Cultural Awareness at Max Mart

This weekend a few members of our group decided to check out Max Mart, a local shopping center. This was a most interesting experience. Max Mart is a very western shopping center with a coffee shop inside. Though I loved the coffee shop, (because I love coffee, and the hot tea I got made my head cold feel better) I found myself unhappy in Max Mart. I think the reason was that I was confronted with everything I don’t like about western culture. Max Mart is a place of wealth, mass consumerism, and multi-national corporations. Max Mart was filled with every American “necessity” – movies, make-up, fine china, stainless steel pots and pans, even a massive organic foods section. This place was definitely catering to westerners. Everything was at least 3 times the price of what you could get it for on the street, and there were so many familiar name brands. Anything you could ever need or even want, you could probably find in Max Mart. Everything, that is, except my favorite parts of Ghanaian culture so far. Looking out the Max Mart window I saw a busy Ghanaian street scene – vendors selling local goods (even my plastic laundry buckets are made in Ghana, not in China!), community, and the bright colors of a Ghanaian shopping scene. Being in Ghana, I wanted to immerse myself in the Ghanaian culture, and not retreat to the American coffee shop, as easy as that can be to do. I desire to see the similarities between Ghanaian and American culture – to recognize that this country is really not so far removed from my own; but I also want to celebrate the aspects that make Ghanaian culture separate and unique. I want to buy my egg sandwich every morning from Larabe – the two girls who make my egg sandwiches are friends, both named Larabe. They are so trusting and kind- I bought bread with my dinner the other night and I didn’t have the right change, but neither did they. So they just told me to take it and to pay for it in the morning! The way they trust me warms my heart. This culture is full of respect and trust. In fact, respect is so important that I must be careful not to disrespect by using my left hand or my crossing my legs in front others. It was so interesting to see how small our world really is, and the invasion of western culture into Ghana. Although Max Mart offers me the “comforts of home”, I hope that on this trip I will not utilize this option too often and I will prefer to enjoy the Ghanaian culture for what it has to offer.