1. Watch out for taxis - they don't stop for pedestrians. Also they honk constantly either meaning "Get out of the way!" or "Do you want a ride?" or "Hello friend!" You pick which interpretation fits the situation...
2. Ghanaians are extremely early risers as I mentioned previously. They go to bed before 10 and wake up by 5:30
3. Part of the reason they wake up early is the roosters! They are in the villages, towns and main cities and start crowing at 4 am. And did you know that roosters continue to crow throughout the day? Well they do...
4. Religion is a huge part of life here. In the south the majority are Christian and in the north Muslim however they live harmoniously. And you see the religion everywhere - store names (Count Your Blessings, Holy Father's Inn, God's Finger's Tailoring, etc) and in the names of people (Charity, Bless, Remembrance, I even met a Forgive the other day!)
5. Football is the third religion. Most children haven't even heard of other sports.
6. Ghanaians have incredible posture, even the elderly. They carry literally everything on their heads - water, goods they're selling, clothing, I even saw a woman in labor carrying her pain med IV on her head to the delivery room (note she was WALKING to the delivery room)
7. This brings me to my next topic - the hospital. All the patients must purchase their own cotton swabs, razor blades, spirits (disinfecting alcohol), etc. Most wards do no provide these unless you buy from them.
8. Throughout Ghana, though differing between peoples, the babies are given several names - a surname, a Christian name, and a local name. The local name refers to the day of the week you were born, for example I'm born on a Thursday so I introduce myself as Jawa.
9. Left hand = toilet hand. You hand everything to each other and eat with your right hand. No exception.
10. The women carry the babies on their backs by wrapping cloth around their waists' and tying it so the baby stays up. It's so cute, the baby is in a cocoon and falls right asleep.
11. In 2007, they changed their currency since it had been so devalued. So 10,000 Cedi became 1C. But people, even very young children, use to old currency so they may say something is 5,000 C which ironically means 5C (notice the conversion is not correct). Or they may say something is worth 12 which actually means 10 Cedi 20 Pesowas. But everyone understands what's implied. I have yet to catch on!
12. The Ghanaians are very self-sufficient. The trees in our front yard provide the family with plantains, bananas, nuts which also give oil, juice which can be made into wine, coconuts, etc. There was garden with vegetables but the grass cutters ate it.
13. Grass cutters. They look like really big rats (the size of an American football) and they eat the tough sugar cane. My host father breeds them so there are about 30 some running around at night.
14. You can buy cold pure water on the streets for 5 pesowas pretty much every where you go. That's about 3 cents. It comes it a square plastic bag about 5x5 in.
15. There is this interesting combination of Western and traditional clothing. Many people where the colorful prints but it is not uncommon to see jeans and even American Tshirts (I saw a shirt for UCLA the other day!)
16. Every where we go we hear YAVOO YAVOO! which means white person in Ewe. The kids wave and call to us, even the adults are amused. It's funny to say the least.
17. People are extremely friendly. It is considered rude not to say "Efwa?" (how are you) before asking for some kind of service. And most strangers you pass on the street will say it.
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