Ghanaian Friendships and Lifestyle
The social interactions for our group have been nothing short of interesting. As a group of foreigners, we stick out immediately and are certainly an object of curiosity for many of the locals. It’s pretty common for people to wave to our bus as we drive by or to come up to us on the streets and ask where we’re from. So on a quick one-to-one basis it is very easy to make simple conversations with strangers. In the context of this Dialogue, we have been able to interact closely with our lecturers, as well as students and health care practitioners. A lot of the credit for our ability to meet locals is due to Dr. Johnson, our amazing professor. She has been able to connect us with some of the most amazing in-country coordinators and people in our desired fields. From them, we’ve been able to branch out to meeting others.
Since Ghana is an English speaking country, the friendships are easy to make. Everyone has been very receptive to hearing about people from distant lands, and are quick to ask questions that are generally asked after a bit more small talk — like do you like Donald Trump? or why aren’t you married yet? There is a bit of culture adjustment that is necessary for Americans to make, if they want to have reasonable conversations with Ghanaians. Some of the most lively interactions for our group have been made at the markets.
The markets here have negotiable prices on just about everything. Because of this, the salespeople are forced to use their arsenal of social skills to court their customers and get the most generous prices out of them. There is a lot of direct yelling and singling out at individuals walking through the market. There isn’t more than a few seconds without hearing the phrases “My friend, my friend!” or “Student discounts, just for you!” The markets however do present the best opportunities to makes purchases that aren’t available elsewhere. My favorite purchase has been a large fabric of orange, blue, and yellow shapes that I ended up asking our Dialogue’s preferred tailor Kojo to make into a pair of shorts. The pricing for everything, from clothes to food, in Ghana can be shockingly cheap. Sometimes a meal will be lower than $3 USD. This has made it pretty easy for me to budget, since I know at the very least I can afford a few more meals, unless I’m completely broke. All in all, the lifestyle here takes a bit of adjustment, but I’ve been really proud of both myself and my peers for making those proper adjustments!
