Mary Cate in Accra

NYU Junior in Accra for Fall 2013

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Back home

While it is very nice to be back at my parents home for the holidays, I do miss Ghana. I keep having dreams about Ghana and the ocean. It has been fun the past week or so telling my family about my experience through different stories. I am going to try and go to Asanka Delight, my favorite chop bar's NJ resturant. I would love to get some Kontombre here in NJ. I regret not buying more clothes! When I was in Ghana I was thinking about saving money etc. but now that I am home there are some pieces I wish I splurged on. But it has been really fun giving out gifts I bought for people. I am very grateful for having the experience. I would love to go back as soon as I can! 

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Great people! I've developed nice friendships with individual I see on a daily basis. I can't wait to see them again.

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Will miss these pretty Labone streets! Back to the hustle of NYC in a few days.

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Farewell dinner!

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Finals

I have been so busy with preparing for finals. I wrote a paper on Pentecostal religion in popular culture. I feel very lucky to be able to experience another culture and then learn about the socio-political issues at play. It is quite a luxury. Although I am a bit nostalgic about leaving Ghana, I think I am ready. I am satisfied with my experience overall. I learned a lot about myself and made some great memories with my fellow NYU Accra students and some Ghanian friends that I made. Will continue to blog my next days here!

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Recently I have been told by several of my West African friends that I "say things with too much certainity." I act like I know everything. At first my feelings were hurt by this. I tried to explain that I don't think I know everything, that is just the way I talk. I just express my opinions, I am open to them being wrong. I just say them with much conviction. But the other night I was chatting with a Nigerian friend who was telling me a story about an American girl in one of his MBA courses in London. He opened the story by saying "she was a typical American...talking too much in class, acting like she knows everything." This bothered me a lot. I don't want to be that "typical American" who acts like she "knows everything."

Last night I spoke to my mother about this. As an educator in American public schools, she expressed how in America, teachers praise the students who talk raise their hands frequently in class. As a child my parents always encouraged me to express my opinions. I mean from the age of 7 I was arguing with my father about the 2000 Bush-Gore election. I suppose I should be more mindful of what is coming out of my mouth. I do say things that are wrong often and I am ok with that. But others seem not to be. 

I wonder is this just a difference in how we are raised? how we are taught in school? Another Nigerian friend of mine explains it like this. She has always been moving throughout her life. She grew up between the UK and Nigeria. This has contributed to her reluctance to say anything with such conviction. At least for me, in America, part of growing up and maturing has been to embrace uncertainty. Accept the fact that there are limited absolutes in life. Whereas she knew that from a young age. 

I just wanted to blog about this because this idea has been tossing around in my mind the past few days. Please comment if anyone has an idea on this matter. 

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I mixed feelings about leaving Accra. On one hand I am anxious to begin a new chapter of my life in NYC. There is so much I have learned here. At the moment it is hard to articulate or even know it myself because I am still "in it." However I am confident that these lessons will shape my future decisions and habits back in NY. However, one the other hand I am a bit sad to leave my friends that I have met here, both my NYU friends and Ghanian friends. At the moment I am just trying to get through my final essays and such. I know that i will comem back to Ghana though. I was recently talking to my NYU friend who expressed how she is happy to get back to NY, where she is not seen as an "outsider." Initially I did feel that way. However, at this moment in time, I feel like I am beginning to feel so comfortable here. I have my local chop bar where I get my kontombre stew, every morning I call the local woman in my neighborhood to get roasted plaintains on my way to class. I have developed friendships with the drivers I use often and my security guard who I often talk to.  I am just trying to prevent these emotions from interfering with my final work for school. 

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There is no such thing as low-carb in Ghana

As the end of the semester is drawing near, I notice that my jeans are a bit tight. I had a feeling this was going to happen. In Accra it has been pretty difficult to maintain my obsessively "clean" lifestyle. I was doing well for a while with my frozen spinach and banana smoothies until the blender broke! Now that the blender is broken I found myself entirely caving in to eating the Ghanian diet--roasted plaintains, groundnuts, pineapple juice, kontomire stew, rice. 

For the beginning half of the semester I was trying very hard to stick to my obsessively-clean lifestyle. Gym everyday, yoga a few times a week, running outside, little carbohydrate, limited oil intake. But as the days became hotter and hotter I found myself getting weaker and weaker. I think that there is a reason why the Ghanian diet is the way it is. It is so hot, our bodies need salt and fruit sugar to maintain energy throughout the sweaty days. 

So I'm embracing my natural-woman-curves. I suppose it is part of the experience. Here in Ghana, with limited access to certain foods, exercise-restricting heat etc. I don't have much choice (except starvation and possibly fainting) as to how my body looks. Well I do practice yoga and work out, but just not to the same extent as I do back home. 

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This weekend I traveled in and around Accra for some nature adventures. I went to Bojo Beach where I played volleyball with the locals and swam in the rough Atlantic ocean. I also took a mountain bike trip around Aburi outside of Accra. It felt so wonderful to re-connect with nature. I found myself craving trees and dirt and natural bodies of water so badly. I really needed that before I head into final season at NYU Accra. 

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Aburi hike and Bojo beach!

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I am beginning my research for my final project on women in contemporary Ghana. My professor of African Popular Music gave me some well known hip life artist's contacts. I am going to interview them within the next week or so about the portrayal of women in hip life music. I feel like if I first sift through women in popular culture I may be able to analyze the larger implications of pop culture on women in the larger society.  

Being a woman in Ghana has inspired me to examine gender. 

The level of objectification I experience on the daily is overwhelming at times. I enjoy doing things alone. I like eating at resturaunts alone. Doing my homework in coffee shops alone etc. But when I am doing these activities at least 2 or 3 men try to get my number or talk to me. Do they think that I am alone because I am trying to get a man to talk me? There have been 2 instances where I have been eating-enjoying my meal and men thought it was totally ok to ask if they could eat with me. My god! No you cannot eat with me. Just a moment ago 2 men in a BMW purposely drove in front of me (dangerous) and gave me their card to call them. Do they actually think I would call? They almost ran me over on the street! 

I get so angry because these men know nothing about me except what I look like! At times I feel like I'm just trapped in my body. I wonder how Ghanian women feel about this. 

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Some photos from my rural homestay in the Volta region.will post some of my thoughts and ideas on the weekend tomorrow. Upon arriving back in Accra I fell ill. I also have a midterm tomorrow. Stay tuned! P.s. check out the photo of the toddler peeling cassava with a very large knife.she can peel it better than I can!

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Missing NYC!

Lately I have been feeling very lucky to live in NYC. I think one of my personal takeaways from this experience will be appreciating where I live, NYC. At first when I arrived in Accra I was thinking to myself "why do I live in NY?" "Why endure to daily hustle and grind when I could live in a city like Accra?" Where everyone is so friendly, prices are cheap, people's movements are slow etc.

However, I beginning to really understand the magic of NYC. NYC's diversity, general open-mindedness and the ability for a person to be whoever they want (not to be confined by city gossip, confining gender roles etc.) is fabulous! Accra is a very small city. I find myself continually running into the same people when I am out and about in Accra. I am beginning to find it stifling. It is funny because one of my Ghanaian friends once said he would "never live in America"  because the government watches you so much they keep track of "how many times you flush the toilet." Now this might be true, we have many cameras in America etc. Ghana does not have this, but there is a different surveillance system here. Which seems to be friends, family and local neighbors keeping watch over you to ensure certain "social norms" are being followed etc. 

I am also beginning to feel very trapped within the NYU group here. There is only 32 people. Now I chose to attend NYU because I deeply value my independence and privacy (or perceived privacy). I really appreciate my ability at NYU to compartmentalize my interpersonal relationships. For example, I have my "academic friends" who I discuss ideas with and study with, then I have my work friends, my going out friends, my close friends etc. Being in a small group of NYU students, we study together, eat together, go on trips together etc. is just so wildly different from what I am used to. I think being here to experience this type of communal environment is very important to show me what type of environment I thrive in and feel comfortable in.

Aside from my frustration with Ghana's general unacceptance of homosexuality, I realize that there are other "social norms" that are followed fairly rigidly here. The more I dive into Ghana's social scene the more clear Ghana's distinct gender roles become to me. It seems both men and women are confined to certain "roles." Even among the younger generation which is surprising to me. Young Ghanians listen to the same music I do in the states, wear the same clothing yet they follow these strict social rules. From what I have gathered, women must not say "too much." Men are expected to pay for EVERYTHING. 

I cannot express how privileged I do feel to have this experience. Although it is challenging at times, it has enabled me to "step away" in a sense from my "life" and examine it from a more objective place. Everyday here I am confronted with experiences that force me to question my beliefs, habits, ways of doing things. I practice yoga and buddhist meditation in NYC, in an effort to be a more aware and conscious individual. To be honest, I have been slacking on these habits here in Accra, but my daily experiences here dramatically call for me to put my habits and beliefs into my consciousness. I feel like my semester so far has been one big yoga class. Teaching me self-awareness and perspective. 

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Good in Ghana! So one of my big worries about studying in Ghana was the food situation. I try to eat very "clean" so I have a fairly restricted diet. However I have been pleasantly surprised with the availability of foods I like such as frozen Brussels sprouts, frozen spinach and Greek yogurt. I also am really enjoying the local foods. Kontomere is my favorite and I think I have already blogged about my love for the veggie and how it is prepared here. I also am getting along well with the dorm's blender. I have been making myself spinach smoothies for almost every lunch. I put in local groundnut butter (peanut butter), banana, ginger and unsweetened soymilk that I have found at the local grocery. This is a great lunch because it is so hot midday I find it difficult to heat a regular meal. Above is also a picture of savanna dry. This cider is definitely my vice here in Accra. I am not a big drinker but the cider tastes so good after a long hot day in the sun.

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Getting my hair braided by the very talented hair braider, Efia. I am totally bringing this look back to NYC with me!