Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Pleasantly Surprised

It’s hard to remember what exactly I thought about Africa or what I expected a field study to look like before I traveled here. But since I’ve arrived I have felt pleasantly surprised. There have been moments I’ve felt or seen what I expected too, but I have had many surprises! And maybe that’s why I am so pleasantly surprised, because the surprises make this adventure so exciting and rewarding.

I remember telling myself before I came that I shouldn’t have expectations. A good friend told me one of the most common reasons for sadness is unmet expectations: so I decided I wasn’t going to have any expectations. Also, I wanted to remind myself I could always be honest with my feelings and I would go to Africa and I could like it if I wanted to, or I could not like the experience. I just had to go, I had to have the experience and then I could know whether I liked it or not, but in any case I was going to be honest with myself.

Well if you haven’t caught on yet, I love it!!! I like to think it’s because I didn’t set too many expectations for my experience here. I just expected myself to live, be real with myself and others, and work as hard as I could to perform my research and course work and have a cultural experience as well. This attitude has really helped me thus far.

I’d now like to share some of my pleasant African surprises:

  • · I got an A + on my Twi assignment last night! I really struggle with Twi and so I’ve been taking lessons from my new brother King and the other day he said something about how I was learning slowly. I was offended because as my teacher he really expects a lot of me and we do not miss lessons often and if we do, o does he take the time to make them up! SO last night I made 11 Twi sentences on my own. I surprised him with it. He looked over it. Then laughed and said someone helped me with the sentences because they were fantastic! I had done much better then he thought I should. I had performed at a higher level then he thought I could. HUZZAH! Success! Let that be a lesson to anyone who wants to call me slow, it makes me work harder. I am grateful for Kings high expectations.
  • · I can feel productive and calm even just sitting down and chatting with my new Ghanaian friends and family. I don’t feel a need to “go-go-go” all the time. I can actually relax. Who knew?
  • · Ghanaians don’t lie when they call you sister, everyone really is a big family! I find it so easy and normal to call Momma Doris “Ma” and “Momma” she really is my mother here.
  • · I have little dance lessons all the time. But not the kind I would have expected in America. I planned to learn Adwa or Kete traditional dances but here I learn a lot of hip-life (popular) dancing. I love it! And I look like a crazy white girl who’s trying too hard, that was something I expected though.
  • · I didn’t expect to have so many traditional worshippers to interview or observe. There are at least 5 or 6 shrines in walking distance for me to visit. I was not expecting that at all and I love that they are so accessible and that so many people want to share and teach me about them.

4 comments:

  1. I'm so jealous of your progress with Twi! I should be a little more motivated to sit down with you guys and pay attention, but I guess I just don't have the patience for classes when I'm so busy enjoying the fact that I'm not really taking any this semester. Haha I'm so proud of you though! I'm glad there's one of us white girls that knows what she's talking about around here. Love it.

    I feel the same way about expectations, except for the fact that I totally came with way too many expectations. Not even for Ghana, but for myself. I expected to handle myself way differently. However, in being here and learning from all the wonderful people around me, I have definitely learned to have a lot healthier expectations and work through my own anxieties over not being successful and things like that. It's been SUCH a surprising experience, for sure.

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  2. I did a field study this past summer in Brazil and I remember feeling the same way about relaxing. I don't know if it is just that Americans are really high strung or if South Americans and Ghanaians are just extra chill, but I don't think I know how to relax the way they do. I always felt like I had to be doing something or going somewhere but my host family was always saying to me "calm down, its okay to just sit down for a while" and "eat slower, we have no where to be, there is no rush." I'm sure they talk about this in prep class, but part of American culture is that we see time as a commodity that cant be wasted, while a lot of other cultures see it as something to enjoy. it almost seemed at times that they got a kick of wasting time more than making use of it, and I don't mean that in a bad way at all. But you do have to make an effort to get back to the hustle and bustle of the states afterwards, because if not the adjustment can be harsh (it was for me)
    Steven-M

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  3. Heather, I am so glad you enjoyed Ghana. I assume because of the lack of new posts that you've come home, but I have to say I'm proud of you for doing so well with Twi and finding a teacher to help you. It's a fun language to learn, but I was better at guessing what people were saying than I was at figuring out how to respond. The differences in culture were fun to learn about and I came to appreciate so many of them. I hope your research went well!

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  4. Heather, I went to Ghana this past summer and I am so happy to hear how much you loved it! I liked how you mentioned you calling the women "Ma" and "Momma." I remember feeling a tad awkward at first, but by the end of my trip it seemed so natural to call them my sister or auntie or ma, because I really believed they were! So glad you loved it!

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