tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247535902026-03-02T08:11:51.650+00:00“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” - Mark TwainThe Hungary Travelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01874326139031393037noreply@blogger.comBlogger183125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24753590.post-34213319014869698662010-06-06T15:48:00.002+00:002010-06-06T15:50:33.924+00:00

On June 1, 2010, Yekaterina Noreen was born into our family. Little Katya was 6 lbs, 6 oz, and 18.5 inches long. She and her mother are perfectly healthy. This song, Katyusha, is a Russian folk song written during WWII. Katyusha (Kate) is the diminutive of Yekaterina (Catherine). Katya (Katie) is the nickname form. The English translation of the lyrics is below. The song is performed by the

The Hungary Travelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01874326139031393037noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24753590.post-58877938136068692212010-05-19T03:52:00.001+00:002010-05-19T03:52:36.182+00:00

With delivery looming ("hopefully," Cori says) it's time to have a little baby fun. Who can guess Katya Noreen’s birth: day, time, weight, and length? Here is some basic information to help you get started. Cori's due date is May 28. Katya's last estimated weight was 5.5 pounds on April 28. At birth, Cori weighed 7 lbs 0 oz, and measured 19". Now-a-days Michael is 6' 3"

The Hungary Travelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01874326139031393037noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24753590.post-66229084537182208382010-04-25T12:57:00.001+00:002010-04-25T12:57:52.155+00:00

I’m currently reading Lunatic Express by Carl Hoffman, a gift sent to me by my sister, Mary Ellen (thank you, again!) It’s a relatable (for me, anyways) true story of a travel writer who embarks on a trek, the only goal of which is to experience transport by the world’s most dangerous means, in other words, transport the way most of the world’s nearly 7 billion people move from place to place.

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In the rural parts of Ghana life is very different than in the cities. And as you move north, away from the capital, away from the concentration of population and industry conditions change. I should note, however, that certain characteristics apparent in these people, who live in a village without electricity, are also visible in city dwellers, a certain blend of hopefulness and optimism along

The Hungary Travelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01874326139031393037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24753590.post-68194671360316503652010-04-24T18:20:00.001+00:002010-04-24T23:10:55.299+00:00

(Updated Below) A free and independent press is an essential component for a functioning democracy – one that is appropriately people-centered. In 21st century America the so-called ‘fourth estate’ is failing us. Dominated by corporate-owned, profit-driven firms, modern media has become a ratings circus, a mix of eye-catching headlines and commentary aimed at polarizing the audience in an

The Hungary Travelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01874326139031393037noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24753590.post-35523829256305663702010-04-20T13:57:00.001+00:002010-04-20T13:57:29.560+00:00

I have spent a lot of time in Ghana helping people with their computers. I have helped people clean their computers of viruses and malware. I’ve installed security software, operating systems, and utilities. I’ve repaired damaged folders and drives. I’ve consulted(made decisions) on what type of computer to purchase, and I’ve tutored colleagues and friends on computer use – from using a mouse and

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The weather here has been notably abnormal this year in Ghana. When I arrived in December I was told to expect Harmattan – the annual prevailing wind shift to the north, bringing Saharan dust and “low” humidity to the coastal region – and that it would last until March or April. Well, it never came. Instead, these months have been marked by warm temperatures (low-to-mid 90s), high humidity (low

The Hungary Travelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01874326139031393037noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24753590.post-77945493359445163822010-04-16T14:44:00.001+00:002010-04-16T14:44:02.719+00:00

In Ghana there is a word, ‘sakawa’, that means ‘fake’ or ‘fraud.’ It’s the Ghanaian equivalent to the Nigerian 419 internet scam. Young Ghanaian men (and rarely women) use the Internet to defraud foreigners, often Americans, by convincing them to send large sums of money to bank accounts or wire services abroad. The victims usually think they are enabling a pretty, young woman to come for a visit

The Hungary Travelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01874326139031393037noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24753590.post-26539965592982694802010-04-15T23:26:00.001+00:002010-04-15T23:26:32.802+00:00

Ghana is getting a new bank note: a GH¢2 (2 Ghana Cedis). It has a picture of Ghana's first president: Kwame Nkrumah (This year is the 100th anniversary of his birth). Just like in the US, Ghana has bills for values of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 (I think, never seen one). But so many things cost in the .50 to 5.00 range I can see why a bill of 2.00 would be handy.

The Hungary Travelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01874326139031393037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24753590.post-17000030164259370192010-04-15T10:31:00.001+00:002010-04-15T10:31:33.142+00:00

Wednesday mornings the students and staff are required to attend a worship service.   I met this girl in a village in the Eastern Region, and she was proud to show my how they tie the cloth wrap used to carry babies on their back.   While attending funerals in a colleague's home village I stopped to try my first road side fried bread - hot as lava!

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Everywhere you look in Ghana people are selling things. Hawkers. Foodstuffs. Market sellers. It’s a hard working, industrious society. There is no government safety net. No unemployment/disability insurance. No mandated social security. People here know that if you don’t work, you don’t eat. But just the will to work doesn’t mean there’s money to be made. Millions of Ghanaians, and refugees

The Hungary Travelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01874326139031393037noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24753590.post-45473150991306346582010-04-12T15:18:00.002+00:002010-04-13T15:38:04.061+00:00

Feedback loop – a system in which an input results in an output, and that output affects the level of the input The United State military is currently engaged in such a system. Its War on Terror is, by many accounts, actually causing terrorism. A while back I wrote a post attempting to illustrate the human tragedy of war. This week the world was confronted with that tragedy in graphic fashion

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I am not ashamed to admit that I read Wikipedia. I may be in the minority of public opinion here, but I think that's because Wikipedia is an easy target for criticism, supported by only one claim: anyone can edit it. But that doesn't necessarily make it a bad source. In fact, it is precisely because of this that Wikipedia so reliable. Consider: a published text is a static resource. It can not

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Kwame Nkrumah-Achampong, better known as “The Snow Leopard,” has announced he will retire from competitive skiing and will not pursue a spot in the next Winter Olympics. Below is the full text of a brief interview AfricaNews had with the Snow Leopard at his base in the United Kingdom: AfricaNews: As the first ever Skier from snowless country like Ghana, how do you feel about it?

The Hungary Travelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01874326139031393037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24753590.post-8576531998528261172010-04-09T13:08:00.001+00:002010-04-09T13:08:07.708+00:00

Living 6,000 miles outside the United States, out of easy reach of the American broadcast media and the national conversation, my awareness of the news has charged markedly. Because I receive most of my news from Ghanaian and international media (mainly Al Jazeera-English and CNN International), the US coverage comes without some key components: first, continuous, mindless, partisan bickering;

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Last Tuesday evening I was feeling particularly tired. But it was the last day of school and the students would be leaving in the morning. I figured I could use the coming vacation days for rest. Wednesday morning I planned to wake early to see off the students, but I couldn’t get myself out of bed before 8. By that time, most of them had gone. As evening came, I started to get a little

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Beautiful, affordable, handmade artwork is one of the great benefits of shopping in Ghana. My return to the US isn’t too far off, and I’d like to arrive ‘bearing gifts.’  So, here I have posted some pictures of one local artisan’s work, which is representative of many of the crafts that can be found here. To family and friends, I would really like to hear from you if there are any pieces

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  My colleague's 6 year old son just said, "you will born a nice baby because the white man makes nice babies." I asked, "what about the black man's babies?" He explained, "okay, sometimes the black man makes nice babies too, but sometimes they are not so nice." I informed him that "sometimes the white man makes babies that are not so nice too."

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Little things remind me that I am acclimating to Ghanaian life… 1. When my teaching day has closed, I don’t immediately rush to my house to change into shorts. I can actually continue to function in the weather while wearing trousers 2. Ghanaian TV is becoming palatable. I get 9 channels on my TV. 6 of them are Ghanaian. The other three are South African. At first, and still mostly, I prefer

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I’m reading Cameroonian author Kenjo Jumbam’s 1980 work The White Man of God. “The novel describes the family and village life of a group of Lamuso-speaking people, a community in which Christianity (brought by European missionaries) has been accepted by a substantial number of villagers, while the ancient traditions of their people are maintained by many others, in its own hierarchy.

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On Thursday a group of my students will participate in a class-to-class internet video chat with an honors world cultures class at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. A former student of mine from Germantown High School, Sara Hoffman, is in the class and suggested the idea to her professor. Since then the professor and I have exchanged student information including questions and

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Quiet, The Puffer's Hiding.(photo by Cori)

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From today’s headlines: In Nigeria: Hundreds, Many Children, Killed By Machete-Wielding Attackers Here is the story’s lead “NPR's Gwen Thompkins, reporting from Nairobi, Kenya, says "no one can say for sure what prompted the attack. But in January, a Christian strike on a Muslim village killed hundreds of people" Why is Ms Thompkins reporting this story from Nairobi, Kenya? I

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I have uploaded and labeled 123 pictures from my weekend trip to Gyimah's town of Twenedurase. It's a great look at the real Ghana (that's not to say I haven't been living in the real Ghana. It just sounded good to write....thought it might get more of you to click over there).

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Music and dance are dominant parts of Ghanaian culture. Any time people are gathered there is music playing. The music could be traditional drums, Gospel and Christian Choral, Reggae, Highlife, or Afro-Pop. Just like in the US, it’s the Pop music (aka Hip-Life) that students tend to listen to and that you hear at “spots” (Ghanaian clubs). If I had to make a soundtrack of my time in Ghana, based

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