First Interviews!

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6/1 – Saturday. 

            Ah!  Another 7 AM wakeup!  Not a huge fan!  I woke up today with some renewed optimism.  Watched some of Synecdoche, NY, before I headed out for the day.  My dinky Tecno cell phone, as 2004 as it may be, has two SIM card slots, and that means I can have 2 phone numbers / providers in it!  I ventured down the road to see Frank and got a second phone card (MTN and Airtel now) and ended up having my first interview!  It went well, and I was thrilled to have finished one – 44 more to go, according to the pace I said I would accomplish.  Maybe a bit ambitious.  

            Frank called a buddy who goes by “Prince” – No last name, just like the real deal.  I walked down the road to ask for him.  A small girl brought me to him – he was busy watching TV and didn’t look like he wanted to be interrupted.  Nonetheless, the girl banged on the screen door and he came out.  He seemed distant, but agreed to an interview.  It went well, and I was already learning a lot.  His signature statement was, “You see, in Ghana, we don’t take things seriously.”  A class act.  Interestingly, he stopped the interview mid sentence to walk inside and retrieve some paperwork before continuing the interview.  When he moved his hand during one of his answers, I saw it was a license to own and bear a firearm!  Interesting choice while talking about plastic sachets…

            He called a buddy for me to talk to, and I thanked him and continued further down the road I had never traversed.  Prince was a cement maker, and I figured he would have a friend in the business.  The guy’s name was Ernest, and when I asked several folks, they just stared at me, spoke in incomprehensible Twi, and said “BAA BAA?”  I was as confused as they were.  Eventually I ran into a women who spoke a little more “Brofu” (English), and she tried her best to help me.  She said, “Ernest?  Electrician or BAA BAA?”  I figured it must be an electrician.  Regardless, she pointed me to the barbershop.  I entered, and sure enough, Ernest was expecting me.  He was a barber – quite skilled I may add – some days, and an electrician other days.  Quite a combo!  I ended up having a group interview with the whole barbershop, which worked out quite nicely.  The customers and barbers would add on to each other’s answers.  Meanwhile, I was just as interested in how the barber cut hair – He was using a BARE RAZOR BLADE, and shaving head after head BY HAND.  Hygienic alerts were going off for me, but also, uh Danger? 

            On the way home, I bought some mango and some “Abrobe” – Pineapple.  I had an incredible dinner; Spaghetti bolognaise, and a full pineapple and mango.  It was a feast!  I spent the night writing up the transcripts, which takes a lot longer than I had previously thought…17 pages on one night!