Culture Shocking All Over the Place
Life outside of Africa so far seems too cold, sanitary and quiet. It feels almost lonely. Yes, I don't think anyone would ever describe Italy as any of these things but it really felt that way. Ghana was so bright all of the time- the clothing, the people, and of course the amazingly hot sunshine. Walking into a hotel in Milan was bizarre at best. I walked in carrying this striped plaid plastic bag that cost a dollar that Gill advised me to get to lug around my drum. I was really travelling like a Ghanaian with this bag, it was so funny, everyone had them at the airport. I looked so ghetto compared to all of the Prada-clad Milanese. (Mind you Louis Vuitton made a bag for spring that is identical to my dollar bag and it costs $3,000 dollars - but I dont think anyone would mistake mine for his.)
Anyways, walking into this hotel and having a shower was so weird. I felt like I was in a dream. First of all- running water, second of all- being clean. I showered every day in Ghana (bucket showers of course) but I felt like the second I stepped out I was dusty and sweaty all over again. Scrubbing down in a hot shower almost felt wrong. I didn't want to wash away the dirt that I had everywhere. It felt comfortable. My mom walked into my room though and told me that me and my father smelled, and proceeded to open the window to try to air it out, haha. Kersten said that she stayed in a hotel when her mom came to visit Ghana and got in a hot shower and freaked out. She hadn't expected it to be hot (I've never had hot water there, ever) so she was screaming and getting burnt and couldn't figure out how to turn it off and that story really makes me laugh. Sleeping in a clean bed was also hard. It was all white and tucked in and I felt so uncomfortable and cold and there were no bug nets and it was utterly soundless in there.
Culture shock is like having a cramp in your brain. You can push through it and start to feel normal or you can make it worse by trying not to get over it. I was kind of stuck between whether I should just not think twice about these things that were once normal and get over it, or whether I should really just hold onto how I felt. I always knew that Western society was drastically different but it's worse coming back. We waste so much. The amount of water, food, electricity and resources that we have and don't give a second thought to is unbelievable. You don't realize how important something like water is until its a sacred commodity. The house in Accra had run out of water before we left and they had to get a truck to bring some in or find a tap somewhere that is running. If you are poor you don't have this option. And here I am wasting the water away scrubbing myself clean. I guess it just felt weird to me to come from so little to so much excess. I actually liked it the other way around. And I know that is because being in West Africa was my option- if I was born there and had no other choice but to work hard all day to get what I had I might not prefer it. Life just seemed a whole lot simpler there. Probably because I could literally escape everything. I didn't know what was going on in the world, I had internet maybe once a week, my cell phone rarely had reception, and I only talked to other people who also had no idea what was going on at home. It was really nice. I don't think I've been as happy as I was there in a while.
Italy of course was absolutely gorgeous. Downtown Milan was dramatically different from Ghana, but it was still beautiful. We spent the day in Milan going to church and wandering around and it was really nice and really weird. I almost threw up in Furla while my mom was looking at purses. The world started spinning and I couldn't look at one more shiny bag or key chain and I just had to get out of there. I couldn't handle it quite yet. We drove up to Lake Como the next morning and it was amazing. It is surrounded by the Italian alps, but I couldn't get as many pictures of it as I wanted because my dad was freaking out driving on the winding roads and wouldn't stop. It was chilly there- I've been freezing since I left Ghana- but the mountains were so nice. We stayed in Bellagio along the tip of the lake and had a view of the alps and some of the other small villages. Everything I ate felt weird going down. I was so used to eating bread, rice and more bread that when I had vegetables or cheese my stomach was none to pleased with me. I was sure I was getting fat in Ghana because I only ate carbohydrates for 8 weeks and people would compliment me by saying I was looking bigger, but since I had malaria I haven't been able to eat the same and I think I've actually lost about 10 pounds. My mom said I looked thin, so I got fat for most of my trip and then got so sick that it reversed it. Not bad! Malaira is not the best diet ever though. Also there was a time change, so now I am going through about 3 different time changes and I feel very strange. We took a boat around to the different towns and explored and went to villas and drank cappuccinos that made me feel even sicker. I thought it might make my transition to home harder, but I think it made it better.
Toronto is pretty freaking bleak right now. We arrived yesterday afternoon (I have no idea what time my body thinks it is?) and it was rainy and depressing and I can't wait to get out of here again. I had a mini panic attack on the plane thinking about coming home. I'm not ready. The more I travel, the less I want to come back. I keep thinking that I will get it out of my system but it won't go away.
My last day in Ghana was so great- I couldn't have asked for a better send off. My phone rang about an hour before my flight and it was one of the girls from the school at Feyiase! She wanted to say bye and to thank me for teaching them. It was so sweet and she really made me feel like I made an impact on them. I had been trying to teach them some geography and history of Ghana in my past few weeks. They couldn't find Ghana on a map (you were right Gill) and they didn't know a lot about slavery or any of the Gold Coast's beginnings. I had been working hard trying to show them where all of the European powers were on a globe and the influence of history on present day Ghana. Hopefully it worked! It was just so nice to hear from Mercy because she probably had to go out of her way to call me. Then Daniel, the Ghanaian staff at the Volunteer Abroad house called me into his room. He had a glass bead bracelet for me and the most hilarious sandals. I will have to post a picture because they are pretty much the best gift ever. They are hand crafted leather sandals with fur all over the tops that is dyed bright neon yellow. He had bought them for me that day! I was so happy- I couldn't believe he would spend his salary on a gift for me. I gave him my crocs when I left- he really loved them and I think it was a good trade because he seemed pretty pleased. Then Adams, the amazing artist and dancer who is a good friend of Kersten's, biked all the way over just in time to see me off to the airport. He's so funny, and played Ghanaian dance music in the taxi all the way there. Saskia, Kersten and Adams all shoved into a cab (as they do in Ghana) along with me and my dad and all of our luggage just to give me a hug outside the airport. I'm going to miss them all so much!
Anyways, walking into this hotel and having a shower was so weird. I felt like I was in a dream. First of all- running water, second of all- being clean. I showered every day in Ghana (bucket showers of course) but I felt like the second I stepped out I was dusty and sweaty all over again. Scrubbing down in a hot shower almost felt wrong. I didn't want to wash away the dirt that I had everywhere. It felt comfortable. My mom walked into my room though and told me that me and my father smelled, and proceeded to open the window to try to air it out, haha. Kersten said that she stayed in a hotel when her mom came to visit Ghana and got in a hot shower and freaked out. She hadn't expected it to be hot (I've never had hot water there, ever) so she was screaming and getting burnt and couldn't figure out how to turn it off and that story really makes me laugh. Sleeping in a clean bed was also hard. It was all white and tucked in and I felt so uncomfortable and cold and there were no bug nets and it was utterly soundless in there.
Culture shock is like having a cramp in your brain. You can push through it and start to feel normal or you can make it worse by trying not to get over it. I was kind of stuck between whether I should just not think twice about these things that were once normal and get over it, or whether I should really just hold onto how I felt. I always knew that Western society was drastically different but it's worse coming back. We waste so much. The amount of water, food, electricity and resources that we have and don't give a second thought to is unbelievable. You don't realize how important something like water is until its a sacred commodity. The house in Accra had run out of water before we left and they had to get a truck to bring some in or find a tap somewhere that is running. If you are poor you don't have this option. And here I am wasting the water away scrubbing myself clean. I guess it just felt weird to me to come from so little to so much excess. I actually liked it the other way around. And I know that is because being in West Africa was my option- if I was born there and had no other choice but to work hard all day to get what I had I might not prefer it. Life just seemed a whole lot simpler there. Probably because I could literally escape everything. I didn't know what was going on in the world, I had internet maybe once a week, my cell phone rarely had reception, and I only talked to other people who also had no idea what was going on at home. It was really nice. I don't think I've been as happy as I was there in a while.
Italy of course was absolutely gorgeous. Downtown Milan was dramatically different from Ghana, but it was still beautiful. We spent the day in Milan going to church and wandering around and it was really nice and really weird. I almost threw up in Furla while my mom was looking at purses. The world started spinning and I couldn't look at one more shiny bag or key chain and I just had to get out of there. I couldn't handle it quite yet. We drove up to Lake Como the next morning and it was amazing. It is surrounded by the Italian alps, but I couldn't get as many pictures of it as I wanted because my dad was freaking out driving on the winding roads and wouldn't stop. It was chilly there- I've been freezing since I left Ghana- but the mountains were so nice. We stayed in Bellagio along the tip of the lake and had a view of the alps and some of the other small villages. Everything I ate felt weird going down. I was so used to eating bread, rice and more bread that when I had vegetables or cheese my stomach was none to pleased with me. I was sure I was getting fat in Ghana because I only ate carbohydrates for 8 weeks and people would compliment me by saying I was looking bigger, but since I had malaria I haven't been able to eat the same and I think I've actually lost about 10 pounds. My mom said I looked thin, so I got fat for most of my trip and then got so sick that it reversed it. Not bad! Malaira is not the best diet ever though. Also there was a time change, so now I am going through about 3 different time changes and I feel very strange. We took a boat around to the different towns and explored and went to villas and drank cappuccinos that made me feel even sicker. I thought it might make my transition to home harder, but I think it made it better.
Toronto is pretty freaking bleak right now. We arrived yesterday afternoon (I have no idea what time my body thinks it is?) and it was rainy and depressing and I can't wait to get out of here again. I had a mini panic attack on the plane thinking about coming home. I'm not ready. The more I travel, the less I want to come back. I keep thinking that I will get it out of my system but it won't go away.
My last day in Ghana was so great- I couldn't have asked for a better send off. My phone rang about an hour before my flight and it was one of the girls from the school at Feyiase! She wanted to say bye and to thank me for teaching them. It was so sweet and she really made me feel like I made an impact on them. I had been trying to teach them some geography and history of Ghana in my past few weeks. They couldn't find Ghana on a map (you were right Gill) and they didn't know a lot about slavery or any of the Gold Coast's beginnings. I had been working hard trying to show them where all of the European powers were on a globe and the influence of history on present day Ghana. Hopefully it worked! It was just so nice to hear from Mercy because she probably had to go out of her way to call me. Then Daniel, the Ghanaian staff at the Volunteer Abroad house called me into his room. He had a glass bead bracelet for me and the most hilarious sandals. I will have to post a picture because they are pretty much the best gift ever. They are hand crafted leather sandals with fur all over the tops that is dyed bright neon yellow. He had bought them for me that day! I was so happy- I couldn't believe he would spend his salary on a gift for me. I gave him my crocs when I left- he really loved them and I think it was a good trade because he seemed pretty pleased. Then Adams, the amazing artist and dancer who is a good friend of Kersten's, biked all the way over just in time to see me off to the airport. He's so funny, and played Ghanaian dance music in the taxi all the way there. Saskia, Kersten and Adams all shoved into a cab (as they do in Ghana) along with me and my dad and all of our luggage just to give me a hug outside the airport. I'm going to miss them all so much!
posted by Kate @ 1:29 PM
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