Expectations I Arrived With

It is somewhat still hard for me to believe that ten weeks ago I was on my way. Anticipating what I might see and what I might feel. Inspired to think of all I might be doing and the people that I’ll be meeting. I was excited, yet scared, brave, and yet nervous. Ten weeks ago, I was on my way, enduring the final countdown to Ghana as I meditated on a safe trip for each rumble of turbulence.

In retrospect, I can honestly say I didn’t have this long list of lofty expectations. I took heed to what I was told about staying in Ghana. I was told not to pack much, that there would be plenty of tasty vegetables and fruits, and that there would be a lot of hair products available for my natural hair.

I expected communication with family and friends back home would be difficult to a degree. But I never expected that I would feel isolated from my family and the Internet for a few weeks, until I got enough money and the right connections. The Internet had to be the hardest thing to somewhat go cold-turkey on. On top of that, I left my laptop on the plane on my way to London. That really stopped me from talking to anybody. My communication was not really returned until I got my laptop returned two weeks after arrival.

I didn’t expect the program to move so fast so soon. The day after arrival we were up at 7:30 am to eat breakfast and head off on our day trip. With jet lag and all, we had to attend lectures, tours, hikes, sight seeing, and other fun, but tiring activities. I was so tired and ready for a break from everybody after a week.

I expected to find a lot of cheap clothing, easily. The information pamphlet told us to pack light because there would be a lot of clothing we would want to purchase. It is easy to find cheap clothing once you know how to bargain. People have no problem selling a pair of second hand jeans for 50 cedis so it is important to know what the locals pay. You also have to keep a smart eye for worthy thrift clothing. My issue was that I wanted to find clothing quickly to cloth myself until I learned the system. There is only one place I found that could fulfill this need, in my budget, and that was at the mall at a store named Mr. Price. Being that this was the case, I did not want to have to spend so much money buying clothes when I could have spent that same money on buying and doing cool things I couldn’t do in the states.

I expected to be able to find natural hair products. All beauty supply stores I have seen thus far have been filled with the typical products that are overstocked at Korean shops. There is Dark and Lovely, Pink, Cholesterol, Dr. Miracle, and any other product with harmful chemicals and mineral oils in them. I have yet to find a straight up hair product with nothing but oils and fragrance in it. Not even natural conditioners or shampoos. The most natural things to do for natural hair here is black soap and Shea butter.  Maybe I can go back to the kitchen and mix my own products while I’m here.

I did not expect it to be so hard to get around. Being that I have been conditioned by a readily available bus schedule and tight transportation system, I was really intimidated by the transportation system here. There are two options widely available to those without automobiles. There is the trotro that people could take for coins and then there are taxis. Trotros intimidated me because there are no designated bus stops and I have to somewhat remember where I am going and what area I am heading in order to ride one successfully. No app or GPS bus system available on my phone. There are no signs on the trotros, just men yelling what direction they are going or doing hand signals. I’ve been on the trotro and it involved a lot of asking around. But on those days that I want to be lazy, I take a taxi. I have definitely been limited by my understanding of the trotro. Right now I’m afraid of my lack of experience.

My last expectation was the availability of groceries and grocery stores. I pretty much have two options that I know of thus far. I could either shop at Shop Right or Game for groceries. There is actually a third option at the A&C mall, but it is expensive to get there. Cheaper options are on campus with the few vegetable options they have at the night market and vegetable market in the agricultural department. There are also not many vegetable and fruit options. I miss dark greens, spinach, dark lettuce leaves, affordable grapes, broccoli, rainbow carrots, and mushrooms. The fruits and veggies available here are pineapple, avocado, tomatoes, chilies, plantain, cabbage, small carrots, bell peppers, bananas, papaya, onions, and romaine lettuce. Give or take a few other fruits and veggies I might have left out.

Despite these minor surprises, I have been having such a great time learning how to live in a new society and experiencing new things. I still have another nine months to enjoy all that Ghana and its lessons have to offer.