Monday, September 20, 2010

How I'm Living

I live in the International Student Hostel, which is not located near many of the other halls on campus. My living environment is secluded from much of campus life which has taken away a lot from my experience on campus. Most of the international students are sheltered from the local students rather than integrated. I live in one of the two international student hostels. These hostels are nicknamed ISH 1 and ISH 2 and are made up mainly of students from the U.S., Europe, and Nigeria. There are some Ghanaian students who live in ISH 1 and ISH 2, and these students had to apply to live with the international students.

If I had to make a comparison, I would say that my current living accommodations are below those of Valley View and Mountain View Towers at USU, which definitely isn’t anything to brag about. Most of the rooms in my hostel are shared, but there are some singles (which I decided to live in). We have community bathrooms which have no hot water in the sinks or showers and don’t have toilet paper, soap or paper towels. Luckily there is a cleaning service that cleans the bathrooms Monday through Saturday. There are also no washers or dryers in the hostel, so the majority of students hand washes their clothes and hangs them on line to dry. There are two kitchens on each floor and reading and study rooms. There is also a small store to buy snacks and toiletries and a dining service that provides breakfast, lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. There are power outages weekly as well as water outages and sometimes for several days at a time. So I've had to use a flashlight from time to time to maneuver around my room and learn how to take a bucket bath.

Our rooms are not air-conditioned, but luckily we have ceiling fans.

There is a lot of moisture in the air and not much time for things to dry, so it is very common to feel sticky all the time and for mold to grow on your clothes, shoes, bags, etc. in your room.

Because of the large amount of mosquitoes, I sleep under a mosquito net every night to avoid getting nibbled on in my sleep.

The student hostel has an internet cafĂ© that also provides Wi-Fi within the hostel, but the internet connection is terrible. It also costs quite a bit of money to use and isn’t reliable, so one would be better off buying a modem from one of the local phone companies (which also don’t work very well because of the hostel’s location) or going to an internet cafe on campus or at the local mall.

There are several other student hostels on campus. Many of the local students room four to a room. Some rooms even have five in a room. Most of their rooms are the same size as a room in Valley View or Mountain View Towers, which is quite small for four or more people. The rooms have two bunk beds and some with an additional room within the main room to fit a fifth person.

There is a hostel on campus called Pentagon that best resembles the accommodations in Aggie Village at USU. It’s the most expensive hostel to live in on campus and where I would chose to live if I was a local student and could afford to do so. You can live two or four to a room and can pay extra for air conditioning instead of a ceiling fan. Each room has a bathroom, kitchen area and patio. It would make living here a lot more comfortable than where I'm living right now!

I'm looking forward to taking hot showers again, lying on a comfortable bed with soft pillows, having air conditioning and not having to sleep under a mosquito net!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Business Minded



The University of Ghana doesn’t offer my major, so I had the option of taking whatever courses I wanted to this semester. My intentions were to only take cultural courses while I was here, but I changed my mind and decided to study business at the University of Ghana Business School. The business school is one of the premier schools in the sub-region of Ghana. As much as I enjoy studying journalism, I know that I am a business man at heart.

I am taking four business courses this semester: Elements of Marketing, Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship, Management of Non-Government Organization and Human Behavior in Organizations. I am also taking an introduction to drumming class in the school of performing arts.

There are about 34,000 students attending the university this semester. The majority of students are Ghanaian and come from various economic backgrounds and different regions of Ghana. There are also over 100 international students here. The campus is very large and is located about 13 kilometers north-east of Accra, the capital of Ghana.

The student hostel I live in is located about a 15 minute walk from campus or a five minute drive if I take the school shuttle (which looks more similar to a Greyhound bus in the U.S.).

The local students seem to take their education seriously. They are required to take a minimum of 18 credits per semester (which is the equivalent of 18 credits at USU); so studying is vital. It is uncommon for Ghanaians students to work while going to college. The families of many Ghanaian students support their educational costs so that they can solely focus on their education while in school. It is more common for Ghanaian students to take on a summer job or internship if they decide to work at all. Many Ghanaians find it very odd that so many teenagers in the U.S. move out of their parents' homes when they are 18 years old. If that were to happen here, it would look bad for your family. Many Ghanaians also find it odd that students in the U.S. say that they don't want to go to college. Education is not taken for granted here.

Many of the classes offered here have one cumulative exam at the end of the semester worth anywhere from 70-100% of your entire grade. So I will definitely be studying a lot and learning some techniques from some of my local friends on how to prepare for final exams.

There is no limit on how many people can register for one class, so I usually have to get to my classes about 20 minutes early just to get a seat. Once one class in the business school is done in a particular classroom, there is a rush of students trying to get into the classroom for the next class. A lot of the students save seats for their friends, so it's important to make some friends, so that they can save a seat for you if you ever have to come late to class.

My classes are going very well and most of my professors are very funny. My professors are all Ghanaian and have fairly strong accents. I am usually laughing “inside” because just about everything they say sounds funny to me!

The lectures are very interesting and what I like most is that my professors use a lot of examples from local culture and businesses to explain concepts. This allows me to learn a lot more about Ghanaian culture, government, businesses, etc. The professors also care a lot about the local students and encourage them to help develop their communities and country once they begin professional careers.

I must admit that I do enjoy class here more than in the states.

One thing worth mentioning is that some of the local students preach before some classes begin. Seriously! A full sermon, bible included. So as I wait for my professor to show up for my Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship class every Tuesday around 7:10 A.M., there is always a student preaching the word of God. The students preach at their own discretion, but are not supposed to be doing so since this school is not a private institution, but they do it anyways. They even ask the class to close their eyes and pray with them … even going as far as asking those who have not given their life to God, to do so, while they are in class. None of the students stop this from happening, mainly due to the large Christian community on campus.

This definitely adds a spark to my Tuesday mornings.

Amen!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Being an African American man in Ghana

There was no “welcome home” ceremony or sense of “street credibility” amongst Ghanaians, nor has there been any extra attention given to me for being an African American returning to the “motherland”.

Many Ghanaians refer to African Americans as Black Americans, which distinguishes them as black people who live in America. And some Ghanaians further this point to say that the Black people who live in American are accustomed to American culture rather than traditional African based culture and are perceived to be no different than White Americans.

Being a dark-skinned African American male here has brought me a very unique experience; which differs from most of the other international students. But I must mention that my experience is greatly influenced by my background and upbringing. Some of my experiences may be troublesome for some of you to read, but I wanted to be as honest as possible about my feelings, hopefully helping someone who goes through a similar situation to mine.

The problems adjusting to Ghanaian culture and the culture shock I experienced over the first few weeks I was here were largely based on race based insecurities that I had previous to coming to Ghana.

These were some of the experiences and emotions I felt once I got here.

For the first two or so weeks I was here, I had a hard time being around people in a country of my possible family ancestry, who are the same color of skin as me, who look just like me, but none I felt I could relate to. From local dialects to social interaction to culture, I felt like I had nothing in common with Ghanaians. Although that logically makes sense since I am not from Ghana, at that time, my emotions took over, and I felt very sad and confused.

My family has not been able to trace our ancestry back to any specific country in Africa, so I had an internal desire to finally make a connection, but I just wasn’t making any.

My study abroad group, which is made up of mainly white students, had traveled together several times. I used to hate traveling with them during our first few outings because I was tired of street vendors rushing our bus while we were stuck in traffic or when we would arrive at a destination and try to get off the bus. I didn’t like to stick out and I didn’t want to feel like a tourist. It was the first time I actually had a chance to blend in, but being on bus full of White kids in Ghana didn’t make blending so easy. I disliked the extra attention our group got. But the street vendors calculated that White people = $ and always came running.

I knew that a lot of the locals couldn’t tell that I was African American. I would get spoken to in the local dialect from time to time or asked if I was Ghanaian. So I looked the part, but didn’t fit it.

Out of emotion, I began thinking that I wished that I was White or lighter skinned; so that people could just tell that I was not from here. I figured that looking like a foreigner would eliminate any possibility of someone thinking I was a local and would save me from the embarrassment of speaking in public and people laughing in my face after expecting to hear a Ghanaian accent and instead hearing my “American English” (which happened on several occasions).

And again, out of emotion, I started thinking to myself that maybe I am just a “Black American” and that I didn’t deserve to be called an “African” American … and that slavery had done its job, because I had never felt so disconnected from black people in my life.

Wearing earrings here also caused me a lot of insecurity for the first few weeks. Although more men are beginning to wear earrings here, it’s not yet culturally acceptable. Men who wear earrings here are usually presumed to be a sissy, homosexual, drug dealers, or “bad” men. I didn’t know that when I came here. So imagine people thinking that I was actually Ghanaian and wearing earrings. I got stared at as if I was an alien at most places I went to. So as I was walking to class or in public, I would get long and hard stares. Whether I noticed this because of insecurity or if I was just extremely vigilant, the stares seemed quite obvious. Most days I would wear my earrings, some days I would not … it really depended on my mood and how much attention I was comfortable bringing to myself.

Fast forward three weeks … I am adjusting to Ghanaian culture and I am enjoying my time here. Befriending local students and talking to my study abroad program advisor and other international students about my feelings greatly helped my transition through the difficulties I was experiencing with cultural adjustment. Writing my feelings also helped me sort out a lot of the confusion in my mind.

When I stopped focusing on cultural dissimilarities and started acknowledging that I was in another country with a culture that wasn’t going to change for me and wasn’t my own, and understanding that I didn’t have to lose myself to get adjusted, my overall experience started to grow and my insecurities diminished.

My experience overcoming culture shock has increased my maturity and self confidence and I now feel comfortable in my own skin and I am looking forward to the rest of my experience in Ghana.

I am a proud African American man and I hope that my experiences and what I did to overcome my difficulties with culture shock, help other African American men and women who travel to Ghana for the first time.

P.S. I decided to keep my earrings on for good while I am here.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Introduction to living in Ghana

Studying abroad in Ghana has been a challenging but fulfilling experience.

I didn’t think that I had expectations before coming to Ghana. But within a few weeks, I realized that I had a deep seeded expectation, which was to feel a since of belonging and/or acceptance here. But unfortunately that hasn’t always been the case. Within the first month of being here, I’ve questioned my personal identity and realized many of my insecurities. Nevertheless, I am having an educational and influential experience and an opportunity to better understand my own cultural values and beliefs.

Ghanaian culture is exceptionally different from my cultural background, which has made it difficult for me to adjust to. There are so many dynamics and no clear reference points or comparisons to explain a lot of my experiences here, but I will try my best to explain them to you.

Coming to a developing third world country from a first world country with a first world mindset can be quite challenging. Visually, the development that I am accustomed to seeing in first world countries I have traveled to and in the U.S., is still apparent here in some areas, but for the most part it is underdeveloped. A lot of the roads are poorly paved if paved at all, there are not many sidewalks, most of the gutters are open, there are more markets than store fronts and more people selling products in the street then in stores, sanitation is low and there is wide spread poverty.

For the first few weeks I was here, I had a difficult time comprehending poverty as being a norm amongst so many people. And I have not even seen the worst of the living conditions here in Ghana or in other countries in Africa. Seeing poverty here brought to life some of the images I had only seen on TV. What I have learned from these experiences is that no matter what living condition one is living in, one can be happy. Poverty just happens to be a reality of many peoples’ lives.

On the other hand, for the first couple weeks I was here, it was difficult to comprehend how wealthy some people are here compared to how poor the higher majority of people are. Many Ghanaians and immigrants to Ghana are very wealthy, living similar lives and enjoying the luxuries of the rich and famous in the U.S. and around the world. There are many mansions in the capital city, Accra, and other major towns such as Kumasi. I saw a beautiful white Bentley driving through my college campus last week and a yellow Lamborghini a few weeks back outside of a night club I went to … not to forget the Mercedes Benz and BMWs I see on my college campus every day. Not quite what the U.S. media may show.

The rich seem to stay rich and the poor seem to stay poor. There is not yet an established middle class in Ghana, but it is growing.

From what I’ve learned in class and from some of the locals, the government is corrupt, which has put a damper on development.

Money is king here. And many people are hustling to get as much as possible to support themselves and their families.