First impressions are important. I have often found that my initial encounters in a country can be quite telling for the whole experience. Obviously the longer you live in a place the more you understand and appreciate it. With that being said, I now present my 10 Impressions (both good and bad) of Ghana in my first 10 days here.
1. Tempo of life
I have already started walking at a slower pace. After travelling in New York City, London, Stockholm, and Helsinki for the previous three weeks, I was used to a very quick “city” pace. Walking, touring, eating, it was always a rush! So the tempo of life was perhaps the biggest shock when I arrived as everyone is so relaxed here. Ladies in the market nap and you must wake them if you'd like to buy some pineapple or coconut (my favourite things to eat right now!) People walk slowly here and stop to visit with one another in a much more relaxed manner than I'm accustomed to at home. In that sense it is a rather nice change.
However, while the change in pace has been charming in some respects, in others ways it has been incredibly frustrating. The internet cafes on campus are practically like not having the internet at all. Imagine paying for one hour of internet and spending at least 40 minutes trying to load a page or two. a The bank lines are also incredibly long and overwhelming. I never realized how much I take the interent for granted. I will never again complain about Reznet at SFU! Haha.
2. University Bureaucracy
This is actually interrelated with the tempo of life but I thought it was important to at least give one separate impression solely focusing on my first impression of the university. The mess of paperwork and separate institutions that required paperwork was a bit overwhelming at first. Yet, as I have never been an exchange student before I really cannot say whether my experience here has been completely normal or bordering on the ridiculous. Perhaps after next semester when I am in Mexico I can at least compare the two schools. But besides the large amount of paperwork and the seemingly endless need for copies of everything from our acceptance letter to bank receipts to passport photos, my first impression of the University of Ghana is that it is rather disorganized. Most people that know me well will tell you that I am slightly neurotic when it comes to being organized so perhaps my standards are set to an impossible level. However, in the past two days Kaisa has attended two classes (I've been ill so I haven't gone with her), and both times the professor did not show up. In fact the class schedule just became available on Friday so I still haven't had a chance to find out when all of my classes will be. I think this may read as a bit of a complaint because I am a crazy person when it comes to organization but the lack of planning is actually rather refreshing and perhaps just what I need right now. Classes will hopefully be more about the subject material while I'm on exchange and less about grades (I'm really getting sick of caring about my GPA). So overall, I'd probably be annoyed if I had to deal with the university bureaucracy year after year, but for one semester I can definitely tolerate, and even enjoy it.
3. “Third world”
Call it the third world, call it a developing country, or even call it a lesser economically developed country (LEDC), by whatever name, TIA (This is Africa) as Jacob has taught me. :P We've started saying TIG (This is Ghana) as TIA is much too general, but still, you get the idea. As prosperous and developed as Ghana may be compared to much of Africa, in many ways it is still a huge shock from Europe and North America, and even from the parts of Latin America I have lived in. Small things that are taken for granted at home can still be big issues here. For example, I have been here for 10 days and around 4 to 5 of those days have been without running water. (Currently no water) Perhaps that is more an indication of the university than the country. Yet we are on day three of no water with no idea of when it will be fixed. Fortunately the other international residence currently has water so we can run over there when taking a shower becomes imperative. But who knows, perhaps tomorrow that residences water will also be out, then come the bucket showers, oh joy! :-)
4. Food
One thing I've really enjoyed so far is the food! We have been mainly eating at the night market which is next to our residence. Typically we eat egg or avocado sandwiches for lunch and rice, plantains, vegetables for dinner. There are different sauces and the food is more spicy than I'm used to but I'm starting to really enjoy it. For dessert there is always fresh pineapple, watermelon, bananas, etc. To make things even better the prices are absolutely fantastic! You can easily eat three meals a day, plus snacks for less than 5 Cedi ($3.50 CND)
On a side note, I may like the food but I'm not sure if my stomach is agreeing with me. For the past few days I've been a bit sick, so hopefully that will toughen me up for the rest of my exchange year...
5. Dancing
We've only truly been out dancing one night. We went to a club called Chez Afrique which was a ton of fun. Live band, cheap beer, and meeting a ton of people (we were the only white people at the club). However, just like in Argentina, I was reminded of how terrible a dancer I am by the standards set here. I mean in North America I feel fine. :P But these people can really move! It doesn't really help that the two white people I know well here happen to be pretty fantastic dancers (Kaisa and Jacob, I hate you!) So my solution? Perhaps just one more drink and then I'll get up and dance...
6. Drinking
No this category isn't only about alcoholic beverages so please don't think so poorly of me. Haha. I've actually only drank twice while I've been here and both times I tried local beer and cider.
But the real difference I've noticed is the fact that I can only drink bottled water here. I had no idea how much I took for granted water from the tap until I had to start buying all of my water. When I first arrived from the airport, I was picked up by the university and taken straight to my room. Unfortunately I never thought to take out money or buy water and since it was already dark outside I figured I should wait until morning to figure out the water situation. Well I spent several hours very thirsty (I had just come off a plane) and was just drifting off to sleep when I heard the familiar voice of my favourite Dane (Jacob). Apparently, he and Kaisa had just arrived and as luck would have it, Kaisa was going to be my next door neighbour in residence. But none of that mattered much to me as I spotted their big bottles of water that they had thought to purchase. Yay for friends!
7. Men
I don't think this list of impressions would be complete without a brief description of Ghanian men. While the Ghanian people are very friendly (see #10), the men could almost be classified as over friendly. It is not unusual to be told that you are beautiful or that they are in love with you, several minutes after meeting you. What's more strange is when they start speaking of marriage. As most of my friends in Canada would know (and laugh), I'm rather attached to the idea of not marrying until I'm at least 30, if not 35. Haha. I just like my independence a little bit too much. Therefore, the fact that even I have received marriage proposals in the first 10 days is laughable. Apparently, my “no way in hell” sign that I normally have permanently attached to my forehead in Canada, has come unglued while in Ghana. Oh well, all you can do is smile, laugh, and say politely, “It was very nice to meet you, hope to see you again”, while fighting the urge to run in the other direction.
8. Accommodation
The place we are staying in is named “International Student Hostel II”, ISH II for short. ISH I is the place that still has water. I really like it here. We have a balcony, a fan, a desk, a chair, a bed, a wardrobe... really everything you could need in a room. Plus we get a roommate! Before coming we were told that our roommate would be a fourth year Ghanian student. However, upon arriving both Kaisa and I discovered that we were actually getting American roommates that are doing the same study abroad program. My roommate is named Sam, she's from Massachusetts but goes to school in New Orleans. Kaisa's roommate is named Charlotte, she's from Arlington, VA and goes to school in New Orleans. Both girls are great and although I was a bit surprised and maybe a little disappointed at the beginning that I wouldn't have a Ghanian roommate, I know that I will still be able to make local friends in my classes and activities. Oh and on the bright side, Jacob has a Ghanian roommate, so I guess we can get to know him better!
9. Language
The main language spoken in Accra besides English is called Twi. I'm really terrible at picking up on languages, especially if I can't see them written down, but my roommate is studying Twi as part of her program so hopefully she can teach me a bit each week which I will attempt to relay back to you.
Here are a few words to start you off:
Akwaaba – Welcome – written everywhere in the beginning so thankfully I can remember that one
Obruni – White/Foreign person – shouted at you everywhere you walk, not in a bad way, just as a greeting or a way to get your attention, this one will be difficult to forget
Bebini – Black person – the jury is still out on whether you can shout this back to people when they call out “Obruni, Obruni”, some apparently find it hilarious that we are attempting to learn the language but we've also been warned that it could be deemed offensive so use at your own risk
10. People
I wanted to finish this blog post with my most positive first impression and that is of the people that live here! Everyone is so incredibly welcoming and friendly. It is sometimes a bit overwhelming as my slightly suspicious brain is also questioning “what does he/she want from me?” Fortunately this attitude is starting to change as I get adjusted to the culture of smiling more, chatting and asking how everyone is, and asking people what their names are, etc. The people's happiness is infectious and I can't help but smile to myself whenever I'm surrounded by people. If any of you ever want to visit the friendliest/happiest place on earth, I definitely recommend this beautiful country!
So there you have some first impressions, I know this post was quite long, I will try to write more often but much shorter posts from now on.
