Blog #3 — Life in Ghana
As I have resided in South Florida throughout all of the eighteen years of my life, I have undoubtedly become accustomed to a comfortable day-to-day lifestyle. While each day varies and there may be numerous discrepancies in what I do or who I interact with, I generally would start off mornings by cleaning myself up and eating breakfast.
I tended to have different plans each day. Some days were spent lazily, with me simply engulfing myself with junk food while binge watching a new tv series on Netflix. During these days, I would only interact with people in my household, most likely being my parents and my brother. Other days however, I would plan out a fun eventful day with my friends. These days would usually include playing basketball at the gym, hanging out at the mall, and watching a movie in the theater. During these days, I’d obviously be interacting with my friends, as well as people looking to play pickup games at the basketball court, and acquaintances that I bump into at the mall or theater. There were also days which would include running around completing errands, such as obtaining supplies for upcoming endeavors, buying groceries, dropping and picking up my brother from wherever he chose to spend his day, or getting expired documentation renewed, during which I would interact with store clerks and cashiers.
However, while I have gotten used to this general lifestyle, I am no longer surrounded by the comforts of my home or will I be able to go by a simple “go with the flow” type routine each day, as I am now staying in Accra, Ghana. I arrived on Sunday, September 2, after a 21 hour journey from Miami. I will continue to stay in Accra for three months, away from my home, family, and friends. I am staying with a very kind host family, consisting of a husband and wife and their three adorable daughters who have happily accepted me into their home with open arms and have shown me nothing but warmness and hospitality. The girls are very energetic, and keep me very entertained and busy, as we play cards and board games. The area I am staying in, Pokuase, is a very active little village on the outskirts of Accra. It is filled with busy streets, and lots of people on the side doing business and selling merchandise.
Despite the somewhat hectic and frenetic nature of the area, it is also very peaceful and full of warmth, as the people are very friendly and helpful, and there is not any stress or tension among them. I cannot definitively give a day by day description of my new lifestyle as I’ve only spent a couple of days in Accra, and am still adjusting to this new environment far away from Florida. I am still becoming familiar with the area and am working to improve my ability to navigate through it with more ease. I have already visited a few particular parts of Accra, such as several small art centers consisting of local artists displaying some of their handcrafted works, the memorial park for Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, as well as the Jubilee House, which serves as the presidential palace to the current president, Nana Akufo-Addo, and I even walked around the campus of the University of Ghana. In addition, I’ve visited the clinic which I’ll be working at and have become acquainted with the staff there. I’ve not yet developed a clear day by day routine, but am anxious to see how I will adjust to this lively yet peaceful city, and am optimistic about these next three months over which I hope to meet new people, bestow my eyes on beautiful sights, and learn about the history of Accra along with its different cultures and traditions.
