One Week- A list of Interesting Facts

By Alexandra Kralick

Here are 20 interesting facts that I have learned about Ghana as a foreigner, besides the obvious Ghanaian people, Ghanaian food, Ghanaian clothes, Ghanaian geography, etc.

1. This honestly is a country without addresses. It’s not a joke. Directions are given with landmarks. My stop is either Living Room because of a billboard/sign on the side of the road or Blue gate because of, you guessed it, a blue gate. I take the trotro or shared taxi to opungalo junction (a major intersection between two roads without names) or Legon Police Station.
2. When people give directions, so far they have been either pointing me in a direction, pointing at a specific building, or walking me directly there. No north two blocks or turn right on Main St.
3. People say ssss to get your attention, like if you dropped your bag or you are an obruni (white person/foreigner) and they want to talk to you.
4.   People have pet monkeys, I saw one tied to a tree on campus. 
5. In my family, trash does not seem to be bagged but rather you put a piece of newspaper in the basket and toss it unbagged into the trash bin.
6. Football (soccer) is huge here and everyone watches the African cup and cheers on different nations.
7. Asking questions and repeating in different ways to reaffirm are the best ways to make sure that you have gotten in the correct shared taxi or trotro. Otherwise, it may be a free ride from a nice guy in a taxi or a chartered taxi just for you. The only way to know is by asking!! (or if it is at a station with a sign on it, but the only way that you know that is a station is if someone tells you).
8.  Chickens roam around. People own chickens, sometimes as pets. I still haven’t figured out if the roaming chickens on the side of the road are owned by people.
9.  Lines in the middle of the road are only suggestions.
10. Pedestrians have no rights. It is survival of the fittest and cars are much bigger than people so cross the road carefully.
11. The best and cheapest way to get water here is called sachet water, it is a bag of water. You can get it from a person selling it on the street from inside your car or you can get a set of a lot of them. You bite off the corner and drink it like a juice pack or fill up your water bottle.
12.  Taxis will honk at you as they drive by to tell you that they are available ALL the time. To Ghanaians, to Obrunis, to everyone and everywhere! It is annoying because often looking at the taxi or shaking your hand ‘no’ can be interpreted as a yes and they pull over for you. Just tune out that type of honk and you’ll be fine!
13.  There are no zoning restrictions. Even when you are not in the city, a shop or nursery or boutique might be next door. Also, people generally are clueless about our chains, like Starbucks and Walmart and Target. However, they watch a lot of American movies. I am interested in learning how movies shape Ghanaian perception of Americans and their own culture, and what they have taken from media.
14.  It took me a bit to learn this so just remember, you take a bucket shower standing up, not sitting down.
15.  Speak slowly or NO ONE will understand you. Even if you feel like you sound like an idiot. And they use different words for things and different ways of phrasing things so rephrase what you are saying until someone understands.
16.   In Ghana, there are strawberry flavored things like ice cream but no raw strawberries. I don’t know anyone who has eaten a raw strawberry and I haven’t seen it sold. However, I have seen a ton of mangos and my host family has papayas. I told them that we don’t have any/many raw manogs or papayas, just many mango/papaya flavored things. Funny, hunh?
17. When you buy something in a glass bottle like a soda or a beer, the place that sold it to you wants you to drink it there or pour it into your own container because they keep the bottle. There may be more littering, but I have a feeling like there is less TRASH.
18. There are absolutely no phone plans. Everyone, from iphone to $15 phone, has a pay as you go plan and you buy minutes from people on the street anywhere and everywhere and you scratch off the number in the back and put it on your phone.
19. Here, the candy, school system and word for soccer is British. However, Ghanaians drive on the right side of the road and if someone were to save up money, they would likely go to the USA over England (barring them having family in England, etc) because it is cheaper!
20. Guys fashion trends usually surround shoes.

                University of Ghana is the most prestigious university in the country and among/possibly the best in West Africa. The campus is beautiful and safe but very spread out. All the buildings are only University of Ghana buildings and there are actually street names and sidewalks!

 Here I am in front of Balme Library!

-Reposted from Alexandra's blog -http://alexandrakralick.blogspot.com
 Alexandra is studying at UG for one semester through the CIEE Study abroad programme.