Some Photos

Top: the view from my office in Cape Coast looking North out at the city
Bottom: the office

Home and Office

Met up with my boss at Heritage House today and went over a bit of the project work I'll be doing. It looks like the majority of my work will be in Cape Coast but initially I'll be spending time in Kakum deciding where to focus our efforts.

My office is:
Heritage House
34 Garden Street
Cape Coast, Central Region, Ghana

I am staying at Fairhill, which is a guesthouse up the road on a small hill looking over Cape Coast. I just negotiated a long stay, and unless the room I look at tomorrow is out of this world and very cheap, I think I'll be staying here for the duration. Pictures will be uploaded very soon.

Ghanain Breakfast

Rice Porridge with milk and sugar
Hot dog
Bottle of Water
Pineapple Juice

In Accra

The flight was like a dream, I got great sleep, listened to good music, all 11 hours flew by, and with the plane being only half full, I got two seats to myself to spread out on. When I got in though, I was told at the border that my visa was only good for 60, not 90 days, and that I had three options… File an extension at the central municipal office in Accra, leave before 60 days, or overstay the visa, and go to prison for it. I think I’d do great in a West African prison.

Shortly after running into the visa issue, I discovered that I had a maple syrup explosion in my bag. None of the Vermont goodness I brought over liked the flights, and now one of my bags is like an old stack of pancakes covered in flies.

At the hotel, its expensive (by Ghanain standards) and depressing, but also clean and safe. I figured out a few minor technical details such as my plug rig for all of my electronics, and sat down with Samuel for a drink out by the pool. We talked about his upcoming ventures and I got to meet his wife who was very cool. They both love Accra and spend a decent amount of time near Cape Coast, they had been to Kakum earlier in the week. He remembered more people than I did from the last trip, apparently I’m not the first one back.

Tomorrow I’m off by cab to Cape Coast, it should be interesting showing up at the office, I really hope they’re expecting me.

Skype Users: My Skype login is JeffreySHallJr

Packing

Just got back from NYC and I'm getting everything ready to leave. Its interesting packing for business attire in 100 degree weather, I'm pretty sure I'll buy some long sleeve dashikis to wear to work over there as I remember lots of people wearing those to work instead of coat and tie.

I've got a bunch of books, a camera, cliff bars, clothes, a laptop and a flashlight. I'll figure just about everything else out when I get over there.

NYC -> Atlanta -> Accra -> Cape Coast here I come...

- Jeff

One Week to Go

In a couple of hours I'm going to be popping my first Mefloquine tabs to ward off Malaria, and this time next week I'll be in Atlanta waiting to fly out to Accra.

I got my LSAT score back, am really happy about it, and am taking care of all of the initial steps in the application process. Outside of work, I'm going to use the first month of my time in Ghana to figure out the kind of essays and personal statements I want to write.

Its going to be rough leaving Vermont, but I'm really excited for what lies ahead, Heritage House is really going to benefit from my expertise and being able to live in West Africa for a short time is something I've always wanted to do.

I'll be updating the blog as the packing starts in the next couple of days, my reading list so far is as follows:

Getting to Maybe
Black Like Me
How To Get Into The Top Law Schools
The Souls of Black Folks
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Immigrant Experience
The Rise of Globalism
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids

Cheers,

- Jeff