"are you from japan, sir?!"

dear all!

i hope you are all doing fine?

i am fine too, sorry for not posting for such a long time.

i went home to europe for some days, to celebrate the birthday of my mother! it was very nice to be with my family again, to look like everyone looks (not that everyone looks that amazing, but...!), to eat the food i know since i was a child... it was really good, and made clear to me how many things i do give up by living here in the north of ghana.

but its woth it for me!!

i flew from accra to munich, stayed around bavaria for a few days, and left again from munich. so all people living close to me know that in this case i have NOT been at home - germany is different! but the area is almost like my home area if you look at the food or the traditional way people dress themselfes...

before i left...i met them in the hospital!

this is how a church looks at home from outside...

...and from inside!

an old castle

a clock tower

a "may tree"

 it is tradition at home on the first of may to put up a tree like this. people meet early in the morning, all wear the traditional dresses, drink traditional drinks and watch people puting up the tree - and later climbing on the tree. by this time the tree is "naked", not with all the horizontal things you see now. and by the way, "traditional drink" is beer. for example in the city where i grew up we have stiegl beer - belive it or not they started browing it in the same year when christopher columbus "found america", in 1492. so it is a big tradition at home...! and they know what they are doing!

with family...

...and friends!

 has been a pleasure to see you again girls!!! thanks for that nice evening...

on the way to the airport in munich you pass "alianz arena", munichs new stadium. its quite impressive!

...back in africa...

...with some african flowers!

 i spent some days in accra, ghanas capital. i had to do some official things - but also found time to explore "my" capital city!

accra is in the south, at the ocean

fisher boats - in similar boats many african refugees try to arrive in the "european paradise"

 (where most of the survivers end up dealing drugs or being prostitutes - due to our strict, stupid and i would also say rasist laws)

a witness from a different time where africans were struggeling - a castle from the slave trade

"environmental protection agency" ;) i was quite astonished when i saw that! the environment seems not too protected though...!

on a cementry in accra

can you see it? africa leading...

one evening we bought dinner from this lady

 she is just putting fresh yams chips on the plate. yams is a root, a little bit similar to potato. we ordered some of the yams with fish! and...

...we recieved this. the thing on the bottom seemed to be a snake (or snake fish?). it was funny, but tasted nice!

and we recieved our yams chips in a german newspaper, the "hamburger abendblatt". the headline says that the swiss people are fed up with the germans!

the flag of ghana!!!

and the reality in accra - dangerous barbed wire

on the wall of my office - most of my employees, as well as my bosses!

i spent the previous weekend in tamale, the district capital. in tamale its easy to move with the "shared taxi". they have fixed routs, they cost 50 peswas (peobably 22 euro cents) and they drop you on the route. one day in the morning i entered one of these cabs, and after wishing me a good morning the driver asked me "are you from japan, sir?" at least people who know me know that i have probably no japanese features on me at all...
so you can imagine how the conversation continued... "are you serious?", "yes sir, from japan, or not?" "no from austria!" "ah...australia..." "no, not from australia, i am from ostra (like this people understand here), its a country in europe, in the south of germany..."
by the way, right now austria is playing against germany. i hope we will do well and will win! its a pitty, but here i have got NO chance to watch it...

anyway, have a nice evening, and hope to hear from you soon!

take care, severin