Reverse Culture Shock
Being back in America is definitely different. The first shower I took shocked me a bit with the hot water and high pressure. No more buckets! Pineapples don't taste as good here and I do miss Ghana (and speaking Twi and Ikpana), but I can finally eat cereal for breakfast again and I'm happy to be home.
I've graduated with a B.A. in Linguistics and Honors in Multimedia Scholarship from the University of Southern California and am now looking for the next step (hopefully involving a job and then graduate school). Ending my undergraduate career abroad in Ghana seems like it was a good decision. I'm happy I did it.
Advice
I've had some people ask for recommendations for students who will be studying abroad in Ghana in the future. The most important piece of advice I could give is this:
1) Bring large denominations of US currency if you want to exchange money over there. You get a much higher exchange rate for a $20 bill or a $100 bill than for a $1 bill (it is not even worth exchanging $1 bills, as you will lose money).
2) I'm not a doctor, so take my advice for what it is, but from what I was told by doctors in Ghana, Doxycycline is not the best malaria prophylaxis. It is an antibiotic which will reduce the effects of malaria on you should you get it, and it apparently helps slightly in preventing malaria, but I think that the majority of the people on both my study abroad program and the CIEE study abroad program who got malaria were taking doxycyline. Use a mosquito net/tent, and don't forget to take your malaria prophylaxis, whatever it is!
That's all. There's lots I could say, but I really believe that if you have the right attitude you will do fine, and learning the rest for yourself is part of the experience.
"Enjoy your life!" - Papa Attah
Blog
I will continue this blog, most likely with updates on my research plans and adventures. I've tagged all of the posts from this semester abroad as "Ghana" so they can be easily organized/found by clicking on the label "Ghana."
Feel free to check back in the near future! I've begun work on a potential project with some local Native American groups... I'm excited!
Photos
Unansanango (Paramount Ruler of Logba Traditional Area), Dela (his daughter), me, and his wife. Their son just got married today! This photo was taken right after they adopted me into the royal family and asked me to return to continue my research. They gave me the beads around my neck. I'm wearing the Essien football (soccer) jersey that Claire gave me.
Nat playing a kpanlogo at the Kotoka airport in Accra when she saw us off.
Paco at London Heathrow airport sporting the beads he made using the traditional Krobo method and the shirt he had sewn out of the batik fabric he made. Ismatu's foot is making a cameo.
Rachel being excited at London Heathrow airport. We had just watched her favorite movie, the Addyeboat video (of Claire's drunken basket-weaving instructor, Addyeboateng - o ha dwene! "He is trouble!"), which will be uploaded onto the Internet eventually...
Ismatu and I at London Heathrow Airport. Ismatu is rockin' her batik hoodie (yeah, I'm kinda jealous).
Being back in America is definitely different. The first shower I took shocked me a bit with the hot water and high pressure. No more buckets! Pineapples don't taste as good here and I do miss Ghana (and speaking Twi and Ikpana), but I can finally eat cereal for breakfast again and I'm happy to be home.
I've graduated with a B.A. in Linguistics and Honors in Multimedia Scholarship from the University of Southern California and am now looking for the next step (hopefully involving a job and then graduate school). Ending my undergraduate career abroad in Ghana seems like it was a good decision. I'm happy I did it.
Advice
I've had some people ask for recommendations for students who will be studying abroad in Ghana in the future. The most important piece of advice I could give is this:
Go with an open mind! Before you leave and while you are there, if you have expectations they will only be disappointed, but if you are willing to accept new challenges and opportunities you will definitely have an amazing experience. It truly is what you make of it.There are, however, a couple things you should know before you leave.
1) Bring large denominations of US currency if you want to exchange money over there. You get a much higher exchange rate for a $20 bill or a $100 bill than for a $1 bill (it is not even worth exchanging $1 bills, as you will lose money).
2) I'm not a doctor, so take my advice for what it is, but from what I was told by doctors in Ghana, Doxycycline is not the best malaria prophylaxis. It is an antibiotic which will reduce the effects of malaria on you should you get it, and it apparently helps slightly in preventing malaria, but I think that the majority of the people on both my study abroad program and the CIEE study abroad program who got malaria were taking doxycyline. Use a mosquito net/tent, and don't forget to take your malaria prophylaxis, whatever it is!
That's all. There's lots I could say, but I really believe that if you have the right attitude you will do fine, and learning the rest for yourself is part of the experience.
"Enjoy your life!" - Papa Attah
Blog
I will continue this blog, most likely with updates on my research plans and adventures. I've tagged all of the posts from this semester abroad as "Ghana" so they can be easily organized/found by clicking on the label "Ghana."
Feel free to check back in the near future! I've begun work on a potential project with some local Native American groups... I'm excited!
Photos
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