Akwaaba! Welcome to Ghana!

Akwaaba! Or Welcome (home)!

This was the first thing I saw when I got off the plane on January 6 in Accra, and immediately it put a smile on my face. How excited I was to finally be here. It was an 18 hour plane ride with a 4 hour layover in Dubai. Although I was only able to be in the airport, I was instantly impressed with the architecture and was so upset that I couldn’t venture beyond the walls of the airport. And with the world’s tallest building so close, yet so far, it was extra tempting to leave!
I’ve been here for 2 weeks now, yet I don’t really know where to start. I honestly don’t feel that I’ve done much in the time that I’ve been here, yet my days have been starting at 7am and ending around 11pm. The first 2 weeks have been dedicated to orientation. We wake up in the morning, have lectures on Ghanaian topics for 2-4 hours, and then do an activity; however, the activities were spent mostly on the bus, hence my feeling of not actually doing much yet. Despite that I haven’t done much, I’ve experienced so much (culturally) in my two weeks. Let me break it down as briefly as I can:

Sewage. They have an open sewer system here. Unlike our gutters which are hidden beneath the sidewalks and behind iron grates, there are literally open trenches that range from 10-20 inches wide and 1-3 feet deep. At night they just appear to be black patches of dirt, so I’ve come too close to stepping/ falling into one. I’m just starting to get used to the whole concept of open pits on the side of the road. It’s becoming natural to just step over them every time I cross the road.

Washrooms. No one and nowhere here provides toilet paper and soap. It’s a foreign concept here, and I don’t understand it. I still don’t know if people just don’t wash their hands after the bathroom, or if it’s just expected of everyone to bring their own soap and toilet paper. I obviously have learned to never leave the house without either of these. My dorm doesn’t provide it, gas stations definitely don’t, and bars/clubs it is rare for any to be left. It is also a treat if the washrooms have running water. I’ve learned the trick of filling a bucket of water, then quickly pouring it into the toilet to force flush it. I never knew you could do that!

Markets. I still haven’t seen a supermarket and I’m not sure if they exist here. I’ve only gone to marketplaces, but the marketplaces here are so… well they have EVERYTHING. They honestly are just as useful and have the same types of things that Target has in the states. I mean, if I want dinner. Go to the market place. Lotion? Marketplace. Pillow? Marketplace. Mirror, bucket, soap, sponge, notebooks? Can all be found in the marketplace down my road. These markets are all open-air-outdoor, with people selling items in cramped spaces of about 6x6 feet, but hey, it gets the job done! And I love supporting the locals.
I ventured outside of campus to Medina Market which is just absolutely massive. It was what you imagine African markets to be, but didn’t actually think they exist. Women walk with buckets on their heads, selling anything from water to bread, to fabric to jewelry. My friend even bought some octopus off the top of a woman’s head. It’s still humorous when someone will come over with some food and I’ll ask, “That looks good, where did you get it?” and the response usually entails a shrug accompanied by “I don’t know, some woman’s head.” But yes everyone here, men, women, and children, use the strength of their necks to transport large and heavy items. I wish I could learn this skill because seriously, it is just so convenient!

Food. God am I already sick of the food. I got sick my third day here and it was BAD. But I’m better now. Since then I’ve been hesitant of eating the chicken here. I’m favoring the vegetarian diet just because the chicken hasn’t ever really seemed appealing. It’s definitely hard finding food here when you’re a vegetarian because they really like their gizzard, goat, and beef. I’m left eating beans everyday because that’s the only slightly nutritious food they have for vegetarians. But I switch up my carb here and there; one day rice, next yams, maybe plantains, and sometimes potatoes. But yes same thing everyday, carbs and beans, and sometimes if the bean lady (Ruby) is closed, I turn to straight carbs for the evening. Oh and I can get a huge meal of rice, beans, plantains, and noodles (all on the same plate and quite tasty) for the equivalent of $1. ONE DOLLAR for a full meal! Life is good.

Dorms. I live in the International Student Hostel (ISH) on campus. Out of the 34 girls in the program only 4 were able to move into the Ghanaian students’ dorm. Stacy was one of the lucky ones whose name was pulled out of the hat! ISH is supposedly the nicest dorms on campus but they’re nowhere near comparable to the dorms that UC students are familiar with. And compared to the places I’ve seen in Ghana, I know these are relatively nice and quite deluxe, so I’m not complaining.

Washing. Everyone here washes all their clothes by hand. Fill up a bucket, rub the cloth together, scrub some more, rinse, ring out, and hang. Sounds simple enough, but laundry is seriously like an active couple hours of work. There’s no press a button, wait 30 mins, place in the dryer, wait an hour and you’re done. It’s actively scrub for an hour, rinse, ring out for 30 mins, then hang up on the clothesline. And then afterwards you’re so exhausted and with the heat and humidity you’re working in, you’re day is done because you’re so tired! Haha I took a nap after my first load…
The power has been out in my so-called “deluxe” dorm for 3 days now. No running water. No power. No fan! To begin with, there is no heated water on campus, but most of the time it’s fine because on average it’s 75-90 degrees here with about 60% humidity. But night showers are the worst! Cold showers after 11pm are so uncomfortable. Well with this power outage, we had to take bucket showers and bring water with us every time we wanted to wash our hands or brush our teeth. There is a spigot in the courtyard where you can get water. Bucket showers aren’t to bad! They take a little longer and you’re not really sure if you got all the soap/ shampoo/ dirt off your body, but they do the trick! Last night I had to shower at night, so I had a relaxing candlelit bucket shower. I’m getting the hang of this!

Being white and a foreigner. As I walk down the street, I often hear the word “Obruni!” This means “foreigner.” Children yell it, because they are so fascinated with these people of light complexion. They yell, and most of the time just want you to say “hello!” and a smile back. However, we have been targeted by children who approach us sweetly and then after charming us, ask for a cedi (the national currency) because they are hungry… When adults yell “Obruni!” they mostly want one thing, your money. But I’ve had a lot of very sweet encounters with Ghanaian vendors at the market place, who initiated conversation by yelling Obruni, so it’s not always about your money.

All in all, I’m coming to love this place. The people are sweet (for the most part), I’m slowly getting my groundings, and just getting more comfortable (and embracing) that I stick out as a foreigner. I’ve never been conscious of my skin color before, but definitely being here, makes you realize how much you stand out, and because you can be spotted so easily as foreign, people definitely try to take advantage of you.

Keep in touch!
Email me with comments and questions and I’ll try to add photos ASAP! (Can’t find the USB cable and hope I haven’t lost it!)
-Annabelle