Okay, so you’re dying to know more about my life in Ghana, yeah?
I’ll make you a list.
1. Accra reminds me of India in many ways. It’s a lot less developed for sure, but parts of the culture, the way people function, the aspirations remind me very much of people in India. In fact, there are streets in Accra where I can just go stand and pretend I’m in New Delhi.
2. People are extremely helpful. They go out of their way to make you feel comfortable and settled in. They’re also very friendly. Strangers on buses and on the street wish each other “Good Morning” as if they’ve known each other for ages.
3. When I arrived, Accra was all dressed up. People seemed to be welcoming me to their country with flags, posters and clean streets. “Don’t flatter yourself,” my local friend said to me a day after my arrival. “It’s because Bush is visiting Ghana tomorrow.” Well, if that’s what they’d like to believe.
4. Traffic was a mess the day the American President actually did arrive. I got nothing done.
5. My first day in Ghana was spent in a part of the city that’s near the outskirts and has a number of estates. People seem affluent, but the area itself is under-developed– dirt roads, no communication, no transportation. I walked two miles just so that I could get a SIM card for my phone.
6. Since I’m not African, and don’t look it, I get charged exorbitant prices for everything. However, and here’s the irony, people here tend to mostly regard me less as a foreigner, and more as one of their own. This is because I’m Indian, I’m told. They love Indians here.
7. On my first night out with local friends, they keep pointing out Indians to me “1 Indian, 2 Indians, 3 Indians…” This is, they tell me, so that I “won’t feel so alone.”
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