Ghanaians are able to express their culture through marriage, dressing, music, festivals, religion, occupation etc. There is no doubt that they have a beautiful culture, however, there are some elements of it that would sound strange if you are not a Ghanaian. Here are eight of them.
1. The handshake
More than a symbol of greeting, this elaborate meeting of palms, thumbs and forefingers begins as a regular handshake then, before the two people withdraw hands, their palms slide together until their middle fingers are touching and then they turn their hands so that the palms are glimpsed before bringing together thumb and forefinger for the signature click at the end.
2. ‘You are invited’
Food is taken very seriously in Ghana and these three words are uttered when a person consuming food spots a friend or acquaintance and invites that person to join them. It is a turn of phrase and signifies that you are willing to share your food, but is very rarely taken literally.
3. The left-handed insult
Never hand anything to anyone with your left hand, unless you want to deeply offend them. Traditionally, before the advent of the toilet and toilet paper, you used your left hand to clean yourself after obeying a call of nature, and your right hand was reserved for eating food and interacting with others.
4. No music before Homowo
To appease the sea goddess Maame Water, a ban on playing music exists throughout the areas held by the Ga people. It can be strange to be in a bar without background music, but the Ga people take this practice very seriously, believing that Maame Water holds their luck for the coming year and to oppose her edicts would spell disaster. The ban is lifted for the festival of Homowo in May.
5. The Ghanaian salad
At some point in Ghana’s history, it was decided that the traditional salad in Ghana would consist of lettuce, tomato, onion, boiled eggs, tuna and… baked beans. Yes, baked beans. Heinz, in fact. With a smothering of salad cream on top of course. This ‘traditional’ salad is eaten on its own or by the side of jollof rice where the flavours and oddness come together to create something surprisingly tasty!
6. Neon-pink chickens
Baboons of the Shai Hills are known to steal foodstuffs, personal items and the most irritating, terrorising farmers’ livestock, such as chickens. To combat this, the locals hit on an ingenious plan: spraying the chickens a non-natural neon pink. It turns out the baboons won’t go near them in this hue.
7. Keeping the dead
Usually, when a person dies, the body is buried within a couple of weeks, the family say goodbye and at the funeral, people bring food and refreshments. This isn’t the case within some Christian tribes of Ghana who can leave loved ones in cold storage for up to a year and, in the most famous case in the country, five years, in order to prepare and save money for the funeral.
8. The swear gesture
Tweaka, roughly translated, it means ‘return to sender’ in patois, and is used along with a gesture that involves taking a thumb and circling it around one’s head before flicking the imaginary circle away and is used as a response when someone has ill will towards you or says something negative.
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