I've been in Ghana nearly a month. I arrived on January 20th, and it is now February 15th. I think that it might be time to give some general impressions. I think that I stressed enough in earlier posts just how hot it is here. And it is. But I think that the heat won't be too much of a problem. Since this is the dry season, there are plenty winds--from the sea, the Harmattan. I had heard about the Harmattan winds before got here. They are the dry winds that come down from the Sahara, harsh and arid. They pick up the red dirt dried to dust and blow it in gusts into my eyes and nose. A bunch of the USAC girls have complained about their noses and eyes itching, and I have to agree. It feels like a less severe case of the hay fever I get at home in the fall. But I don't think Claratin will help with this. I cover my nose and mouth whenever a car drives past me on a dirt road (about a third of the roads on campus are packed dirt and gravel). I can feel the bits of grit in my eyes, and I have to stop for a moment to blink and regain my equilibrium.
One thing that has been bothering me is the debate that is going on at the moment about homosexuality in Ghana. The newly elected president appointed a woman to a new cabinet position--something about children, gender, and social services, I think. Anyway, she is a human-rights lawyer, and she made a statement about her belief that people who identify as homosexual have the same rights and need to have those rights protected as anyone else. If she was working internationally, this would be a very reasonable belief to hold. But apparently, in Ghana, it is outrageously controversial. I listened to a part of her confirmation hearing on the radio. She was being grilled about her personal beliefs about homosexuality and her understanding of Ghana's laws that actually outlaw homosexual activity. I was horrified by the entire debacle. As someone who grew up in a liberal and open community, it is alien to me to encounter such blatant homophobia. Because that is what the root of the issue really is: in Ghana, it is considered wrong, evil, dirty, perverted, to engage in homosexual activities, to be homosexual. I am disturbed by this. As someone who has questioned and tried to openly consider my sexuality, someone who has friends who have done the same (although to different results, I suppose), it is difficult to understand such an attitude. I think that the Ghanian view is tied to the deeply rooted evangelical Christian community here. Christianity, and religion in general, play a much larger role in day-to-day life that I am used to. Some of my professors have even made passing remarks, assuming a shared understanding and belief in Christian ideas and practices. A professor who did that at Iowa would get sued. Or rather the university would be sued. Sued, sued, sued. I might even join the lawsuit. I think that secularity in public life is incredibly important, especially in a religiously diverse society. So, it's a bit difficult to tell some of the Ghanians I've met that I've never read the Bible, and that the only reason I ever will read the Bible is to gain perspective for literary analysis. It's difficult. I feel like I would be committing a major cultural faux pas were I to say such a thing. I don't want to disrespect their beliefs. Even if they are completely illogical. Whatever. Let's not go there (Yes, I'm talking to you Mother, dearest! Hahahaha).
Yeah. But classes have started. And I am finding that I have a lot of respect for the teachers here. I'm taking three classes through the University of Ghana and two classes just for USAC students. The USAC classes are Twi, the local language, and a class on Ghanian society, culture, government, and politics. The real title of that one is a bit of a mouthful. But basically it's a forum for discussing Ghana, past, present, and future.
Through UG, I'm taking two English classes. The first is and Intro to African Lit course. It is a very general survey, covering prose, poetry, and drama. I've only heard of half of the novelists we're reading and none of the poets or playwrights. It is a humbling experience to realize how much I don't know. But, then again, I am an undergraduate and am only in my second year of really studying English. I think I can be forgiven, just this once. The class is team-taught. One professor is taking the plays and most of the novels. The other is covering poetry and two novels--one of which is Chimamanda Adichie's beautiful book Purple Hibiscus. The professor who is staring the class off is an enthusiastic and welcoming man, maybe in his fifties. His lecture this week was on some of the problems with the term "African Literature." It's too broad, too nonspecific. I think that people often don't realize that Africa is absolutely huge, much larger than the United States, so much larger than Great Britain. And there are so many different cultures, languages, people, traditions. Lumping them all together is belittling and overly simplistic. I feel a little bit as though I've been reprimanded--even though I know that was not the intention at all. I have been generalizing more than I should. I'm sure that I generalize or stereotype Africa less often than most, but I'm still guilty of it. I am not the magnanimous and open-minded student I have created in my mind. I am defined by my context. And my context is so very different from those of the students sitting around me. But I think it will be a great class. It will probably just be a bit uncomfortable at times. Which will be good for me, I'm sure, in the long-term, at least. The second class is an upper-level seminar on Chinua Achebe. There are maybe twenty or twenty-five students in the class, and I also like the professor very much. He is less genial than the African Lit professor, but he is obviously wildly intelligent. I look forward to digging deeply into Achebe's novels.
The third class is History--Africa in the International Context of the 20th Century. Again, the class title is a mouthful. I think that I'll gain a really good background of European colonialism in the 20th century. We're looking a general trends and then specific cases. Very informative. And I've met a few girls in that class who are so nice. They helped me understand how to get the readings and how to sign up for a discussion group. I would have floundered otherwise. Sometimes, I feel like I'm meeting so many new people, and learning so many new names. And they all seem to remember me, but I am so overwhelmed trying to remember all of them. And I want to so badly. I want to remember everyone to whom I am introduced. Everyone. I've started writing names and descriptions in my little black Moleskine, but I think that will only help so much. Ah, well. I will try the best I can, and I guess that is all I can do.
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