Mo' Money Mo' Problems

Today I had my first class at Ashesi University. It was surprisingly about half international students (like myself) and half local students. We talked about Pan Africanism and its complexities. One issue that came up was the African Union. Which is an intergovernmental organization that consists of 53 states within the African continent.

Central to the organization and its goals is promoting the interests of African people, naturally. In class, we discussed the prospects of economic unity between all countries within Africa. Maybe establishing a common currency. The "eco" is the proposed name for a common currency that would exist in a union between a few West African countries. However, just as I explained in a previous blog, history doesn't have to repeat itself. Just as Ghana is cautious of its newly found oil prospects in respect to what is going on in Nigeria, they are also aware of the economic crisis in Zimbabwe. [I suggest you Google Zimbabwe economy right now if you don't know what I'm talking about]

The professor pulled out a 1 million dollar Zimbabwe bill. Yes, 1 million dollars. Guess how much it's worth?

The last time she checked, it was worth about twenty cents. Imagine that. [I don't think inflation is even the right word for something like that. There needs to be a new word in the dictionary for like crackhead inflation. I'll think of one... In the mean time, I'll take suggestions.] For anyone who is unfamiliar with inflation imagine having a lot of money, but not having any money; if that makes sense. You can have physical monetary capital and still be broke because the economic standards have been lowered such to the point that your 1 million dollar bill can't even buy your baby pampers when you need them.

That is Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe. Basically a hott mess.

Zimbabwe is currently preparing to remove 

ten zeros off the country's currency next month.

Making 10 billion dollars --> one dollar. SMH.

My professor said people sleep outside of banks because they are only allowed to withdraw half a million (ten cents) each day. You can't even get enough money to buy a loaf of bread. 

Any sort of economic unification needs to come in tandem with political protection against inflation.  The economic status of developing countries is of specific interest to me as I am contemplating possibly considering career in that field. In a perfect world I could work for the IMF or the World Bank ...if they weren't inherently evil organizations. Maybe I'll infiltrate and work the system from the inside out. You never know.

Another interesting topic of discussion in class today: Pan Africanism vs. Zionism   :-/ Now I'm not one to advocate for comparing the plight of the Jewish with that of the African diaspora. There are similarities, yes. Commonalities, maybe. But that's a fine line and should be dealt with with caution. To avoid rambling, I'll just leave it at that.

In short, money makes the world go around. I've been criticized for not necessarily wanting to pursue a career that gets me "in the trenches," so to speak. I very well could be a teacher or maybe community organizer (without any real responsibility)

but I see the power and influence that money has in this fight for right that so many of us seem to be in. We (and by we I mean some of my friends and other cool people) want to make a difference in the world. I think we've somehow become brainwashed into thinking that there is only one way to enact change. Change is as multifaceted and complex as the problems to which it is designed to address. There's more than one way to skin a cat. [I'm not sure where I got that expression from, but you know what I'm saying] I would hope that the change from above (for lack of a better term) would be welcomed in the same manner as the change from below. Are people just as happy to see Oprah open a school in South Africa as they are to see an average Black man volunteering to be a big brother?

There is this stigma in some social justice circles with having money and being "down." So the more money you make, the less effective you can be? I thought it was the other way around. I'm not saying you have to be all extravagant. Splurging on shiny suits and Rolex watches...

We are in Da Recession. We have to be frugal. But what I am saying is that there doesn't have to be a penalty for success. We have long been held back from taking high positions and earning high salaries. The time has come to reach our full potentials. Whatever they may be. If your spot in the fight is in the classroom, then make that happen. If you're supposed to be in the boardroom regulating and calling shots, more power to you. And if you happen to be called to hold the highest office in the land, well... you know how that goes. 

By the way, they are Obama FIENDS out here. Everybody loves him!

wo ho te sen? = How are you?

On The Market

So we took a trip to a local market. I've never seen anything like it, but it pretty much exceeded my expectations. We parked the vans a few blocks away and walked for about a half a mile or so through the streets. There were vendors and people all along the road selling mostly fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, jewelry etc. We entered what looks like it could have been a large warehouse at one point but has since been turned into a makeshift indoor marketplace. What would be the parking lot area was full of vendors, a small path led us into the building. It was surprisingly organized. The first floor was like all foods and stuff. The second floor was plastics. And the third was textiles. We roamed and explored. People mostly bought hair (to get braids later) and cloth to get dresses and stuff tailored.

A girl in our group said that while she tried to take a picture (minus the flash) of like a general area in the market place, an older man approached her screaming, "Why you take picture?!" Obviously shocked and afraid, she kind of froze up, but a few of the women who were vending around the area stepped in and told her to keep it moving and ignore him. She was visibly shaken up and disturbed by the whole ordeal because she was still talking about it when we all met up in the van. What's funny is just a few seconds before that, I was thinking to myself, "I wonder how these people really feel about us coming here?" I know they want us there because they want our money, but how do they really feel?

We were parked in a lot and like 15 little neighborhood kids come up to us ECSTATIC that we were there. They loooved having their pictures taken; doing all types of poses and tricks for the cameras. A few students got off the bus to kind of play with them and stuff. There were some adults sitting across the street watching us from afar. The whole time I'm thinking about how I would feel if strangers came into my neighborhood like this... Maybe it's pessimistic or cynical of me, but I think it's a valid argument to bring up. Let's be honest, not everyone does everything for the right reasons. I can't help but wonder if some people come on trips like NYU in Ghana to feel better about themselves and less guilty about their privilege. And how, if at all, is someone with good or innocent intentions supposed to set themselves apart from this type of person?

For the most part, people are really happy to see us. They say "akwaaba!" "you are welcome!" "welcome to Ghana!" We are obviously in the vast minority, but we are not the only foreigners here. So there's a balance between them being accustomed to seeing foreigners and very aware that we are foreigners. I've given up on any attempt at not looking like a foreigner. It's a lost cause.

Anyway so back to the market, I don't know why but the whole thing kind of bothered me. A friend of mine who is also Black turned to me and made a similar evaluation of the little kids ... it was kind of like they were performing for the tourists :-/ I just don't know if I would be so willing to jump up and down for "rich" tourists who came into my country. I know how Americans are perceived in the media and whatnot so I know the little kids were really excited to see us for that reason, but as far as the older people... i don't know if the sentiment would be the same.

We heard that some of the local students here would try to be standoffish and distance themselves from the international students because of the stigma that if they were to befriend us, they would be perceived as trying to get something from us - which I wouldn't automatically assume, but I guess it's an issue. We've come in contact with different types of people our age. Some of the students act like we're regular people (what we really want), some give us the usual foreigner stare (not so much), and a few have actually been pretty stank. Again, I wonder if they take up issue with foreign students being in their country? School? Neighborhood? Or if they would rather not seem predatory. It's only the beginning of the semester, we'll see what happens.

We've gone out a few times and of course the Ghanaian guys usually give American girls a lot of attention and the Ghanaian women usually stand on the sideline with the mean screwface on. Another observation.

So what do I take from all of this? Sigh... not really sure. It makes me think about what we buy into though. When we take trips to countries like Ghana, a journey to the "motherland" costs more than the airfare. And when you arrive, what are you really buying? What's for sale? Are people always willing to sell?

[I know I use a lot of questions in my writing but 1. this is my blog, I'll do what I want and 2. that's how my thought process works.]

obruni = foreign person, white person

We get called obruni at least twice a day... And not just the white kids in our group.

Give Us Free!

We have the option of not only taking classes taught by NYU in Ghana professors (who are recruited from local universities in Ghana) or taking classes at Ashesi University and the University of Ghana. This is one of the better aspects of this program. By sitting side by side in a classroom with Ghanaian students who are our age, we all hope to gain a better understanding of the culture here. To provide some insight, Ashesi is to UG what NYU would be to a SUNY or CUNY school. Education has been free (more like highly subsidized) in Ghana for about 5 years now so the UG serves about 33,000+ students. Ashesi is a private university that is attended by many of Ghana's more elite or affluent students. Anyway, we can take classes at both schools.

Today, we visited both campuses. Ashesi is small, intimate, and closed in - they only have about 350 students. UG on the other hand, was breathtaking. It took us about 45 minutes to drive around the entire campus. It was HUGE. Like, the size that you are picturing right now as you read this, triple it. That is how big UG is.

The UG offers pretty much every single discipline of study you can imagine. They had departments for stuff NYU doesn't even have. We visited the Music/Dance Department, the Archaeology Department, and the Sociology Department. They have a business school, a law school, I think a medical school - basically everything. I was a little jealous.

If the size and structure of the campus wasn't mind boggling enough, the students themselves really surprised me. Up until today, we had spent much of our time in Labone (lah-bone-ay) and a few hours in Osu so we really hadn't seen people our age who were also students. The kids at Ashesi and UG were dressed pretty much the same way that we were. Jeans and polos, Vans, flip flops, skirts, v-neck t-shirts etc. That whole 80s retro thing that seems to be sweeping across the States hasn't really caught on here (thank God), but most of the students would fit right in at NYU or any other US college.

The fact that they can go to college for about $800/semester (and sometimes less than that) makes me smh. I guess that's the purpose of state schools though right? They give poorer people the opportunity to get college educations at affordable prices. But check this out, apparently UG is a hott mess. You take the good, you take the bad. The beauracracy is ridiculous. I should have known when we had to submit our applications a few months ago and had to HAND-WRITE the same application literally three times. Like literally submit three hand-written copies of the same paperwork in a group of three. We learned that the school hasn't exactly caught up to the new age yet. Classes can get cancelled or change days/times whenever and no one sends out an email, a postcard, a text message, nothing. It's nothing for a professor to be an hour late to lecture or not show up at all. An hour late? Really? I have a New York state of mind. I'm sorry. The culture in Ghana is very what they call "laid back." No one really worries about silly little things like time. Apparently patience is a virtue here and it's something I should be developing with my time here. I'm VERY impatient by my own admission. Everything here is at a muuuuch slower pace. People just kind of chill. It's a very different atmosphere from Manhattan where everything is go go go. Fast pace and very impersonal.

I guess the issues with time and class size are a part of the deal. We've been hearing a lot in US poitical discussions about making education and healthcare universal and free or at a very low cost to all. I know Ghana is literally a different world, but can you ever really have it all? A top notch university that costs little to nothing? Should we consider things like this when we advocate for universal healthcare, public schooling, tuition reform etc.? It all sounds good in theory, but let's analyze the repercussions. What will healthcare really be like if it is affordable to everyone? 

As my day ends, I really reflect on my impressions of the University of Ghana. I found myself more attracted to taking classes as Ashesi because 1. It is physically closer to our campus and dorm. UG is a good 30-45 min drive away 2. I am not used to sitting in a class of 5 or 600 students. I had a few classes of about 300 and that was excessive and 3. The beaurucratic issues would get to me. I already know it. 

I still have time to decide between the two schools. I could always take classes in a combination of the two as well. Or just audit a class at UG... we'll see. In the mean time, Ghanaian Lesson #3: Simplicity is Overrated. Nothing is ever as easy or simple as we like to assume. Everything has a price. Even if you aren't the one to pay it. 

maakye (maa-che) = good morning

Raw Life

[This is a post from yesterday that I forgot to sumit]

Slavery ended like hundreds of years ago. Why is Africa still all screwed up? We've all seen those depressing Feed the Children Commercials. We hear the startling statistics about HIV, poverty, and hunger. 

How can countries that are often so rich in raw materials lag so far behind in comparison to countries in the West that only industrialize? You would think that they would be calling the shots in the world. But they don't.

Is this what you think of when you think of Africa? Yea, so did I. I'll admit it. What else do you expect? Our minds are flooded with images such as this one, so naturally we have a stereotypical perception of an entire continent that very few of us has ever visited. I must say that after being in Ghana only 4 days, these are the most friendly, respectful, well-mannered, honorable people I have ever met. Ghanaian Lesson #2: Study to Show Thyself Approved; never take anything for face value, always ask questions. There are reasons behind everything. Trust. 

Today, we had a lecture by the former mayor of Ghana (I think) Mr. Nat Amarteifio who is now a professor at NYU in Ghana. The lecture was entitled Society and Culture in Ghana. The whole thing was pretty informative, but what stuck out to me was what he told us about Ghana's raw materials. Ghana is rich in gold, cocoa, and recently oil. [Keep Nigeria's current oil crisis in mind] In case you are unfamiliar with the import/export system, in very simple terms countries like Ghana provide the raw materials like pure gold, cocoa, and oil that is otherwise useless unless one has access to the technology to convert them into the finished products that we identify them as. For example, those ghetto bamboo earrings chickenheads like to wear, chocolate bars, or gasoline. To make a very long and complicated story short, organizations like the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank have helped countries like Ghana get into a cycle of debt and dependence so they can never attain the means to actually control their own raw materials and convert them into finished products. I guess that would give them too much power. So perpetuates the cycle. [I knew I couldn't come to Africa and not leave with a conspiracy theory. We'll see how it develops throughout my time here.]

Next topic: Malaria. It has to be the single most popular topic of conversation amongst people who HAVE NEVER BEEN TO AFRICA, but seem to want to advise me on how best to live my life here. "Don't drink the water!" "Don't eat any salads!" "Watch out for mosquitos!" First of all, yes you can die from untreated malaria. Just like someone can die from a really bad case of the flu. Native Ghanaians, having grown up in this environment, have built up an immunity to malaria. It is obviously more of an issue for someone like myself who is not exposed to the disease. Anyway, we had a consultation with a local doctor who basically assured us it was nowhere near as serious as the doctors and medical staff in NY had made it seem. Malaria = fever, chills, other cold symptoms, maybe diarrhea. They make it seem like malaria is a fate worse than death. More Western misconceptions. Another thing, all these damn meds. My carry-on bag is full of bottles of pills that will keep me "healthy" in Ghana. Americans are trained to pop pills for every little thing. Here, it's more about letting your body work things out. Eat the right foods, drink plenty of clean water, get rest etc.

The highlight of today: we went to Osu which was like... umm picture Chinatown but replace the Chinese people with Africans -- and make them more aggressive. Yeah, that is Osu. First of all, we are driving toward the area and automatically people start coming up to our van holding up statues, sandals, oranges - pretty much anything trying to sell it to us through the bus? Anyway, they were on some paparazzi status when we actually got off the bus and pretty much MOBBED us. The idea out here is that America = $$$ so telling them you're actually a broke college student from Washington Heights struggling to pay for your three kids' daycare bills and paying your boyfriend's child support really wouldn't matter. You have money because you live in America. It started to get a little annoying. They were driving us crazy. Well, not THAT crazy... 

Our entire time there was a barrage of hustling and negotiating. They followed me and a few of my friends from the bus to a restaurant called Papaye (very good. And a lot of food for only 5 cedis) and waited for us outside. LOL when we came out they were there ready to try to sell us stuff. It took us about 45 minutes to walk a distance that should have taken us about 5 minutes. People kept shoving stuff at us: bracelets, statues, sandals, juice, sunglasses, pretty much everything under the sun. We stuck out like sore thumbs. Walking through the streets attracting maad attention. At first it was overwhelming, but you get used to it. The people are incredible aggressive, but not dangerous or intimidating. Oh yeah, we found out you can get a wash and set for 1.5 - 4 cedis! When I told someone women in NY get their hair done for $20 and call it a deal she scoffed at me lol. Osu is a pretty tourist heavy area so I saw a few pale faces in the crowds. Overall a very interesting day. It was the first time we've really mingled with normal everyday Ghanaians. Everyone else we've met has been affiliated in some way with NYU in Ghana. So, it was a good look.

medaase = thank you

And It And It Begins

If you don't know why I've created a blog, then you're not really my friend and therefore maybe you really shouldn't even be reading my blog... having said that you should all be fully aware of the fact that I am currently participating in the Spring 2009 session of NYU in Ghana :-) It is a study abroad program (one of several thousand that NYU has).

So, I flew out of JFK to Amsterdam (no I didn't buy any weed) and then to Accra [pronounced ah-crah; like "a car" except you're switching the r and the a in car]. In Amsterdam's Schihol airport, I notice that while I'm waiting to start boarding, all of these African guys are in the waiting area as well. Which in itself isn't weird at all except that I couldn't help but notice the way they were dressed. [Here is where all of the misconceptions, misrepresentations, and downright ignorance step in.] Most Westerners have such a skewed understanding of African culture that one would probably assume that I am about to describe some sort of loin cloth type of attire with maybe a bone sticking out of someone's nose or maybe even on a Haitian tip: socks with sandals. Alas, all of these dudes had on either nice jeans or dress pants, leather shoes, button ups, sweaters, and jackets. Fresh. Maad fresh. Like fresher than most Americans. I say this to highlight the Ghanaian culture. People go hard out here. It's nothing for them to walk around looking dressed up like all day long. Of course some of the women rock the traditional African dresses (which are dope by the way) and people do dress casually, but still. Respect is HUGE out here. Respect for each other and respect for self. You don't just go outside looking any ol' kinda way. The way you present yourself physically and verbally are key to interacting with people. I wonder what would happen if American kids grew up in a similar atmosphere... I guess what I'm trying to say is, Ghanaian Lesson #1: Flyness Knows No Occasion. 

To get some of the retardedness out of the way:

No I haven't seen any elephants. 

No I haven't seen any giraffes. 

No I do not have malaria.

No I am not eating bugs and dirt. 

No I do not live in a hut. 

No there is not any war going on. 

Yes there is safe food to eat and water to drink. 

Yes the people can speak English. 

No the native language isn't a mix of clicking and grunting. 

Yes it is completely safe. 

And no I do not regret coming. 

The exchange rate is pretty sexy. I gave $150 and I got back about 193 cedis (pronounced: CDs). So I hope to be ballin' out of control for most of my stay here. 

I arrived on January 11th and I'm staying until May 16th. I'm pretty lazy about things like this and I can't make any promises. [More to myself than anyone else who will be reading this because this is more for recollection and reminiscence in my old age] But I will definitely try to scribe my findings, epiphanies, and just thoughts in general on my journey to the motherland.

Twi [language spoken in Ghana; sounds like tree] word of the day: 

akwaaba = you are welcome 

Welcome to my blog :-)