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Published: September 21st 2008
I did not go on a grand trip this weekend, we were left unattended. Saturday morning I woke up, early, like I always do because the sun is bright and won't let me sleep past 6:30. There were two people in my group that were going to Osu so I joined them. Osu is a part of Accra, I think. All I know is that you take a tro-tro from campus to 37th and from 37th to Osu. All in all it's not a bad trip, probably took less than an hour in total. It's funny how to catch these tro-tros, if you're going to 37th you need to look for a mate that is saying they're going to circle... except it doesn't come out at circle, it's more like 'circ circ circ circ circ circ' and he makes a circle motion with his hands. If you want to go into accra, they say 'cra cra cra cra cra' and point with their index finger. Anyway, we arrive in Osu. I did a little shopping and looked around. We went into this all natural soap and candle store. The woman that owns the place makes all the soaps, face scrubs, oils, candles herself. I would expect to pay a lot of something like this in America, but fortunately for me I'm in AFRICA! She said I had a nice complexion, I thanked her. She asked me what I was mixed with, and I told her my mother was white and my father was black. She told me she thought so because her mother was of the same mixed heritage, with her mother being from England and her father was Ghanaian. She was very nice, I'll probably go back. We then went to some jewelry stores because the girl I was with, Sarah, wanted to look for a pendant. Most of these shops are owned by Indians. Actually, all the ones we went into were owned by Indian men. In one of the shops the man was asking us where each of us was from. He got to me, and looked at me and goes 'You aren't American'. I was like, yes I am. He goes, well you are mixed with something. I then explained my background, and he goes 'aha! I knew it!'. He then commented on my nose ring. He really was a nice old man. We made our way back to the hostel after a few hours and a trip into a grocery store... which you have to be ballin to shop at. I think Osu is the place I've seen the most white people at. Everything was so expensive in the store because all the items are imported.
From the past few weeks I have been in this country it has come to my attention that a lot of people assume that all Americans are white... or black, you cannot be an American if you are of asian decent, hispanic, or mixed category. I am not sure where this assumption comes from, but it is interesting, because I have grown up in the US where it really is a melting pot of many diverse backgrounds so I guess I'm used to it. I have had more people comment on what I am here than I have any other time in my life. I don't mind, I just find it fascinating. I have been mistaken for a hispanic (not unusal), that was interesting, he started talking in spanish to me 'como estas?' And I replied, I'm fine, but I don't speak much spanish, I'm American and have only taken a few years of spanish. He asked me if I was sure. (Ghanaians typically use this phrase, are you sure? Yes I'm sure!) He did not want to let it go, he was determined to change my heritage to that of hispanic origin, this could also be because of the alcohol. I would like to add that I was in a market in the daytime when this occurred.
Just some interesting tid bits about what I have personally experienced here. I not only throw off people in my own country, but this confusion extends to people an ocean away.
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June
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fascinating
Vanessa, your blogs are so darn fascinating, I can't wait for Sunday to come to read them.