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Thursday, January 18, 2007

A Note on Two Conversations

OK, just a quick note to prevent any misunderstandings. In Ghana, being called "white woman" means, basically, that you're a white woman. It is a descriptor, not a pejorative. It is apolitical.

Second, being called sister is also a given. Or maamie, auntie, awuraa, or whatever else. It is generally more polite to call someone sister Akua than simply Akua, for example.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds familiar :). Back home (Indonesia, especially in Bugis people -- where I come from), it's just so inpolite to refer someone just by name without put "something proper". And here, I found it's difficult to (later, God willing) make my (not yet born) child calls her big sister (my stepdaughter, Iman) "kakak" (in bahasa Indonesia = big sister/brother) since in Spanish and also Moroccan (my stepdaughter is half Moroccan) it's not really flattering :p. Ah well, my stepdaughter calls me just by my name which in Indonesia is rather rude or improper ;).
But hey, as they say: when in Rome... ;)

mavenmiia said...

Thanks Yaty. I think it's actually a pretty common cultural thing. In Finnish too, children especially should never call an adult just by their first name. But here it's also between friends or, really, in all directions.

Chris says you're as positive as all the smileys you put in your post ;) Hope we get to meet one day soon.