Culture embodies who we are and where we come from. Myriad people believe culture is represented by traditions, clothing, food, celebrations, and music. Culture is a significant part of humans, for some it is more important than others. Culture in some countries it’s not really a big thing. Buhari culture is very interesting. The things that stood out more for me about Ghana’s culture was their food, clothes and language. Culture is what everyone has in their blood. Everyone has at least a bit of culture in their veins that defines where they come from.

After meeting with Buhari I got the chance to learn more about a totally new culture and I was very excited to learn about Buhari’s home. Buhari was born in The United States Of America but his parents were originally born in Ghana. I did some research about Ghana and I found out that Ghana is the home of 70 different ethnic groups, every group has their own different language, tradition and culture according to African Ancestry. Some of these groups that are very popular are Akan and Ewe. This reinforces the idea of the variety culture Ghana really has. It’s quite impressive that Ghana has so much diversity compared to its population and land size. The United states it’s a really massive country but all the people born in the United States only speak English, however Ghana it’s a small country and they speak several languages. Buhari parents really taught him about his culture since he knows a lot from a country that he wasn’t born in. Buhari has visited Ghana several times and he really likes it. While interviewing my peer he was very passionate about Ghana’s food, he told me some of his favorites dishes such as Fufu and Jollof rice. These are like dumplings made from cassava and plantains, they are usually eaten with soups and stews. Many of Ghana’s food is eaten by hand. Jollof rice is made with fish or meat, it’s mixed with tomato sauce and plantains, it’s traditionally prepared over a wood fire or coal.

Buhari’s culture has many similarities and differences to my culture, but both of our countries are mostly similar. As I did some research I found out that people from Ghana eat a lot of plantains. In Colombia people love eating plantains all the time, we could eat it in the morning,during lunch and even during dinner.In Colombia there are a lot of farms so we usually survive by eating plants,fruits and vegetables. In Colombia culture is really important and our parents, friends and neighbors always taught us about following traditions. Some of our most popular traditions are eating 12 grapes while being under the table at New Years. We do this because each grape represents a wish or goal for the next year. We also put lentils in our pocket in the New Years for abundance. These traditions might sound absurd but we all grew up believing in these traditions. Language plays a big role in Ghana since most of the people living in the country know at least 2 languages. During the interview I asked Buhari “What languages are spoken in your country?” He responded to my question by saying “people from Ghana speak more than one language, in some areas they even speak three languages. They speak Ewe, Akan and in most areas English.” I was amazed by his answer since back in my country we only speak Spanish but each religion has their own accent. I decided to ask Buhari “Why do people from Ghana know how to speak English?” He told me the reason was that “many years ago Ghana was colonized by the British” I did more research about this and I found out The British colonized Ghana in 1874 till 1957 where Ghana gained its independence. The most common languages are Akan and English.  According to Statista, English is the official language of Ghana with almost 10 million speakers followed by Akan with more than 9 million speakers.

I learned a lot of things while exploring Buhari’s culture. I also found something very interesting ;that my culture is very similar to Buhari’s culture. Ghana is a country that has a lot of hard working and diligent people, this reminds me of the people from Colombia. Ghana also has very colorful clothing as well as Colombians. The food is somewhat similar, both countries use a lot of similar ingredients. Learning about Ghana has helped me understand and embrace more about my culture because I also learn facts about my own countries. One very important thing that I learned was that each region in Colombia has their own accent, my parents told me that some of these accents are Paisa, Rolo and Choco. My parents were telling me about Cumbia which is a cultural dance in Colombia and while dancing women and men wear really colorful dresses and suits. “Is there any traditional clothing in your country?” I asked Buhari, he replied with “Ghana has a lot of traditional clothing, they are usually made by hand. Kente cloth is a very popular type of clothing. It’s very colorful.” Colombia and Ghana are more common than they seem. I think a lot of things were gained as an outsider, I learned a lot of Ghana’s culture. I also learned how Ghana is very similar to many hispanic countries. One really important thing that I learned from Ghana was women and men’s roles in society. I asked Buhari “What is the role of the men in your society?” “The role of men in Ghana is to provide for the family, men have the expectation to provide for their family.” “How about women?” I asked “What is the role of women in your society?” “The role of women in Ghana is to support by taking care of the house and the children, but not only that, myriad women also work to provide for the family.” I was surprised to hear that women also work, I thought it was going to be like in Colombia where most of the time men are the ones that provided.

To sum things up I really enjoy doing this assignment because Buhari allowed me to learn about his culture. I realized that Ghana was very similar to where I was born. Colombia and Ghana shared many things like how colorful clothes are, and food. Ghana is a country that has a lot of hard working and diligent people, this reminds me of the people from Colombia. I’m sure that everyone has at least a bit of culture in their blood.

To sum things up I really enjoy doing this assignment because my peer allowed me to learn about his culture. I realized that Ghana was very similar to where I was born. Colombia and Ghana shared many things like how colorful clothes are, and food. Ghana is a country that has a lot of hard working and diligent people,this reminds me of the people from Colombia. I’m sure that everyone has at least a bit of culture in their blood. 

I didn’t use AI to write my essay. I don’t really like using AI to write papers because I don’t want to get used to using AI to write because I could get in trouble in other classes. The use of AI makes the writings boring and it makes it sound like a machine is doing it. I think when someone writes an essay you can hear the person’s opinions, emotions and tone in writing. I will probably use AI in the future when I’m very stuck with writing.

MLA-

Awah, Mary. “Exploring Ghana: The Experience & Traditions.” Vice Versa Global, 17 Aug. 2024, www.viceversaglobal.com/exploring-ghana-the-experience-traditions/.

“Exploring the Diverse Language & People of Ghana: A Journey through a Rich Culture.” African Ancestry, www.africanancestry.com/blogs/african-countries/exploring-the-diverse-language-people-of-ghana-a-journey-through-a-rich-culture?srsltid=AfmBOoqmwkUREeCHYrFyi8wDzLuDLqdJyEeWLzoTpHHu9pjDCoFMpfBx. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025.

Limited, Alamy. “Colombia Clothing Tradition Hi-Res Stock Photography and Images.” Alamy, www.alamy.com/stock-photo/colombia-clothing-tradition.html. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025.

“Ghana: Daily Life and Social Customs.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 4 Mar. 2025, www.britannica.com/place/Ghana/Daily-life-and-social-customs.