MIghTy African visiting Belfast, Northern Ireland

Last month, I traveled to the UK for the first time in over 10 years for work. The particular place I went to was Belfast, in Northern Ireland. Belfast is quite the interesting name. Makes me say things like "Belfast. Make I bell you fast before I go lef Belfast." It took a while to hit me that I was actually in the same country that has London. If some other events had gone a certain way, I'd have been in Dublin, Ireland instead. It turns out they are really different countries, they even have different currencies. In this blog post, I'd share some memories. I couldn't get any phone network to roam on, but who needs that, when you have wi-fi :-)

2:33pm in #Belfast, Northern Ireland. Here for work with Rancard, meeting Intel on an ongoing project. Colder here than Ghana. #233moments
— Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) February 19, 2014

Been working on this project for over 9 months. Intel Explore & Learn. Explore & Learn.

Change of plans. No more Dublin. I'm in #Belfast instead till Saturday. Who's here? @NubiKay @dalynewspaper @ngamita.
— Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) February 19, 2014

At least in Dublin, I knew of +NUBI Kay and +Essien Essien who live there these days, alongside many other Nigerians. Belfast? Nobody.

Missed out on #WaakyeWednesday today o! I thought about buying some #waakye & keeping it on the flight to Belfast. :-) #waakyecrew
— Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) February 19, 2014

Since I flew out of Ghana on a Tuesday, I had really considered buying waakye the day before and arriving on Wednesday in Belfast with it to do a #WaakyeWednesday. I shall do it one day, I promise you.

Concrete jungle. I know it's not summer, but the number of trees in #Belfast I can see are very little.
— Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) February 20, 2014

I almost forgot this is what winter feels like. But this is not about winter, there are literally very few trees on the streets of Belfast, period. Deforestation much?

Belfast is very small. Ehi & I were @ Great Northern Hall & were surprised @ how small it was. Tweeaa. #Belfast is not #Accra's co-equal.
— Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) February 21, 2014

Sorry I meant to say Great Northern Mall. This was a very funny story. The two 'malls' I visited in Belfast were all very small, and smaller than the Accra mall. Tweeaa! Belfast is not Accra's co-equal.

Way past 2:33pm in #Belfast, #UK. People here r pleasant like in Ghana. Not many more similarities after that. Concrete jungle. #233moments
— Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) February 21, 2014

On the other hand, Accra is not Belfast's co-equal when it comes to infrastructure. The story of our lives.

@Gurl_wif_CURVES lol... haven't seen posters of pastors all around. but seen a pretty church & some banner like that. go blog am.
— Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) February 21, 2014

My friend +Karen Sagoe asked about the many churches in Belfast. I saw this cool banner. See the photo in this post.

Haven't been able to get on any phone networks with in #Belfast. @airtelghana, your face is in hurry eh! I want to be able to roam.
— Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) February 21, 2014

Am loving the wi-fi in #Belfast though. That at the hotel & in the offices be really fast! Wish the social spots also had free wifi.
— Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) February 21, 2014

Like I said, who needs phone network when you have wi-fi? The wi-fi in Belfast is very fast. Download speeds were awesome.

Given the current Pound Sterling to Ghana Cedi rate, my breakfast today cost 80 GHC. That's freaking ridiculous! Tweeaa! Not co-equals!
— Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) February 21, 2014

Okay, I exaggerated a bit. It actually cost 40 GHC. That's still a lot. The cedi doesn't lend itself well as a currency to travel with. At all.

Stay tuned for more Belfast related posts, they are coming at you faster than you can ring a bell. Git it? :-)