Different and Normal

So Cape Coast, Ghana is quite different than Plymouth, Minnesota, USA.  When I first got here, all I could say was, “Wow, this is SO different…it’s just SO different….I can’t describe it any other way than being just completely different.”  I’m sure my family would have liked a bit more description of my surroundings, thoughts, and experiences, but I could not really give them more.  It was hard to describe what I thought and felt and saw.  And thinking about it now, I still cannot fully verbalize everything here.  I love it, but I can’t really explain it. 

What I have noticed is that things have become much more normal.  The way it is, is just the way it is.  Ghana hasn’t changed, but I have adapted to it.  It was not easy. And no matter how hard I try, I can’t change the color of my skin and therefore will always stand out as and be a foreigner, but as I’ve grown more used to Ghana, it has become easier to live in those differences and actually enjoy them.

The following pictures are an attempt to give you a slight example of what I mean.  These are all some of my common and everyday sights J

Clothes drying under the sun and out in the open for all to see (including my own underwear which they call pants).

Cows, goats, chickens, sheep, and dogs crossing or sharing the street with taxis or just generally getting in people’s way. 

Religious store names.  “Danielle, where are you going?”  “Oh I’m just going to get some biscuits at With God Supermarket.”

Women carrying anything and everything on their heads.  And oftentimes a baby on their back. 

Gutters on the side of the streets several feet deep…smelly & dangerous.  Some parts are covered, but many are open and waiting for their next victim’s misstep that lands them in the nastiness that lives at the bottom of the gutter.  Some people have told me it is better to get hit by a car then fall into the disease-infested gutters!

Children running up to you, touching you, grabbing your hand, and always yelling, “BRONI!”  Obronyi means ‘foreigner’ in the local Fante language.  Many times the kids will sing a song…”Broni, how are you?  I’m fine.  Thank you.  And you?” in a very stacoto tune. 

Kids who just want you to take their picture and get all excited when you show it to them.

The selling of undergarments on the sides of the streets.

Beautiful children staring back at us in the classroom as we teach them about hand washing.  They seem to enjoy following along with us!

Adorable goats EVERYWHERE!  I love the goats!  Mom – I'm bringing one home with me okay?!  These are the babies that live near my house.  They have a good, protective mommy.  Aren't they precious?!

These are just some examples of normal occurrences here in Cape Coast.  My reaction to them all changes on almost an hourly basis.  It can go from being annoyed that every single child you pass yells “Foreigner” at me or complete adoration that they actually want to hold my hand.  Sometimes, actually oftentimes, I laugh because the things Ghanaians don’t think twice about are quite outrageous to me, such as seeing my own underwear hanging out in the open for the world to see or the man peeing on the side of the road…facing a direction so the world can see.  Other times, I am stopped in amazement.  For example, a small woman can carry so much stuff on her head without dropping it…at the same time she will be carrying her baby on her back.  I tried carrying a sack of water on my head the other day and pretty much made a fool out of myself…here see for yourself…

But emotions come and go and in the end, all these things I have come to see as beautiful and part of the great experience Ghana is giving me.  Yes, it is different and I probably will never be able to fully describe or even understand everything here, but maybe that in itself is the beauty of it.  Love you Ghana!