The first things you notice...

Ghanaian culture is very different from Canadian culture, and in order to better understand some of the things that I'm going through, I thought I'd write out the ones that come to mind the most.

1) All food is communal. You can be walking into a service station to grab some water and if the person behind the counter is eating something (which happens quite a bit) then "you are invited" to join.

2) Water is bought in 500 mL plastic sachets for 500 cedies each, or about $0.06. There is a lot of waste, but that is the cheapest and safest way to buy water. There are many brands, but my favourite is "Aqua-ba", which is a clever play-on-words of "Akwaaba", which in the southern Ghanaian language of twi means "Welcome", and is proclaimed all over the airport. The satchels can be bought almost everywhere, and there will be many tables set up along the road with coolers. When you want to order one, you refer to it as "pure water", making sure you pronounce the 't'.

3) Walking is delightful, but not if you're in a hurry! Every child on the street will yell out, "Salaminga!" which means "white person", and will want you to great them. Similarly, many adults will call to you as well (usually with the morning, afternoon or evening greeting) as they would like to know where you have come from and why you are there. They then like to hear how you like Ghana, and laugh over your butchered Dagbani (the primary language of Tamale, the northern capital, and Savelugu, which is where I am working.)

4) Taxis have routes, and are shared. Most taxis in Tamale just travel up and down the main road, and you can hail them just by putting out a hand. They will stop and let you in, but there is often many people in the taxi already! The driver will continue to pick people up, and when you have reached your destination, you simply tell the driver to let you out here, (referring to him as 'driver') and he'll stop. Prices are fixed dependent on how far you are travelling. In inter-city taxis, there will usually be 4 people in the back, and 3 in the 2 bucket seats

5) People here are not content to call you by your given name. Every intern has been given a Dagbani name. Mine is Malititi (mal-i-tee-tee), which means "you will do it well for us."

6) Animals are everywhere. On my first day here I saw 3 cows walking in a line down the main road, and it is common to have your journey be stopped by a goat. All the goats apparently belong to someone, but how they are all accounted for I have no idea.

7) Any adult can discipline any child, any the child will respect them. Any adult can ask a child to do a chore for them, and they will do it. With age comes a lot of respect.

8) There is the road, and then a wide sidewalk for pedestrians, bicycles and motorbikes, and then an open gutter. The gutter can go from about 4-8 feet deep, and while you can jump over them quite easily, you do not want to misstep!

9) Fruit is plentiful. You can buy mango almost anywhere, as well as a lot of pineapple, bananas, and miscellaneous other fruit. People will either have small tables set up, or they will be in a large bowl on top of their head that they will walk around with.

10) The price of bananas fluctuates like oil does in Canada. It depends on the size, where they come from, how yellow or green they are, and how plentiful they are that day.

I haven't been here for a full 2 weeks yet, so I'm sure that I will come across many more things, and these will become common place. As I continue to learn and integrate, I will come across many things beneath these surface observations, and I know I will come to love many of these differences, though will get frustrated with the same amount.

This weekend I am finally moving from Tamale to Savelugu (though I have been working here now for a week), and I hope that I will continue to learn more.

Next step: get some clothing made!