Culture and Language 101

It's 9:40pm over here in Accra and I just wrapped a lovely bucket bath (be greatful for consistantly running water).  I'm sitting here on our hotel's balcony listening to the wind and digesting what has transpired since my last post.

Cultural Dos and Don'ts:
-Always, always use your right hand for EVERYTHING.  The left is rude.
-Always greet.  It's the beginning of friendship and shows you have a kind heart.
-Don't cross your legs.
-When talking to men and women older than me, refer to them as Uncle/Papa and Auntey/Mami and never forget any titles
-When talking to someone about my age, refer to them as Brother/Sister
-Don't maintain eye contact, Ghanaian's rarely hold your gaze for too long
-Smoking is not common, I've only seen one man smoking a cig so far
-There's lot of hand gestures, some good (used to tell a tro-tro or taxi where you want to go) some bad (thumbs up while moving your thumb up and down=extremely rude, like the middle finger)
-Priests/Priestesses may greet with their left hand, giving the recipient all of their heart
-Ask to take photos and promise to send copies
-Two fingers up in the air (or as we call it "the peace sign")="You're a good dancer!"

The market:  We took a tro-tro, which is a big bus taxi with about five or six rows of seating.  I'll be using them daily to get to and from the University.  The roads in Ghana are a mixture of paved and unpaved, but always littered with copious trash.  No street signs in sight.  As far as the driving, it's anything goes, every man for himself.  I'll be sure to ALWAYS walk against traffic and ALWAYS look both ways!  The market was empty of any other white foreigners and our group drew a lot of attention.  I didn't much like that we were all bunched together, not sure the locals did either.  I felt in the way.  I prefer cruisin around in groups of no more than four.  We all went into a store that sold cell phones, and Kwame rounded up a bagful of Nokia phones (all the same, we'll be diversifying them with stickers to avoid confusion). 

First Twi class:  Well, it ain't Spanish!  I found this video, and it encompasses just about everything we learned today. 

 

Wild, huh?!

That bag of purified water is what we drink.  Much cheaper than bottles by a long shot!

 



The mall:  Highly westernized!  Ya know those ceiling projectors that display images on the floor and when you walk over it, waves ripples or fish swim away or whatever it may be...they have them here!  It was like any other mall in the US, complete with a cinema.  Speaking of, I can't wait to watch some Ghanaian films!  In fact, our first assignment is to read the Independent Study Project of a past student and critique it.  I chose one entitled " ".  Should be interesting!  Back to the mall, we went there for SIM cards and phone minutes.  I was one of three who left without a SIM card, the first store ran out and the second place...well, the card just didn't cooperate.  I'll get one tomorrow most likely.  I bought five cedi worth of minutes, which is about three hours worth of chatting for three dollars.  I was told that if y'all call me (I'll post my number once I get a card) it costs me nothing, but probably quite a bit on your end.  Things to look into. 

Tomorrow we have another language class in the morning, then lunch, then onto the University to await the arrival of our homestay families. We've been told our first families are going to be more westernized, higher class, "not the REAL Ghana" to ease us into the culture.  I'm very excited!  I hope I have kids in my family!  I don't know if I will have internet, so I'll keep writing (journaling if you will) but may not be able to post for a bit.  Enjoying my life in Ghana, as they all tell us to constantly do.  Loving the positivity :)

Food for though from Yemi this morning:  "Women in this country will never ask for equality.  This culture emphasizes equity.  The philosophy here is give according to status, take according to ability."
Chew on that.