My parents stood me up. on a different continent.

I'm supposed to be having a Skype convo with my parents right now. It's about 6:30 back in Iowa, and they're doing their now apparently routine weekly family dinner. Since I'm in Africa, it seemed this would be a most convenient time to talk to them and tell them all about my adventures thus far.

It's now 40 minutes after our scheduled time and hope is slowly dying. Not that it's a huge issue (Mom and Dad, I forgive you for standing me up), I'm trying to see it as just being part of the Ghanaian experience. Time is different in Ghana. 15 minutes late to something is being on time. While this perfectly suits my perpetually late lifestyle (I constantly underestimate how high maintenance--why does this word not show up in spellchecker??-- I can be), it goes against my American instinct to be on time. Even with my consistent tardiness, I'm always aware that I am late and consequently have small pangs of guilt for this. I also feel rushed, have the feeling I forgot something (cellphone, ID, keys, the 15-page paper I stayed up all night writing), and wherever I'm going feel flustered and a little discombobulated by the time I arrive. Reverse the situation and you're waiting, maybe for someone else who's late, maybe in line for coffee (worst feeling: when you're so close to that glorious caffeine fix, and someone's counting change for their latte).
Either way, late or waiting, Ghanaians aren't bothered by time lapses like Americans are.... or at least like this American is. When you're late, it's because you stopped to chat with a friend on the street, or you took a little extra time reading the morning paper. If you're waiting, you occupy yourself by chatting with above described late person, or just take the extra time to soak in the beautiful day and the wonder that life is in Ghana.

My wait is over for now and look what I've accomplished; a new blog entry for you to enjoy (once again, in attempts of proving that I'm not dead or living in an airport hotel in Newark), and some reflection on how we all spend our time. I can say though; In a weird way, I'm already excited to get back to New York and see all the waiting/late people running around. I will definitely be incorporating the Ghanaian time into my New York life.