God is Everywhere--Veggies, Not So Much

US v. Ghana: Developed and Developing Differences


Food

- Americans enjoy a variety of foods, including rice. Ghanaians enjoy a variety of rice, including plain, jollof, waakye, and occasionally fried
-The international student diet most often consists of rice, chicken, rice, rice, chicken, chicken, the occasional beef or veggie kabob, some (delicious) fried yams, bean stew, waakye, plantains, (unnamed) fish, rice, a fried egg sandwich, bread, a handful of groundnuts (peanuts) here and there, an entire pineapple (which can be purchased for 1 Ghana cedi or approximately $0.70 US… amazing), mango, Pizza Inn pizza (which is not the greatest I must add) but only on Tuesday nights when it’s buy one get one free, and every so often Lurking Louise’s laundry basket of banana-chocolate muffins, veggie pizzas, and mango pies.

- In the US, we primarily shop in supermarkets and Walmart. In Ghana, you shop in street markets (for food, produce, bowls, cooking supplies, weave, clothes, etc.) or out of your car window on the way home (for everything random). You can buy anything from super glue to supper to dewormer while waiting in traffic (be wary of anyone selling both food and dewormer; you should probably get your supper someplace else).

- Fast food in America consists of drive-throughs and take-out. Fast-food in Ghana consists of hissing at the lady with a box of fried dough balls or the boy with fanice to “bra” (pronounced brah not braw like you wear; it means come) to come over to your car, tro, etc. window while traffic is stopped to hurriedly measure out your portion and make change, which from time to time results in her chasing the vehicle waving your change in the air because traffic is moving again.
-On a daily basis we generally miss the following American foods: MILK, cereal (have it but very expensive), BISCUITS (real southern biscuits- not the English idea of a cookie), American cookies, French fries, steak, apples (they have them but they are expensive), baked goods of all kinds, bagels, good pizza, CHEESE, American pancakes, POTATO PRODUCTS OF ALL KINDS (mashed, fried, boiled, stewed, chips, tater tots, HASH BROWNS, etc), orange juice, apple juice, sausage (not hotdogs they call sausage), bacon, granola bars, candy, and then some.






Transportation

Tro-tro for sho-sho: In the US, most households have personal cars as the main means of transportation. Most people can drive and have drivers’ licenses. In Ghana, most of the rural areas do not have the capital to own a vehicle and the cities are crowded and crazy so most people use public transportation. Taxis are very similar to those in the US. However, instead of subways, lightrails, trains, etc., the main mode of transport is the tro-tro. Trotros are basically vans, anywhere from 9-15 passenger vans, usually makes and models I have never seen before (who knew Mercedes made vans), usually with many broken parts, and occasionally with a ground-light (is that the opposite of sky-light) through which you can watch the road pass by underneath your feet. So this is how it works. There are no schedules posted, not like a busing system. You stand beside the road with a group of people and wait for the vans to come by (they are everywhere). Each tro has a driver and a mate. The driver, well, he drives, and the mate is in charge of passengers, telling the drive when and where to stop, and handling the money. It may sound like the drive got the easy job but trust me, driving in Accra is not like anything in the US. As the trotros come by the mates are yelling quickly 2-4 names of places they are headed and making a hand motion that means the same things. If you are outside the front gate of the university, pointing straight ahead means Accra, to the right means La Paz, shaking the hand in a circular motion means CIRCLE, etc. When you hear the one you want you holler or wave at the mate and make sure he has room enough for however many of you it is as you rush to the side of the tro as it pulls off of the road. Sometimes the crowds are worse than others and you really have to fight to get in. Once all are on board and the tro is moving, the mate collects the money from everyone in between calling out the window for more passengers. Tros are definitely my favorite mode of transportation. They are inexpensive, fun, and always an adventure. A taxi ride that would cost me 7 Ghana cedi (almost $5.00 US) would cost me 55 pesawas (about 40 cents)… so cool. Plus, they are super fun to ride and just buy things out the window. Food in particular. You just hiss and over comes a bowl of water packets balanced on a girl’s head. Or dough balls. Or popcorn. Or frozen yogurt. Amazing. You also never know if your tro is actually going to make it to your destination. Breakdowns are common, flat tires happen, and wrecks are definitely not unheard of. It just adds a little excitement to your day.

There are some public bus systems that do have schedules for departure and that sort of thing, and they have become more popular in recent years, but still are not nearly as prominent as trotros, and much more difficult to buy things out of the window. Although they are probably much safer than tros. Tro accidents are pretty common and if you ever ride in one you will instantly know why.


Daily Living

Phones: Everyone and their mother has a cell phone… make that two. Cell phones in Ghana are contract free so you just buy minutes as you go along (which are everywhere to be found- you cannot possibly go a block without seeing a vendor of minutes and simcards).

Class: The lecturer may or may not be on time. The students may or may not be on time. The lecturer quite possibly will receive multiple phone calls during the course of class, which he or she is almost guaranteed to answer on the spot. Class times are also very different than in the US. Here, our ag. classes (called agric here) meet once a week for two and half hours, occasionally they also have a once a week practical (like a lab) also. And by occasionally I mean that this is Ghana and consistency isn’t really a priority (unless it is consistently a surprise). Most three credit classes meet for a two-hour lecture once a week and then a tutorial (like a recitation) for an hour a week as well.

Campus: Virginia Tech has about 25,000 students and miles of sidewalks all over campus. University of Ghana-Legon has an even larger campus with even greater distance between classes and even more students (between 35 and 40,000) and far less sidewalks. It is pretty acceptable to walk in the road although you do so at your own risk. While there are some paths alongside the road, walking on the grass is not very acceptable, and for some reason (which I have yet to discover) most people respect the wishes of the university to protect the grass.

Time: Ghana time. So very different than American time. Karlie brought up the point that maybe it is because they do not have seasons here like we do in Virginia and because of this may not feel the passing of time the same as we do, but regardless of the reason, Ghanaians are never in a hurry. They walk slow, the talk slow, the show up late, deadlines are more of suggested guidelines, and I have yet to hear someone say the word efficient. The only thing they are speedy about is driving. They are pretty aggressive in that case.

Fun Facts

God is everywhere: There is no way to deny the Christian influence in this country. Nearly every taxi, trotro, fruit stand, and shop is a reference to God or a bible verse. Names like God’s Time is Best Frozen Foods, Forbid Them Not trotro, and Psalm 23 produce.
Our favorite egg sandwich/bread stand is called Blessed Bless and is run by the nicest family Vivian and her husband and their oldest daughter whose name I cannot remember (she is rarely there, usually off at school), then Roberta (who quite often makes my sandwich), then Junior, and then Lisa (she’s three and at night sometimes she is full of energy right before bed so I chase her around and try to tickle her until she gets to giggling so hard she can’t run anymore or she screams so loud I think the whole market is going to come kill me). They work very hard and do not go home until school is out for summer. We try to go buy there everyday and make sure that they have business, which they do because so many of the students love them.

Veggies: We thought we were bad about eating vegetables in the states. No worries, Ghanaians like them less. They particularly dislike raw vegetables for the most part. When our lecturer asked if tomatoes were eaten raw the whole class yelled “no” while Karlie and I nodded sheepishly.
Oh, the possibilities: Anything is possible in Ghana. Anything. You can get your phone unlocked, fit 1,000+ songs on one CD, buy a DVD of over 3GB for 3 Ghana Cedi (about $2.10), may possibly live in the same building as your friend from camp in 5th grade, catch a rare disease, be proposed to daily, marry a millionaire, have class cancelled because Ghana had a football match (or because the power went out… again), go out and not have to pay for anything, have a really nice drug dealer get you into a club even though you don’t meet the dress code, learn to balance things on your head, buy any jersey for less than $10 US, and the list goes on and on.

Thou Shalt Not Steal: You don’t steal in Ghana. They don’t play. Thiefs by law are usually lynched, and that’s the punishment you pray for if you get caught stealing because it is much more peaceful way to die than if the public gets ahold of you. If someone yells, “thief,” you are probably a goner. The people around usually will beat a man to death if he has believed to have stolen. That has been difficult to wrap my head around. I know these things happen around the world but its different to actually see it accepted by a society. I hate to say it is common practice here. Generally speaking this deters stealing… or at least makes it more discrete.

TP: You bring your own toilet paper with you most places; it isn’t usually provided, although occasionally a lady will hand you a piece of newspaper. Really nice places may provide tp but it will probably cost you 10-20 pesawas to get in (7-14 cents). You always try to keep some in your bookbag and purse.

Righthand man: It is only polite to use your right hand when waving, gesturing, shaking hands, etc. Using your left-hand is usually taken as an insult although many exceptions are made for foreigners who obviously do not know all the local customs. Many of the local dishes are only taken with the right hand, which can be very difficult, especially when you need to break something into smaller pieces.

Personal Bubble: There is no personal space here. Bumping into people, standing too close, borrowing something off of someone’s desk without even acknowledging them, etc. are not offensive here. If you don’t stand closer than you think you should in line, you will get jumped. If you don’t fight for a tro, you will never get on one. It’s not rude, it’s not mean-spirited; it’s just how it is.

Right wing: Ghanaians are very conservative. They are a very religious-based society. Christianity and Islam are the two most popular religions, both of which call for conservative dress and behavior. Don’t think that everyone is conservative or that people are always dressed and acting modestly, but as a general rule skirts and shorts extend to the knees, tops are never low-cut, jewelry is minimal (relatively no rings, one set of earrings, one necklace, very rarely do you see anklets or toe-rings and usually on other nationalities, not Ghanaians), no tattoos, only one set of ear piercings, and no nose or other rings. This definitely does not mean that Ghanaians do not dress well. They by far, outdress Americans. Clean cut, dark or colored jeans, button-up shirts, clean leather sandals, or nice shoes. Hair is always done nicely. They never just “show-up.” None of that pajamas to class stuff. Not even work-out clothes. I always feel awkward if I have to go somewhere after dance class in my tights or shorts and tank-tops. They keep skin covered and do not understand why we wear short skirts and tank tops all the time. For some reason, I just never imagined that developing country college students would outdress developed country students. Also, homosexuality is not accepted here and it isn’t something that is talked about either.

Never a red face: Despite the fact that if Ghanaians blush you probably wouldn’t notice, one of the most amazing things about the culture here in Ghana is the lack of embarrassment. People laugh, oh do they ever. They will laugh at you for speaking Twi, they will laugh at you for speaking English, they will laugh at you when you trip, they will laugh when you make a joke, they laugh when they have no idea what you just said. They love to laugh, don’t get me wrong. But they do not laugh about the shirt their classmate is wearing and aren’t embarrassed by clothes, they aren’t afraid to tell you what they are thinking, and aren’t afraid to hear what someone else thinks about them (positive or negative). They ask questions when they have them. They do what needs to be done. They don’t make fun of your phone, your clothes, your home, or the amount of money you don’t have. They don’t tease boys for wearing pink (and boy do they wear pink). Girls hold girls hands and boys hold boys hands, and you will see it more than you will see a boy and a girl holding hands. There is no embarrassment, no concern of “what people will think.” They are friends, it is perfectly acceptable.

Fingernails: For some reason, it is common for guys to wear their fingernails longer. Sometimes it is just one fingernail which I have been told is just for usefulness, sometimes it is a whole hand, and in rare cases both hands, for which I have yet to hear an explanation. Interesting.

Tribal marks: One of the most interesting things about the people here is the common use of tribal marks. If you spend anytime here you will notice that many people have scars on their faces of difference sizes, numbers, and directions. Each ethnic group has their own markings that many children are marked with early in life. They are simply cuts to the skin that scar when healed and identify you as a member of a particular group. It’s amazing to see all the different kinds. Most of them are pretty awesome looking.