Things I should probably be afraid of...

As a way of coalescing my recent anxiety about Ghana, I've prepared a list of things I probably should be thinking about in advance, but really haven't given much thought. This list is every bit as helpful for me as it is reading fodder for you all.

1. The Sun.
Pathetic, I know. But if you've never been on a tropical vacation with me, you wouldn't know that my skin just doesn't do the sun. And not in the "oh, it is so hot, I must lie here in the shade all day and do nothing today" way, but in the "I've been here for a 3 days, and already I am bright pink despite sunscreen and have developed a heat rash on my whole body that produces certain misery until I can spend a few days out of the sun" kind of way. Days out of the sun will not be possible in Ghana, and I don't think I've ever been so close to the equator in my life.
2. Malaria Medication.
Piggybacking on theme #1, I've been prescribed a daily malaria pill that increases one's sensitivity to the sun. The bottle says to avoid the midday sun. Again, not an option. This medication also decreases the effectiveness of the calcium pills and birth control that I take for prior medical conditions. Joy!
3. Men.
I have heard that the Ghanaian people are the friendliest anywhere (if they compete with the Irish, then I might never come home...) but that as a blond white female, I will be beyond appealing to Ghanaian men. They are supposedly more forward than the Italian men, but perhaps more polite (no boob grabbing on the subway this time). I've read about frequent marriage proposals and propositions to be friends. Now, I'm all for integration, but I know to say "my husband is in the next village/town" and that that won't always work. ("Have a husband in both towns!") I've been told to laugh it off, and eventually I will understand that this is just a part of their friendly culture and it wont bother me anymore. In the time being, I despise forward men. This is perhaps why I didn't enjoy Mexico very much, because being followed and worse, stared at from afar drove me bonkers. This will be a significant cultural challenge for me. I know they are friendly, I know that some of them really do just want to be friends. I do not want to be perceived as standoffish or the American that they all assume I am, so I think my approach will be to stay and chat a while, try to be friendly, maybe even practice my Twi, and try to defy my own tendencies to glare and walk away...
4. Bugs
Not many of you got to see the welts I managed to ascertain from the bugs in Colorado last summer. I just attract mosquitoes, spiders, etc. Trust me, a mosquito net is my number 1 priority in Ghanaian purchases (followed by bedding and a cell phone). What can I say here? I'll wear the bug spray, I'll pack long sleeves, I'll DEET myself when I travel, I'll swat at what I see. The rest is kind of just luck, isn't it?
5. Culture shock, and I think worse, reverse culture shock.
I'm sure I'll get there and look around, instantly falling in love with everything I see. I know that will ware off, but I'm hoping that the glint of excitement will carry me through at least a month before I have to find a substantiated reason to love Ghana. I hope that knowing that I wont be leaving for a long time will help me adjust with fervor, something I did not do while in Italy last year. I let myself count down the days until I flew home to someone, and while I loved it all, I was a bit checked out at the end. More of a concern, how will I go from Ghana to vacation, to my home for two months, where I have no job, and no troubles. I think I'll be sick with myself for being here, which is a hard thought. What will my family think when I come home and want to resist all my comforts? This one I can't think about right now.

Let's recap that these are things that are floating around in the back of my mind, but that I haven't given any serious consideration, and probably wont. Despite my tendency to over plan my life waaaay into the future, I still picked the sunny, bug and disease ridden, overtly friendly country for reasons that I think far outweigh the need to fear being uncomfortable. Why did I pick this (or in some of your minds, "do this to my self")? Here's an excerpt from an essay I wrote earlier this year:

"In planning for this experience abroad in Africa, I have heard over and over again, “You could have just gone to Europe.” Europe would be less expensive, less disease-ridden, easier to adjust to and safer politically. The ever prominent mantra of my family and friends has been “Why on earth would you want to spend four months in a third world country?”

"Truthfully, the program in Legon had exactly what I was looking for: the ability to do a homestay, where I could be totally immersed in the language, traditions, and mundane routine life of another culture. I know this experience will be anything but mundane for me. I fully expect to be uncomfortable (just going from the cold Pacific Northwest to equatorial Africa will throw me for a loop!) I want to be uncomfortable to the point that I must change my conception of comfortable; to fully understand that my way of life is not ideal for everyone is my objective. This is why I chose Africa. The food, the mixture of religious practice, the markets, the dirt, and the people - I cannot explain how excited I am to observe and ask about everything. "

There you have it, folks.