Where everybody knows your name...

Okay, well actually I think nobody knows our names exactly here, but today a momentous thing happened: we became "regulars."

I actually feel a little conflicted about this development. We are regulars at Frankies, and for all you former obrunyi's out there, you know all this implies. It is air conditioning, wireless internet, and a wide array of well-prepared Western food. You can get a stack of fluffy pancakes that rival any in the US, they make the best and possibly only Greek salad in Ghana. They have milkshakes and mochas. They have an awesome chicken schwarma sandwich. For all these reasons, I love them. And I am not alone. It turns out all the other obrunyi's love them too, so Frankie's is a classist establishment where middle class Ghanaians mix with the expat community in a small haven of Western food and comfort.

I used to resist Frankies, but even in that term--"resist"--I acede to its pull for me.

With each trip back to Ghana I have made more compromises, fused my American self with my Ghanaian self. The first time I was here I dressed according to custom, I woke at the crack of dawn, and I hand washed my own laundry every Saturday at 6 AM. On this, my upteenth trip back to Ghana I have made room for not eating Ghanaian food every day. We now pay someone to wash our laundry. When I need to get somewhere that isn't convenient to the main traffic roots I take a taxi. And we have been coming to Frankies. A lot. It is the best and fastest internet access near our home, and better still we can get on with our own computers, which is quite convenient. And for all this benefit the hourly charge is identical to the slower internet cafes.

If we come in the morning we customarily order coffees, although if I'm feeling indulgent I get a mocha, which they top with incredible real whipped cream. This makes me realize that cafes in the US use "whipped cream" not whipped cream. When we come in the afternoon we typically order two tonics (like gin and tonic, without the gin) and possibly some food if we haven't eaten.

Today we waltzed in at 3 PM. On the steps up I had been debating breaking the mold and ordering a chocolate shake. The waiters here are wonderful and they love us because we consistently tip well and don't run them around too much. I know that this love has a clear financial root, but it is still nice to be liked. Well at any rate today we sat down and one of the regular waiters dropped off menus and said something as he walked away. It sounded like "I'll get the drinks." I thought he meant he was serving someone else.

And then he comes back with two glasses of filtered ice, slices of lime, and two tonic waters. He smiles. He knows us and what we order.

Strangely both terry and I smile back. We had just been debating what to have and now that it is here, it is perfect.

I'm a regular.