Ghana at Xmas - Part 1

March 15th - Beware the Ides of March - especially when you are about two months behind in your blog....this was the update from the trip to ghana this past xmas...there are two parts...enjoy and drop a line if you have any questions

************************************************************************************

hi there all and happy 2009!!!! hope you all had wonderful holiday seasons
and have started this new year off right!!!  I am back in croatia after my
trip to ghana and wowowowowowowow....what an experience....here in croatia
it's cold...we actually had a snow day this week with school, plus one day 
we started two hours late...it was a nice easy way to start work again...
one bad thing that happened this week was that i got food poisoning...not 
in ghana...but here in croatia...i think it had something to do with pork
in my meal that i didn't know was there....its been about 14 years since i
have had pork...so i don't think my system liked it....anyway...

some folks have been asking of we have gas here in croatia for heat...the 
answer is yes we do...but i am not sure how much....and the ukraine and 
russia are still not letting the gas flow....so could this become a 
problem....yep, it sure could....but someone told me the other day that
croatia has its own supply of gas...so now i am confused....i will try and
find out what the deal is so i can pass it along at some point....too bad
my croatian is still not so good....if i could understand the news reports
i would be able to tell you more....oh well...

ghana....what can i say....what a vacation....i had a few firsts...my 
first warm xmas and new years....even went swimming in the atlantic ocean
on january first....my first "black" santa...and he was a hoot...and my 
first really mellow and relaxing oriented trip....i was visiting friends
greg, di, kelsey and alysha...they have moved to ghana for teaching and 
are quickly adapting and adjusting to the way of life there...which 
seems to me to be quite mellow...i read quite a few books...six i think
and slept late, drank coffee and watched some tv....it was mellow...and
i think that stems from just how hot it is during the day in ghana and 
how you have to drive everywhere from their place....

my friends live in a teacher's compound with guards...and not necessarily
for personal protection...more for personal items protection....i have to 
say i felt very safe...and even though most houses/compounds have guards,
its to protect stuff...many people in ghana have nothing and so things 
getting stolen is common if you don't have security...the other big 
difference between ghana and here is that everyone is black....i think i 
was one of ten white folks on the plane down to ghana....its not 
necessarily a tourist oriented stop...it doesn't have big game parks and 
safari....but it does have amazing beaches...but they are working beaches
and have not been set up for tourists....but man, are the ghaneans
friendly....and everywhere we went people wanted to say hello and welcome
us to their country....

we really did stick out...which at first can be rather disconcerting...
especially if you have no idea what will happen when people are staring..
in china when people stare, they do not smile and its what they do....
in croatia when  people stare and you wave and smile they turn away 
quickly realizing they have just been caught staring....but in ghana when 
people stare and you wave and say hello, they break into huge grins and
wave back and say good afternoon sister...or  welcome uncle....its really
cool....

i have decided that when you are in a place where people have nothing, 
many times they are able to make due with what they have and seem to be 
happy....of course they want to better their situation...but they deal
with what they have been dealt....i've seen it in cambodia and ecuador
and china and tibet....and they deal...and they smile and they enjoy what
they have....if you have never been in a poor country and experienced this
it makes you truly understand the human spirit and gives you a sense of 
what humans could really do without all of the materialistc aspects of 
life...if everyone has nothing, than everyone deals with their situation..
i also think it has to do with the weather....the warmer, the easier to 
deal...that's what i think, but of course its an opinion....

okay....enough of my soapbox...let's just say i was really happy to be in 
ghana and happy to see people pleased and enjoying their lives....i did 
take lots of pictures, so this update and the next will be pictures from
ghana...i have tried to put in a mix of what life is like there....enjoy

this first set of pictures will be of accra, the capital and kumasi...
a large town north of accra where the largest market in western africa is
located....we drove there...about 5 hours one way and when we were driving
there it was also the day before the presidential election - so it was 
like a holiday...two men were running....and this was the second round....
as the first time the election was held many did not vote....they felt the 
same man would be elected again...he was, but with a very low voter 
turnout....so ghana decided to vote a second time and this time most of
the country voted....and what a race it was....

when you vote in ghana you get three days to accomplish this...one to
travel to your hometown...one to vote with your thumbprint and one to 
travel back....people were very excited....

the first shot is of a tire store on the side of the road near my friend's
house....you can buy anything....and i mean anything on the side of the 
road...clothes, furniture, food, water, cleaning supplies....anything....
i found this to be cool....whenever we were stopped in the car, there would be men and women, mostly with items on their heads, at the window to
take care of us....it amazed me how much they could hold on their heads...
a picture or two will show you....
the second shot is of a termite hill...this one is about 3m or 9ft....they are huge and found everywhere throughout the country...

the third shot is santa at the hotel we had christmas lunch at...this man, paul, who we met out of costume later in the vacation, was hilarious...and so good with
all of the kids....he loved coming to our table because we would sing the
12 days of xmas wth him....especially the 5 golden rings part :)  too 
funny....
the next bunch of pictures are from the kumasi region...the first is the 
market in kumasi....it was a very mellow day...as it was sunday and
everyone was at church and then went to vote....there are tons of 
missonaries in ghana....so religion comes in many shapes and sizes and
jesus and god is everywhere....in the names of stores, on the backs of 
buses and trucks, in names of restaurants....its wild...in the market
shot...people live in the part higher up...and the stalls are covered 
because the sellers were not there....we were the only white people in 
the market and our arrival was spread loud and clear....people really
wanted to say hi and meet us...it was wild....the cry "abruni! abruni!"
white person, white person.... could be heard everywhere we went....we 
learned how to say "black person" back and did with a smile...which put
everyone at ease and laughing....it was wild....
i loved the title of the next shot....read the fine print carefully...and then realize the store sold asian made electronics....gotta love it...

while in kumasi we went to a cultural center and were allowed to walk 
around the grounds....this was one of the many murals on the walls....its
a great shot of ghana and all that makes it up....music, artwork, beads, 
tribes...its a great representation....
kumasi is also known for its kente cloth....and we got to see the men weaving it....yes, the men are the weavers....and its amazing stuff...they make strips and then put them together as big pieces...
as you can see in the shot with one of the main weavers....cool guy....in the picture the black and red kente cloth is for funerals....it was my favorite, but not really appropriate to wear on a daily basis....at least not in ghana :)
the last two shots from kumasi show some banyon trees located at the 
largest man-made lake in ghana...

you also can see the crew i was travelin around with....and mr. thomas was our guide....all ghaneans loved luca...he is the small boy....he had a hard time with all of the attention at times....but people just loved him....and kelsey and alysha and i kept getting marriage proposals....it was interesting....

on the road back to accra we encountered some people celebrating the 
election....in the end it took a few days to call the winner, because in 
the end atta mills only won by 2% of the vote....and no...they did not 
hold a recount....it was wild....along the road we saw this guy in 
this costume celebrating the future president....
plus people were out selling food and bread and drinks....as you can see the three women selling food to make sandwiches with...on their heads...incredible...it was like the country was having one big party...even though a winner at this point had not been called in the election...it was a cool experience
the last three shots are back in accra....the first is di with the two 
little girls that come to visit my friends every night they are with 
their dad...he is one of the compound's guards....they come into the air
conditioning and watch the tv and sometimes have some dinner....its 
something very different for them and di loves to play with them....
the second shot is the aussie/african xmas tree...notice the new golden stool 
greg and di picked up while we were in kumasi....it is the style of stool
the king of each tribe sits on....the symbol of theirs is "except god"...
not really sure how to interpret that....
the final shot of this long story is me....with a ghanean beer....very light and not really good unless its really, really cold....but we were at a cool bar after shopping at a market and it was vacation....

okay...that's the first round of pictures....the next update should be
out in the next week with the second set of pictures from ghana....if you 
can't tell, i really liked it there....was even offered a job...but i am 
not the type who breaks contract....maybe something will be open in two
years....you never know....

one last thing before i sign off....it was really cool to be an american
in ghana...they are really excited about barack obama there....every time
i said where i was from people would dance and shout obama, obama....there 
was a song we heard on the radio every day about him and his picture
was everywhere....its a world wide thing this time and it made me proud
to say i was from the country that had elected him....i know some people
are not excited...& i sure hope he can work with what he has been left...
but it is cool to think that people around the world are excited for this
as well....its an exciting time....i hope tuesday goes well for the man
and his family....and i wish him well on his quest to improve and re-
vitalize america....its gonna be a tough and long road....but he's a 
strong guy....

okay....enough from me....this one was really long....sorry....next time
will just be pictures and explanations about them...again, i wish you
all the best in 2009...and thanks to those who sent me holiday greetings
its sooooooo cool to get mail...you guys rock my world :)  and i'll be 
back in the next week with some more pictures....

Croatian Update #6

February 8, 2009....hi there folks...another late blog update...i guess this is just the way..but ts only 2 behind....things here in my life have been crazy busy...plus, for some reason it just keeps raining here...which is not good for morale....anyway...here's the fifth update showing christmas in graz, austria and zagreb, croatia....fun places to be for the holidays here in europe...

as i look back across my year, it has been pretty darn amazing...12 countries..some for the first time, some for return trips....i was hoping to put together a holiday card with pictures from each stop, but it hasn't happened...maybe when i get back...it was hard year as my grandmother  passed away at the start of the year and my dad went thru lung cancer, but is now free and clear...i spent two months in the states, which i haven't done in quite a while and hung with many people on the east and west  coasts....its a pretty charmed life i get to lead and i thank each of you for your role within it :)  

okay...enough remembering...the past three weeks here in croatia it has  been raining pretty regularly....BUT today the sun is out and i hope i  get to the park to take in some sun and walk around before the flights  tomorrow to africa...three of them :)  but below are some shots of things that have been going on...hope you enjoy the story and pictures....

the day after thanksgiving me and some friends went to graz, austria to do

a little shopping...what a fun day we had...we were in IKEA forever :) 

and then went to the quaint town that was all set up for xmas....walked 

around lovin the xmas market and festivties and then it started to snow...

it was quite perfect :)

the first three shots are from austria - a huge ferris wheel....no we didn't ride it...way too cold and it made some awful creaks...didn't want to tempt the fates...instead we opted for mulled wine and pretzels...the second shot is some of the buildings all decked for the  holidays....austria just seems to be a country that has it all together.. the last shot from that day...me with a pretzel and a beer...imagine :)
back to croatia we head, the rest of the shots are from zagreb...which  has gotten quite dressed up for the holidays...they have the entire main  square, and the smaller ones as well, shining with lights and trees and  vendors selling croatian crafts and food and drinks....plus there is a big tent in the middle of town serving sausages and wine and beer....and  they have lots of live music...its been awesome....this country is about  90% catholic so this holiday is one of their biggest and they definitely have fun celebrating....

so the following shots start off with the sculpture choice this update -  zagreb actually has a full scale model of the solar system....and what you see is the sculpture of the sun...i have seen jupiter as well...but am  planning a solar system walk for the four inner planets with my 8th grade and therefore will find the others when i get back....then the holiday pictures start....the first is the main fountain in the main square that they have turned into an advent wreath....so cool...and then there follow some of the decorated buildings....
sretan bozic i nova godina - means merry xmas and happy new year....that's the main post office...the next shots come from the main square...you can see the big tent and the lights around all of the light posts and the xmas tree in the middle of it all :) there is also a shot of one of the main booths of the xmas market...i  have gotten a bit addicted to the gingerbread...am even freezing some for  when i get back....so good....

So unfortunately I cannot keep blogger happy and it keeps changing what i copy and paste...so i am a bit angered...this is sooooooooooooo not easy to use at the moment...i might be changing where i keep this as it makes me angry every time i use it....but for the moment this is my update...maybe blogger is against macs...i just don't know....the last shot is one of me with a beer here in croatia...but its not for you to see this time around...

i hope each of you had a great holiday season and i wish you all a happy valentines day....drop a line when you wish and if you want to be added to the update list directly, please email me at danid7@yahoo.com....

talk soon and peace out....dani

Croatian Update #5

January 11, 2009 - Okay, here's another late one....this one is from a bit later in November....including the great shots from All Soul's Day....enjoy :)

*************************************************************************************

hey there all...happy thanksgiving to those celebrating it....i am 
actually celebrating..we had a big thanksgiving dinner at school yesterday
and no...i did not have turkey...and no, they did not have tofurkey, but i 
did have some mashed potatoes, stuffing and corn....plus the families got 
together and made many different desserts...we even had pumpkin pie in the
house...many people were very excited :)  today i am headed over to a
friend's place with 12 other folks...everyone is bringing their favorite 
dish from thanksgivings past....so it should be a good time....

before i go any further...some folks have sent me emails asking for my 
mailing address this year...my folks moved so the lancaster avenue address
is no longer available...and i am not headed to the states this year...
so if you are interested in sending a card...which i am very interested in
getting, please mail it to this address in croatia

The American International School of Zagreb
Dani DiPietro
Vocarska 106
10000 Zagreb
Croatia

if you are sending anything, be sure to take it out of packaging and that
it doesn't look super new...is that possible???  if they think i am 
getting new expensive stuff in customs they charge me for it....it usually
takes a week or so for flat mail to make it....so all of you with kids and 
the traditional xmas/holday card....please send them on....as for me, it
will be an electronic xmas/new years greeting per normal....but i promise
if you send me mail, i'll send you a postcard from my journey...

so on with the update...sorry it has been a while since the last one...so 
many things....just after the last update i sent out it was halloween
and more importantly here all souls day...i have included some pictures
from both....we also had UN day in our school as well....there are  
pictures from that event as well....and i went to budapest with the middle
school speech and debate team...and they did really well :)

the pictures are as follows....the first shot is actually of street 
performer here in zagreb...he is in the main square every saturday and 
sometimes sunday with this musical instrument..an organ grinder...all he 
needs to make the picture complete is a monkey on his shoulder....he's  
great and always tips his hat to the ladies....from that picture we go to UN day...here are a few of my fellow teachers, 
who are croats...i thought you might like to see some traditional colors
and costumes of the region i am living in...the first woman is vlatka...
she is my croatian teacher as well...and she is wearing a traditional 
costume for the fall harvest celebrations here...everything she is wearing 
is hers....she has some of the strongest pride in her country of all...she
is a great teacher because of that...the next three folks are also in 
traditional dress and colors...the woman on the left - adrienne is in a 
traditional costume from the island of rab...the man in the middle is in 
a traditional dancing costume from the mountains (josef) and the woman
on the right, deana is in the croat colors for the flag and the national
soccer team....it was cool day where kids dressed in the traditional 
costumes of their native countries...i actually had red, white and blue on
and one little girl from the states came as a cowgirl...cute....

the next five shots are from the big cemetery i sent you pictures of 
before...its the biggest of zagreb and everyone in town comes to it on 
the day of all souls...plus the night...we went at night so we could see
the thousands of candles in the cemetery....i have actually never seen so
many candles in one place in my life...we were there around 9pm...and the 
place was packed with people, flowers and candles....people go to 
celebrate the lives of dead family and friends...its a very cool thing to 
experience...and its somber...i couldn't get over all of the candles there
and the one section, where there are many around the crucifix, those are
for people not buried in the cemetery...they are in rememberence of people
who have died as well...i added one for my grandmother who passed away 
this past year....a purple one...i think she would have appreciated it...

the next shot is of some of the goofy folks i hang with...this was 
halloween...it wasn't really a halloween party...it was a super hero party
and it was crazy to see some of the creative costumes....these folks 
are other teachers...and we had a blast :)

the next few shots are from budapest...and the trip i took with the middle
school debate team...they did awesome...we took 10 kids...eight of them
made it into final rounds of the competitions...out for approx 55 kids 
competing...and we had one team take second for duet acting, one girl 
take 1st for an interpretation of her own speech, another girl take 
second for her interpretation of a published piece and the debate team 
placed first....but the best of all was when the ten kids took the best
sportsmanship award....so exciting....the first shot is of the view from 
my hotel window...pretty spectacular, doncha think :) i also included a 
picture of the kids....then we took a night trip on the danube, and 
even though the pictures are a bit blurry, i think you can see just how
beautiful this city is at night....

the final two shots are back in zagreb...the first is one of my favorite
sculptures in the entire city....i think its of either a famous writer
or a famous politician...but i love that they have him leaning up against
the post...and there were roses on him for some reason this day when i
took the shot...and the final picture is me holding the candle that i 
dedicated for my grandmother on all souls day...

okay...that's all the news fit to print...i will be sending out one more
update before the holidays and am traveling to austria to get some things
and visit a xmas market...should be fun....i hope all is well with you
and drop me a line if you get the chance....

talk soon...happy thanksgiving again....

Croatian Update #4

January 11, 2009 - Hi there folks...well, i have fallen behind on all of my updates here, so I am trying to bring things up to date on my last day of vacation *sniff*....so below is my update from around voting day in November....enjoy and sorry its so late :)

************************************************************************************

hey there all...how is everyone doing??? i hope those in the states are 
getting ready to vote for the big election...i am not saying which way you
should go, but i do hope everyone gets out and takes part...as for those
outside of the states, i am sure you can't wait for all of the hulabaloo 

to come to an end....i guess we'll see soon what happens...

here in croatia it has gotten chilly...the leaves are turning colors and
falling off of the trees in bunches....this weekend we "fell back" in time
and now it gets dark around 5pm....which is a bummer when you don't leave 
work before then..recently i have been staying late at school on weekdays
so i have less to do on the weekends...but this week will be a crazy one
as it is the end of the quarter and halloween all rolled into one...i 

found out i am headed to budapest next month with speech and debate (ms), 

so that should be fun...and i am headed back to austria over thanksgiving

as well...stock up on ikea things and shop at the christmas market....
should also be fun...more on my first trip to austria below...it was an 
adventure filled with many things....

the only other big news i have is that i am headed to africa over xmas 
this year to visit my friends greg, di, kelsey and alicia....they started 
living in ghana this year...so i figured it would be the perfect time 
to visit....getting my visa has been a struggle and now i have my yellow
fever vaccine up to date again....gotta love that....but everything seems 
to be coming together....wish me luck with the finalization of the visa
and my passport's safe return back to me....yep, i had to send it away to
be taken care of....a bit stressful, let me tell you...but hopefully all 
will go fine....

onto the pictures...this week i have included some shots from croatia and
some shots from my trip to vienna...it was a fast five hours up to vienna
and i know i will go back and see what i missed the first time around....

the shots from croatia include another sculpture shot, as promised....this
one is about a folk singer and is located just above the main market in
the centar of town....he was persecuted for what he sang about....imagine
that... the next shot is from a cool museum i visited recently...the 
mimara....this is shot out of one of its windows...nice groundswork...
they actually had a rembrandt, 2 degas, 2 botticellis, and a few other 
amazing pieces....with very few guards...it was crazy...plus they had a 
great photography exhibit and a modern art room....there was also some
book signing thing going on and we got to see traditional folk dancers
and singers....very cool....
the next three shots come from the main zagreb cemetery....i went to visit
on a beautiful sunday when the leaves were changing colors....it was crazy
busy...but i have been told next weekend...nov. 1st...day of the dead here
is when the cemetery will be insane...this is a very catholic country...
and everyone goes to the cemetery to visit their deceased....i hope to get
there to see all of the flowers and candles...it should be pretty 
impressive....it is a gorgeous area and very well kept up...the second
shot is a memorial to the fallen of one of the wars here....but the reason
i have included this shot is because of the cross of chestnuts in front 
of the memorial..these nuts have shown up everywhere here in zagreb, every
street corner...they even had a festival for these nuts in the past three
weeks as well...who knew....anyway....loved this cemetery...can't wait to
wander around in it again....if i make next week i will be sure to send 
out some more pictures from that visit....

onto vienna....wow...what a place...its is a beautiful city...a bit stuffy 
for me at times...and i definitely was not dressed appropriately...as
shown to me by viennese looking me up and down and shaking their heads...
whatever....it was pretty and i will go back...very clean...and very easy
to get around....its a classy place....the first shot in vienna is of the
fountain in front of the opera house....at this point we had been there 
overnight and i had already left my passport in the first restaurant we
ate at....stoooooooopid....but the owners held onto the passport/bag and
we had stolen a menu for our german teacher to use in class...so it was
very easy for me to get back an retreive it....also by this point, another 
one of the traveling crew realized she had left very important medicine
in croatia...and we had to get some for her that morning....did i tell you
it was an adventure of a trip????  we had five independent, traveling-
oriented women together...and we made some real stupid errors...it was
amazing....we stayed with friends of my director....so that was free...
which is good because vienna is expensive...although we thought we lost
one of the dogs of the houses...nope...another goofy move....anyway...

we wandered around the city center...visited two art museums...the 
albertina and the belvedere...and my director had her purse stolen, right
outside the romanian embassy...ironic doncha think....she was not feeling
well and stayed in the car outside the belvedere...and two guys pulled a 
scam on her to get her out of the car checking her tire...they grabbed her
purse, which had her passport in it....which meant she couldn't come back
with us over the border...this did mean i got to drive a very nice audi
back to croatia....very quickly....what a ride....but....as i said it was
an interesting trip....

the second vienna shot (hahahaha) is of st stephens....wowowowow...what 
a beatuiful church....it was very crowded though....so i was inside of it
for a very short period of time....the third shot is of the brahms hall
where we saw the vienna boys choir perform...a dream of mine....it was a 
small version of the boys...but very impressive none-the-less...the next 
shot is of the center of town as night is starting to fall...it was 
stunning....


the next shot was taken outside of the city....we went to this cute town
where we could go to a flea market and buy polish pottery...many of our
crew spent some dough....then it was back into town to have hot chocolate 
at demels and wander past the hapsburg....okay....if you haven't heard
there are these two places that fight over who invented the sacher torte,
a dry, tasteless chocolate cake in my opinion...we had it at both places
and i have to say i didn't like it....i also tried the hot chocolate in 
both places...much better...although demels beat out the sacher hotel by a 
landslide....demels also had amazing ice cream....demels won in my opinion
but as for the sacher torte...you can keep it :)

from demels we headed to the belvedere to see the exhibit on klimt...yep, 
i have now seen the original of the kiss....wowowowowow....simply amazing!
this palace is now an art museum...and as you can see from the shots....
this art museum is stunning...from the grounds, to the statues, to the 
smaller and larger buildings....just incredible...although this is where
my director's purse was taken....so outside of it leaves a bad taste in 
my mouth....but inside is amazing....the exhibit was very impressive as 
well...loved his style and the style of the time in austria....

the last shot of this series is of me....having a glass of sturm...which
is red sweet wine...the first picking of the grapes....they were selling
it outside that evening and we had to try it....it was quite tasty, but
also a bit sweet....needless to say...i had a fun time....it is a 
beautiful city that i will visit again....it is pricy, but doable....

okay...enough rambling...hope everyone is well and has a fun halloween...
drop a line and say hi....and don't for get to vote stateside folks....
talk soon.....

peace out...dani

ps....i dedicate this update to my dad's friend mr. melle who passed away 
this past week....he loved reading these missives and especially loved
the pictures....my sympathy to those who knew him....