As is standard when first arriving in a country you haven't visited before, there were lots of mishaps and mistakes I made. First, after our group got our bags and went through customs, we had a van to take us to the hotel, arranged by the Department of Education. The luggage for the whole group was strapped down to the top of the van. A number of men carried our baggage for us up to the top...a difficult duty, I would think, in 90 degree heat. All the men began asking us for money, but not just politely as a tip, they began to ask for American $20's for everyone, and one man in particular kept hitting my hand lightly, as it was resting on my bag (containing my wallet). My mistake was that I had indirectly let him know that I had money in that bag. It is better to have your tip ready ahead of time and already in your hand or pocket, separate from the rest of your money. It's difficult to not want to always give money to everyone, but I literally could very quickly give away all my money if I give the equivalent of 5 or 10 dollars to every person that asks.
After getting to the hotel, the first thing I wanted to do was plug in my laptop and write an email/facebook message to my husband and parents to let them know I was here safely. Of course, our electrical outlets in the US, and the voltage are different from Ghana, so I brought an electrical converter and a transformer with me. The transformer lowers the voltage. I plugged in the transformer with my laptop, and an hour later, blew up the transformer. Thankfully, I didn't ruin the outlet in Ghana :)
The showers also operated differently, and I couldn't figure out how to change the water from running out of the bath, and instead having it leave the shower head. In playing with knobs, I broke one off. The plumber came to fix it :)
Also, in fussing with the lights, I accidentally pulled off the light switch and the cover, but I was able to fix that myself. Lastly, in the middle of the night, my air conditioning broke. That was rough... it's extremely hot here.
When all is said and done, when traveling one has to roll with the punches. We can't expect our own customs, practices, and ways of conducting business and services to be the same all around the world. When I visit another country, I remove my American expectations and roll with the punches. That attitude has never let me down, and has always allowed me to develop nice relationships with all of the new people I meet.
Thanks for sharing this blog! Love the videos, too. Interesting funeral custom. 9 months before being born and 9 before being buried.
ReplyDeleteJose-The dish is weird looking because of the head and tail on it. The side dishes look interesting too.
ReplyDeleteAngel- The dish looks interesting and different than what you would see in the U.S.