Time Well Spent

So I haven't written a post in about 2 weeks. What's sad is that the reason hasn't been because I've been really busy. Quite the contrary.

I've had almost too much time on my hands. It's like a running joke throughout the program that we all don't know what to do with all of this time we have. Americans like to make believe that our lives are so busy and overcomplicated that if we ever got a little more time, we would get sooo much done. Yeah, alright. I sometimes wonder if the 5 hour time zone difference between Ghana and NY is just God adding 5 hours to everyday here. Some of us have likened our study abroad experience thus far to being on an extended vacation. We have to attend classes every now and then and do the required work for each course, but for the most part, our time is free.

And it's not the same free time that you would get living in NY. We learned very quickly that Ghanaian time is not what we are used to. To put it a little more plainly, a Ghanaian professor told us: You all go by the clock, we go by the time. It's both funny and true.

The thing about time is that it's independent. You can't speed it up. You can't slow it down. No matter how much we may like to.

Time is humbling when you think about it. It governs our entire lives. Our sense of appropriate time delegates when you'll graduate, when you get married, when you grow up. We are completely powerless to its influence. We like to think we are in control of things. We make plans and stuff like that when really, nothing is promised. Certainly not tomorrow. When your time is up, it's up. And that's that. It doesn't matter if you haven't finished your exam, crossed the finish line, or filed your taxes. I've never been more aware of how cultural time perception is. In NY my mind was buzzing 24/7. I had trouble adjusting to the slower pace of Upstate NY whenever I'd visit home. Imagine moving to a place where people really don't consider time a priority. Life is too important to be rushing into things. Savor every moment. Or as some Ghanaians put it, "God's time is best. What's the rush? God will make it happen."

In a class discussion about development and advancement, someone asked if the African ethos is conducive for development. It's easy to say yes or no depending on your opinion, but the truth is it depends on what you consider development. Should Africa strive to be more like the US or other countries in the West? Maybe it's our definition of development that needs to change, not the African ethos.

Quote of the day: "So.. I've been spending a lot of time alone and... I found out today that... I don't like myself."

You learn a lot about yourself and the world when you just shut everything off -- no BlackBerry, no iPod, no TV, no radio, no laptop, no nothing -- and experience life. I used to find that taking a walk (without my iPod) and just letting my brain sort things out would be really therapeutic. Or even just laying in bed an hour or so before I was actually sleepy and thinking myself to sleep rather than letting an episode of Family Guy do the job.

This Sunday will be a month that I have lived in Ghana. So far, I've learned a lot of things, but right now the biggest lesson is in time. It makes you question what is necessary. NY seems like another life I used to live. I'm not saying I'm going to get back to NY and throw away my TV or start walking around wearing a dashiki. [I've actually already pre-ordered about 3 pairs of Dunks and a Crooks & Castles sweater] But I will re-think the way I spend my time. Life is too short (or too long) to be spent not living it. If that makes sense. 

eye = fine