There should be a special word for that feeling you have when you walk into a situation with no expectations. It’s a mix of thrill and excitement with anxiousness on the side– and lots of contemplation of different scenarios in an effort to prepare for what’s to come.
Whatever that word is, it is how I felt the night before our first day of internships. My series of thoughts were all over the place: Is this outfit going to give me a good first impression? Do I Uber or tro-tro? (Tro-tro is a form of public transportation like a bus—but in a van.) What am I going to eat for lunch? Little did I know, I was worrying a lot—for nothing.
I am interning at XpressGas Limited, a company that sells gas to businesses and consumers. If I were to be completely honest, when I heard that I was going to be at XpressGas—I thought I was interning at a gas station in the middle of nowhere while all of my peers were at agencies, newspapers, and corporate companies. I quickly learned that my internship at XpressGas would blow me away.
What makes XpressGas Limited different from other petroleum companies in Ghana is that XpressGas has a service called “Swap&Go” where they swap their customer’s empty gas cylinder for a brand new one right at their doorstep. This innovative service is spectacular for Ghanaians as it provides an alternate method for obtaining gas. Traditionally, when a household, food vendor, or restaurant would run out of gas, they would have to travel with their heavy cylinder across bumpy road conditions and unpredictable weather risking their cylinder exploding and other dangerous possibilities. In America, we know these gas cylinders as propane. It was interesting to learn about the societal differences in obtaining propane in different countries. While it is easy for us to get propane at the grocery store, it is not that easy for Ghanaians.
On my first day, I immediately hit the ball rolling. I met everyone in the office and failed to remember everyone’s names—but I’m working on it. I also discovered what I would be doing throughout the next 5 weeks. By the time I finish my internship, I will have produced a communication audit, generated a communication plan, and implemented a social media strategy within that plan. Throughout my first week, I have been conducting lots of research on the company online and through interviews with employees for my communication audit. It has given me the chance to get to know my colleagues and learn about Ghanaian culture.
Aside from work, my colleagues have been extremely welcoming to me. They are willing to put down their work and answer questions that I have and tell me about the tribe and region they come from. Each day, they make sure I eat lunch and if I did eat lunch, they ask what I ate. I enjoy seeing their reactions to the different Ghanaian dishes I have tried. My favorite Ghanaian dish I have eaten so far would be fufu with goat meat and soup. I was taught to eat it the Asante way which is using my hands and fingers to “cut” a piece of the fufu off and creating a small spoon-like hole in it, then use it to scoop the soup into my mouth. It took me a while to adapt to eating with my hands and also swallowing the fufu as opposed to chewing it. Chewing fufu is not common. Other dishes I have tried are kontomire, banku, jollof rice, kelewele, and korkor.
The biggest achievement of my first week would be successfully taking the tro-tro to and from work! I took an embarrassing fall trying to hop in the tro-tro for the first time but it did not discourage me from trying again. All one needs to know to master the tro-tro is the right car to pick and where you’d like to stop. The only trouble you may find yourself in is being afraid to speak up for your stop. The tro-tro may sound intimidating to some, but it is certainly not as intimidating as it sounds.
Overall, my first week of work was an experience I will never forget. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to start my very first internship abroad.
