Obruni Tunes: the beginning of a good thing

After a few weeks in Ghana, I am starting to feel much more at home, but I am also far from figuring this place out. It’s very strange to learn the ins and outs of a culture that you haven’t grown up with. Unspoken social norms can seem pretty odd when they need to be verbalized to you. Like the taboo of waving with your left hand or the compulsory snap at the end of a hand shake. Though there is a lot to learn, I feel like I am slowly making progress.

Ghana definitely has a lot of contradicting qualities, which makes it even harder to figure out. Most people are dressed more conservatively(and are often more put together) than us Obrunis (foreigners), but it isn’t unheard of for there to be a naked person on the side of the road in a more rural area. There are strict rules when it comes to social etiquette, but absolutely none when it comes to driving. I feel like I have somewhat of a responsibility to learn to play by the new rules, no matter how long they may take to learn.

On one of the first days, we had a lecture about assimilating to the culture here. We were told that there were 4 stages that we could be sure to find ourselves in at any point in time. These are the 1) Honeymoon Stage, 2) Hostility Stage, 3) Humor Stage, and 4) Home Stage. I definitely find myself jumping back and forth between these stages quite often. I am in the honeymoon stage whenever I am at the beach or see a Ghanaian smile(which is very often), and the hostility stage when I have trouble communicating with people or getting things that would normally be easy to come by.

I have made some great friends here already, and we are perpetually in the humor stage, whether we are bitter or blissful. Being able to laugh about everything is really the only way you can approach this situation if you don’t want to drive yourself crazy.

I will try to keep stories and pictures flowing on a regular basis, partly for myself, and for anyone else who is interested in seeing them!