No Worries in Ghana
The list of cultural differences between the US and Ghana is endless, but I’ll do my best to reflect on the ones that stood out.
Ghanaians speak much quieter than Americans. Many times throughout our trip it was impossible to hear our tour guides unless we were right next to the speaker. Yet somehow the locals could hold a conversation across a field at a normal volume. It was definitely easy to find our groups anywhere because we’d often be the loudest people around, not because we were particularly loud, but just because we weren’t whispering. There was also just a general quiet air, despite the busy streets around the major cities.
This quietness wasn’t just a small observation in my eyes. I think this represented a different cultural attitude that I really learned to cherish in Ghana. The people are very relaxed and calm. This was pretty obvious even when they would talk about potentially disturbing things — like the state of healthcare or corruption in their political system. I rarely, if ever, heard someone raise their voice, and basically every topic was talked about with a relaxing tone accompanied by a reassuring smile. The culture shock from this relaxed nature at some times could be frustrating.
Ask someone when your food would be out and the reply would be the standard “It is coming. Don’t worry.” There would never be a sense of hurry or frustration. Sometimes as our group would tour hospitals, we would expect there to be stricter regulations and more serious doctor-patient interactions. However, in my observations there was always a degree of casualness that I wasn’t accustomed to. There are certainly pros and cons to this relaxation. There wasn’t a particularly strong stress on timeliness. In my eyes, this is fine for a social event or when your laundry will be ready, but it could often be alarming when this aspect of culture would creep into healthcare or policy. Dealing with this aspect of relaxation was pretty nice for a month-long trip. I wasn’t on a particular hard and fast schedule on the Dialogue, so I was pretty content and actually preferred this aspect of Ghanaian culture, but being able to live it on a day-to-day basis is a whole other story!
