I had a hard time collecting my thoughts in Ghana to write a relevant and cohesive post. It's not that I was entirely overwhelmed or suffering intense culture shock, I think I got caught up comparing every anecdote to India, which I wanted to avoid. Ghana was nothing like India and I too frequently thought about them in the same string of consciousness.
I was in Ho, in the Volta Region of Ghana for 31 days, living in a hotel, with meals prepared by a kitchen staff. We also had cleaning service every day and could drop off our laundry when needed. Luxury, if you ask me. A few moments without electricity and a few more without water, but a headlamp and reserve water buckets eased the inconvenience.
The focus of each day was in the morning, whether vaccinating animals in a village or teaching in a school. We visited many villages surrounding Ho: Kpenoe (pronounced PEN-way, but I liked saying it phonetically ka-PEN-oh), Wegbe (WEG-bay), Kpetoe (PET-way), Akoefe (A-KWEF-ay) and Akrofu. Even though we were in the villages for a short amount of time we circumnavigated to get to as much livestock as possible, so we got to see the layout, interact with the people and really get a feel for the personality of the village. Even though the communities are close together, they had different atmospheres. We got to know the people of Kpenoe the best, we visited the most often and vaccinated tons of goats with the help of many women and children. Something I noticed was the variety of goat enclosures. Even though it was the same village, people built pens, fences, and walls with different materials, different sizes, different shapes. Wegbe was in a beautiful location at the foothills with lots of cinderblock structures and a landfill. We visited Akoefe when all the farmers were out in their fields, so it was desolate but when we returned to vaccinate chickens, the people were very nice and it was clean and organized. A huge part of what I learned in Ghana was getting to know the different villages and witnessing the diversity of living styles within a 20km (roughly) radius.
Now, back at home, I cannot help but notice another comparison to India. I am feeling a greater shock coming home from a month in Ghana, where I did not experience intense culture shock like I did for three months in India. I think coming back from India I was so excited to be home, in my own bed, with my family, and drinking tap water that I embraced my cultural reentry. But in that short visit to Ghana, I am startled by the things I do here at home. Jumping in the car and driving to the beach, going to the dentist, making dinner, weeding in the garden. I observed everything in Ghana, taking note of how they do things, how they live life, and now I am doing it to myself. I feel I need to remind myself "this is how I do things," "this is how I live my life," but because I am in a time of rapid transition I don't think I have figured out how I am going to live my life.
I was in Ho, in the Volta Region of Ghana for 31 days, living in a hotel, with meals prepared by a kitchen staff. We also had cleaning service every day and could drop off our laundry when needed. Luxury, if you ask me. A few moments without electricity and a few more without water, but a headlamp and reserve water buckets eased the inconvenience.
The focus of each day was in the morning, whether vaccinating animals in a village or teaching in a school. We visited many villages surrounding Ho: Kpenoe (pronounced PEN-way, but I liked saying it phonetically ka-PEN-oh), Wegbe (WEG-bay), Kpetoe (PET-way), Akoefe (A-KWEF-ay) and Akrofu. Even though we were in the villages for a short amount of time we circumnavigated to get to as much livestock as possible, so we got to see the layout, interact with the people and really get a feel for the personality of the village. Even though the communities are close together, they had different atmospheres. We got to know the people of Kpenoe the best, we visited the most often and vaccinated tons of goats with the help of many women and children. Something I noticed was the variety of goat enclosures. Even though it was the same village, people built pens, fences, and walls with different materials, different sizes, different shapes. Wegbe was in a beautiful location at the foothills with lots of cinderblock structures and a landfill. We visited Akoefe when all the farmers were out in their fields, so it was desolate but when we returned to vaccinate chickens, the people were very nice and it was clean and organized. A huge part of what I learned in Ghana was getting to know the different villages and witnessing the diversity of living styles within a 20km (roughly) radius.
Now, back at home, I cannot help but notice another comparison to India. I am feeling a greater shock coming home from a month in Ghana, where I did not experience intense culture shock like I did for three months in India. I think coming back from India I was so excited to be home, in my own bed, with my family, and drinking tap water that I embraced my cultural reentry. But in that short visit to Ghana, I am startled by the things I do here at home. Jumping in the car and driving to the beach, going to the dentist, making dinner, weeding in the garden. I observed everything in Ghana, taking note of how they do things, how they live life, and now I am doing it to myself. I feel I need to remind myself "this is how I do things," "this is how I live my life," but because I am in a time of rapid transition I don't think I have figured out how I am going to live my life.
