You Know You’re In Ghana When…

What should have been a fun filled week of Rotary International Health Days and visiting the Ghana Maritime Academy for a three day field trip with my nautical science class instead resulted in me sleeping for 17 hours every day as I tried to get over an infection. That all being said, I’m healthy again, and in honour of being in Ghana for 2.5 months, I have constructed a “You Know You’re in Ghana When..” list. Should you ever come to Ghana, you’ll experience this list for yourself!

You Know You’re in Ghana When…

• you get excited when you do not need to bring your own toilet paper to the bathroom
• you are named after the day you were born (I’m Yaa, for Thursday).

• you refer to everyone as if they are related to you.
• similar aged people are “brother (name)” and “sister (name)”
• people old enough to be your parents are “uncle (name)” and “auntie (name)”
• elders are “grandparent (name)”
• the bugs are HUGE.

• many shops are named after something biblical.
• “Blood of Jesus Barber Shop”
• “Moses Prostate Cancer Center”
• reliable internet is somewhat challenging to find.
• the currency being used is the Cedi. 

• you start to believe your name is “Obrouni” (foreigner).
• you know what a “squatter” is. 
• the pineapple juice is delicious.
• you frequently experience dumsar (power outages or “on and off”).
• the locals say its cold when it is below 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
• you take the TroTro instead of a bus. 

• you know the hand signs for TroTros.
• you’re constantly meeting people named Kofi and Kwame.
• you cannot escape marriage proposals.
• your diet consists of rice, chicken, and more rice.
• funerals are fun and people bring strangers to them to celebrate the deceased moving on.
• you find yourself hissing at waiters and not getting slapped for doing so.
• you frequently see advertisements pertaining to HIV/AIDS and ebola.

• it’s okay to tell your friends to “flash” you.
• taxi drivers get insulted when you put a seat belt on (if there are even seat belts in the car) because you are in insulting their driving skills.
• you bargain for anything and everything.
• there are no hooks to hang your handbag in the bathroom.
• people get upset with you for paying for or eating with your left hand.
• you buy food from the top of people’s heads rather than a super market.

• your professors don’t come to class because it is raining.
• coffins are wooden and made into any imaginable shape. 

• people urinate on the “do not urinate” signs.

• people are surprised you do not personally know President Obama.
• homosexuality is considered a sin; however, it is normal for men or women to walk around holding hands 
• xylophones and seprewas are used in traditional songs.

• Ghanaian friends who can hardly afford their own school fees will refuse to allow you to spend a single pesewa (“cent”) while visiting them.
• not having exact change ruins your day because exact change is almost always necessary.
• everything you eat is red.

• it’s rare to meet a local who knows how to swim.
• you know pictures simply can’t do Ghana justice.