The "Thrilla in Tudu"

The rains had the ability to turn the streets in and around the market from bustling commercial hubs in their own right, into a competition with garbage and debris.  And as if is that wasn’t enough, mud and puddles of murky, foul water laid ambush for hapless pedestrians. The harsh afternoon sun would chair over the proceedings with its punishing glare.

Ugh. As you can see, I was really dreading the monthly trip to the National Service Secretariat at Tudu. (I don't even want to start on that subject) At least I had company today, and that made any arduous activity more bearable. 

On our way back to the Ecobank at Tudu, where we had parked under false pretences, the four of us walked in a single file. I could never understand why the sellers left no space for the pedestrian-buyers to walk. Surely, it had to be better for business if they had room to walk, stop and admire wares etc…wasn't it? Instead they left thin strips of pavement, slimmer than the planks on the Kakum walkway and you were forced to stage an elaborate balancing act in order not to disturb the well-arranged wares.

All I was thinking of was the cool banking hall ahead of me, where I could sit down. 

I suddenly almost lost my balance. The dirty urchin who had just pushed me must have heard my thoughts and wanted to offer me a seat on the ground…in the mud, or on someone’s pile of children’s jelly shoes??  

None of the options appealed to me, so I flailed my arms about me wildly, trying to steady myself. I lunged forward again; the twat was still steadily trying to make his way past me, attempting to floor me in the process.  Righting myself, yet again, I sharpened my mouth ready to launch into a tirade. “Are you stupid?” I planned to begin. 

As he was directly in front of me, I couldn't help but notice his grimy hair and clothes. His head looked small and slightly misshapen and his mouth looked as if it had been slapped onto a too small chin as an afterthought.  Even I, occasionally, have bouts of compassion and decided to let the matter slide. I dusted myself off and began to walk away.

[This all happened in less than a minute]

“Hey!! Hey!!” I heard a woman shout, and began to beat a hasty retreat before I got yelled at for stepping all over the glittery, little, plastic shoes.

“Where is your phone?” My colleague asked me, holding on to the pushy man firmly.

Alarm bells set off. I felt my pockets. Pocket one: the galaxy was present. Pocket two: *gasp!* the blackberry was absent!! 

I quickly turned around; the dirty ragamuffin was holding the white blackberry in his filthy hand! 

“Why do you have her phone?” my associate asked the pickpocket.

People had started to pay attention now, gathering slowly around the two of them.

He replied in twi, hastily “It’s for her, it fell down, and I was picking it for her”

The scene of the boxing bout. Can you spot the shoes? 

Further dialogue was unnecessary. My phone had not fallen from my pocket. He had pushed me to distract me while stealing my phone and had hidden it under the towel he was holding. 

The phone was promptly handed back to me. A dark man standing behind the thief landed a hefty slap on the fellow's check, he never saw it coming. That signalled the beginning of the Thrilla in Tudu and flurry of slaps rained down on the thief. Instant mob justice, feeli feeli. So much for  legal process,lol. I was frozen in place! To think I had just felt sorry for the guy a few minutes ago, while he was doing me in! I did almost feel sorry for him now, he had just become the vent for everyone's frustrations. A lot more 'slappers' had joined in, and the melee had moved to the middle of the street. Blows and kicks were flying, all directed at the thief, with our friend in the thick of it all.

Such excitement!

The market women huddled around me, asking questions, full of praise for the rescuer of my phone.

The thief suddenly came running right towards me in his bid to escape. In a flash he had pushed past me and fled, with a few men in hot pursuit.  

Huddling around the man of the moment, I thanked him over and over. The market women were showering him with praise and bestowing appellations on him. “Wo de gentle no ato nky3n!” “Wo y3 b33ma paa!!” “W’ay3 adi3 paa!! Mo!”

Who on earth would want to steal in this economic climate, which had people's tempers permanently heated?Tightly grasping my phone, we walked away recounting the event and wishing we had filmed it. 

The bustle continued. As we drove off, we saw a guy walking through the crowd behaving in a similar manner...hopefully, he will be as lucky as 'our' thief had been when he gets caught. 

The Best Man's Dilemma (2)

Continuation of The Best Man's Dilemma 
Declining, she explained that she had driven her sister's car to work that day, so assured Ato that he didn't need to drop her off. Guard down, he leaned in to accept the grateful hug that she offered....

As they often say, One thing leads to another. That hug led to a kiss. That kiss led to a 'proper' make out session. Primal urges took over: jackets were crumpled, make up was wiped off, shirts were missing a button or three and a rip appeared in Tina's hem, accompanied by the obligatory stamp of shame.

Neither of them could remember exactly how they had gotten home that night or who had stopped their session from escalating further. But now they were both hooked. They still snuck out, but no longer just for lunch. They masterminded covert operations to meet up secretly, coded messages were transmitted and they engineered their schedules to ensure they always worked late, all the while laughing off their colleagues comments and taunts.

They continued this way for months.

One day, while shooting each other seductive glances across the room, Tina’s eyes fell on Ato’s desk. They fell on his girlfriend’s picture to be precise. It was still on his desk, and she was still smiling sweetly in the frame. Tina furrowed her brow. Across the room Ato wondered what that meant, this gaze wasn't the usual come hither look he was used to.

There and then she decided to cut it off. She wasn't a “bad girl”. Neither had she set out to steal any one’s man, or become the dreaded ‘other woman’. She definitely didn't want to be second fiddle to anyone. The only one her man should have on his desk was her! And if he couldn’t do that then she shouldn’t be with him.

Tina had been talking to a guy for some time. He was really charming and caring, plus he was single. Picking up her phone, she replied his message, which had been left unanswered from morning.

A few weeks after that she decided to go on a weekend away with him to an idyllic spot that she had wanted to visit for ages. The entire trip was amazing. Michael was sweet, charming and completely attentive. 
There was only one problem, he wasn't Ato.

As soon as Tina got home she arranged to meet Ato. As she later narrated to a friend, I decided that I couldn't lie to myself anymore. "...I told Ato that I loved him and only him  and that I didn't want to be with anyone else, regardless of his circumstances...but he didn't say anything and I was so crushed and disappointed"

The silent man may not have said much at the time but he broke up with his girlfriend a few days later. Ato did not tell his girlfriend the real reason why he was splitting up with her. He felt that it was better that way. He really didn't want to hurt her and he truly cared for her very deeply. But the connection that he had with Tina was so intense; he simply could not ignore it any longer.
Ato and Tina started to date officially after that, much to the revulsion of their colleagues. But they didn't care, instead they worked through the guilt they both felt about how their relationship started. They were finally free to be together and shrugged off all the nastiness. Tina ignored all the comments that people passed and the 'advice'. She could not even fathom the thought that Ato would cheat on her: Their relationship was too important, they had been through too much and what they shared was much too special. Those were Ato's precise words, and she believed them.


...Three years later Ato and Tina are getting married and are at the rehearsal dinner...

Kwame shook his head. In church? Hmmm. How can I possibly tell this 'adulterous' story, even though it would captivate and titillate its audience, in the church!??! The best man wondered. Catching, the eye of the groom he gestured for him to come over to his seat. They needed a cover story, and fast!  

The Best Man's Dilemma

Ato and Tina worked in the same office. Tina had gotten to know him pretty well after working closely with him on a client's account. She found him absolutely irresistible but he had a serious girlfriend and he was a straight laced kind of guy. He wore the girl like a shield and made it clear to everyone in the office that he was serious about his girlfriend. He even kept a picture of her on his desk and spoke to her often during the day. He spoke so highly of her and the work she did. No one couldn't believe such handsome, 'clean' guys existed any more!
It started out as a joke, Tina began to call him my "my office boyfriend", named their relationship the "AccuRate affair" (after the name of the client whose account they were working on) and it quickly turned into a major flirtation.
They would e-mail each other all day, sneak out for lunch, meet by accident after work, magically bump into each other on weekends and joke about it all at work. Ato was joking...initially. Tina laughed through it all, but not because she found it funny.
Tina knew it was getting serious one afternoon when they were driving back to the office after a cosy lunch somewhere. He placed his hand on her knee the whole way. You think that was nothing, but it was electrifying for Tina.  And if you knew Ato you would understand that it was a big deal.

All this while nothing 'major' had happened.

A few weeks after the 'first contact' Ato and Tina had to work late. Nothing untoward happened. It really was a just a late nate at the office, working hard to meet a deadline. When they wrapped up their tasks they congratulated each other and Ato offered Tina a ride. Declining, she explained that she had driven her sister's car to work that day, so assured Ato that he didn't need to drop her off. Guard down, he leaned in to accept the grateful hug that she offered....

[to be continued]

Stolen Affection

I opened my eyes, giving up on the sleeping charade. I was sweating, even though the A/C was on, blowing a cool breeze right over my head. I had been tossing and turning for about an hour. The bed felt huge and lonely. I hadn't slept a wink since Nat left. 

Sitting up and wrapping the sheet around myself, I hugged my knees. They were all I had to hold. I had never had trouble sleeping alone. In fact, I enjoyed nothing more than sprawling across my large bed and enjoying the fact that I didn't have a man hogging my luxurious Egyptian cotton sheets or snoring loudly, disturbing me. 

Today wasn't one of those nights. 

Tonight I wanted nothing more than my boyfriend's comforting arms. His soothing voice telling me that everything would be fine. I wanted his comforting presence. His, perhaps empty reassurances, but assurances nonetheless. 

But there was nothing. Nothing but the deafening silence of the night. The coolness blowing from A/C suddenly felt like an Arctic wind. I shivered and reached for the duvet. My phone was underneath it. I picked it up and slid my finger across the screen to unlock it. The harsh light from the display made me wince. A tear fell from my eye and surprised me.  Irritated,  I swatted the tear away like a fly. 

The truth is that I couldn't call him. Not at this time. It was much too late. He would probably be in bed, asleep. Maybe not asleep, but it wouldn't be convenient. It would be risky to upset him. I didn't like upsetting him. 

That unruly bit of me was it it again; screaming, urging me to dial, what about you!? what about your needs?? Call him! But in times like this I thanked God that I was reasonable and level headed enough to ignore my recalcitrant inner voice. Thinking about God made me feel guilty. I shouldn't be thanking Him, I should be hiding under an impermeable rock from Him. In times like this, when I felt most alone, I felt Him watching intently, asking if I was ready to walk back into His embrace. But the pleasure, stolen kisses and clandestine meetings were so much more alluring during the day. I often felt so powerful. Only to be reduced to this embarrassingly whimpering figure once in a while. More and more often lately.

I decided to be stubborn, so I dialled his number, pressed the speaker button and waited. I wish you could see me. My whole body coiled in readiness like an athlete. I waited with bated breath as the phone icon appeared and began to transmit the call. It rang. Once. Twice. Thrice. It kept ringing. Again and again. "The number you have dialled has not answered..."

 The screen was a blurry fuzz of light. I was crying.

When did I allow myself to become this person??  I felt like such a stereotype. A mere statistic. Listening to the same old excuses, believing the same old lies, forgiving the same old broken promises?? 

When? What happened to me? When did it push me away from God? leaving me fatherless. How on earth had I gotten to this point? I had been lonely before, that was my justification but I was as good as alone now, wasn't I? 

I would see my little sister the following morning. She always made me happy. I made a mental note to tell her to learn to guard her heart. People will use it, stomp on it, destroy it and throw it away...if you allowed them. 

That is what I have learned. The great love that I felt has destroyed the person I once was and replaced it with a woman who has no identity, heart and soul. All I am now is mostly depressed and inconsolable, unless he is with me. I would tell her that as women we need to think twice about getting involved with a man who belongs to someone else, no matter how much we love him.

My phone beeped, a text message. 

It was from Nat:

My wife is sleeping and I don't want to disturb her. Is something wrong? Hope you're ok. I'll call you in the morning,on my way to work. Sleep tight x

credit: wisdom4wives on Instagram

Birthday cake

I was given the chance to make my boss' birthday cake. 

That's the kind of thing that you definitely do not want to mess up...so of course I didn't sleep till it was near perfect. 

The very beginning... 

after a sleepless night and the near-certain feeling that this cake would get me fired,lol

Finito!

That unruly, bent candle tho!

2 Choctastic layers with a red velvet layer sandwiched in between with cream cheese icing and drowned in chocolate

Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy!!!!

Belated New Year's greetings

One of my...I will hesitate to call it a New Year's resolution...decisions this year was to do less generally and focus on specific things, like this blog.
Let me say Happy New Year since I haven't had the chance to. Hope you have been staying on track with what you resolved to do.
So many days into the New Year, I'd say I'm in danger of failing...lol.
My current short term mission in life is to find a balance....before I drown. I'm swamped with work and can't find much time for my other activities. Is there anyone else on the planet trying to get used to going to work every single day and struggling? Come and give me some advice please. This weekend found me stuck in bed. It wasn't even a choice. I could not move. Your body will take it's rest, so just give it up without a struggle. I've learnt my lesson.
I'm quickly discovering that being a student is very different from working: coffee can sustain you through all nighters for a while...it doesn't quite work when you have to be back on the ball the next day! lol. There is that sense of satisfaction  when you shut a large file like-a-boss because you're done with it though...little pleasures.
This too shall pass. At least that's what I tell myself.

It's a year of New things here in Ghana...New President, New Government, New every-things [I hope!] 
Praying we all have a thankful heart and lots of things to be grateful for same time next year.
God bless!

Antenna Ft. Wyclef Jean (Official Video) - Fuse

I dunno about you, but I have been waiting for this vid!
Antenna...enjoy!



Did you spot all your fave entries from the competition??

Ice Skating...in Ghana?? o_O

Winter and I have a love-hate relationship. I love winter fashion and winter sports (well, watching, as I am usually too cold to participate for long) but hate being frozen!
So an ice rink in sunny Ghana may just be the solution...fun on ice + the sun! #Winning!! [I hope,lol]
Aburokyire aba Ghana ooo!!!!

Aburokyire aba Ghana!!! 

The rink is located at the Lizzy Sports Complex in East Legon, Accra. The timing could not be better, it's right on time for Christmas. I am told this is the first of its kind in West Africa. By the way,the rink is made of synthetic material (sorry to those of you who planned to scoop the ice into bottles to take home) so it won't melt in the sun.

Skates In The City will be running from the 15th of December 2012 to the 13th of January 2013. Do something new this season...even if it's just continuously falling over on your bum,lol.
Shame I didn't hear about it in time, I might have had an ice themed birthday party, but it may not be too late for you to organise an event. I'm sure it can be given out for private functions like birthday parties and corporate events, so set up an event and invite me. 

I'm informed that It's open daily from 9am to 9pm.

Rates: Children 12 and under: ghc8 

                        12 and over: ghc10

They were very generous to include the cost of renting the skates too. I'm sure not a lot of people have ice skates lying around the house, so that will be very
If you're new to skating [read as risk adverse,lol ], there's a professional skater on hand to offer lessons. If not, enjoy falling, but do get up each time! 

Check out and like their Facebook page for more information: https://www.facebook.com/SkatesInTheCity

Turning tables: Radi-aid - Africa for Norway

The usual scenario is one aid agency or another in one European country or another, raising funds or gathering items to send to Africa for one cause or another. As much as they mean well, they often use hard hitting, negative images to drive their point home. Leaving people with the impression that Africa is only full of hardship, disease, death, etc. These images stick with people and may in turn affect tourism and investment, not just in the affected country but in other African countries as well.
In this parody video, the tables have [finally] turned!
It's an attack on the stereo types are usually used to drum up support for aid agencies and the effect that they have on developing countries.
They explain it all clearly on their website:  http://www.africafornorway.no/why :

WHY AFRICA FOR NORWAY?

Imagine if every person in Africa saw the “Africa for Norway” video and this was the only information they ever got about Norway. What would they think about Norway?
If we say Africa, what do you think about? Hunger, poverty, crime or AIDS? No wonder, because in fundraising campaigns and media that’s mainly what you hear about.
The pictures we usually see in fundraisers are of poor African children. Hunger and poverty is ugly, and it calls for action. But while these images can engage people in the short term, we are concerned that many people simply give up because it seems like nothing is getting better. Africa should not just be something that people either give to, or give up on.
The truth is that there are many positive developments in African countries, and we want these to become known. We need to change the simplistic explanations of problems in Africa. We need to educate ourselves on the complex issues and get more focus on how western countries have a negative impact on Africa’s development. If we want to address the problems the world is facing we need to do it based on knowledge and respect.

WHAT DO WE WANT?

1. Fundraising should not be based on exploiting stereotypes.
   Most of us just get tired if all we see is sad pictures of what is happening in the world, instead of real changes.
2. We want better information about what is going on in the world, in schools, in TV and media.
   We want to see more nuances. We want to know about positive developments in Africa and developing countries, not only about crises, poverty and AIDS. We need more attention on how western countries have a negative impact on developing countries.
3. Media: Show respect.
   Media should become more ethical in their reporting. Would you print a photo of a starving white baby without permission? The same rules must apply when journalists are covering the rest of the world as it does when they are in their home country.
4. Aid must be based on real needs, not “good” intentions.
   Aid is just one part of a bigger picture; we must have cooperation and investments, and change other structures that hold back development in poorer countries. Aid is not the only answer.

These guys are brilliant!!!
[More positive images of Africa please!!!]

Did you enjoy the video? what do you think? Is this a good way to turn things around or just a flash in the pan?