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Published: August 12th 2010
8/10/10
Akwaaba! This is a Ghanaian welcome, which I heard from a lot of the locals as I toured the campus with the rest of the USAC international students. My first day in Accra was great. I got in at around noon after a ten-hour flight and was met by a USAC representative who took myself and a couple other students back to our home for the next five months. The weather was hot and humid so I had to immediately change out of my blue jeans and into shorts after lugging my two huge suitcases up 3 flights of stairs. The rooms are airy, clean, and even have a balcony, which looks over a part of campus and gives you great views of the African sunset.
After we all got settled in, we set off to have a quick tour of the campus (which is huge!) and to meet with the international director, Abigail, who told us how the rest of our orientation would go and some information about registration.
Once we had all gotten the low down on what to expect we headed off to have dinner together. Abigail had arranged for us to eat at a local restaurant by campus. We were all very excited to try our first Ghanaian food but also a little nervous because one of the girls had been telling us how her first meal was a slimy goat tongue in a spicy sauce. We arrived at the restaurant and saw that they had set up a table for us outside. This was nice to be outside in the cool breeze but the drawback was there wasn’t very much light so you couldn’t exactly see what you were eating. Women came around and put everything on your plate saying “Yes you try this” I tried to ask what everything was but only heard a few answers. We had beef with a hot chili sauce, fried plantains, a grain mix called fufu, as well as some steamed vegetables. I tried everything and it all was delicious!
The next few days were spent getting familiar with our surroundings and learning some essential phrases in Twi. The USAC students were also given a class on Ghanaian etiquette so we won’t offend anyone with our ignorance. One thing that is different about the Ghanaian culture is that it is considered very rude to gesture or hand an item to another person using your left hand. Greetings are also very important here so if you fail to greet someone you have met before that is a sign that you do not respect them or enjoy their company. My Ghanaian roommate is supposed to arrive soon so I hope she will also tell me some more dos and don’ts of the culture.
Overall everything has been wonderful so far and I am so thankful that I have this opportunity to explore and learn about the world ☺
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Akwaaba Nin! I love the blog so far! Sounds like you are having fun and your pictures are awesome. Talk to you soon!