becoming an African

A twenty-two year old 56572 woman - recent college grad - decided to join the Peace Corps instead of continuing on to grad school. She arrived in Ghana this week. If you're from 56572 I don't need to name names, if you're not, her name means little to you.

"Well, I am here. I am in Ghana… on the first morning, I heard a bird that was different than anything I had ever heard before, plants that are colors and textures that I didn't know existed, smells, tastes…and I have only been in my new home for a few days. The group I am with is amazing; we are all so different- these are people I would nothave normally met, yet we have something that has brought us together(into the PC and into Ghana). I have been able to find a connection,a real conversation with all 50 of the people in my group. Right now I am in Accra where we are getting started with culture and language 101. We have spent the majority of our time in training andgetting to know each other, so i have had very few opportunities to interact with the local people. I love learning the language, but b/c they want us to learn fast and so many people don't even know how to write in Twi, we are learning by listening and repeating--- we are encouraged to take notes as we hear it. No sentence structure, no crash course in speaking with tones… but then again I just started the language yesterday :D.i will find out my site in a few weeks! there is a good chance i will be working to fight guinea worm in the northern volta region, but really i could be anywhere (starting in dec). The weather has been beautiful, but hot... and i think it will only get hotter. We have only seen Accra so far, but i am very excited to see more ofthe country.
Starting next week I will be with a family in Krobo just out of Techiman (directly in the middle of the country). I anticipate the hardest part will be adjusting to what it means to be a woman here.the women here are strong and beautiful, but there place in society is very different than what i am used to. Men will ask me to be their second wives. I will not be able to do the things I did before… I will not be able to do what the men here do. My job as a Peace Corpsvolunteer is to gain acceptance in the community so that I can be acatalyst for change from within. I will not be able to do this if Ido not assimilate. I must adapt ideas of not being an independent individual, as is so highly valued in the US, but as a dependent of a family and a community. Well, I better start adjusting b/c this will take a while."