"Would you like to be engaged before leaving Ghana?"

I love it! It didn't take very long, did it? Since being asked this question I've made an executive decision to "be engaged" for the rest of my time here. It is so difficult for people outside of American culture to understand how Americans go about marriage. There are so many places that cannot afford the luxury of looking for the "perfect" mate. Young girls get pregnant and marry because of convenience or consider the simple fact that women need a man to survive in much of the world. Without a solid education and job there are not opportunities for women to work as there are men and their roles are still clearly designated as household and family responsibilities. For that reason I find it a difficult discussion to have with women- especially women who did not have the opportunity to make their own decisions or follow their own paths.

Here I have learned that the bride price is still fairly high- 3 cows, 5 sheep, etc. And while the professionals have told me they are trying to modernize that practice in the newer middle class it has evolved to instead buying cell phones for your future mother-in-law. For this reason, many youth are finding it difficult and expensive to marry and have to save a significant amount before it is possible.

In case you were wondering, the answer to the aforementioned question was a chuckle and emphatic, "No."