Last Monday morning, in the middle of the first monsoon since we arrived, I got dropped off at my internship for the summer. Another girl from the program and I walked through the front door of Innova DDB, one of the 5 marketing organizations within the Ninnani group. She would be working for their PR group and I would be working on the strategy for Innova, the advertising branch.

We walked through the doors, unsure of what to expect. The receptionist welcomed us and asked us to take a seat. Soon a lady named Dorcas walked through the door. She introduced herself and informed us that they were not expecting us today. Oops.

Despite the unannounced arrival, they quickly found work for me to do. Sitting in between two of my coworkers’ desks, I began to review the deck for a FedEx Ghana pitch the next. My deskmate, Gifty, asked for some suggestions on how to enhance the user experience and improve the deck. I wrote down 12 or so ideas, thinking that she was just feeling out how I think.

Throughout the day people came in to introduce themselves with handshakes and questions. In general, my coworkers are curious about what I have to say. We’ve swapped stories and offers for lunch dates. They want to know where I am from and how I came to end up here in Ghana.

Most of their questions and curiosities are harmless, but many of the men wanted to know what my rings meant, a not-so-sly way to ask if I was engaged. I tried to shrug them off and laugh, as that is what the other women in my office were doing. “It’s a cultural thing,” I kept telling myself. The men and women alike are respectful of my work. Two of those ideas for FedEx made it into the pitch the following day and the CEO of FedEx Ghana even commented on how smart one of them was. If they are respecting my ideas then they must be respecting me, right?

Now, my first week behind me, I can see that there are some flaws in my logic. Growing up I have been taught that the sexual jokes were indicative of someone not seeing another person as a whole person. To me, disrespectful jokes meant disrespecting the person. But I do not think this to be entirely true anymore. You can enjoy and appreciate a person and still make inappropriate jokes and comments. It is okay to establish your boundaries, even if they are different than those of the culture’s. (If you are next year’s group, be prepared for this kind of stuff to happen and do not be afraid to stand up for yourself. The people here want you to have a good time and be comfortable, they just might not know what that looks like to you.)

I am looking forward to the next four weeks here. My coworkers do great work and I am excited to learn from them. I am gaining some confidence in my ideas and much-appreciated experience. Both this job and this trip are shifting my perspective on the world every day. After having spent even just a week’s worth of time as a working woman here, I feel very grateful to be from a place where sexual jokes are largely discouraged in the workplace and even more grateful to be working in a place where people are receptive to boundaries when you set them.