Amazingly Frustrating. Oh Ghana!

From time to time I have friends who ask, how is Ghana treating you? The folks I grew up with, from Faith Montessori School through Presbyterian Boys' Secondary (Presec), have a sly grin and a mischievous look of expectancy when the ask; while those who I met at college in Florida or as a young adult in Washington DC ask in half amazement: this brother went back to the motherland *shaking their heads*... My usual answer is that my time in Accra have been equal amounts of amazing and frustrating on each given day. It always depends on my perspective. Just as frustrating as my first few months in Virginia, orientation days in college at Gainesville, Florida and during my return to the DMV (Washington, DC) as an underpaid, over-employed young professional. And yet, the amazing here is fantastic, and the epic moments of frustration make you want to rip your hair out.

So you know the serenity prayer? I recite it daily. Here's a collection of my most memorable social media/Instagram (@itp85) pictures & posts of noteworthy experiences in Accra #MosquitoClaps

I'll start off with my ordeal in getting a bank account opened:

 This was on December 27th, I got my check book last week (first week in February), and I'm still waiting on my visa debit card.

I had a decent opportunity to record corporate videos for MEST. My first hands-on experience that in a country with strong men and weak institutions, personal relationships matter just as much, if not more than your efficiency as a professional. Even if you're Steven Speilberg, you can't afford to piss your boss off. Especially on the day when your camera falls on company premises....

The EIT (students) and the entrepreneurs in the incubator are amazing, some of my experiences as a contractor, not so much.

I tried to stay away from doing what most people on Instagram with smart phones do, take pictures of food. But I found myself succumbing to the urge to share choice meals of amazing street food in different parts of the capital, here are two of my favorite:

When you find a serious Waakye joint with a line that wraps around the building...nuff said.

One of the most reasonably priced, delicious grilled tilapia joints this side of town.

Till the next post, God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change...