I say Akuapem, you say Akwapim

Today was my final day of research at the Port of Takoradi, so I went through all the customary farewells to all the managers and assistants who've been helping me out these past couple weeks. I'm definitely going to miss them and working in the port environment. There was much exchanging of personal e-mail address, and I've promised to mail them a copy of my thesis once it is published. There's going to be a very long gratitude section in that thesis. Mensah tells me that one day he will meet me in the US, and that we will have a drink. Good stuff.

This morning I mailed off 167 surveys, which comes out to around 800-900 pages. And it all fit into one (plastic) UPS envelope. It weighed 5kg. It was intense. Now I just gotta hope the guy on the motorbike makes it safely to the bus station ...

I'm not really sure what my plans for the weekend are. One of the managers recommended I go to Paragon Night Club, which is apparently quite famous in Takoradi. But ... it's just me here. And the memory of the prostitutes (see post below) from the Africa Beach Resort is still a bit fresh in my mind. Though I think about half a dozen British girls arrived at my hotel last night. Too bad the "wingman" part of my grant proposal did not get approved.

I've also ordered a few more shirts to be tailored in different (but still very colourful) kente-like patterns, which I'll be picking up on Monday before I head to Accra. I also want to pick up a few yards of kente-pattern cloth, which my mom might be able to sew into curtains for the dorm room (we're on the first floor--what's up, Aneesh?) next year. Should add a nice Ghanaian touch to the room.

I've spent the past hour or so doing some research on language groups (I need to properly code this in my data). So I've been battling the slow Internet connection, tracking down obscure language groups like the Guan, Aowin (isn't she in Lord of the Rings?), Kusasi and Brosa to figure out if they belong in the Akan umbrella or not. Thank you, wikipedia. (hey, I'll do some more thorough checking when I get back...). It's also not easy when the same group has multiple spellings, like the group in the title. And I can't really figure out if it's Ashante or Ashanti, Fante or Fanti. My respondents used whichever, and were often not even consistent within their own surveys. Anything goes, I suppose.

I think I've also found a new favourite football (soccer) team. Since about 10th grade, I've been a "Gunners' Man", meaning I root for Arsenal. This came from a family trip to Europe in which we had a Dutch tour guide--I happened to purchase a Dennis Bergkamp jersey, and the guide talked to me for about an hour about Bergkamp's thrilling exploits. So he then called me Bergkamp for the remainder of the trip.

Anyways, I've recently become a bit disillusioned with Premiership football: Arsenal doesn't have as much home-grown talent as it used to (esp. compared to, say, Liverpool), and the team has gone in a decidedly commercialized direction, like Chelsea (but wait, aren't you also a Yankees fan, Joe? uhhh, that's different...).

Last night, amidst another round of data inputting/banging head on wall, I switched on the TV, and found a replay of a last-season match featuring Celtic FC vs Aberdeen (Scottish Premier League), in which Celtic trounced Aberdeen 5-1. Normally, I sometimes will get bored during the course of a match, walk around, read, come back when I hear the volume go up, etc. Not this one: Celtic was in absolutely phenomenal form. I could also tell that they were a "team" team. Their passing and ball control were absolutely clinical, and they made things look effortless. They reminded me of the Yankees of the mid-90s--sure there were some star players, but the unit was greater than the sum of its parts. The most memorable moment of the match came around the hour mark, with Aiden McGeady (wow, what a name) connecting with one of the strikers, Scott Brown I think, for a stunning goal. AM picked up the ball around midfield, sprinted through Aberdeen's midfield, and found himself against three defenders on the edge of the penalty box. SB was about 8 yds to AM's right, but also marked by two defenders. Then came the magic. AM skirted through the defense using a 360 spin WITH a backheel (to flick the ball through the defense), and came out on the other side. But he was right in front of the keeper (and to the left of the goal), so he couldn't score himself. He then effortlessly flicked the ball over the keeper to SB, who was still in a crowd of defender, to gracefully head in for a goal. It was a master class.

I think that won me over. There were also some other memorable goals (including a thrilling Beckham-like, curling free kick), but McGeady was incredible. I'm sure there's a YouTube video of it out there. To my Japan-based readers: Celtic have a star midfielder/free-kick specialist named Nakamura. I'll definitely be following this team more. In the Scottish league, the pace appeared much faster, and there was less theatrics compared with other European leagues, two things which I definitely enjoy. I think they've got a live friendly match today, so hopefully it'll also be on TV.

Wow, soccer definitely dominated most of that post. I think it's about time for lunch ...