Arrival

I wanted to wait to write anything publicly until I felt like I had gotten to somewhat experience Ghana, and thus have something to write about. Based on my trip so far, however, I probably could have had enough to write about after the third day.

The ashanti region is a pretty incredible area. It’s one of the wealthiest regions of Ghana; the south tends to be more well off than the north. Everywhere I go goods being sold and markets tend to be very uniform. Everything is set up in stands. There are plastic buckets filled with vegetables like garden egg (result of the british, we call it eggplant), tiny tomatoes, amazing pinneaple, crabs, GIANT snails, all sorts of pungent fish and meats. Yesterday I saw fried rat that had been shaped into a bowl like shape, complete with eyes, toes, everything. I don’t think most people eat this, however. There are also tubs of peanut butter, Thank God. Although, here it is called groundnut.

The University operates totally differently here than in the U.S.. Everything happens at its own time. My class times and locations seem to change everyday. You also have to go to each department personally to register, giving them a passport photo. There are people set up every couple of feet to take passport pictures. You seem to need one for everything. There are also women who come to wash your clothes, sew them, taxis that run all over campus to take you places, and the professores are provided with residences on campus that are labeled with their title.

On a personal note, it is a very interesting feeling to stand out so much. It seems as though the majority of people are either eager to talk to you because you are an Obruni ( white person) and tell you about Ghana, or they assume that you are rich and slow so they can take advantage of you for money. People (men mostly) are either very protective of you or very clearly intend to use you in some way. I’ve been told many times, however, not to judge Ghana by those “bad people”. Diabolical intentions was also a phrase I heard used…

Yesterday, I took a tro-tro (an old beater van that is stuffed with people and used for transport between towns- costs about 30-40 u.s. cents) to Makola market and Kaneshi market. I met a very kind woman on the bus named Faith who told me that I was “a funny Obruni”- She liked me because I showed her how I danced and we talked about Christianity for a while. She works at the airport doing her two years of national service required after college. She took my friends and I around the market explaining the story behind all of the different goods being sold, showed us to a place for lunch, and helped me with my Twi vocab. She had a wonderful smile and helped me navigate through rows of women braiding hair, selling dish detergents, meats, etc. in this tall three story factory like building. The air was incredibly thick because everything in Ghana gets very dusty from the fact that most roads are still dirt, as are paths. There’s also always a lot of trash on the streets and bands of stray dogs that roam around together. They look similar to small, skinny beagle lab mixes. Thus far dogs and bullfrogs have been the most wildlife i’ve seen, in addition to some caged parrots and someone’s pet monkey. I question the humane nature of the latter, however.

I’ve also gone out most nights. I may be wearing myself a little thin in an effort to see as much of Ghana as possible. There’s tons of reggae everywhere. I’d say almost half the people i’ve encountered have said they are a drummer or identify as rasta in some way. Most Ghanain women do not go out, however, and are more withdrawn than the men. I was thus excited to meet faith. I’ve also met some Nigerian women in my dorm. There is a contingent of very wealthy Nigerians that attend the university. Ghanains as well. It is an odd dynamic because I think a lot of the truly wealthy Ghanains want to take us out with them to impress us, while at the same time show off the fact that they have a group of Obrunis with them. It is a very stark contrast because they insist on paying for everything and check back every ten minutes to make sure you are comfortable etc., while the other end of the spectrum would like to use you to pay for everything.

NOT everyone is like this, but I guess these experiences are just what stick out most. Faith and others were not like this at all. I suppose the people above are just better characters. I have some very interesting stories surrounding them. Too much to note here.

Amongst all this, however, I will be starting classes next week. I got my black spandex pants for dance class. All the Ghanains seem to enjoy the fact that I like to dance and egg me on to do handstands at the beach (i’ve gotten fairly decent now)- If only making friends back home was this easy…Haha but I’m going to visit one of the Orphanages probably next week and will have my class schedule solidified. This weekend I’m off the Kumasi to explore with my group and would like to travel to a stilt village and possibly to Faith’s family’s house in Togo with some friends in the upcoming weeks if we stay in contact.

Everything That’s Good!

Halley