Hail to the Chief...and Schnapps

Yinka, my very kind hostess, owns her own media company here in Accra, so she does a lot of video editing, production, web design - that sort of thing. One of her ongoing projects is to shoot pilots for shows to be shown on Ghanaian TV. You shoot a pilot, show it to a bunch of sponsors, and it gets shown on one of the three main TV stations here.

So Yinka's most current pilot project is in full swing. The concept: a program interviewing local chiefs so that they can demonstrate the types of services they are providing for their towns and villages. Yes, they still have chiefs here, and, although it's obviously a tribal affiliation, I would say (from the little I have learned) that they are the equivalent of mayors. I tagged along for the first shoot this weekend, which was in a village/town called Aburi, about an hour outside of Accra.

Along with Yinka (obviously), a cameraman and apprentice (?) came, too. The former was Kofi, who is a jolly, goofy sort of fellow, and the apprentice was a really quiet teenager named Nanaa. The entire experience was quite the adventure.

First of all, I got to experience the delight of the unpaved dirt road. Aaaaahhh. Most of Accra's streets are paved, but once you get to the outskirts of the city, you realize that you're in an American SUV owner's dream terrain: dirt, rocks, huge dirt mounds, gigantaur puddles (lakes, really) of muddy water. After having traveled on unpaved Ghanaian roads, I now know the virtue of the SUV. And, while I'm still not going to buy one anytime soon, I am inspired to learn how to drive an automatic transmission (I can only imagine the automatic transmision of Barry the Beretta dying on the tough, dusty streets of Accra).

When visiting a chief, it's customary to bring along a gift. Usually, this is two bottle of Schnapps. Really. I'm not joking. Why Schnapps, I don't really know. I asked Kofi and Yinka, "Why Schnapps? Why not Coca Cola?" Kofi joked, "Ay! [I noticed that many Ghanaians often make this funny/cute, cartoon-like "Ay!" sound effect] You want to reject African tradition like that?!?" Apparently, chiefs usually like something alcoholic and a brand that they recognize, like Schnapps....and 'cuz it's sooo African, too. :) But, honestly, Schnapps has been offered for years and years, and who am I to frown on tradition?

We left too early in the morning, so there were no liquor stores open from which to purchase said Chiefly Beverage of Choice. We were rather worried about this, but consoled ourselves in the fact that, hey, the chief was an important guy and maybe we'd only be setting up a meeting with him. But Yinka still asked, "How much is a bottle of Schnapps anyway?" Kofi and I shrugged, but, in a pretty funny moment, Nanaa (the very quiet and, may I remind you, very young) apprentice replied in a serious tone, "85,000 Cedis [about US$9]. I bought some the other day."

Yinka: "Hey! How does a small boy like you know how much Schnapps cost?" [another Ghanaianism that I like, "small boy" when referring to a kid. Cute!]

Kofi: "Ay! Did you get some girl pregnant?"

Nanaa just giggles and doesn't answer our questions. Kofi proceeds to shake his hand and congratulates him on upcoming fatherhood (in case you couldn't tell, Ghanaian attitudes towards sex is a tad more lax than American ones). I still don't know why Nanaa was purchasing large amounts of alcoholic beverages. Honestly, the Schnapps comment is the only thing he says all day.

Anyhooooooo, we get to the village after a very scenic drive out of Accra and into the hills. We pull into Aburi's village center and in front of the palace, which is really just a large-ish ranch style house with a courtyard. Apparently, the Chief had left for some meetings in Accra (DANG). However, we did get to speak to his Secretary, who was really knowledgeable and allowed us to interview him about some of the projects going on in the town, among them, a library for the local school, a community center, the development of the local market, and the construction of craft kiosks for the vendors in Aburi (it's a very popular village for Ghanaian crafts). This particular chief seems to be doing a lot for his village, so that is nice to see. Yinka and her crew may go back to interview the chief later. Hopefully I can tag along again!

At the market, Kofi and Nanaa shot some cut-away shots of the market while Yinka and I stayed in the car (so as to not attract so much attention). Some of the local women selling veggies on the side of the road started chatting in Twi, and Yinka translates for me:

Woman 1: Hey, I wonder which TV station they are from.

Woman 2: Oooh, they should tape me! And interview me! (starts arranging her tomatoes and waving at Kofi to film her)

Yinka and I are giggling in the car as she translates this to me

Woman 1: Ay! The obruni (foreigner) is laughing at us! Stop embarassing our people!

Hee hee.

Another fun fact about Aburi village is that Bob Marley's widow actually lives there! She is some sort of honorary royalty and does a lot of good in the community. Nifty.

After we finished shooting and desecrating sacred shrines, we visited the Aburi Botanical Gardens for some shots for the pilot and just to chill out in general (I realize J-Cap would be pretty excited at this botanical $prospect). It was okaaay, although I had to pay 4 times as much as an obruni. Whee! Here I made another cultural discovery: we stopped for drinks because it was getting hot in the afternoon (around 2 PM), and Yinka was getting a little hungry. So imagine how confused I was when she asked the guy at the restaurant for an Amstel! I was like, "Ay! Yinka, your stomach is empty ,and it's hot...and you're drinking beer right now?" I was thoroughly confused before she explained the whole Malt Drink concept to me. Apparently, Ghanaians like to drink something called malt drinks, which is basically sweetened, non-alcholic brew. There are popular brands like Guiness and Amstel, and that's what she was ordering. Apparently, the malt drinks are a bit more filling than sodas ("minerals"), so that's why she ordered it. Okkaaaaay. For my part, I discovered a local mineral called "Krest", which makes a tasty Sprite-like drink and also (I discovered later) ginger ale.

On our way out of the village, we drove by the palace once again. In the front courtyard, there was a round concrete planter (so it seemed), but it was filled with some trash and broken bottles (Schnapps bottles?). The car was parked too close to the planter-thing, so when Yinka opened the door, she had to step on the planter to get out of the car. Upon doing this, some older people who were around the palace began yelling at her! Apparently, the garbage-filled planter-thing was the village shrine, and Yinka had basically desecrated it. OOPS. Before they started stoning, we ripped outta there. "Hmm, that explains the dried blood on the concrete," Yinka observed, thinking about some unsuspecting goat that was probably sacrified on the shrine.

So it was a pretty fun day. On top of desecrating shrines, I learned about local chiefs and all sorts of beverages favored by Ghanaians. The cultural education continues.