Change in Currency

Three nights ago, I slept on a tree platform aside the Black Volta River. As I lay on my back, the tree canopy sprawled overhead and the sky a blanket of the brightest, sparkling stars, giant hippopotamuses swam upstream through the still waters. Earlier in the day we had the exciting opportunity to take a river cruise in a simple dug-out canoe and witness several hippos swimming through the waters, sometimes only fifty feet away.

As I wondered at the beauty of the night sky, I reflected on the little time I have left in Ghana and the amazing experiences that have filled the time past. We are now in the season of fresh corn, roasted peanuts, and gray skies. While I am also in the season of goodbyes and ‘until we meet again.’ So, I'm taking lots of last looks, trying to memorize the images that have become so common to me, trying to capture them my mind.

Big billowy clouds forming daily, occasional patches of light blue. Grass, tall and green, men, young and old, work, cutting it with their machetes. A family of baboons, a mother with a baby on her back, cross the road. Customs officers dressed in navy blue jumpsuits with matching berets, sit under an ancient mango tree. The loud hum of generators, trying to maintain the appearance of a modern world, despite all too often power outages. Piles of ripe avocados and bright yellow bananas lined up for sale on tables. Clear air and the vision of Adaklu (the mountain Kimberlee and I climbed upon our arrival) from all over Ho. Young girls carry bowls on their heads, full of items for sale. Clean water sealed in plastic sachets, ‘pure water.’

Further, Ghana has just experienced a change of currency, or rather a re-denomination. With the old denomination, the largest note was the 20,000 cedi, equal to approximately 2 dollars; Ghana is now on a scale similar to the American dollar. For the next six months the people of Ghana will transition into this new currency, while both old and new denominations continue to float through the system, and old and new prices continue to be recognized. At certain times, in the heat of the moment, there has indeed been confusion. Whether for the old women in the market, who has no change for these new giant bills, or the young boy in the shop who can't figure out how much money he has been given.

In this time of transition, the use of money is no longer second nature. I think twice when I see a price and pay, trying to figure out how to combine old money with some of the new. As I laid on the tree platform under the stars, I found in this some kind of metaphorical truth -- when I return home, my life and my actions, will no longer be second nature. I will be caught mixing some of the old, the ways of life from Ghana, with some of the new, ways of life in America. And I'm sure there will be moments of confusion, as I figure out how to take some things with me from the past, and what to leave behind.