So, I was asked to write this blog for the day because one I haven’t written one yet and two because I have been avoiding writing one.
I would love to talk about my exciting day at the Women’s Co-Op Credit Union researching microfinacing and going into the field to do research, but honestly I just made an excel workbook template and crunched numbers.
That sticks me now without something to talk about (hence potpourri). The following paragraphs are about my personal experience here in Ghana so far.
The first is FOOD. Carbohydrates, starches and protein are main staples of the Ghanaian diet. Here in Cape Coast seafood (mainly fish) is a major dietary component as well. Dishes like jollof rice (spicy, red rice), red red (plantains, black beans and rice) and fish soup are standards here at the guest house. On the street for the brave adventurers are goat kabobs, live snail, and germinated maize. All of the food I have tried so far has been great and at times a few fruits and veggies make their way into the meal. It has been exciting trying new things and I am sure that there are plenty more dishes to try.
Potpourri 2…Being of a biracial ethnicity I stick out like a sore thumb among Ghanaians. So, since I am half African-American and for this trip I braided my hair I thought just maybe I might be not as obvious. WRONG. I am labeled obruni despite my obvious ancestral link to the continent. Through my time so far I have tried to rise past my obruni status, but in a country where you are foreign and the minority, there is no hope, this weekend however, I was considered a “sister.” I spent my homestay in Tema and had the opportunity to go to the Accra cultural center, aka the tourist magnet of Ghana. This place was full of markets and merchants who were ready to consider me a “sister” because I now was willing to purchase souvenirs from them. I wasn’t offended or upset but in that moment I realized that no matter what I was labeled in any part of the world I am African at the roots and that can’t change.
I can only speak for myself, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience in Ghana so far. I came in with no expectations and willing to try anything at least once (I will be leaving with many first and last experiences). Each day brings a new list of opportunities and chances to explore a place so new and different from where I am from. Yet, with each experience I have realized that Ghana isn’t all that different from the U.S. or France or Canada. I have realized that at the end of the day we are all the same the only difference in what we do during waking hours.
