Rab’s World

A little over 9 hours later..I decide to stick my camera to record what’s out the window. We have begun our descent in the Accra Metro area. I can make out the houses of East Legon; East Airportand the Tema Motorway. Arrival in Ghana is always a sweet thing for me. It’s home! I took my time to exit the plane.I knew that it was not going to be uncomfortably hot outside the aircraft. The Harmattan season is in full swing. The Early morning sun was obscured by the fine Sahara dust particles. The airport interior was decorated with material dedicated to the African Cup of Nations 2008. One immigration officer was wagging his finger to his disapproval of me filming the arrivals hall. I blew him off!This is a tourist attraction. I’m going to play Jack Tourist! Immigration was a breeze. My immediate mission besides getting ny suitcases was to obtain an MTN SIM card. My Treo 650 is an unlocked GSMversion. Unfortunately the MTN Marketing Reps only meet the evening arrivals.I got my suitcases; met my contact and we were off to the LOC (Local Organizing Committee) to secure Press passes and more tickets.  This was the day before the opening ceremony and match. It was crazy! Big Willies & Groupies looking for the ‘connect’ to get inside on the 20th.I needed Ghanaian money also. Ghana recently re-valued their currency. So now 1 new GH¢ is equivalentto $0.97 USD or ninety seven cents. This rate is only applicable when you trade in a denomination of $50or $100.  I found out that exchangers; whether black market; bank or FOREX bureau only accepts the ‘big face’ USA founding fathers and presidents on the the notes. Little faces give you a lesser exchange rate. Substantially lesser!We ended up going to get press accreditation at the Kofi Annan ICT in Ridge. That was an experiencein itself! You had Ghanaian media; ECOWAS media; European media; North American media; Asian media all trying to get zone accreditation to document this 26th bi-annual event. Lot’s of fights, shoving,slaps, pushing, shouting and mass confusion! I finally got my accreditation for Zones 3, 6 & 7.Here are the zones one can enter to do his/her work for the ACN Ghana 2008. Zone 1 = Field; 2 = Locker Room Area; 3 = Public Area; 4 = Operations-Related Areas; 5 = V.I.P. Area; 6 = Media Stand;7 = Media Centre; 8 = Medical/Doping; 9 = Hospitality. Many world-renown News houses called the whole accreditation a ’sham’.Whatever it is; it has allowed me to get exclusive footage.