Winding Down

And suddenly my time in Ghana is almost over. I realized awhile ago that my favorite word in the English language is "bittersweet," and that is indeed the feeling I have experienced in the past few days. Just like before I came for the semester, I am torn between the friends I have here (though then it was in America) and the prospect of going a place I've been dreaming of going to (this time, it's home). I haven't really written about it, but I've made a lot of friends here in Ghana, many of whom I will dearly miss.


In any country the vast majority of people are normal, flawed people who make good, bad, and selfish decisions alike, but every country also has a small minority of people whose goodness and kindness shock those of us constantly mediating between selfishness and being good as well. I've been lucky enough to meet a lot of people that fall in the former category here in Ghana. It is especially fortunate considering that the old ways of kindness and hospitality are dying in the midst of "modernization." In fact, almost everything in Ghana is that is traditional and unique from the West is rapidly deteriorating, and it is being replaced by televisions, cell phones, and music videos. The central irony that those of us who come to Ghana to find something different form America is that we find many people here want nothing more than to be Americans. How can you explain to people that what they view as the ideal is really often empty and meaningless, especially when America is number one in the world, so to speak?



It all seems so backwards, that Americans think Ghana's old ways are better while Ghanaians think America is the greatest. I can't blame Ghanaians for wanting something more than what they have here. The television tells them America is the best, where everyone is rich and no one starves. It's almost impossible to explain to them that America is the wealthiest country in the world yet half the people are crazy, depressed, and/or overmedicated, and the other half are trying to ignore those very crazy ones who seem to be everywhere. It's sad, but the choice in this world seems to be being rich in culture and poor materially or rich materially and poor in culture (and for those who believe that the Core Curriculum is "culture," learn some African dance or drumming and see if you still think that).



In any case, that's the way it is. We all have to accept our roles, and for me in the end I am an American, even if I spend much more time in Ghana. With that said, those interested in Africa would do well to come here as soon as possible, because you can read every book in the world on Africa and you still wouldn't be prepared for being here. You have to see it for yourself. The fact that Africa's old ways are dying makes it all the more urgent that you come, the sooner the better. I'll try to post one last time this weekend right before I leave for JFK on Sunday night. In the meantime, here's a link to a Google Document that has my Independent Study Project on Kwame Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and de-colonization.

Part 1:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZyHAJZXkObCZGhrNjJjY25fMTZnc2N0NWo4bg&hl=en

Part 2:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZyHAJZXkObCZGhrNjJjY25fMTVkN245cGRnag&hl=en