Cultural Inquiry

So tonight I went to the Cultural Inquiry group on campus. (I love that club by the way!) We played a game called Rafa Rafa. Basically, the premise is that there are two 'cultures': Alpha and Beta. They are totally different people, performing different tasks (Alphas were playing a game whereas the Betas were trading livestock). Maggie had us divide up into groups and go observe the other culture-- we could simply observe and then try and participate if we wanted to. It was really a wonderful activity and it helps you think more realistically about what it will be like to go someplace where their culture is totally different than yours.

Some interesting points were brought up but I want to just focus on two of them:
1. Margret asked the question: 'what could you be doing now to prepare yourself for another culture, besides simply reading about it?'

hm..... I think I could prepare by working on not being as judgmental, even to those around me here. And to be honest with you, I think reading about it is extremely valuable. I have learned SO MUCH about Ghana simply by reading the stories. Having a cultural mediator is really helpful too-- someone who can tell me what is appropriate and what is not. (good think I have Akramah and the Twi class)

***** I've come to the conclusion that I'm pretty well prepared. Now, another thing we noticed during the game was that no matter how much you think you know about a culture, you get there and it is nothing like anything else you've ever experienced. So I might think that I'm uber prepared and that I got this thing under control but it is important to not get cocky about it. I still need to be cautious!

2. When I went to observe the Betas, I felt uncomfortable.... well, more alien. I felt like I didn't belong there. It was someone else's culture that I was impeding on. I was watching them and trying to figure it out but I seriously had no clue. One girl tonight said: "I wish they just told me the rules". It would be nice if we knew all the rules before we got there but.....

3. It's really hard to not do things with your left hand! In Twi class, we were told that doing anything with your left hand is bad bad bad. The left hand is for the body, and nothing else. :) Seeing that I am left handed, I thought I would try eating right handed at the club tonight. Boy was it hard!! I'm going to need to a whole lot more practicing.

So thank you Maggie and Andrew for a wonderful night!!!!! I was able to reflect on how I would react in a similar experience and then being able to talk about it afterwards, it was special.