Akwaaba!

Hello from Ghana! I arrived this morning on a somewhat delayed Delta flight, and have had a full day with the research group, so I'm a bit exhausted. Ghana is now even more modern than I remembered it: two of the larger telecom companies have merged under Vodafone, and there are all these billboards in the airport about new high-speed internet networks being set up all across the country. The large Kasapa "dash" billboards are still fairly prevalent, too. And one of the landmarks in East Legon is a billboard for a South African TV network: it proudly displays CSI:Miami as "the most popular television show on the planet." Sure, why not?

I was fortunate to have a driver, Alfred, waiting to pick me up at the airport--quite a nice guy with a fervent hatred for political corruption. We even talked about the story I posted on a couple of weeks ago about the former ministers not wanting to return their government cars! We also have this kind guard who only speaks French--which I can understand, but not speak. He calls me the "foreigner". Should be fun.

Anyways, I need to settle into my room and get ready for the next few days. Lots of regional travel so posts might be a bit sparse for a while!