Bed Office

Watched a great football game today. Unfortunately my team lost. Chelsea is just too strong for Arsenal (wait, was the Super Bowl today?). That darn Didier Drogba from the Ivory Coast scored twice for Chelsea! Well, it wasn't just him, Chelsea has a great defense. Well done Blue Shirts. Hope you beat Man United for the title (though Arsenal is not out of it yet).

The Super Bowl was not even on Ghana TV. Soccer is the #1 sport here by a long shot. I would have liked to see the Saints win but I'd rather watch the Chelsea/Arsenal match. Plus, I'm in the same time zone as England which made watching the match easier.

Spent eight and a half hours organizing footage and backing up clips from our Ghana shoot. Had to be done and it's best to do when the job is fresh in our heads. Plus, it was Sunday, which means things are more or less shut down here in Accra. The missionaries have done a pretty good job of pushing Jesus on the Ghanaians. A shame, their traditional religions are fascinating.

Internet has been down since we got here to the Afia Hotel. They don't seem to be in a rush to get it working again. Funny how dependent/addicted we Westerners have become to this technology. Tomorrow we'll go out and explore some of the city.

It's Going to be Rough

View of the Atlantic Ocean from our private deck out our back door

Wrapped principle photography today. In normal English, that means we finished shooting. And that means we left our “work hotel” and the school we spent most of our waking and sleeping life in for the last five and a half days. We are now in the beautiful Afia Hotel on the Atlantic Ocean instead of a non-desrcript, business hotel in the suburbs (which was very comfortable). The job had its challenges but now we move into post production... but not before some R&R. The ocean breeze blows through our room, we can hear the waves from our bed, the beer is cold.

Malata Market, Accra

Producer Nora from Berlin, me and local expert Vincent (photographer Vân)

Braved the Malata Market today. Actually it was much more pleasure than panic. I'll tell you this though, it didn't tempt me to give up 24 years of being a vegetarian. Fish, cow, pigs feet and mystery meat roasting in the sun, covered in flies. That aside, we had a great time, even though we were on the clock and only there for a short time. The Ghanaian people are so nice; older women, younger women, men (all seemed like in their 20s or 30s) and of course the kids. We were only there for an hour but I could have stayed all day, even in the heat. Ghana is magic. Driving around Accra in a car you might think it is just another dusty, dirty developing city but once you interact with the people, even on a superficial level like the brief encounters we had at the markets, its magic. What a wonderful people.

Vân turning the lens on the market kids.

The young woman works while the older woman in the background naps.

I can't balance a book on my head, Ghanaians can carry anything on their noggins.

These market kids seem to have a tough life but they were all smiling.

Chickens and bread; Chicken sandwich anyone?

If it needs to be carried, use your head.

Graduation

Didn't mind shooting under the tents, it was a hot one.

Some happy graduates.

Videotaped graduation of the first MEST class today. The Minister of Communications was at the event as well as photographers and reporters from the BBC and Reuters. It was hot, like Africa hot as Matthew Broderick said in Biloxi Blues. I was running around like a madman trying to get shots. By 4pm, I was completely shot. Went back to our hotel and watched Mall Rats on Ghanaian TV.

Barnabus was one of the graduates of 2010, MEST's first graduating class.

Another Long Day Shooting in the Tropics

Lizards were running all around me while I was taking this shot outside the school.

Emil, another proud graduate of the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology.

African Sun

Shooting outside the MEST building in Accra, Ghana.

“You must eat an elephant one bite at a time.” Twi proverb

Akwaaba means “welcome” in Twi, the most African language used in Ghana, though English is the official and most used language over all, at least Accra. Put in an eleven hour day today, brutal. Shots went well, some audio problems. Excited to look at our footage but feeling like I'm about to pass out. The Star beer is not exactly waking me up. Van and I are working our asses off which is draining in the African sun. C'est la vie (they'd understand that in Togo or the Ivory Coast).

First Day on the Job

I thought Vân was working hard on sorting the audio clips she acquired that day
but she was just IMing with her friend Jim.

Survived our first day shooting at the Software Development school. Van and I fell asleep last night at 8pm (after taking a two and a half hour nap that afternoon) and comfortably woke at 5am. Our bodies clocks are definitely messed. We are learning a whole new work flow for this job which is a bit challenging but the folks at the school are really cool so it has been a pleasure. Ate a bunch of plantains, yucca, spicy beans and some Star beer. I'm really too tired to write right now. 8pm... starting to fade... must...