After flying on 4 different flights across 5 cities that involved spending the night at an airport and passing through customs and immigration during crunch time, I finally made it back home last night. I'm honestly surprised jetlag hasn't hit me hard, but I guess I should be thankful. But now that I'm back from Ghana, I'm sure the first question on everyone's mind was, "How was it?"
Honestly, there's no way any of you are going to truly understand how Ghana was unless you actually go there yourself. I'll probably say something like, "Oh it was amazing, definitely a life changing experience," but that doesn't even begin to capture the essence of my trip. It goes so much more deeper than that, more than I can describe in a blog post or in a few seconds. Really, I'd have to sit down with someone who's interested over lunch or something to talk about it, and even then I'll probably forget telling some important stories or details because there's so much that happened the past 4-5 months. Heck, it would probably be better to sit down and go through all my photos together.
Most of my stories from Ghana largely focus on the so-called negative aspects of it: no running water, horrible bathrooms, mosquitoes, dealing with constant sweat and dust caked on the skin, language and transportation barriers and so on. But the way I see it, those negatives are what makes Ghana so interesting. Being in Spain for 6 days made me realize that studying abroad in a developed country is so much like living in America essentially, there's not much to talk about other than cultural differences. With Ghana, there's another dimension to it; the fact that I was living in a country totally unlike America, something that many of us haven't experienced.
Sure, we might go to Asia and many countries there aren't on the level of modernity that America has but we're often sheltered from the reality of life in those countries because our families there are well off. Whenever I go to India, I know that poverty exists on a grand scale and life is tough for many Indians in the cities, but I don't have many memories of it because I was never exposed to those sights. Many of my fellow study abroad members would ask me to compare Ghana to India and many of them asked about India in general and I would often say that Ghana is exactly like India, only less chaotic. I would also tell them that poverty and social strife exists there but I couldn't recall any memories of stories as proof. I believe this was because I was always traveling via private car or plane and I always went to the nice places, many of them specifically for tourists. In other words, my cousins in India were able to shelter me from those things. In Ghana, while I lived in a university, I was still able to get a good look at daily life for Ghanaians because I immersed myself in the culture and had nothing to hold me back. In a way, I was rather forced to let myself go in Ghanaian culture or remain hostile towards Ghana until I left. I allowed myself to rely on slow and packed trotro's instead of taking speedy and comfortable taxi's everywhere, I did most of my shopping at wild and hectic Ghanaian markets instead of air conditioned supermarkets owned by Lebanese immigrants or South African conglomerates, I took a class on one of the local dialects rather than choosing to speak English everywhere I go, I even chose to live in one of the Ghanaian student hostels rather than the international one because I wanted to fit in with the locals as much as possible and not remain closely attached to America.
Being sheltered in India made me realize I had nothing really to talk about other than all the touristy stuff I did. I couldn't really talk about the lifestyle there. It's one thing to travel as a tourist and another to travel as a traveler. In Spain, I considered myself a tourist because I was there to see the sights and I kept hopping from city to city each day, never really stabilizing myself anywhere. I rarely got time to try and understand Spanish culture fully. Spanish nights start pretty late, say 12-1AM and I didn't allow myself to go out at night and experience it because I didn't think it was worth it to stay up late, but who knows what would've happened. I think it's important to try to follow the lifestyle of whatever country you're in because you're playing by their rules now, not American ones. If I tried to get Ghanaians to eat fufu with a fork and knife instead of their right hand, I would be considered an idiot. It's none of our business to meddle with another country's culture. That's why the next time I come to India, I want to be considered a traveler, actually living and immersing myself into the country and not as a tourist just trying to see each landmark, snap a picture and move on.
The point is, the major differences in lifestyle between the US and Ghana forced me to adapt to Ghanaian standards and in turn, I learned a lot about the world and myself in general. That's something I'm sure you can't get in a developed country because nothing is different. There's nothing to adapt to. I mean, Spain was great and all but nothing interesting happened to me there. Because it's developed, I was able to navigate my way easily though the country. In Ghana, things weren't spoon fed to you and you have to rely on a more naturalistic approach, using your senses and asking people for help rather than pulling up Google Maps. It's really just like studying abroad in, let's say, French America or Australian America. Just add the country label in front of America.
I have to insist, don't imagine Ghana as some backwards country with no infrastructure or intellect whatsoever. It's not like that at all. Many people around the world believe that LA is absolute trash but I don't think that's true at all, at least not everywhere. Ghana has it's positives. The sense of family and community there is unlike any other I've seen. There's no such thing as doing things alone really, everyone is in it together. It's not like the individualism we have in the states, with all of us competing against each other for spots in graduate school, even trying to sabotage each other over grades and all that. It's pretty depressing for me personally, coming back to that attitude. All we care about is trying to get a good job with high pay, a hot husband/wife and kids, retiring by 50 and some other really stupid stuff but no one in the states ever takes the time to just chill. Let things go, take it slow and easy, there's never any rush to do anything. If any of you have seen 3 Idiots, you should remember the line, "Don't chase success, let success chase you instead." It's important to work hard and all but sometimes it's good to just sit back and take a break. I'm definitely going to miss that vibe. That alone makes up for all the negatives I faced in Ghana, and honestly, conditions there weren't even that miserable. I barely used any of my DEET for mosquitoes and the weather was bearable despite being covered in sweat within 2 minutes of being outside. Okay, maybe the toilets were awful but still.
It definitely takes a certain kind of person to want to go to Ghana, which is why I'm not going to try to persuade anyone to go. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to deal with an inefficient "university," being called obroni or Jesus or Osama (yes, people did call me those things), average infrastructure, lack of Internet, lack of late night meal options, strange insects, scary driving and so on. I think that's why many of the California kids were from Santa Cruz, because banana slugs have that kind of "change the world and be different" mentality. And I like that. I'd love to see someone I know well decide to go to Ghana, but if not I'd be glad to assist in anyone interested in studying abroad in general.
So then, how have I changed? What have I learned here? The answer? I have no idea. There are the obvious ones, like learning how to bargain and my beard of course, but I believe that Ghana left an impression on me that won't reveal itself in plain sight, not just yet anyway. I think that it's a more underlying effect, and that time will have to pass for those effects to show. I've only been back in the states for 2 days, so give me some time to figure that out!
But looking back to my first post, I talked about how I wanted to try to figure out what I wanted to do in the future. I'm positive that Ghana has helped answer that question through a via negativa process. Rather than explicitly seeing what I wanted to do, I ended up narrowing down my potential interests. I learned that I do not like working with children and that I don't belong in a hospital setting. I think I'm more geared for a therapist/psychiatrist/counselor kind of role. Even that grouping just shows how far I am to being specific about what I want to be, but it is narrowed down somewhat. Also, I have to keep telling myself that I am pretty young still. I was the youngest person out of all the international students to study abroad and I was pretty surprised when I figured that out. I thought more sophomores would jump on the chance to come to Ghana their 2nd year but talking to my older study abroad friends, they all remarked about how I had my act together to be able to go my 2nd year. And because of that, I'll be able to go abroad again my senior year (Thailand '17!). While everyone else was taking classes for their major, I was taking classes for my general education requirements and I was really just relaxing. Part of the reason I didn't do any volunteer work or internship there was because I had no intention to do any of that. I just wanted to travel, learn and explore on my own rather than put in the time to do something I probably have no interest in. So while I have figured out a direction I want to go in, I still can't place a specific title for what I want to be.
To conclude, Ghana left a lasting mark on me that is difficult to put into words right now. I just know inside that I've changed for the better. I wish everyone could understand what I've been through but it's just not enough to convey it through words and pictures. I'm glad I didn't get malaria or get pick pocketed throughout my entire time abroad. There was only 1 weekend where I felt miserable and of course I had diarrhea and I got ripped off bargaining a few times but those are little things compared to what some of my fellow study abroad mates went through; I've heard many horror stories about their times in the hospital. I'm also glad that I got to be able to do all of this before I even turned 20. I think that itself is something pretty special, to have a life-changing trip while still at a raw age. To the California group, I don't know if all of you guys will read this but almost all of you have left a positive impression on me one way or another and I'm thankful for all the wisdom and memories I've received from all of you. There were times I've embraced being that little kid of the group but for the most part, I think I've been able to hang with all of you. I'd be glad to talk more about Ghana if any of you readers are interested, preferably in person. Even after writing this post I've probably forgotten a few things that I wanted to write about but too late now. But lastly, thank you to my family and friends for being supportive while I was away and for looking out for me and keeping in touch in general.
Honestly, there's no way any of you are going to truly understand how Ghana was unless you actually go there yourself. I'll probably say something like, "Oh it was amazing, definitely a life changing experience," but that doesn't even begin to capture the essence of my trip. It goes so much more deeper than that, more than I can describe in a blog post or in a few seconds. Really, I'd have to sit down with someone who's interested over lunch or something to talk about it, and even then I'll probably forget telling some important stories or details because there's so much that happened the past 4-5 months. Heck, it would probably be better to sit down and go through all my photos together.
Most of my stories from Ghana largely focus on the so-called negative aspects of it: no running water, horrible bathrooms, mosquitoes, dealing with constant sweat and dust caked on the skin, language and transportation barriers and so on. But the way I see it, those negatives are what makes Ghana so interesting. Being in Spain for 6 days made me realize that studying abroad in a developed country is so much like living in America essentially, there's not much to talk about other than cultural differences. With Ghana, there's another dimension to it; the fact that I was living in a country totally unlike America, something that many of us haven't experienced.
Sure, we might go to Asia and many countries there aren't on the level of modernity that America has but we're often sheltered from the reality of life in those countries because our families there are well off. Whenever I go to India, I know that poverty exists on a grand scale and life is tough for many Indians in the cities, but I don't have many memories of it because I was never exposed to those sights. Many of my fellow study abroad members would ask me to compare Ghana to India and many of them asked about India in general and I would often say that Ghana is exactly like India, only less chaotic. I would also tell them that poverty and social strife exists there but I couldn't recall any memories of stories as proof. I believe this was because I was always traveling via private car or plane and I always went to the nice places, many of them specifically for tourists. In other words, my cousins in India were able to shelter me from those things. In Ghana, while I lived in a university, I was still able to get a good look at daily life for Ghanaians because I immersed myself in the culture and had nothing to hold me back. In a way, I was rather forced to let myself go in Ghanaian culture or remain hostile towards Ghana until I left. I allowed myself to rely on slow and packed trotro's instead of taking speedy and comfortable taxi's everywhere, I did most of my shopping at wild and hectic Ghanaian markets instead of air conditioned supermarkets owned by Lebanese immigrants or South African conglomerates, I took a class on one of the local dialects rather than choosing to speak English everywhere I go, I even chose to live in one of the Ghanaian student hostels rather than the international one because I wanted to fit in with the locals as much as possible and not remain closely attached to America.
Being sheltered in India made me realize I had nothing really to talk about other than all the touristy stuff I did. I couldn't really talk about the lifestyle there. It's one thing to travel as a tourist and another to travel as a traveler. In Spain, I considered myself a tourist because I was there to see the sights and I kept hopping from city to city each day, never really stabilizing myself anywhere. I rarely got time to try and understand Spanish culture fully. Spanish nights start pretty late, say 12-1AM and I didn't allow myself to go out at night and experience it because I didn't think it was worth it to stay up late, but who knows what would've happened. I think it's important to try to follow the lifestyle of whatever country you're in because you're playing by their rules now, not American ones. If I tried to get Ghanaians to eat fufu with a fork and knife instead of their right hand, I would be considered an idiot. It's none of our business to meddle with another country's culture. That's why the next time I come to India, I want to be considered a traveler, actually living and immersing myself into the country and not as a tourist just trying to see each landmark, snap a picture and move on.
The point is, the major differences in lifestyle between the US and Ghana forced me to adapt to Ghanaian standards and in turn, I learned a lot about the world and myself in general. That's something I'm sure you can't get in a developed country because nothing is different. There's nothing to adapt to. I mean, Spain was great and all but nothing interesting happened to me there. Because it's developed, I was able to navigate my way easily though the country. In Ghana, things weren't spoon fed to you and you have to rely on a more naturalistic approach, using your senses and asking people for help rather than pulling up Google Maps. It's really just like studying abroad in, let's say, French America or Australian America. Just add the country label in front of America.
I have to insist, don't imagine Ghana as some backwards country with no infrastructure or intellect whatsoever. It's not like that at all. Many people around the world believe that LA is absolute trash but I don't think that's true at all, at least not everywhere. Ghana has it's positives. The sense of family and community there is unlike any other I've seen. There's no such thing as doing things alone really, everyone is in it together. It's not like the individualism we have in the states, with all of us competing against each other for spots in graduate school, even trying to sabotage each other over grades and all that. It's pretty depressing for me personally, coming back to that attitude. All we care about is trying to get a good job with high pay, a hot husband/wife and kids, retiring by 50 and some other really stupid stuff but no one in the states ever takes the time to just chill. Let things go, take it slow and easy, there's never any rush to do anything. If any of you have seen 3 Idiots, you should remember the line, "Don't chase success, let success chase you instead." It's important to work hard and all but sometimes it's good to just sit back and take a break. I'm definitely going to miss that vibe. That alone makes up for all the negatives I faced in Ghana, and honestly, conditions there weren't even that miserable. I barely used any of my DEET for mosquitoes and the weather was bearable despite being covered in sweat within 2 minutes of being outside. Okay, maybe the toilets were awful but still.
It definitely takes a certain kind of person to want to go to Ghana, which is why I'm not going to try to persuade anyone to go. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to deal with an inefficient "university," being called obroni or Jesus or Osama (yes, people did call me those things), average infrastructure, lack of Internet, lack of late night meal options, strange insects, scary driving and so on. I think that's why many of the California kids were from Santa Cruz, because banana slugs have that kind of "change the world and be different" mentality. And I like that. I'd love to see someone I know well decide to go to Ghana, but if not I'd be glad to assist in anyone interested in studying abroad in general.
So then, how have I changed? What have I learned here? The answer? I have no idea. There are the obvious ones, like learning how to bargain and my beard of course, but I believe that Ghana left an impression on me that won't reveal itself in plain sight, not just yet anyway. I think that it's a more underlying effect, and that time will have to pass for those effects to show. I've only been back in the states for 2 days, so give me some time to figure that out!
But looking back to my first post, I talked about how I wanted to try to figure out what I wanted to do in the future. I'm positive that Ghana has helped answer that question through a via negativa process. Rather than explicitly seeing what I wanted to do, I ended up narrowing down my potential interests. I learned that I do not like working with children and that I don't belong in a hospital setting. I think I'm more geared for a therapist/psychiatrist/counselor kind of role. Even that grouping just shows how far I am to being specific about what I want to be, but it is narrowed down somewhat. Also, I have to keep telling myself that I am pretty young still. I was the youngest person out of all the international students to study abroad and I was pretty surprised when I figured that out. I thought more sophomores would jump on the chance to come to Ghana their 2nd year but talking to my older study abroad friends, they all remarked about how I had my act together to be able to go my 2nd year. And because of that, I'll be able to go abroad again my senior year (Thailand '17!). While everyone else was taking classes for their major, I was taking classes for my general education requirements and I was really just relaxing. Part of the reason I didn't do any volunteer work or internship there was because I had no intention to do any of that. I just wanted to travel, learn and explore on my own rather than put in the time to do something I probably have no interest in. So while I have figured out a direction I want to go in, I still can't place a specific title for what I want to be.
To conclude, Ghana left a lasting mark on me that is difficult to put into words right now. I just know inside that I've changed for the better. I wish everyone could understand what I've been through but it's just not enough to convey it through words and pictures. I'm glad I didn't get malaria or get pick pocketed throughout my entire time abroad. There was only 1 weekend where I felt miserable and of course I had diarrhea and I got ripped off bargaining a few times but those are little things compared to what some of my fellow study abroad mates went through; I've heard many horror stories about their times in the hospital. I'm also glad that I got to be able to do all of this before I even turned 20. I think that itself is something pretty special, to have a life-changing trip while still at a raw age. To the California group, I don't know if all of you guys will read this but almost all of you have left a positive impression on me one way or another and I'm thankful for all the wisdom and memories I've received from all of you. There were times I've embraced being that little kid of the group but for the most part, I think I've been able to hang with all of you. I'd be glad to talk more about Ghana if any of you readers are interested, preferably in person. Even after writing this post I've probably forgotten a few things that I wanted to write about but too late now. But lastly, thank you to my family and friends for being supportive while I was away and for looking out for me and keeping in touch in general.
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