Ghanaian Idol?
Actually, it's called Mentor 2.
It's a combination of American Idol and Big Brother, and is apparently similar to a show in the UK called Fame Academy. The contestants live together in a house during the week, and are filmed 24/7 I think... and then on Sundays, they come together, perform, and one gets voted off. It seems that reality tv is a worldwide phenomenon... not entirely sure how I feel about this...
It's a pretty entertaining show, although I haven't seen the weekly portion - seeing as we lack a television, and a living room for that matter, but don't get me started. Luckily, we have an in at TV3, so we get to go and watch the live taping of the show on Sunday nights. It lasts about 3 hours and although we've only been to two tapings, I am fairly sure we're all pretty hooked. Some of us are a tad more star-struck than the rest... [Shanika, haha]
Being in this audience really must rival American Idol though... perhaps it is because we have attended weeks which have African themes (first: Ghanaian high life, second: Mother Africa), but the audience gets totally into it. All the men wave handkerchiefs, and people sporadically get up and start dancing if they feel so moved... it's hilarious!
This week was awesome, because one of the guys sang Paul Simon's "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes," which is such a fantastic song, and the whole audience was incredibly receptive! I think he ended up getting the most votes. I'm actually quite surprised how often I hear Paul Simon here... I love it though!
Anyway it should be fun to see who ends up winning... I'm not too sure what happened to the winner of Mentor 1, but it seems like the contestants for this round are having loads of fun performing, and a few of the judges are producers, so you never know I guess.
In other news, today is officially 8 weeks.
Although I am thankful it is not snowing here... the heat is getting increasingly intense, and soon will be unbearable. People have already begun to sleep on the street outside our place as it is apparently much cooler. Somehow I think the prospect of sleeping alongside the rats in the open sewer is enough to make me sweat it out inside though... see, still a bit of a princess.
This next part of the blog comes courtesy of Trish... it is a long time coming, so I apologize for the delay [I've added a few comments]. It actually happened 2 weeks ago. Our team name at quiz went from being: "There's a rat in our kitchen" to "The rat is dead." Read on:
For a little while now, there has been a rat in our kitchen. For some reason or another, it hasn't bothered me so much (maybe because, as a throwback to 207 days we had the mice). Anyways, Lindsay and Laura, who I share the kitchen with have been asking Mummy (our landlady, who is basically our Ghanaian mother) to do something about it for awhile, and she's tried, but the rat has maintained his presence.
Last night, we came home from Quiz Night at Champs (which we came in 3rd place...which is a feat for us, considering we usually come in dead last. We sort of cheated, but that might just be a technicality), and as we walk into the kitchen, Lindsay starts screaming, Laura starts screaming, so I decide the only logical thing to do is start screaming as well. Turns out the rat had made an appearance. Here I would like to note that Trish and Lindsay were barely in the kitchen when they realized the rat was on the windowsill... I was fully inside and spent 30 seconds trying to figure out how to run AROUND the rat... needless to say, it was full on pandamonium.
Of course, Mummy comes running down, asking what happened, and is telling us to come in, and me and Laura are laughing our asses off, because we're terrified, Lindsay is just plain terrified, and Mummy is telling us how she's had all the holes bolted up, but now the fight "has to be physical". Yes, this is what she said. Up until this time, she really didn't believe we had a rodent problem... so the fact that it finally appeared was probably a good thing.
So she starts calling in her driver and her carpenter to come in. She begins talking to the in twe (the local dialect) and we have NO idea whats going on . By this time, its me, Laura, Lindsay, and Mirciea (this hilarious Romanian guy who lives next to Laura, and keeps calling me an American...grrr...), Charlie (the other British guy I work with, who's like a big brother here, and therefore me Laura, Lindsay are constantly hounding with questions) and Vicky (who's recently arrived, queen of the tro-tro system and just loads of fun) -- anyways, my point is, there's a crowd. And we're all very entertained, waiting to see what's going to happen next.
Of course, the carpenter and driver come out with big sticks, and march into the kitchen. Sticks. I kid you not. And they're moving our furniture, big time, just clearing the place out. Not just tables, but counters. Yes, apparently the counters can be moved. Mummy is instructing them what to do, and we're all in the courtyard, waiting to see what happens/laughing our asses off.
The rat shows up, and basically all hell breaks loose. There are a series of at least between 35 and 124ish loud bangs which sounds like the rat is being beaten to a bloody pulp, but its turns out that they just keep missing it. The sucker is fast.
Mummy comes out and demands Charlie\'s shoe. "Charlie, give me your shoe". Right, because that\'s the next most logical step after the sticks. Charlie respectfully refuses, so Mummy then turns to Mircea, who has been gleefully watching all the rat bashing, and demands his shoe (ours are too flimsy) to which he replies "but Mummy, I don\'t want rat guts all over my shoes". If you knew him, this is hilarious.
The mayhem continues, and a variety of other sounds that just lends way too easily to the imagination continue to be heard, and we all watch as Mummy screams at either the carpenter, the driver, or the rat. Vicky starts going "Why not just the poison, Mummy, why???", which is also hilarious. [to elaborate a bit here, she refused to put down poison about three times... something about a dead rat stinking, which is understandable, but still, better than a LIVE rat no?]
The beating continues. Apparently, accuracy takes hold, and the rat is hit for the first time, and then beaten repeatedly. Mummy starts screaming that "You are the devil!! Gracious God! You are the devil" and other religious type things, as the rat...well....gets beaten.
After it's death was pretty much confirmed, Mummy walked out and declared: "The battle is over", and then sprays our entire kitchen with Raid. Yes, Raid. Not entirely sure why...
What Trish didn't quite get to, was an explanation of the disposal of the rat. I think it's probably sufficient to say: it was cremated. We affectionately refer to the spot as "the rat shrine." In retrospect, it was by far one of the most, if not the most gruesome thing I have ever seen...
I have a few more interesting things to share, but I'll save them, seeing as the rat story is probably more than enough insight into my life for one day!
Happy Halloween folks... I fully intend on eating sweets later, although who am I kidding, it's not like I really need an excuse now is it?
It's a combination of American Idol and Big Brother, and is apparently similar to a show in the UK called Fame Academy. The contestants live together in a house during the week, and are filmed 24/7 I think... and then on Sundays, they come together, perform, and one gets voted off. It seems that reality tv is a worldwide phenomenon... not entirely sure how I feel about this...
It's a pretty entertaining show, although I haven't seen the weekly portion - seeing as we lack a television, and a living room for that matter, but don't get me started. Luckily, we have an in at TV3, so we get to go and watch the live taping of the show on Sunday nights. It lasts about 3 hours and although we've only been to two tapings, I am fairly sure we're all pretty hooked. Some of us are a tad more star-struck than the rest... [Shanika, haha]
Being in this audience really must rival American Idol though... perhaps it is because we have attended weeks which have African themes (first: Ghanaian high life, second: Mother Africa), but the audience gets totally into it. All the men wave handkerchiefs, and people sporadically get up and start dancing if they feel so moved... it's hilarious!
This week was awesome, because one of the guys sang Paul Simon's "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes," which is such a fantastic song, and the whole audience was incredibly receptive! I think he ended up getting the most votes. I'm actually quite surprised how often I hear Paul Simon here... I love it though!
Anyway it should be fun to see who ends up winning... I'm not too sure what happened to the winner of Mentor 1, but it seems like the contestants for this round are having loads of fun performing, and a few of the judges are producers, so you never know I guess.
In other news, today is officially 8 weeks.
Although I am thankful it is not snowing here... the heat is getting increasingly intense, and soon will be unbearable. People have already begun to sleep on the street outside our place as it is apparently much cooler. Somehow I think the prospect of sleeping alongside the rats in the open sewer is enough to make me sweat it out inside though... see, still a bit of a princess.
This next part of the blog comes courtesy of Trish... it is a long time coming, so I apologize for the delay [I've added a few comments]. It actually happened 2 weeks ago. Our team name at quiz went from being: "There's a rat in our kitchen" to "The rat is dead." Read on:
For a little while now, there has been a rat in our kitchen. For some reason or another, it hasn't bothered me so much (maybe because, as a throwback to 207 days we had the mice). Anyways, Lindsay and Laura, who I share the kitchen with have been asking Mummy (our landlady, who is basically our Ghanaian mother) to do something about it for awhile, and she's tried, but the rat has maintained his presence.
Last night, we came home from Quiz Night at Champs (which we came in 3rd place...which is a feat for us, considering we usually come in dead last. We sort of cheated, but that might just be a technicality), and as we walk into the kitchen, Lindsay starts screaming, Laura starts screaming, so I decide the only logical thing to do is start screaming as well. Turns out the rat had made an appearance. Here I would like to note that Trish and Lindsay were barely in the kitchen when they realized the rat was on the windowsill... I was fully inside and spent 30 seconds trying to figure out how to run AROUND the rat... needless to say, it was full on pandamonium.
Of course, Mummy comes running down, asking what happened, and is telling us to come in, and me and Laura are laughing our asses off, because we're terrified, Lindsay is just plain terrified, and Mummy is telling us how she's had all the holes bolted up, but now the fight "has to be physical". Yes, this is what she said. Up until this time, she really didn't believe we had a rodent problem... so the fact that it finally appeared was probably a good thing.
So she starts calling in her driver and her carpenter to come in. She begins talking to the in twe (the local dialect) and we have NO idea whats going on . By this time, its me, Laura, Lindsay, and Mirciea (this hilarious Romanian guy who lives next to Laura, and keeps calling me an American...grrr...), Charlie (the other British guy I work with, who's like a big brother here, and therefore me Laura, Lindsay are constantly hounding with questions) and Vicky (who's recently arrived, queen of the tro-tro system and just loads of fun) -- anyways, my point is, there's a crowd. And we're all very entertained, waiting to see what's going to happen next.
Of course, the carpenter and driver come out with big sticks, and march into the kitchen. Sticks. I kid you not. And they're moving our furniture, big time, just clearing the place out. Not just tables, but counters. Yes, apparently the counters can be moved. Mummy is instructing them what to do, and we're all in the courtyard, waiting to see what happens/laughing our asses off.
The rat shows up, and basically all hell breaks loose. There are a series of at least between 35 and 124ish loud bangs which sounds like the rat is being beaten to a bloody pulp, but its turns out that they just keep missing it. The sucker is fast.
Mummy comes out and demands Charlie\'s shoe. "Charlie, give me your shoe". Right, because that\'s the next most logical step after the sticks. Charlie respectfully refuses, so Mummy then turns to Mircea, who has been gleefully watching all the rat bashing, and demands his shoe (ours are too flimsy) to which he replies "but Mummy, I don\'t want rat guts all over my shoes". If you knew him, this is hilarious.
The mayhem continues, and a variety of other sounds that just lends way too easily to the imagination continue to be heard, and we all watch as Mummy screams at either the carpenter, the driver, or the rat. Vicky starts going "Why not just the poison, Mummy, why???", which is also hilarious. [to elaborate a bit here, she refused to put down poison about three times... something about a dead rat stinking, which is understandable, but still, better than a LIVE rat no?]
The beating continues. Apparently, accuracy takes hold, and the rat is hit for the first time, and then beaten repeatedly. Mummy starts screaming that "You are the devil!! Gracious God! You are the devil" and other religious type things, as the rat...well....gets beaten.
After it's death was pretty much confirmed, Mummy walked out and declared: "The battle is over", and then sprays our entire kitchen with Raid. Yes, Raid. Not entirely sure why...
What Trish didn't quite get to, was an explanation of the disposal of the rat. I think it's probably sufficient to say: it was cremated. We affectionately refer to the spot as "the rat shrine." In retrospect, it was by far one of the most, if not the most gruesome thing I have ever seen...
I have a few more interesting things to share, but I'll save them, seeing as the rat story is probably more than enough insight into my life for one day!
Happy Halloween folks... I fully intend on eating sweets later, although who am I kidding, it's not like I really need an excuse now is it?
posted by Laura at 9:52 AM
3 Comments:
Haha I read your post in the middle of International Law (bad I know, I've stopped paying attention...we're not covering anything fun, to my complete disappointment) and I almost laughed out loud. CLASSIC. I have found that any of your blogs involving rats/spiders/etc. are always very amusing. Keep up the good work!
PAUL SIMON!!!!!
Love it.
I hope you're singing along!
Love ya,
Fari
Omigod Laura -- the rat story is hysterical!! :)
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