The Borrowers

Another thing that I have noticed about Ghana is the seemingly random way in which Ghanaians borrow from other cultures. The most obvious source, of course, is the British. The British controlled Ghana for seventy-three years—some things were bound to rub off. Language is, again, the obvious legacy. But there are other, less sensible remnants of British culture. For example, Ghanaians use the British method of numbering floors. My room number is in the two hundreds but my room is on the third floor! This is one British idiosyncrasy that does not amuse this anglophile. But Ghanaians drive on the right side of the road—both literally and metaphorically—as per the American system. But there does seem to be the general disregard for the rules of the road that is so common outside of the US. I am reminded of the stories my father tells of driving in Peru and of tales of maniacal Italian drivers. Positions and organizations tend to have British-style names and structures. The UG, for example, calls the vast majority of the teachers here lecturers rather than professors. There are also such things as class prefects—by which I am very amused. But there is an underlying tendency here to downplay the Ghanaian relationship with anything British, which makes noticing the changes all the more interesting. There are many other influences on Ghanaian society and culture. The Chinese are a huge new presence in the last decade or so. Everywhere in downtown Accra there are buildings underway—buildings built by Chinese companies, for Chinese companies, with Chinese funding. All of the Asians in my  group are routinely mistaken for Chinese (much to my Cambodian friend’s dismay). There are also lesser cultural influences: Indian, Lebanese, French (from the French colonies on either side of Ghana—Cote d'Ivoire and Togo). Then there are the numerous ethnic groups within Ghana with different traditions. Life in Accra is a mélange of colors, flavors, sounds—from all of the very different people who have made the capitol city their home.