During my Peace Corps interview, the lady asked me whether I would be able to deal with all of the unwanted attention. “You will be living in a fish bowl. People will constantly be yelling at you and trying to get your attention” she said. Judging from the pictures I’d seen of Peace Corps volunteers, they probably aren’t used to getting ANY type of attention at all, hence the difficulty adjusting. “No problem,” I thought. I’d perfected the art of selective hearing/ignoring men from going out in the States. So just multiply that feeling a few times over…couldn’t be that difficult to deal with, right? Wrong.
Fast forward to today: I’m giving myself the daily “leaving the house” pep talk again. “You can do it. It’ll be fine. Just ignore it. It’s not that big of a deal. Seriously, you’ll be okay. Get up. Walk outside. You’ll be fine.” I put on my best “Don’t eff with me” face in order to confront the outside world.
I step out. My landlord, Joe Pepper, greeted me with a cheery “Fine morning!” This isn’t so bad. “Sister Julie! Sister Julie!” The kids are chanting my name. People are smiling and waving. “Ma Chi (good morning in Twi),” called my old neighbor, Prince, as I passed him on the road. Rejoyce, my pineapple lady, called out “Auntie, pineapple?” I continue walking, lots of greetings and smiles coming my way. The taxi driver kicked someone out of his cab so that he could take me to the bank. We have a nice conversation about the economy and government in Ghana. I finally make it to work. No one grabbed me. No one harassed me. This is what it would’ve been like had Mr. Rogers lived in an African village. It was a wonderful day in the neighborhood.
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