Ghanaian lesson #1:

August 12, 2009

Go with the flow. Nothing will be on time. You were barely know where you're going or what is happening. Scheduling will hardly be existent and planning ahead is ridiculous because things change constantly. But when you get there, it happens, it starts and its incredible. Whatever it may be. We had a lecture on the History of Ghana that started 30 minutes late today and the lecturer was absolutely amazing. SO cool and that's only one example.

So we signed up for classes today and I got some of the worst news ever. The Budubarum Refugee Camp and it's associations have disbanded recently due to the vast majority of Liberians moving home because of the increasing safety of their country. I was absolutely crushed. But fear not! I have full faith that Kwasi (the Program Director) will hook me up with an amazing program. We talked it over and he is going to talk to the head of the Social Work Department because she does trauma counseling. Also, I think I'm going to volunteer either to teach acting to kids or to teach/help/play with disabled orphans. Acting would be cool but its with a program that seems to have a lot of money and a lot of the students are interested in volunteering there. The orphanage really doesn't seem to have a lot of money at all but a fair amount of need.

So the classes I'm signed up for so far:
Intro to Traditional Drumming
Intro to Traditional Dance
Personality Psychology
Social Work: Working with Individuals
Twi
Internship

So that's 16 credits and we're supposed to take between 15 and 18...I kind of want to take Swahili too but can't decide. Plus, in true Ghanaian fashion, the class schedules haven't been generated yet so for all I know, they're all on the same day at the same time. Here's hoping they aren't!!

I am going to have to be so organized about getting to class. From my hostel to the psychology/social work departments, its a 30 minute brisk walk. And Ghanaians do not rush. They just don't.

A few more observations about Ghanaian people and culture:
1. They say "please" and gesture when they want to do something for you. For instance, a woman selling fruit gestured to the orange I just bought and then pointed at her knife and said "please" instead of asking me if she could peel the orange for me.
2. They talk ABSURDLY softly. This may partly have to do with their vocal tones but I also think it has to do with the lack of personal space and the intimacy of conversation, because they can certainly yell to their friend across the road!
3. When a store is out of something, they simply say: "Finished."
4. For the most part, they won't greet you or smile at you if you're not looking at them. The MINUTE they catch your eye and you smile at them, their faces will brighten entirely and they will say "Hi!!" or "Welcome!!" This is not always the case, sometimes they will simply always say "Hi" and smile. The smile is the foreigner's greatest tool and the Ghanaian's greatest asset.

WARNING: FAMILY AND FRIENDS MAY NOT WANT TO READ THE FOLLOWING.
I absolutely absolutely love it here and might never ever want to leave Africa. The more I learn about Ghana, the more I pick up about other West African nations, as well as some of the other countries in Africa. It makes me want to spend the rest of my life going to school in each different country and just learning about each one. I wonder if anyone would pay me to do that....not so much I expect hah.

This isn't to say there aren't bad parts. It's frustrating for men to constantly be asking for your number or wanting to show you around simply because you're white. It's sad that it isn't really safe for a girl to walk across campus alone once darkness falls (and it gets fully dark by about 7 and man, it's a THICK darkness). I sweat constantly from the heat and you stub your toe constantly due to the poor pavement (or lack thereof). But for every man that asks you out, there's a guy who will just want to say "hi" and "welcome." There are almost always people to walk through the night with. And (people, hold your shock) the heat's not that bad, right?

So far It's safe to say that being here is outrageously worth the little struggles.