TPM say Fox calls OH for Obama and CNN said a big projection before going to commercial. If it's OH, it's over for Pres. Just Franken, Prop 8, Gregoire to go.
3:33 CNN developed this hologram technology. Why aren't they using it? I want to see more-------
CNN calls OH for Obama. I can exhale!
3:48 Obama gets NM. LA goes to McCain. They eat agouti there, though.
3:50 Two tubes of Pringles wreaks havoc on your tongue. Or is it the Spanish table wine?
3:54 Do I start celebrating when Obama actually reaches 270? Or when all McCain's victory routes are cut off?
4:00 IA goes to Obama and UT and KS naturally go to McCain as they always will.
4:08 fivethirtyeight.com say Shays loses. Another RINO. Good luck in your future career. Chris Shays. You were one of the good GOP' ers.
4:12 AR returns to its racist roots. After electing the first black president, it wouldn't support the second.
4:17 If I go to CNN.com can I get that Bill Scheinder exit poll breakdown thingy?
4:21 CNN predicts TX for McCain. Duh!
4:28 CNN called MS for McCain a while ago. At least all they did was vote against him rather than murder his supporters and bury them in a dam.
4:50 Fox calls VA according to TPM.
4:57 C-SPAN AP thingy colors VA blue and the CNN table is chatting amongst themselves. Dammit CNN. Declare VA!
4:58 OK, VA is called finally. Whew! That's what happens when rednecks invite educated people to come and try to generate wealth. The state flips blue.
5:00 CNN PROJECTS OBAMA!!!!!
5:01 The long national nightmare is over! It won't end until January 20, 2009, but it is over. No more Rovian politics of fucking the liberals. No more settling for Southern Democrats in the White House. We have a Northern Democratic President in the White House for the FIRST TIME IN MY ENTIRE 40 YEAR LIFETIME!!!!!!
5:16 Still crying. I think I saw Landrieu with a check by her name on CNN. What a day for America. What a day for humanity. This shows even when we appear to be going backwards, we are still going forward. We are still a beacon for the world. We are an example and now we have a reason to hold our heads high as we travel outside the United States. When I came to Africa, many people told me to put a Canadian flag on my backpack. I refused. I will go as an American! And now that piece of advice is no longer necessary. We can travel the world and hold our heads high knowing that we transcended our past. That we transcended a value system that is no longer relevant. That we have taken a step closer to that ideal that is America.
5:28 John McCain just gave a gracious concession speech. But we still have Prop 8 and Al Franken to go.
5:30 Wof Blitzer just predicted that people will remember where they were when Barack Obama won the election. I was in room 505 of the Riviera Hotel in Cotonou, Benin.
5:45 To think I used to fear Karl Rove and his "Permanent Republican Majority©". Thank God the American people are smart enough to see through his Satanic designs.
5:55 People getting ready to listen to Obama's speech. I'm excited too. It's almost day here, but I still have a lot of news to watch.
5:56 Here comes President Elect Barak Hussein Obama with Michelle, Malia, and Sasha.
6:16 Obama just finished his speech. I cried again. We are entering a new period. The Rove experiment is done--ending in failure. The Obama experiment is beginning. We'll see how it ends. It's a better design. It's an inclusive design. It's a design that attempts to create a majority by earning it, not with a K Street project, not with Saudi money, not with duping the most gullible. But by lifting the American spirit. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
6:39 It's light out.
19:53 I'm happy that fun Richard Quest is still on CNN. It's the first I've seen/heard of him since his night at the park. ;-)
19:59 I actually get the Hotel du Lac WiFi signal at the Hotel Riviera. They are pretty far apart. Amazing!
20:07 Actually, while I'm excited about Jeanne Shaheen probably winning the Senate, I'll be sad to see John Sununu lose. He is one of the GOP'ers I actually like. He asks good questions in Senate hearings and doesn't take BS. In fact, I saw John McCain smack Sununu down one day when Sununu asked a question and the witness started BSing and Sununu tried to cut him off to get the witness to stop BSing.
20:23 Rama Yade is on CNN. Cool.
20:42 OK, I just got 2 more Heinekens. The nice thing about getting them at 8 is that you don't have 2 way super heavy traffic with 4 moto-taxis for every car zipping in and out between every car. But instead you have a ton of moto-taxis with just headlights so you can't really gauge their speed. It sucks that Steinmetz is under construction and this little street one block off had to take all the traffic. I got back and found McCain on CNN. He just said Drill, Baby, Drill. Fuck the future generations, baby, fuck the future generations--so we can drive our SUVs.
21:09 I shudder to think what would be happening tonight if McCain had picked Mitt Romney.
21:34 I finished my third beer and first can of Pringles. And it's still 2.5 hours till the first polls close.
21:48 CNN is showing their behind the scenes operation. Who cares? I wish I had MSNBC, C-SPAN, ABC, NBS, and CBS.
21:57 Damn! Talkingpointsmemo reports that CNN is doing a live phone interview with Joe the Plumber. And I get European weather. Shit!!! I want to hear this moron!
22:04 What's Lieberman doing behind McCain? He wants to sit behind a loser again?
10:27 TPM headines McCain saying "I feel momentum". It didn't occur to me, seeing J oe Lieberman was behind him, that Joe's coined term was Joementum.
22:34 I can't figure out how to get this air conditioner to make me comfortable as opposed to too hot or too cold.
22:36 John King thinks the filibuster is the Mr. Smith Goes To Washington model.
22:41 Last Heineken is done. I'll wait till the first polls close before trying to open the wine with that horrible Swiss Army knife wine opener.
23:57 OK, polls will start to close soon...
0:00 Polls closing, Baron de Tillac Spanish table wine opening.
0:05 Worst cork ever. It took about 10 attempts to pull it out before I got the whole cork out instead of just chunks.
0:19 Still no results. :-/
0:34 Still not many results. KY? I'd love to see Mitch McConnell go down. Indiana? Long shot for Obama but if it goes Obama, it's over. I live in Indiana so I know that it's like a bit of the south in the north. I don't know why. I guess so Wisconsin and Illinois could get soldiers to the South in the early 1860's.
0:37 Do I need to refresh my C-SPAN AP results thingy or does it update in the background?
0:50 Virginia polls close soon. TPM has the Obama VA scenario and the McCain VA scenario. Poor GOP. Virginia used to be a GOP stronghold, but then smart people started moving there. Poor GOP.
1:03 C-SPAN AP thingy updates in the background. :-) I love C-SPAN. Three of my heroes are journalists: Josh Marshall, Brian Lamb, and H. L. Mencken.
1:05 Gratz to Mark Warner, the Senator elect of VA.
1:15 OMFG! CNN turns its journalists into MMORPG avatars! It's like a Anarchy Online avatar running a shield nano-program.
1:19 Power just went out, generator turned on. Damn you and your power grid, Benin! :-/
1:20 But that got through. Whew! Power is back at least. Life en Afrique....
1:36 Dems are happy about Vigo county in IN. I lived in Vigo county for a while. My first day there, I saw KKK members in full KKK garb collecting donations on the corners of downtown Terre Haute!
1:39 Why doesn't the C-SPAN AP thingy color Vermont blue?
1:40 Goddamn, I love election night!
1:53 I'm happy the internet sites are relatively responsive. :-)
1:56 Why does CNN's thing have Florida blue in their map when they haven't called it?
2:01 CNN projects a shotload of safe states. McCain gets the Okies and the Volunteers. No surprises anywhere there.
2:03 CNN says 71% of white voters voted for McCain in SC. Fort Sumpter, batten down the hatches. ;-)
2:05 CNN, damn you! If you don't call a state, don't color it in on the John King map!!!!
2:08 HuffPo projects PA for Obama. CNN is playing trends. Dammit! CNN, do you have news? If so, cut John King off and report it!
2:12 fivethirtyeight and TPM haven't updated in a long time! Come on! I need you!!
2:27 Sounds like Libby Dole is out. Good riddance!!!! How dare she try to smear her opponent with my religion. ;-)
2:30 NH for Obama by CNN. NH was part of McCain's tightrope. :-)
2:32 McConnell looks like he'll survive. Shit! He's a fucking asshole!
2:39 CNN calls PA for Obama. McCain's got all that Joementum.
2:41 Wow! Still OH, FL, and VA. Not time to celebrate yet....
2:45 Just checke the Senate map. Linsdey Graham who I like survived and Susan Collins, a RINO, did too. Shaheen/Sununu still not called. Sununu is down. I wish him well in his next career, though--one of the likeable GOP'ers.
2:53 CNN officially calls Libby Dole, atheist hater, out.
2:55 Getting glose to 3 am and I'm still excited as hell!!!
3:00 Another slew of Obama victories and McCain gets the lightly populated states of WY and ND.
3:01 It looks like the United States of Canada will get bigger and Jesusland will get smaller.
3:04 New CNN calls. The Udall dynasty continues. Jeanne Shaheen defeats Sununu. Sorry Sununu, but Shaheen will vote the right way.
3:06 Dammit! Microsoft updated my computer and now that damn "we will restart your computer in five minutes" stupid dialog box will incessantly appear.
3:19 Fuck! McConnell survives. He's such a prick.
3:25 HuffPo, TPM say Fox calls OH for Obama and CNN said a big projection before going to commercial. If it's OH, it's over for Pres. Just Franken, Prop 8, Gregoire to go.
3:33 CNN developed this hologram technology. Why aren't they using it? I want to see more-------
CNN calls OH for Obama. I can exhale!
3:48 Obama gets NM. LA goes to McCain. They eat agouti there, though.
3:50 Two tubes of Pringles wreaks havoc on your tongue. Or is it the Spanish table wine?
3:54 Do I start celebrating when Obama actually reaches 270? Or when all McCain's victory routes are cut off?
4:00 IA goes to Obama and UT and KS naturally go to McCain as they always will.
4:08 fivethirtyeight.com say Shays loses. Another RINO. Good luck in your future career. Chris Shays. You were one of the good GOP' ers.
4:12 AR returns to its racist roots. After electing the first black president, it wouldn't support the second.
4:17 If I go to CNN.com can I get that Bill Scheinder exit poll breakdown thingy?
4:21 CNN predicts TX for McCain. Duh!
4:28 CNN called MS for McCain a while ago. At least all they did was vote against him rather than murder his supporters and bury them in a dam.
4:50 Fox calls VA according to TPM.
4:57 C-SPAN AP thingy colors VA blue and the CNN table is chatting amongst themselves. Dammit CNN. Declare VA!
4:58 OK, VA is called finally. Whew! That's what happens when rednecks invite educated people to come and try to generate wealth. The state flips blue.
5:00 CNN PROJECTS OBAMA!!!!!
5:01 The long national nightmare is over! It won't end until January 20, 2009, but it is over. No more Rovian politics of fucking the liberals. No more settling for Southern Democrats in the White House. We have a Northern Democratic President in the White House for the FIRST TIME IN MY ENTIRE 40 YEAR LIFETIME!!!!!!
5:16 Still crying. I think I saw Landrieu with a check by her name on CNN. What a day for America. What a day for humanity. This shows even when we appear to be going backwards, we are still going forward. We are still a beacon for the world. We are an example and now we have a reason to hold our heads high as we travel outside the United States. When I came to Africa, many people told me to put a Canadian flag on my backpack. I refused. I will go as an American! And now that piece of advice is no longer necessary. We can travel the world and hold our heads high knowing that we transcended our past. That we transcended a value system that is no longer relevant. That we have taken a step closer to that ideal that is America.
5:28 John McCain just gave a gracious concession speech. But we still have Prop 8 and Al Franken to go.
5:30 Wof Blitzer just predicted that people will remember where they were when Barack Obama won the election. I was in room 505 of the Riviera Hotel in Cotonou, Benin.
5:45 To think I used to fear Karl Rove and his "Permanent Republican Majority©". Thank God the American people are smart enough to see through his Satanic designs.
5:55 People getting ready to listen to Obama's speech. I'm excited too. It's almost day here, but I still have a lot of news to watch.
5:56 Here comes President Elect Barak Hussein Obama with Michelle, Malia, and Sasha.
6:16 Obama just finished his speech. I cried again. We are entering a new period. The Rove experiment is done--ending in failure. The Obama experiment is beginning. We'll see how it ends. It's a better design. It's an inclusive design. It's a design that attempts to create a majority by earning it, not with a K Street project, not with Saudi money, not with duping the most gullible. But by lifting the American spirit. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
6:39 It's light out.
Safely Ensconced In The Hotel Riviera
It's almost noon, November 4. I am in room 505 of the Hotel Riviera. CNN is on TV and I have WiFi. I have a whole 12 hours to browse the internet and then...election returns will start coming in. I'll get coffee at 10pm or so but I'm pretty sure that I won't have a problem staying awake.
My connection is pretty good, but not quite goo enough to handle my email client so I won't be doing any email until there is less traffic on the Benin link and I'm not sure that the traffic will be decreasing.
November 4, 2008 11:51 Benin local time
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Lomé, Togo To Cotonou, Benin
Thursday I woke up early. It rained all night--hard, so I never really slept well anyway. I went to the internet café and checked my email. Elena said she would renew her insurance. Whew! I was so worried.
Nothing changed on fivethirtyeight.com. McCain is optimistic and I think it's good because an optimistic McCain will scare the Obama youth vote to actually go to the polls rather than think he's got it in the bag and stay home. The news cycle seemed to be dominated by the Obama infomercial and calls on Ted Stevens to resign. He's up for reelection anyway, so he should just lose rather than resign. Larry Craig served despite calls for him to resign.
Being close to the Festival des Glaces, I went and had a chausson aux pommes and a coffee in air-conditioned bliss.
Well, that done, I headed back to the Hôtel du Boulevard and checked out. Hopefully for good this time. I wanted a car taxi to take me to the Emperor Tours office but I let a moto-taxi talk me into taking me for CFA 150 (US$0.30). We were making good time. I wanted to slow down especially when we found ourselves right behind a sexy white woman on a moto-taxi in shorts and a haltertop with really nice hair, shoulders and legs. But my idiot driver passed her and left her and her driver in our dust. Asshole!
We got there and I went in and waited. The bus was supposed to come at 10am. It came at 1pm. Once it arrived, it took a while to restart because there was an extremely unhappy customer who was arguing with everyone. I didn't know what she was saying except it was something about CFA 5000 and children. She actually had really sexy glasses so I was inclined to take her side on whatever the issue was. Eventually we got underway, the van 100% full. I sat next to a woman who was waiting since 10am as well. She had a really sexy haircut.
The road in Togo is like the Oregon coast. Tacky resorts occupying every inch of beach. And the road wasn't all that great and the traffic was pretty heavy. After about an hour, we reached Togolese immigration. I got out and went to get my exit stamp. Nothing recorded. Just a stamp. Then I wasn't sure what to do. I waited with the sexy haircut girl for a while until our van went through the gate. She went to the van and I went through a gate where I saw a guy in front of me give coins to a policeman. I just showed him my American passport and said nothing that might make him think he could ask for money in French, and he let me through. I walked down to Beninese immigration and got there at the same time as the sexy haircut girl. I gave him my US passport and she gave him her Democratic Republic of Congo passport. The policeman said to sit down and we both sat down together next to each other. He asked if we were together. We both said no, but I wanted to say "dans mes rêves" and high five the officer. But I refrained. He sent her to another officer while he took care of me. In Benin, the officers fill out the forms and there are 2 identical forms with a sheet of blue carbon paper between them all pinned together with four sewing pins. He grabbed a set of 2 forms with the carbon paper pinned with four sewing pins and started filling in all the information. He asked me which hotel I planned to stay in in Cotonou (I had to get out my Lonely Planet and showed him the Hôtel le Crillon), where I came from (Lomé), my occupation (engineer), and he had me write my US address on a scrap paper whereupon he copied it onto the duplicate forms. These were 3 policemen at a sort of outdoor table on a porch and they were all joking with each other and having a good time while they filled out their forms. I was starting to think my "dans mes rêves" joke would have gone over pretty well with these guys.
The guy looked through my passport and asked if I had a visa. I showed my Visa Touristique Entente to him. Then he looked at some more pages and said my visa was expired. Expired? I just got it last week. He looked again. Oh wait--nope it's not expired.
Finally, I got my entry stamp. Then back to the bus. The road in Benin is a stark contrast to Togo. Gone are the tacky seaside resorts. Just locals living on the ocean in grass huts. That'll probably change someday. The road seemed a bit better, too. At about 4ish we arrived at the Stade de l'Amitie. I didn't know where it was on my map. I went out to the main road to try to find a taxi, but didn't see any. So I went back to the Emperor Tours office and asked them where I could pick up a taxi. They pretty much said that I was stuck taking a moto-taxi about 3km into the downtown. They helped me flag down a moto-taxi. They tried to get the guy down to CFA 500 (US$1) but he insisted on CFA 700 (US$1.40). The Empire Tours people weren't happy, but I wasn't going to quibble over 40 cents. We got my luggage on the moto-taxi and I got on the back and we left. It was the scariest moto-taxi ride yet. This guy accelerates fast and he's aggressive. Nice in a car, but scary as hell on the back of a motorcycle. About halfway there, he stopped and asked a bunch of other moto-taxi drivers where the Hôtel le Crillon was. About 5 men, all in the characteristic yellow shirt with a number on the back, started explaining where it was to him. Then he knew we took off again weaving through moving traffic, cutting people off, hitting speed bumps, and scaring me to death. But we made it. The directions he got were good.
I hopped off and gave him CFA 1000 (US$2) and told him to keep the change. Then he got greedy. He said that since he took me straight to the hotel instead of the cathedral, that I had to pay another CFA 500. I argued for a while, but it was easier to give it to him. Asshole. I went in and the Crillon has rooms. Yay! The moto-taxi guy followed me in. He said something to the desk clerk in their native language and just waited there. The desk clerk led me up a couple of floors and showed me the room. A nice room. And only CFA 8000 (US$16).
Then I started getting a hint what the moto-taxi driver said. The clerk asked me 3 things. Had I paid him yet, how much, and how did I know about the Hôtel le Crillon. I said I had paid him, that we had originally negotiated 700 to the cathedral but since he took me straight here, he upped it to 1500. Then I showed him the Lonely Planet. The guy went down while I checked out the room a bit more and then I went down. The guy was behind the desk filling in the police fiche and the moto-taxi driver was still there.
The clerk asked me my occuption and took my money for the day. Then after a while he gave me my passport back and I bought a Coke from him. Then the driver and the clerk got into a brief argument in their native language. I calmly watched while sipping my Coke. It was clear to me that the moto-taxi guy had told the clerk that he brought me to the Hôtel le Crillon and wanted a small commission. The clerk was having none of it and after the argument went back to his work. The moto-taxi driver lingered a ten or fifteen more seconds and then finally slinked out.
I went out to look for le Petit Four which is supposed to be close. But that's when I discovered a bit a snag in my Cotonou plans. The main boulevard downtown, Steinmetz, is now a big construction site. They are totally redoing the road and it's all blocked off. So I wandered around on the west side of Steinmetz. There are a lot of supermarkets here. And by supermarket, I mean convenience store. I went to a neighboring hotel restaurant and had a steak with fries. They only had these little mini Eku beers that cost a whopping CFA 1200 (US$2.40). But they turned CNN on for me as I was the only customer. After that I went to a supermarket where I got a can of Pringles (not Cracks) and 2 500ml Heinekens for CFA 850 each (US$1.70 each).
I tried to turn on the TV, but it wasn't plugged in. And there is no outlet anywhere near the TV. So, no TV for me. It was only antenna TV anyway. So I just typed up my blogs and went to sleep.
Thursday, October 30, 2008 22:30 Benin local time
Nothing changed on fivethirtyeight.com. McCain is optimistic and I think it's good because an optimistic McCain will scare the Obama youth vote to actually go to the polls rather than think he's got it in the bag and stay home. The news cycle seemed to be dominated by the Obama infomercial and calls on Ted Stevens to resign. He's up for reelection anyway, so he should just lose rather than resign. Larry Craig served despite calls for him to resign.
Being close to the Festival des Glaces, I went and had a chausson aux pommes and a coffee in air-conditioned bliss.
Well, that done, I headed back to the Hôtel du Boulevard and checked out. Hopefully for good this time. I wanted a car taxi to take me to the Emperor Tours office but I let a moto-taxi talk me into taking me for CFA 150 (US$0.30). We were making good time. I wanted to slow down especially when we found ourselves right behind a sexy white woman on a moto-taxi in shorts and a haltertop with really nice hair, shoulders and legs. But my idiot driver passed her and left her and her driver in our dust. Asshole!
We got there and I went in and waited. The bus was supposed to come at 10am. It came at 1pm. Once it arrived, it took a while to restart because there was an extremely unhappy customer who was arguing with everyone. I didn't know what she was saying except it was something about CFA 5000 and children. She actually had really sexy glasses so I was inclined to take her side on whatever the issue was. Eventually we got underway, the van 100% full. I sat next to a woman who was waiting since 10am as well. She had a really sexy haircut.
The road in Togo is like the Oregon coast. Tacky resorts occupying every inch of beach. And the road wasn't all that great and the traffic was pretty heavy. After about an hour, we reached Togolese immigration. I got out and went to get my exit stamp. Nothing recorded. Just a stamp. Then I wasn't sure what to do. I waited with the sexy haircut girl for a while until our van went through the gate. She went to the van and I went through a gate where I saw a guy in front of me give coins to a policeman. I just showed him my American passport and said nothing that might make him think he could ask for money in French, and he let me through. I walked down to Beninese immigration and got there at the same time as the sexy haircut girl. I gave him my US passport and she gave him her Democratic Republic of Congo passport. The policeman said to sit down and we both sat down together next to each other. He asked if we were together. We both said no, but I wanted to say "dans mes rêves" and high five the officer. But I refrained. He sent her to another officer while he took care of me. In Benin, the officers fill out the forms and there are 2 identical forms with a sheet of blue carbon paper between them all pinned together with four sewing pins. He grabbed a set of 2 forms with the carbon paper pinned with four sewing pins and started filling in all the information. He asked me which hotel I planned to stay in in Cotonou (I had to get out my Lonely Planet and showed him the Hôtel le Crillon), where I came from (Lomé), my occupation (engineer), and he had me write my US address on a scrap paper whereupon he copied it onto the duplicate forms. These were 3 policemen at a sort of outdoor table on a porch and they were all joking with each other and having a good time while they filled out their forms. I was starting to think my "dans mes rêves" joke would have gone over pretty well with these guys.
The guy looked through my passport and asked if I had a visa. I showed my Visa Touristique Entente to him. Then he looked at some more pages and said my visa was expired. Expired? I just got it last week. He looked again. Oh wait--nope it's not expired.
Finally, I got my entry stamp. Then back to the bus. The road in Benin is a stark contrast to Togo. Gone are the tacky seaside resorts. Just locals living on the ocean in grass huts. That'll probably change someday. The road seemed a bit better, too. At about 4ish we arrived at the Stade de l'Amitie. I didn't know where it was on my map. I went out to the main road to try to find a taxi, but didn't see any. So I went back to the Emperor Tours office and asked them where I could pick up a taxi. They pretty much said that I was stuck taking a moto-taxi about 3km into the downtown. They helped me flag down a moto-taxi. They tried to get the guy down to CFA 500 (US$1) but he insisted on CFA 700 (US$1.40). The Empire Tours people weren't happy, but I wasn't going to quibble over 40 cents. We got my luggage on the moto-taxi and I got on the back and we left. It was the scariest moto-taxi ride yet. This guy accelerates fast and he's aggressive. Nice in a car, but scary as hell on the back of a motorcycle. About halfway there, he stopped and asked a bunch of other moto-taxi drivers where the Hôtel le Crillon was. About 5 men, all in the characteristic yellow shirt with a number on the back, started explaining where it was to him. Then he knew we took off again weaving through moving traffic, cutting people off, hitting speed bumps, and scaring me to death. But we made it. The directions he got were good.
I hopped off and gave him CFA 1000 (US$2) and told him to keep the change. Then he got greedy. He said that since he took me straight to the hotel instead of the cathedral, that I had to pay another CFA 500. I argued for a while, but it was easier to give it to him. Asshole. I went in and the Crillon has rooms. Yay! The moto-taxi guy followed me in. He said something to the desk clerk in their native language and just waited there. The desk clerk led me up a couple of floors and showed me the room. A nice room. And only CFA 8000 (US$16).
Then I started getting a hint what the moto-taxi driver said. The clerk asked me 3 things. Had I paid him yet, how much, and how did I know about the Hôtel le Crillon. I said I had paid him, that we had originally negotiated 700 to the cathedral but since he took me straight here, he upped it to 1500. Then I showed him the Lonely Planet. The guy went down while I checked out the room a bit more and then I went down. The guy was behind the desk filling in the police fiche and the moto-taxi driver was still there.
The clerk asked me my occuption and took my money for the day. Then after a while he gave me my passport back and I bought a Coke from him. Then the driver and the clerk got into a brief argument in their native language. I calmly watched while sipping my Coke. It was clear to me that the moto-taxi guy had told the clerk that he brought me to the Hôtel le Crillon and wanted a small commission. The clerk was having none of it and after the argument went back to his work. The moto-taxi driver lingered a ten or fifteen more seconds and then finally slinked out.
I went out to look for le Petit Four which is supposed to be close. But that's when I discovered a bit a snag in my Cotonou plans. The main boulevard downtown, Steinmetz, is now a big construction site. They are totally redoing the road and it's all blocked off. So I wandered around on the west side of Steinmetz. There are a lot of supermarkets here. And by supermarket, I mean convenience store. I went to a neighboring hotel restaurant and had a steak with fries. They only had these little mini Eku beers that cost a whopping CFA 1200 (US$2.40). But they turned CNN on for me as I was the only customer. After that I went to a supermarket where I got a can of Pringles (not Cracks) and 2 500ml Heinekens for CFA 850 each (US$1.70 each).
I tried to turn on the TV, but it wasn't plugged in. And there is no outlet anywhere near the TV. So, no TV for me. It was only antenna TV anyway. So I just typed up my blogs and went to sleep.
Thursday, October 30, 2008 22:30 Benin local time
Friday, October 24, 2008
Third Full Day In Accra: Three Visas In One Swoop
Day 3. My mission is to get the Visa Touristique Entente. I headed out to find a place where I could have a coffee and a pastry and fill out my forms. Le Petit Paris was my destination, but I couldn't find it. So back to Osu which is close to the Togolese embassy. I ate at Frankie's. Frankie's is a local place popular with the foreigners and richer Ghanaians. I had a couple of donuts, a coffee, and an orange juice. They had CNN and AC, too. But it is definitely on the pricey side. I keep buying expensive food and translating the cost into meat pies. You can get 2 meat pies for GH¢1.
The guy at the Togolese embassy had told me to come at about 9:30 so I headed up to get there at 9:30. The guard guy let me in but I still wasn't being required to sign in. Just to walk right in though the guard guy accompanied me to the window. I, of course, knew why--later he'd most likely hit me up for a little money. I handed my passport, forms, 2 pictures (I panicked because they were wedged in my Lonely Planet instead of my money belt where my passport goes) to the officer at the Reception window. The officer glued the pictures to the forms. Then he got a numbered plastic tag and wrapped it around my passport while giving me a matching number. At that he took the CFA 30000 (US$60). Interesting. Ghana's Bamako embassy gave me a receipt. So far only Ghana and Togo had embassies that give me something to prove that they have my passport. The man told me to come at 2pm.
So now I had some time. I went to an internet cafe in Osu and surfed for 2 hours. Then time to check out Frankie's at lunch. They had Sky News instead of CNN this time. Yuck. For a while they had a Sky News/Fox Business News segment but I was severely distracted by the extremely annoying logos of Sky News and Fox Business News spinning around and wobbling and what-not. I had a GH¢5.80 hot dog. You'd think for that rice it would be a big sausage, but it wasn't. I stayed until about 1:20. Then I went to another expat place--the Koala market. It's a grocery store with imported goods. I got some peanut butter after determining that groundnut paste is, in fact, the same thing as peanut butter. Also a pack of Starburst.
Then it was about time to head back to the Togolese embassy. I went in at 2 and got my passport. Yay! The guard guy met me on the way out and rubbed his fingers together. Just as I suspected. I slipped him a Cedi.
Mission accomplished, I headed to Ryan's Irish Pub. For the first time I didn't get lost trying to find it. When I walked in there was a baseball game on. Near the beginning. I asked if it was live. A guy at a table said it was last night. I told him not to tell me how it turns out. He asked if I wanted to make a bet on the result. ;-)
Here is how much I follow baseball. Not only did I not know that the Phillies were in the World Series, but I didn't even know that there exists a team called the Tampa Bay Rays. It was the first I ever heard of them. I didn't really have a dog in the fight so I applied rule #1 when I don't care--when a Union state team plays a Confederate state team, root for the Union state team. I don't know who does the counter for number of outs and ball/strike count, but whoever it was must have been chatting with his girlfriend or something. It was just annoyingly inaccurate. It isn't the one Fox does in the United States--but a non-network generic "World Series" score and count for overseas broadcasts.
The game pretty much took me to happy hour which mercifully lasts from 5 to 9 on Thursdays. I paid GH¢7 for 2 beers and a water during the game and GH¢6.50 for 4 beers during happy hour. Much cheaper. I met a nice British woman who drive from London to Accra with her husband 5 years ago and now works in the British High Commission. I asked her about taxi prices. She said that the drivers pretty much all add an obruni premium and you have no choice to absorb it. I also met an Irish guy who is here on a UN project. We talked about Ireland and other places he has lived and worked. Pretty interesting. Finally at about 9:30 I hailed a cab and went to the 24 hour Busy Internet cafe. He charged me GH¢3 after a threat to walk away. I surfed until after midnight there. Not many people there after midnight. There were more in Conakry's cafe late at night. Of course, the MouNa is right in downtown Conakry and this is on Central Ring Road. Then I got a taxi home for only GH¢2.50.
Friday, October 24, 2008 7:22 Ghana local time
The guy at the Togolese embassy had told me to come at about 9:30 so I headed up to get there at 9:30. The guard guy let me in but I still wasn't being required to sign in. Just to walk right in though the guard guy accompanied me to the window. I, of course, knew why--later he'd most likely hit me up for a little money. I handed my passport, forms, 2 pictures (I panicked because they were wedged in my Lonely Planet instead of my money belt where my passport goes) to the officer at the Reception window. The officer glued the pictures to the forms. Then he got a numbered plastic tag and wrapped it around my passport while giving me a matching number. At that he took the CFA 30000 (US$60). Interesting. Ghana's Bamako embassy gave me a receipt. So far only Ghana and Togo had embassies that give me something to prove that they have my passport. The man told me to come at 2pm.
So now I had some time. I went to an internet cafe in Osu and surfed for 2 hours. Then time to check out Frankie's at lunch. They had Sky News instead of CNN this time. Yuck. For a while they had a Sky News/Fox Business News segment but I was severely distracted by the extremely annoying logos of Sky News and Fox Business News spinning around and wobbling and what-not. I had a GH¢5.80 hot dog. You'd think for that rice it would be a big sausage, but it wasn't. I stayed until about 1:20. Then I went to another expat place--the Koala market. It's a grocery store with imported goods. I got some peanut butter after determining that groundnut paste is, in fact, the same thing as peanut butter. Also a pack of Starburst.
Then it was about time to head back to the Togolese embassy. I went in at 2 and got my passport. Yay! The guard guy met me on the way out and rubbed his fingers together. Just as I suspected. I slipped him a Cedi.
Mission accomplished, I headed to Ryan's Irish Pub. For the first time I didn't get lost trying to find it. When I walked in there was a baseball game on. Near the beginning. I asked if it was live. A guy at a table said it was last night. I told him not to tell me how it turns out. He asked if I wanted to make a bet on the result. ;-)
Here is how much I follow baseball. Not only did I not know that the Phillies were in the World Series, but I didn't even know that there exists a team called the Tampa Bay Rays. It was the first I ever heard of them. I didn't really have a dog in the fight so I applied rule #1 when I don't care--when a Union state team plays a Confederate state team, root for the Union state team. I don't know who does the counter for number of outs and ball/strike count, but whoever it was must have been chatting with his girlfriend or something. It was just annoyingly inaccurate. It isn't the one Fox does in the United States--but a non-network generic "World Series" score and count for overseas broadcasts.
The game pretty much took me to happy hour which mercifully lasts from 5 to 9 on Thursdays. I paid GH¢7 for 2 beers and a water during the game and GH¢6.50 for 4 beers during happy hour. Much cheaper. I met a nice British woman who drive from London to Accra with her husband 5 years ago and now works in the British High Commission. I asked her about taxi prices. She said that the drivers pretty much all add an obruni premium and you have no choice to absorb it. I also met an Irish guy who is here on a UN project. We talked about Ireland and other places he has lived and worked. Pretty interesting. Finally at about 9:30 I hailed a cab and went to the 24 hour Busy Internet cafe. He charged me GH¢3 after a threat to walk away. I surfed until after midnight there. Not many people there after midnight. There were more in Conakry's cafe late at night. Of course, the MouNa is right in downtown Conakry and this is on Central Ring Road. Then I got a taxi home for only GH¢2.50.
Friday, October 24, 2008 7:22 Ghana local time
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Two Days In Kumasi
I spent two days in Kumasi. The first day was a day of rest and relaxation--and a good solid afternoon nap. But the second day was 3 museums.
I started out the first day with two hours in the internet cafe making sure things were going as hoped in the Obama campaign, checking email, and other various internet activities. After that I was ready for a lunch so I went to the Queen's Gate Restaurant from where I watched a busy intersection of Kumasi. It was quite interesting. The service was slow and not terribly good and the food was OK but not great. Again, I had ordered a salad hoping it would come before my main dish and it didn't come out until long after. And again, I needed to ask for a serving spoon.
After that I returned to my hotel. I tried the water. Still no water pressure. I asked and they said they would turn on the pump later and there would be water at about 5. I hadn't showered since Ouagadougou and needed a shower bad. They said they could get me a bucket and I accepted. So I did the bucket shower. Then I slept for a long time.
When I woke up, it was late and I decided I better go to the Intercity STC to see if I could get a ticket to Cape Coast on Friday. They didn't have one, but they had one to Takoradi which is pretty close. So I got that for GH¢9. After that I checked out the local A-Life supermarket. The "super" in supermarket is a bit generous. I got some junk food. They had Skippy peanut butter for GH¢6.50 and "ground nut" butter that looks like peanut butter for GH¢2.50 at the other end of the shelf--not next to the Skippy. So I'm not sure if a ground nut is the same as a peanut. They both come from ground. They looked the same. But I didn't buy it. I can buy it somewhere else if I need it.
Then it was already pretty late so I went to the hotel and got a Four Season's pizza delivered from Vic Baboo's delivered. The way pizza works is that you order a "half pizza" or a "full pizza". I got a "full pizza". Well, when it comes, it doesn't come in a pizza box like you might expect. Instead, it comes in the plastic clam-shell takeout boxes rubber-banded shut. The difference between a half and a full? A half pizza gets you one plastic clam-shell box while a full pizza gets you two clam-shell boxes. OK, now I am an American. I know pizza like the Inuit know snow. And I must say that this pizza was in the 1st percentile. Do NOT confuse that with the 99th percentile. This was among the worst pizza I had in my life. Do NOT EVER get the pizza from Vic Baboo's. They have a good cheeseburger. And a lot of other items on their menus look good, too. Stick with those and stay away from that so called "pizza". They list all the ingredients on their pizza and they all have something called capsicum. I've heard the word before but I don't know what it is. Is it the pink pasty stuff they use instead of tomato sauce? Who knows? But I don't really want to eat anything ending in "cum".
That done, I went to bed.
When I woke I stayed in bed for a while enjoying my semi-conscious state. Then it started to rain. Oh well. I listened to some music on my iPod. My right ear bud is now bad so it at least matches the left ear bud. The rain ended soon and I was able to go out. I went to the KPS coffee shop and got a cappuccino and a vanilla yogurt. Gee, service is slow in Ghana! The coffee was OK as was the yogurt. I just hope the yogurt cultures are the needed cavalry in the microbial battles taking place in my gastro-intestinal tract at the moment. That bill with tip was an even GH¢5 and then it was off to find the Ghanan National Cultural Center--easier said than done. To get there, you need to pass close to the Kejetia Market. On the map everything looks pretty clear, but once in this market area it's total chaos. You quickly lose your bearings and nothing is as it seems. Is this the road where I'm supposed to turn? Who knows? I slowly made my way through it and went in the right general direction. I found myself in the motorpark where there was an elevated road to the south. I figured I wanted to be on that road so I sought a way to get on it and eventually succeeded. I just got on and headed right. I came to a big intersection and kept going straight. Then, there it was! Whew!
It's a really nice place. It's on a huge grounds. My goal was the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum. I found it. GH¢3 later I was in. It comes with a guided tour. It's a small museum, basically 3 outdoor displays arranged in a square (the fourth side being the entrance). The guide seemed like she had done the tour thousands of times. Each time saying the same thing over and over. It was all "This is the King's ...", and "This is the ... used by the King for ...", and "This was used by ... when they ... the King". Basically that pattern. But it was interesting. I got a couple postcards. Then I got a coke. Well, one museum down--two to go.
Next was the Armed Forces Museum. This was GH¢5. OK, I can deal with that. Again, a woman named Christine provided a guided tour. The museum ground was a fort built by the British and in which the British residents were besieged in 1900. Now it houses the war booty captured by the West African Forces (when they were under the Brits) and the Ghanan army (after independence). They fought in Togo in WWI where they captured German stuff, Burma and Ethiopia where they captured Japanese and Italian stuff, and more recently the various UN peacekeeping operations. They have a company flag captured from a Japanese company. I pointed out the guide the names are all women's names and were probably the wives of the soldiers. She didn't know that.
They have a room dedicated to the men who did the coup d'état against the first president. Apparently they are considered good guys. You never know.
So that being done, it was time to head back to the hotel and rest up for the last museum. I stopped for the internet for an hour and then got a meat pie on the way home--the best meat pie so far. If you come out of the Buzy Bee internet cafe, turn right, go about half a block and cross the street--that guy has the best meat pies. :-)
Back at the hotel, I studied the map. This last museum is on the other side of the Kejetia market and if I got lost skirting the left edge, I had to make sure I knew what I was doing trying to skirt the right edge. But I had it figured out and took off.
Of course, I got hopelessly lost. I just sort of walked semi-randomly and after about an hour came upon the Manhyia Palace. Whew! And I was just about to give up. Again, this is a GH¢5 museum with a guided tour given by a woman who has done the same tour thousands of times and probably dreams about doing tours every night. This was the villa built by the British for the return of the King from their forced exile of him to the Seychelles about 100 years ago. It contains such things as the first TV in the area, life size wax figures, called effigies buy the guide, and originals and reproductions of various items and gifts.
It was mid-afternoon and I returned to the hotel. I got a beer and a water and after when I went to pay, the hotel clerk made me giver her all my coins except 3. I hate it when a large enterprise things the burden to make change falls on the customer. Ugh!
My meat pie was about done, so it was time for dinner. I went to the Sanbra Hotel restaurant. They had CNN on in the lobby reairing the debate. I was transfixed by the Ohio undecided voter impression graph. Very interesting. I was pissed when the women line didn't nosedive when John McCain mocked the health of the mother exception to abortion bills. The partial birth abortion is never done except in extremely rare and medically bizarre circumstances where the life of the mother is in jeopardy. It's not done because the pregnant woman just got dumped by her boyfriend in the eighth month and doesn't want the baby anymore. And yes, as I read on the internet, the Joe the Plumber thing was goofy.
Eventually I made it into the restaurant. Lonely Planet says they deserve several Michelin stars, so I had high hopes. But then I ordered the Four Seasons Vegetable pizza. OK, it wasn't as bad as the Vic Baboo's pizza. But it wasn't far behind. Definitely a lowest decile pizza. It was about as good as the pizza I made the first time I tried to make my own pizza dough from scratch. The bottom was not golden brown, but dark brown. The cheese was barely melted--not at all liquidy and gooey. They just got the temperatures all wrong.
So I have decided to give up on pizza in Ghana. Unless I see French "pizza au feu de bois" (or Pizza Hut) I'm not touching the pizza in Ghana anymore. Period! At least it was cheap. Adding a pasta salad (which thankfully came before the pizza) and a beer, it came to only GH¢11.
I returned to the hotel again. There was a pretty women with an Amy Tan book writing something into a notebook. So, I got my journal and sat down in the bar area and did some writing myself. I ordered a beer. The clerk got a beer and opened it. When I touched the beer I was pissed. There are about 20 Star beers in the fridge and she picked the one that was put in last and wasn't cold yet. Damn her! And she had to know when she felt it that it wasn't cold. First she takes all my liquidity for a second time in 2 days and then she gives me a warm beer knowing full well it was warm. I decided to let her know I disapproved in a passive-aggressive way. I went up to my room and cut an empty 1.5L water bottle into two and brought the lower half down. Then I asked for a small water. When she came to get me a water, I told her I wanted the coldest one. She said they were all the same. I opened it and placed the beer bottle in the bottom half of the cut water bottle and poured the cold water to fill up the rest of it. She watched and offered to put the whole thing into the fridge for a while. I let her. I hope she never gives another person a warm beer again.
Thursday, October 16, 2008 22:30 Ghana local time
I started out the first day with two hours in the internet cafe making sure things were going as hoped in the Obama campaign, checking email, and other various internet activities. After that I was ready for a lunch so I went to the Queen's Gate Restaurant from where I watched a busy intersection of Kumasi. It was quite interesting. The service was slow and not terribly good and the food was OK but not great. Again, I had ordered a salad hoping it would come before my main dish and it didn't come out until long after. And again, I needed to ask for a serving spoon.
After that I returned to my hotel. I tried the water. Still no water pressure. I asked and they said they would turn on the pump later and there would be water at about 5. I hadn't showered since Ouagadougou and needed a shower bad. They said they could get me a bucket and I accepted. So I did the bucket shower. Then I slept for a long time.
When I woke up, it was late and I decided I better go to the Intercity STC to see if I could get a ticket to Cape Coast on Friday. They didn't have one, but they had one to Takoradi which is pretty close. So I got that for GH¢9. After that I checked out the local A-Life supermarket. The "super" in supermarket is a bit generous. I got some junk food. They had Skippy peanut butter for GH¢6.50 and "ground nut" butter that looks like peanut butter for GH¢2.50 at the other end of the shelf--not next to the Skippy. So I'm not sure if a ground nut is the same as a peanut. They both come from ground. They looked the same. But I didn't buy it. I can buy it somewhere else if I need it.
Then it was already pretty late so I went to the hotel and got a Four Season's pizza delivered from Vic Baboo's delivered. The way pizza works is that you order a "half pizza" or a "full pizza". I got a "full pizza". Well, when it comes, it doesn't come in a pizza box like you might expect. Instead, it comes in the plastic clam-shell takeout boxes rubber-banded shut. The difference between a half and a full? A half pizza gets you one plastic clam-shell box while a full pizza gets you two clam-shell boxes. OK, now I am an American. I know pizza like the Inuit know snow. And I must say that this pizza was in the 1st percentile. Do NOT confuse that with the 99th percentile. This was among the worst pizza I had in my life. Do NOT EVER get the pizza from Vic Baboo's. They have a good cheeseburger. And a lot of other items on their menus look good, too. Stick with those and stay away from that so called "pizza". They list all the ingredients on their pizza and they all have something called capsicum. I've heard the word before but I don't know what it is. Is it the pink pasty stuff they use instead of tomato sauce? Who knows? But I don't really want to eat anything ending in "cum".
That done, I went to bed.
When I woke I stayed in bed for a while enjoying my semi-conscious state. Then it started to rain. Oh well. I listened to some music on my iPod. My right ear bud is now bad so it at least matches the left ear bud. The rain ended soon and I was able to go out. I went to the KPS coffee shop and got a cappuccino and a vanilla yogurt. Gee, service is slow in Ghana! The coffee was OK as was the yogurt. I just hope the yogurt cultures are the needed cavalry in the microbial battles taking place in my gastro-intestinal tract at the moment. That bill with tip was an even GH¢5 and then it was off to find the Ghanan National Cultural Center--easier said than done. To get there, you need to pass close to the Kejetia Market. On the map everything looks pretty clear, but once in this market area it's total chaos. You quickly lose your bearings and nothing is as it seems. Is this the road where I'm supposed to turn? Who knows? I slowly made my way through it and went in the right general direction. I found myself in the motorpark where there was an elevated road to the south. I figured I wanted to be on that road so I sought a way to get on it and eventually succeeded. I just got on and headed right. I came to a big intersection and kept going straight. Then, there it was! Whew!
It's a really nice place. It's on a huge grounds. My goal was the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum. I found it. GH¢3 later I was in. It comes with a guided tour. It's a small museum, basically 3 outdoor displays arranged in a square (the fourth side being the entrance). The guide seemed like she had done the tour thousands of times. Each time saying the same thing over and over. It was all "This is the King's ...", and "This is the ... used by the King for ...", and "This was used by ... when they ... the King". Basically that pattern. But it was interesting. I got a couple postcards. Then I got a coke. Well, one museum down--two to go.
Next was the Armed Forces Museum. This was GH¢5. OK, I can deal with that. Again, a woman named Christine provided a guided tour. The museum ground was a fort built by the British and in which the British residents were besieged in 1900. Now it houses the war booty captured by the West African Forces (when they were under the Brits) and the Ghanan army (after independence). They fought in Togo in WWI where they captured German stuff, Burma and Ethiopia where they captured Japanese and Italian stuff, and more recently the various UN peacekeeping operations. They have a company flag captured from a Japanese company. I pointed out the guide the names are all women's names and were probably the wives of the soldiers. She didn't know that.
They have a room dedicated to the men who did the coup d'état against the first president. Apparently they are considered good guys. You never know.
So that being done, it was time to head back to the hotel and rest up for the last museum. I stopped for the internet for an hour and then got a meat pie on the way home--the best meat pie so far. If you come out of the Buzy Bee internet cafe, turn right, go about half a block and cross the street--that guy has the best meat pies. :-)
Back at the hotel, I studied the map. This last museum is on the other side of the Kejetia market and if I got lost skirting the left edge, I had to make sure I knew what I was doing trying to skirt the right edge. But I had it figured out and took off.
Of course, I got hopelessly lost. I just sort of walked semi-randomly and after about an hour came upon the Manhyia Palace. Whew! And I was just about to give up. Again, this is a GH¢5 museum with a guided tour given by a woman who has done the same tour thousands of times and probably dreams about doing tours every night. This was the villa built by the British for the return of the King from their forced exile of him to the Seychelles about 100 years ago. It contains such things as the first TV in the area, life size wax figures, called effigies buy the guide, and originals and reproductions of various items and gifts.
It was mid-afternoon and I returned to the hotel. I got a beer and a water and after when I went to pay, the hotel clerk made me giver her all my coins except 3. I hate it when a large enterprise things the burden to make change falls on the customer. Ugh!
My meat pie was about done, so it was time for dinner. I went to the Sanbra Hotel restaurant. They had CNN on in the lobby reairing the debate. I was transfixed by the Ohio undecided voter impression graph. Very interesting. I was pissed when the women line didn't nosedive when John McCain mocked the health of the mother exception to abortion bills. The partial birth abortion is never done except in extremely rare and medically bizarre circumstances where the life of the mother is in jeopardy. It's not done because the pregnant woman just got dumped by her boyfriend in the eighth month and doesn't want the baby anymore. And yes, as I read on the internet, the Joe the Plumber thing was goofy.
Eventually I made it into the restaurant. Lonely Planet says they deserve several Michelin stars, so I had high hopes. But then I ordered the Four Seasons Vegetable pizza. OK, it wasn't as bad as the Vic Baboo's pizza. But it wasn't far behind. Definitely a lowest decile pizza. It was about as good as the pizza I made the first time I tried to make my own pizza dough from scratch. The bottom was not golden brown, but dark brown. The cheese was barely melted--not at all liquidy and gooey. They just got the temperatures all wrong.
So I have decided to give up on pizza in Ghana. Unless I see French "pizza au feu de bois" (or Pizza Hut) I'm not touching the pizza in Ghana anymore. Period! At least it was cheap. Adding a pasta salad (which thankfully came before the pizza) and a beer, it came to only GH¢11.
I returned to the hotel again. There was a pretty women with an Amy Tan book writing something into a notebook. So, I got my journal and sat down in the bar area and did some writing myself. I ordered a beer. The clerk got a beer and opened it. When I touched the beer I was pissed. There are about 20 Star beers in the fridge and she picked the one that was put in last and wasn't cold yet. Damn her! And she had to know when she felt it that it wasn't cold. First she takes all my liquidity for a second time in 2 days and then she gives me a warm beer knowing full well it was warm. I decided to let her know I disapproved in a passive-aggressive way. I went up to my room and cut an empty 1.5L water bottle into two and brought the lower half down. Then I asked for a small water. When she came to get me a water, I told her I wanted the coldest one. She said they were all the same. I opened it and placed the beer bottle in the bottom half of the cut water bottle and poured the cold water to fill up the rest of it. She watched and offered to put the whole thing into the fridge for a while. I let her. I hope she never gives another person a warm beer again.
Thursday, October 16, 2008 22:30 Ghana local time
Friday, September 19, 2008
Still In Bamako
The rain came and went and I'm still at the Hôtel Yamey in Bamako. I got addicted to reading about the election. I'm a C-SPAN junkie without C-SPAN during the campaign. So I needed a nice full day of surfing and getting caught up in the election. I'm a bit relieved and cautiously optimistic. It looks like the Sarah Palin bounce might be over and she will be as bad for the McCain campaign as I originally thought. While she is energizing the base, she is scaring the swing voters (update: and even Ben Stein). Whew!
Tomorrow morning, it's off to Ségou. That'll put me there on Saturday. So I'll be in Mopti on Sunday. That means I'll probably make it to the Djenné Monday market. Then off to Timbuktu by Comanav ferry or possibly pinasse.
September 19, 2008 16:36 Mali local time
Tomorrow morning, it's off to Ségou. That'll put me there on Saturday. So I'll be in Mopti on Sunday. That means I'll probably make it to the Djenné Monday market. Then off to Timbuktu by Comanav ferry or possibly pinasse.
September 19, 2008 16:36 Mali local time
Trip Budget A Bit Lighter
I had joked that I was going to finance my trip through Africa by not being available to the political organzations and candidates who wouldn't be able to reach me by phone. But I gave in and sent a donation to embattled Barack Obama. I haven't given anything to anyone since I gave to Gov. Richardson in the primaries. But it's time for me to step up and put some cash behind Obama/Biden. After all, my trip through Africa is made easier to some degree simply by his candidacy. It shows people here that America is what we claim to be. At least, if Obama loses, I got to see the effect he has had in Africa--something few people get to see. It is extremely heartening to see the excitement here.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Sierra Leone Visa Not Ready
I was planning to leave for Sierra Leone on Tuesday, but it looks like my visa won't be ready until 10am Tuesday morning. The officer said I could swing by at 10 and then head to the gare voiture. But I think I'll just delay my trip a day to make sure I arrive in Freetown with as much daylight as possible.
It won't be so bad because I moved from the Hotel Niger which has a wonderful location but no running water, a rather uncomfortable bed, and a broken fan. I upgraded to the Hotel du Golfe. The upgrade sent my daily bill up from GF100000 (US$20) to GF170000 (US$34). But that extra $14 buys me--mercy me--a hot water shower! Delightful! I took my first hot shower in weeks. Ah, so nice. And I needed it because I never could really get clean with the bucket water at the Niger. There is also a TV which apparently has CNN. The only drawback is that they don't electricity until 5:30. Then I'll have a new looking air conditioner as well. They also gave me soap, a roll of toilet paper, and a towel. I'm not close to downtown, but I am much closer to the gare voitures.
The trip here was a bit hard. I had my backpack and laptop and when I got on the bus it wasn't crowded, but it filled up good and tight--like a sardine can. It took a little doing to get off. But the price is right from almost in front of the Niger to pretty close to the Golfe--only GF1500 or US$0.30.
It took a little doing to find the Golfe. It's a bit of a walk from the Rue du Donka. The Family Choice market is across the street from the side street you have to take. It goes by some university campus and the Auberge du Miniére. You go about 4 or blocks and eventually you'll see it on the right.
September 1, 2008 15:56 Guinea local time
It won't be so bad because I moved from the Hotel Niger which has a wonderful location but no running water, a rather uncomfortable bed, and a broken fan. I upgraded to the Hotel du Golfe. The upgrade sent my daily bill up from GF100000 (US$20) to GF170000 (US$34). But that extra $14 buys me--mercy me--a hot water shower! Delightful! I took my first hot shower in weeks. Ah, so nice. And I needed it because I never could really get clean with the bucket water at the Niger. There is also a TV which apparently has CNN. The only drawback is that they don't electricity until 5:30. Then I'll have a new looking air conditioner as well. They also gave me soap, a roll of toilet paper, and a towel. I'm not close to downtown, but I am much closer to the gare voitures.
The trip here was a bit hard. I had my backpack and laptop and when I got on the bus it wasn't crowded, but it filled up good and tight--like a sardine can. It took a little doing to get off. But the price is right from almost in front of the Niger to pretty close to the Golfe--only GF1500 or US$0.30.
It took a little doing to find the Golfe. It's a bit of a walk from the Rue du Donka. The Family Choice market is across the street from the side street you have to take. It goes by some university campus and the Auberge du Miniére. You go about 4 or blocks and eventually you'll see it on the right.
September 1, 2008 15:56 Guinea local time
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Republicans
I was amazed that there were Christians praying for rain to ruin Obama's speech in the stadium in Denver. I love Charles Mudede's take on this at Slog. With Gustav aimed right at New Orleans ready to land just in time for the Republican National Convention in Larry Craig's favorite cruising city, it should be a wonderful reminder of "it must look twice as bad from down there" Bush's lack of concern for the welfare of a largely black city. If there is a god, and he intervenes in human affairs with weather, then is a powerful reminder that the immoral abuse of Him for such ends does not please Him. The Focus on the Family members should be ashamed for such a dispicible abuse of their belief in the power of prayer.
I'd also like to note that for a man who would likely die in office because he's a doddering old man with one foot in the grave, his extraordinally important choice of VP, a former beauty queen, seems kooky. Is this guy really serious about the job he's asking for? Unbelievable. Actually the McCain campaign employed the beauty queen who is responsible for this quote at the Miss America pagaent on why Americans don't do well in geography:
I'd also like to note that for a man who would likely die in office because he's a doddering old man with one foot in the grave, his extraordinally important choice of VP, a former beauty queen, seems kooky. Is this guy really serious about the job he's asking for? Unbelievable. Actually the McCain campaign employed the beauty queen who is responsible for this quote at the Miss America pagaent on why Americans don't do well in geography:
"I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some people out there in our nation don’t have maps and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as in, uh, South Africa and, uh, the Iraq and everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future for our children." -- Miss South CarolinaShe hit all the right family values themes--children, Iraq, and...OK, she's just a moron.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Another New Father
Turns out there is a real new father. My brother and his wife brought forth into this world a son named Chase. That's Chase as in Salmon P. Chase who was the Chief Justice at the first impeachment trial (Johnson). The Chief Justice for the second impeachment trial (Clinton) wrote a wonderful book called Grand Inquests about that fascinating trial and the trial of another lesser known Chase--Samuel Chase who was impeached during Jefferson's tenure in an attempt to undo the Federalists stranglehold on justice. I didn't agree with Rehnquists politics, but all three of his books are good reads.
So if my brother gives you a present and asks for a piece of paper to rub on his forehead--which he will give back to you, don't do a 1000 CFA note! And don't do a 10000 CFA note! No. Give him a 10000 dollar note. Because who is on the 10000 dollar bill? Why it's Chase, of course.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Google News, Requiem, and A President of a Corporation
I look at Google News a lot to see what's up in the US. A few days ago there was a story about a helicopter crash that killed the occupants of a medical helicopter. I noticed it because it happened in Wisconsin--at my alma mater, in fact. I was actually surprised that a local story would make Google News. That night, Elena, out of the blue, said she wanted to go see Mozart's Requiem at Saint Pierre cathedral in Montpellier. I had never heard it performed, so I thought it would be good to check it out.
Flashback to 4th, 5th or 6th grade (I'm fuzzy on which it was). Jimmy Carter was President of the US. And we were in class voting on who should be the president of our class model "corporation". It was the year that we learn how the stock market works by making a little "company" and issuing stock for a quarter a share. Then electing officers. And then they would decide on a product to manufacture, and then we would sell the product at the West Elementary Open House. We decided on little keychains shaped like Wisconsin. After we sold our product, a stock buyback occurred and the shares presumably would increase in value (can't remember exactly what the results were--just that I had one share).
Being the class brain (nerd), naturally I ran for president. The results, announced just before recess, were a tie--because for some reason I felt it was wrong to vote for oneself. After recess, a runoff. I lost. Oh well. C'est la vie.
The winner of that election, and president of our model corporation, was Steve Lipperer. I just found out in an email from my parents that he was the pilot of that crashed helicopter. That's my most lasting memory of Steve--a worthy adversary who beat me fair and square mano-a-mano. I've always respected him for doing that. I wish I could say I was thinking about the occupants of the helicopter as I was marveling at the height of the ceilings of Saint Pierre during Mozart's Requiem. I wish I had known someone I knew was killed hours before. I didn't. But from now on, when I hear Mozart's Requiem, I will think of Steve. I can't do anything else for him, but I can at least associate him with a work of Mozart that I first heard in a church in Montpellier just hours after he parted.
Goodbye Steve.
Flashback to 4th, 5th or 6th grade (I'm fuzzy on which it was). Jimmy Carter was President of the US. And we were in class voting on who should be the president of our class model "corporation". It was the year that we learn how the stock market works by making a little "company" and issuing stock for a quarter a share. Then electing officers. And then they would decide on a product to manufacture, and then we would sell the product at the West Elementary Open House. We decided on little keychains shaped like Wisconsin. After we sold our product, a stock buyback occurred and the shares presumably would increase in value (can't remember exactly what the results were--just that I had one share).
Being the class brain (nerd), naturally I ran for president. The results, announced just before recess, were a tie--because for some reason I felt it was wrong to vote for oneself. After recess, a runoff. I lost. Oh well. C'est la vie.
The winner of that election, and president of our model corporation, was Steve Lipperer. I just found out in an email from my parents that he was the pilot of that crashed helicopter. That's my most lasting memory of Steve--a worthy adversary who beat me fair and square mano-a-mano. I've always respected him for doing that. I wish I could say I was thinking about the occupants of the helicopter as I was marveling at the height of the ceilings of Saint Pierre during Mozart's Requiem. I wish I had known someone I knew was killed hours before. I didn't. But from now on, when I hear Mozart's Requiem, I will think of Steve. I can't do anything else for him, but I can at least associate him with a work of Mozart that I first heard in a church in Montpellier just hours after he parted.
Goodbye Steve.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
News From Wisconsin
It's always nice when there is news from my home state. We don't hear about Wisconsin too much out here in the Pacific Northwest. Actually, I do see a lot of WI plates and people wearing Badger gear. And C-SPAN has someone or another with a UW connection about once a week.
So to hear that Wisconsin's primary results are important is kind of nice. We are an oft overlooked state. I met a lot of Wisconsinites in Japan, actually. Wisconsin citizens seem to wind up in places out of proportion to our numbers. Maybe it's that farm ethic (not that I have it) or Midwest honesty and common sense (this I think I can claim). I don't know what it is, but it's nice to be from there. Previous Wisconsinites have laid the groundwork of good ambassadorship and I hope I follow in those footsteps, especially now that I'm going to be a sort of ambassador in countries where not so many tourists go.
I'm proud of the fact that as a Wisconsinite, I had a chance to vote for Herb Kohl and especially Russ Feingold. I'm a slight Obama leaner, but I love both Barack and Hillary. I will happily and willingly support either or both. I hope my Wisconsin readers enjoyed basking in the attention--while watching all those commercials I don't get to see because I am in Canada. On Wisconsin!
So to hear that Wisconsin's primary results are important is kind of nice. We are an oft overlooked state. I met a lot of Wisconsinites in Japan, actually. Wisconsin citizens seem to wind up in places out of proportion to our numbers. Maybe it's that farm ethic (not that I have it) or Midwest honesty and common sense (this I think I can claim). I don't know what it is, but it's nice to be from there. Previous Wisconsinites have laid the groundwork of good ambassadorship and I hope I follow in those footsteps, especially now that I'm going to be a sort of ambassador in countries where not so many tourists go.
I'm proud of the fact that as a Wisconsinite, I had a chance to vote for Herb Kohl and especially Russ Feingold. I'm a slight Obama leaner, but I love both Barack and Hillary. I will happily and willingly support either or both. I hope my Wisconsin readers enjoyed basking in the attention--while watching all those commercials I don't get to see because I am in Canada. On Wisconsin!
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Bon Voyage Party Tonight...But I Wish I Could Caucus
Tonight is our bon voyage party. About 35 people have signed up to come, so it will be a good time. But still I wish I could go to the caucus. Everyone is talking about the caucus on the Seattle blogs. Everyone is excited. And it actually means something this year because the race is still close when it comes to my location.
Right now I lean Obama, but I like both Obama and Clinton, so I'm not too worried. Whoever it is will be better than McCain and who ever his VP is for when McCain would die of old age while in his first term.
So I'll content myself to enjoy the party and not think too much about the caucusing I could be doing. I'll live vicariously through http://capitolhillseattle.blogspot.com/, http://chtriangle.blogspot.com/, http://seattle.metblogs.com/, and http://slog.thestranger.com/.
Right now I lean Obama, but I like both Obama and Clinton, so I'm not too worried. Whoever it is will be better than McCain and who ever his VP is for when McCain would die of old age while in his first term.
So I'll content myself to enjoy the party and not think too much about the caucusing I could be doing. I'll live vicariously through http://capitolhillseattle.blogspot.com/, http://chtriangle.blogspot.com/, http://seattle.metblogs.com/, and http://slog.thestranger.com/.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
The Definition of Suckage
Suckage is being an American political junkie in Canada on Super Tuesday with only basic cable.
At least my Google Reader is being barraged by updates to all the blogs I'm subscribed to.
At least my Google Reader is being barraged by updates to all the blogs I'm subscribed to.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Contests Where I like Both Sides
American Primaries: It's a bit frustrating to not have MSNBC all day while the primaries are going on. But it was enough to get Elena to upgrade to the $40 high speed internet from the $25 slow--but always on--cable internet. I want analysis. I get some from Talking Points Memo, but I want to veg in front of the TV and have it fed to me. I'm happy with what's going on so far. I'm happy with either Clinton or Obama. The nice thing about Obama for me would be traveling in Africa while a recent African descendant runs for the office of POTUS. I am in some ways still a "participant" in the election. I get several phone calls each day. In the United States they were almost all "unknown" but a significant portion of what would be "unknown" actually turn up as 604-519-0215 in Vancouver. Why? No idea. When I google that phone number, it seems that a lot of people get "unknown" calls from that number as well. So visitors to Vancouver--if you get 604-519-0215, that means unknown. One of these days when I'm bored, I'll enter that number into my phone so it shows some meaningful word.
The Dem primary is not the only contest where I'm a bit indifferent. This coming weekend the Green Bay Packers play the Seattle Seahawks. So who to cheer for? Hmmm.... I'm torn. I guess I'll have to go Packers since the QB for Seattle helped raise money for Bush and the Republicans a few months ago. The most important issue will be can I drink beer during the game? Or will Elena make me not drink beer? I do wish I could get some Alaskan Amber. Maybe I can...
Update: I added the 604-519-0215 number to my cell as Dalai Lama.
The Dem primary is not the only contest where I'm a bit indifferent. This coming weekend the Green Bay Packers play the Seattle Seahawks. So who to cheer for? Hmmm.... I'm torn. I guess I'll have to go Packers since the QB for Seattle helped raise money for Bush and the Republicans a few months ago. The most important issue will be can I drink beer during the game? Or will Elena make me not drink beer? I do wish I could get some Alaskan Amber. Maybe I can...
Update: I added the 604-519-0215 number to my cell as Dalai Lama.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Sleeping In
I guess the yoga last night knocked me out. Usually when I wake up when Elena is getting ready for work because she's moving around making typical morning noises like preparing coffee, running water, jangling hangers when she gets her coat, watching the weather report and local news. But this morning, I woke up at 9:33. I panicked and went to wake up Elena because she must have forgotten her alarm or something. But she wasn't there. Then I noticed that the TV remote was in a different place from when I last set it down. I had simply slept through it all. So I missed my desired 9:30 yoga. Then I missed the 4pm one because I got caught up with new internet stuff surrounding events in my Capitol Hill neighborhood.
I spent most of today reading the latest Le Point. There was even an article about the upcoming IA and NH caucuses and primaries. Tomorrow I'll read bits of their extensive in depth reporting on China which is their cover story this week. I learned such interesting terms as "gueule de bois", "pomponner", buveur", "illico", and "autochtone".
I spent most of today reading the latest Le Point. There was even an article about the upcoming IA and NH caucuses and primaries. Tomorrow I'll read bits of their extensive in depth reporting on China which is their cover story this week. I learned such interesting terms as "gueule de bois", "pomponner", buveur", "illico", and "autochtone".
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Murder in My Seattle Neighborhood
Last night there was a stabbing murder of a 31 year old woman in my old neighborhood of Capitol Hill. It was at an intersection I don't go to often, but I cross it sometimes--usually when going to Madison Market, the very store she was returning from when she was attacked. I'm about to go off the the Dark Continent (with election violence in Kenya, genocide in Darfur, and chaos in other countries), so I am taking on a bit of additional risk in exchange for adventure, but events like this drive home that even people living normal lives in my wonderful neighborhood are at some risk. Capitol Hill does have more than a few people who are mentally ill. As a result of this event and the blogging around it I learned the name of one particularly annoying ill guy who has problems shouting obscenities at the top of his lungs. This guy was half a block behind me one day shouting about being used for sex or something. I crossed the street because, to an observer, it would look like he was talking to me. He just continued with his raving looking straight ahead even though there wasn't really anyone anymore.
The news at this point make it look like a random killing by a mentally ill person. That is scary. Random killings are random. Since I'm not into drugs, gambling, cheating with married women, etc, I have to reason to fear a targeted killing, but random? Could happen to me. It's such a tragic way to bring in 2008 on Capitol Hill.
The news at this point make it look like a random killing by a mentally ill person. That is scary. Random killings are random. Since I'm not into drugs, gambling, cheating with married women, etc, I have to reason to fear a targeted killing, but random? Could happen to me. It's such a tragic way to bring in 2008 on Capitol Hill.
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