gistfile1.rb

def transition_hash(h)
  def clean_keys(h)
    nh = {}
    h.each_pair do |k,v|
      if v.is_a?(Array) and v.first.is_a?(String)
        nh[k.to_sym] = v.first.strip
      elsif v.is_a?(Array)
        nh[k.to_sym] = []
        v.each{|i| nh[k.to_sym] << clean_keys(i) }
      end
    end
    nh
  end

  # get one level down
  h.each_pair do |key, value|
    if value.is_a?(Array) and value.first.is_a?(Hash) and value.first.keys.size == 1 
      value = value.first[value.first.keys.first]
      h[key] = value
    end
  end

  clean_keys(h)
end

hash = transition_hash(hash)
pp hash