Interesting Things

High speed internet has been down for the past few days- across the entire country. Can you imagine the fallout that would occur if high speed internet when down in the US for even an hour? It is not unordinary here. While waiting for pages to load on dial-up I’ve been reflecting on various parts of life in Ghana. Here are some experiences/observations:

It is perfectly acceptable for men to urinate in public. I took a taxi the other day and when we reached the destination he got out of the car and urinated while I sat there waiting to hand him the money. I stared at my hand for awhile and then left the money on the passenger seat.

It is incredibly rude to hand someone something with your left hand. The left hand is the dirty hand. It is used for dirty things (also bathroom related). To eat with your left hand, give something to someone or even wave with your left hand toward a person is insulting. This is not an easy culture for the leftys.

Greeting is a big deal. You must greet people. If you do not it is insulting. A greeting is much more than a hi or a wave. You must stop, say good morning, ask how the person is, ask how their spouse is, ask about the children, ask if they slept well (if it is morning), ask about anything that transpired since you last met the person. You respond in kind to each question. It takes awhile, but it is very important and reflects the paramount value of relationship. When people respond to “how are you?” with “fine”, they sing it, “fiiiiiiiiiiine”. The “i” is thick and airy. I particularly like this.

Things are interestingly named and decorated. Flag stickers are popular for taxi windshields. I rode in one today with the Australian flag and the Mexican flag. I have frequently seen a large sticker of a naked white crawling baby on the back of trotros. I have no idea where it comes from, what it means or why there seem to be so many floating around Ghana. Many business have religious names like “Blood of Our Savior Beauty Supply” and “Grace of God Bar”. I did not make those up. I should do a photo project on shop names and taxi decorations. It was be very interesting- mostly because it is so random.

Most housing is in compound form. In a rural area, earthen huts are clustered together and surrounded by a low fence to keep the livestock enclosed. The extended family lives together in one compound. In an urban area it is similar. Houses are large and hold multiple families. The guest house I am staying in has like 6-7 bedrooms in the main house and other living space in several small structures on the property. Granted it is a guesthouse, so of course it is large, but it was not originally built for this purpose. Many city houses have walls and watchmen. Crime is not particularly high in Ghana (very low compared to other African cities), but people are very conscious of security.

It is not rude to play loud music. It is considered favorable to share your music with your neighbors. Even at 6:30 AM on a Saturday. Let’s get the party started.

“Tomorrow” is a relative term that can mean anything from five minutes to eternity. When will the shipment arrive? Tomorrow. When will your sister visit? Tomorrow. When will we invade Mars? Tomorrow. It can literally mean the next day, or it can mean the person has no idea, or it can mean that the person does not want to be impolite by telling you that something is impossible or never going to happen. This can be annoying if you’re on a schedule or trying to plan something. (In general planning is kind of… um, pointless). However, I actually enjoy the acceptability of being vague. A young man very intently wanted to sell me a painting of Bob Marley. I could, in full cultural appropriateness, escape by politely saying “perhaps tomorrow”. I wonder if I could spread this cultural principle at home, say at school.

Oh, there are so many things I could talk about. I will certainly write more on this theme tomorrow.