It’s been a bit more than a year since I returned to the US from my one year stay as a volunteer with Black Star in Busua. Before going to Ghana I’d traveled all over: North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Australia. Travel everywhere had been easy. Everything was pretty much the same. When it wasn’t the same, it was just a tweak different. There is a popular saying in Thailand: “same same, but different”. Not exactly sure what that means, but it’s right! Japan was the most different: it is like the Bizarro Jerry episode of Seinfeld. It was like a long lost brother that grew up someplace far away, but it was still clearly a brother; I could still understand their way of doing things, it was just a different (and to me, unique) way to do them. But the end result was the same. That was as different as things got, but it was still easy. Australia, Spain, England, Brazil, even China: same story. Some places were more unique than others, some places were more intriguing than others, and certainly some places were more inspiring than others. But in the end, they all seemed to have the same underlying culture. Mine. I headed for Ghana with no real reason to expect something different; we are all kinda the same.
Then, s-l-a-m! Ghana was a life-changer. Life in Ghana and most of Africa is really completely different than life anywhere else. You feel it as soon as you say “hello” to the place and to the people. How do I describe the difference? It’s impossible to describe. It’s kind of like trying to explain to someone what it’s like to take a drug: the only way you can understand what a drug does to you is to take the drug. Otherwise, it’s indescribable. The only way to know what Africa is like is to go there and see it. It’s in the people and the places. It sounds cliche as I re-read this because this is what people say about everyplace, but it couldn’t be more true of Ghana.
