Throughout my 4 years in the Global
Studies program at Wilfrid Laurier University I have been enlightened into some
of the considerations that need to be made when travelling abroad.
Appropriation and cultural stereotyping have been a discussion point in terms
of how the West gets a large say in how we view the "Other". How are
our own personal biases clouding our judgement? How do we minimize the voices
and image of those we are unfamiliar with? How do we contribute to this single
story that is being applied onto other countries and people? These are all
questions that I faced when going through my undergrad and a few years back I
got the opportunity to challenge myself with these issues first hand by
travelling to Accra, Ghana (West Africa), while undergoing an international
placement.
Challenges While Abroad
As expected,
when you travel to a foreign country for a lengthier amount of time, challenges
begin to arise. A major challenge for me was all of the unwanted attention
I got simply because I was foreign. The main contributor to this was verbal
harassment of people following me around saying they want to be my
"friend" and having my picture taken without warning and approval. I
remember one time I was walking in the mall and this guy with his group of
friends took a picture on his camera with his flash on and just kept walking.
It was interactions like this that just kept piling together until the point
where I felt self-conscious and that I was always be watched or filmed or
something. I also remember having to say no to random people who came up to me
on the streets asking to take pictures with me or those saying they wanted my
number. Other challenges included the feeling of being stuck at the hostel
due to it being unsafe to go very far alone, especially at night. Also,
transportation started getting frustrating since I was always reliant on Ubers
that were not always time efficient. This "Ghanaian time"
of there being no set deadlines, of always being late and not having the need
or desire to be efficient with time was a big societal difference when it
came to how we interpret respect and reliability.
Overcoming Challenges While Abroad
However,
the aspect that we studied in global studies however was how our
privilege and biases play a role when judging and evaluating another
country's dynamics. Having a global studies background we learned the
importance of not being rude about differences in front of locals who could
take offence to passing comments that are made. This could relate to commenting
on their pollution, food, appearance, music, language, etc. Even comments such
as "this is so cheap" could be taken offensively since to another
individual 10GHC ($2.40 CAD) could be considered expensive. Having that
background knowledge of how to conduct yourself in a foreign country was
important. Being able to limit showing negative reactions to certain elements
that we were unfamiliar or uncomfortable with and being conscientious of
the appropriations that go on in society and how we shouldn't stereotype based
on one experience.
Therefore,
in order to handle our varying emotions while there we confided in the relations,
we had with others in the group who were also going through similar stages. Not
taking out our frustration on the locals and not being disrespectful during the
initial interaction was key to maintaining moral during those tougher times.
Learning how operations work within their culture did help to manage our
expectations when facing a situation. Preparing ourselves that a commute will
always have heavy traffic, in hot weather or that when going to restaurants our
food will be served at different times within the overall 2 hours wait helped
us come to terms with what we will be encountering. Other ways that we
distracted ourselves in our down time was travelling to other regions in Ghana
on the weekends, playing cards at night, going out for dinner together and
since I was taking two online courses while there, I also had that to fall back
on as well.
Processing Stage Upon Return
Since
being back I am still processing how my privilege was treated while abroad.
While I was there, I remember being annoyed by people always wanting to be
my “friend” simply due to my foreignness and their constant desire to sell me
things. At the time I saw this degrading in some way since I was simply trying
to mind my own business and I was never left alone when walking to get dinner
or on my way to work. Since being back however, and after taking the post-trip
class (GS399), I’ve started to consider the situation from a more
objective point of view. In my mind, I don’t have endless money to spend, but
in their eyes, I am still more well off then them therefore it shouldn't be a
hassle to spare some coins. That unequal relationship is something I am still
coming to terms with, especially now that I’m back and spending money on
materialistic items. It is also confusing to process this inequality and not
frame it in a way that defends the typical notion that foreigners need to be
their savior.
