Hi everyone!!! 

I still have high hopes of writing a blog about my trip to the game park, Mole National Park where I got to see elephants and fend off some scavenging baboons. In the meantime, I thought I would share this reflections blog that I wrote for one of my scholarship organizations. They asked me to reflect on my time since returning home, so that is the focus of this blog. I'm focusing more on societal observations than personal relationships like family and friends, since this was for public consumption. Maybe I will go into the latter in a later edition. Enjoy!

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September 27, 2012

Dear Readers,

To give you a brief reminder, I am a MA International Studies candidate at the University of Washington, working over the summer with Women in Progress/Global Mamas in Cape Coast, Ghana. I previously shared some work and travel stories with you from my trip abroad, and now I’d like to take you through some of my reflections and experiences upon returning home to Seattle.

My internship ended September 14^th and I returned home on September 18^th. It has since been a week and half of adjustment, and I have a multitude of mixed feelings about my return. I think now might be a good time to give you a disclaimer: reintegration and reverse culture shock is HARD! Truthfully, it has been a lot more challenging coming home than I had imagined before leaving. I have a few theories on why this might be:

            1. Three months away is long enough to get settled into your new environment and start to adjust to their way of doing things. In my case, I am noticing that I assimilated to Ghanaian life so much so that I have forgotten how to be an American in America! The first time that I needed to take the bus from campus to my house, I couldn’t remember how much the fare was and it felt strange to be using dollars…  I’m used to brightly colored Cedi notes. Talking with my friends has been great but a bit strange, I feel like they are looking at me with expectations of a certain way I ‘behave’ or ‘am’ yet I can’t quite remember what that looks like..

            2. Everything looks different. Truthfully, things look a lot busier, inside of buildings is brighter, people look different and are wearing different clothing, and biggest of all, there is STUFF everywhere!!! I’m not talking about trash in the street or open gutters, because those are nowhere to be seen, nor are goats and chickens on any given street. Instead, I am talking about material possessions. I am so taken aback by how much stuff we have!! For example, I went to the UW Bookstore with some friends to pick out paper for a poster and I stood at the pen display for about ten minutes before realizing why I was stuck staring. There were at least ten different kinds of pink pens. Not to mention blue options, or even green! In Ghana, pens are few and far between even in the office, and when you have one, you take good care of it so as not to lose or break it. America has so many options for consumer goods, and I am really finding that difficult to deal with. Since when did we need so much? In Ghana, I learned that you can do a whole lot with a little, and I actually appreciated everything a lot more when I had less. I feel like I need fewer outfits now, less shoes, less stuff. I think I prefer it that way…

            3. Society behaves differently in Africa than it does in America or other Western countries. For example, human interaction and focus on building relationships is really important in Ghana. When you meet someone on the street, you take the time to stop and chat with him or her. Everyone is met with a greeting, from your taxi driver, to the lady at the fruit stand, to your friends. Good morning! Good afternoon, good evening. The phrases Wo ho ti den? (How are you?), and bocor (I am fine!), precede every conversation. In the short time that I was there, I was able to build numerous relationships. When walking down the street to the office in Cape Coast, people would recognize me and wave and smile. In the neighborhood surrounding our volunteer house, I knew the lady that has a gift shop, the lady that cooks in her restaurant, and the lady that sells food stuffs and drinks at her food bar quite well. I knew their kids. They all made a point to greet me every morning and evening when we saw each other. I felt welcome. Here in the US, we tend to get so caught up in our schedules, in our to-do lists; all of the things that we need to achieve in the day that we forget to greet others. I don’t mean to say that Americans aren’t warm people, we are! Especially in the Northwest, we have a friendly demeanor and I’d consider us to be social people. I guess the difference is in the small stuff. Taking time to help someone find his or her way that is lost, greeting a stranger, chatting with a neighbor. I loved that I wasn’t made to feel like an outsider in my community in Ghana, rather, people welcomed me into their lives and made an effort to get to know me. They wanted to know what had brought me to Ghana, ‘how do you find it here?’, and I hope you’ll come back! Perhaps in the US we could make more of an effort to welcome newcomers to our neighborhoods, our classroom, our sports team, and our offices. After all, we all came to America as immigrants at some point in history! (Lets stop here before I segue into politics…)

To be fair, there are positives to both societal structures. Yes, Ghanaian society is personable and not stressful, but we are a lot more productive here in the US. We get a lot more done in our workdays and are great at time management. We are a productive people!! 

Overall, there are differences between the places that we go to intern and volunteer abroad and our homes here in the US. That is why we left to go there in the first place, right? I think that the key to reintegration and cultural assimilation is balance. I plan to take the lessons I learned in Ghana and apply them to my life in the US, just as I took some lessons from American life to share with Ghanaians.  I will strive to be less wasteful, more resourceful, appreciate the small stuff, smile more, make strangers into acquaintances, dream big, work hard, persevere, give to those less fortunate, keep an open mind, and succeed. (Challenge, which of those are American values and which are Ghanaian? Which are shared values?)

Before I leave you, I’d like to share a few of my favorite moments in Ghana. They include the following:

• ·      Taking a hike up a lush mountain to the tallest waterfall in West Africa. Enjoying nature.
• ·      Riding on the roof of a safari jeep, through both monsoon rainfall and intense African sun within the same three hours.
• ·      Being approached by a 12 year old girl while buying a Fanta from her mothers shop. She asked, ‘can I take you as a friend?’ (This question was asked of my frequently and I am still a bit unsure of the meaning. I found it to be flattering, sweet, and sometimes strange depending on who the asker was.)
• ·      Realizing that I didn’t mind taking a cold bucket shower in the morning. Actually, it felt pretty nice.
• ·      Reading a book by kerosene lamp light when the power was out during a 2 week term of electricity rationing. Realizing that I liked the peacefulness and simplicity of reading by kerosene light.
• ·      Going to football (soccer) matches in the Accra Sports Stadium with friends. The crowd was so loud, lively and fun!!
• ·      Making dinner with two of the Mamas at their house then sitting down with a beverage and talking into the night.
• ·      Dancing in the street on any given Friday or Saturday night in Cape Coast. The music was blasting and people were moving to the beats. The energy was infectious. I love their culture of dancing. It can and should happen anywhere including the street, a bus, in the office, at home, with your neighbor, with an older lady, with a young girl…. You get the idea.
• ·      Hearing the phrase ‘you’re invited!’ from any coworker, friend, acquaintance that you pass who happens to be eating. The meaning of this is that they are eating and you aren’t so you should stop and have some of their food! This culture of sharing is so kind, I loved it!
• ·      Driving to work every day in a shared taxi full of strangers, watching the blue ocean waves hit the beach out the car windows. The palm trees against the white sand and blue sky are so striking!! What a commute.
• ·      Getting my hair braided by a team of about 5 ladies that seemed all business during the job and then proceeded to sit down with my friend and I afterwards to ask us all kinds of questions and giggle together over girl talk topics. They later walked us to the taxi and one yelled ‘bye friend, I love you!’ as we drove off toward our house.
• ·      Talking to two women that have been working together in their batiking business for over 20 years and asking them what they are most proud of. I later wrote this facebook post:  ‘Today I met with two women that have been batiking for over 20 years, and working with Global Mamas for 10 years. I asked them what their most proud accomplishment is, and they told me that they are proud of getting up every morning and going to work. They are proud that they can look back at their life and know they have worked hard. They have done their best. They have run a business and employed others. They are mothers and wives. They believed in themselves and knew they could run this business that has grown to be so successful. I pray that I will look back on my life with such clarity at their age, and be thankful for such realistic accomplishments. Thank you for reminding me of the grace in dedication.’

Thank you for reading my blog. I hope it doesn’t discourage anyone from traveling abroad, especially to developing countries, but rather gives you some food for thought about the process of self-reflection and personal growth. I’d encourage anyone to take the leap. You might be surprised what makes you feel fulfilled and what no longer seems so important.

Best wishes,

Colleen 

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Love you all!! Chat soon :)