Poptarts, red tape, and basketball

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Last Tuesday I met with Reid who knows Jessica, who is my sister Tanya’s sister-in-law… so basically a friend of a friend of my sister? Anyways, he was in Ghana for a week and a half checking up on a project he had worked on for a few years up north in Kumasi and he comes back to Ghana about twice a year to make sure the project is still on track. He was kind enough to offer to bring some stuff for me and Tanya sent him with some poptarts and Little Debbie’s and school supplies for the kids. I was really surprised when I got the call from him because I haven’t heard a southern accent in 3 months. It was an adventure trying to find his guesthouse because there wasn’t a sign, but we finally found it and I was able to get the goodies from him. We sat and talked for about an hour and it was so cool to sit with someone who understood both the Ghanaian culture and southern culture. We had a lot of the same experiences and stories and it was interesting to see things from a perspective other than another exchange student. When I got back to campus my friends laughed at me because after only being with him for an hour my southern accent came right back and was pretty strong so all the mid west kids got a good laugh again.

Wednesday was pretty frustrating because I found out that I was supposed to register AGAIN for my classes online about a month ago. No one ever let me know this and I guess it was another one of those Ghanaian common sense things that everyone just knows and doesn’t talk about. I don’t really understand why registering here is so difficult. Back in the first week we had to go to every department and sign up for our classes, and then we had to register with the school, then we had to sign this slip with the international student’s office, and then register with the exchange program, and now you’re telling me I’m supposed to register AGAIN?! I will never ever complain about online registration at LSU ever again. So I had to go back to each department and explain that I hadn’t registered online and I needed to sign up on the class list. The sociology department was pretty low key about it, but I got a full on investigation by the religion department and the lady kept asking me why I hadn’t signed up online and then when I told her I didn’t know I was supposed to she looked at me like I was the dumbest person alive. I just pulled the foreigner card for about the thousandth time here and she finally let me sign up. I’m already dreading trying to get my transcript and classes transferred over. If registering is this difficult and unorganized I can’t even imagine what transferring back is going to be like.

On Thursday I left at 4 am to go to Kumasi with my friend and neighbor Edem. We went up there to meet his friends from high school that go to Kwame Nkrumah Institute of Technology (aka KNUST or Tech) for the Republic Hall Week. On campus they have different halls where people live, just like the campus here in Legon. Each hall has a “week” where they have big celebrations with concerts, parties, free food, and all sorts of stuff. The Republic Hall Week is the biggest hall week on all the campuses and “everyone will be there.” The main event for the hall week is the basketball tournament. Edem plays on the University of Ghana team so him and all his teammates play in the tournament every year.

We got there Thursday around 10 or 11 and met up with his friends Eugene, Kofi, and Eugene’s girlfriend Jennifer. When we walked into their dorm room there were several guys hanging out in there and all started chanting Edem’s last name “Gbedemah!! Gbedemah!! Gbedemah!!!!!” and I just knew this was going to be a fun crowd. The boys went to the gym and did whatever boys do when they go to the gym and I hung out with Jennifer. She was the sweetest girl I have met in Ghana so far. I was telling her how I was having a hard time meeting girl friends in Ghana because the girls in class and stuff don’t really talk to me. She just laughed and goes “oh that’s not Ghanaian women for you, that’s just Legon girls, they’re stuck up to us too don’t worry!” She was a lot of fun, she just made me feel really welcome and she introduced me to all her friends. They were all incredible, they’re the type of people that after sitting with them for 5 minutes you feel like you’ve known them your whole life.

Kofi and Eugene played basketball with Edem in high school so they’re all really close, and they are the type of guys that anyone is lucky to be friends with. Kofi is about 5’5” and just a little ball of energy. Everywhere he goes the people around him are just laughing and goofing off. You can’t help but to love him. Eugene is the type of guy that would bend over backwards for you while giving you the shirt off his back. He kept checking on me and making sure I was doing ok and having a good time. Any time we would eat he would always make sure I had everything I needed and then he would make me try something new and wanted to make sure I got the full experience. It’s no wonder Edem stayed such good friends with these guys after all these years, they were phenomenal.

After the games on Friday everyone was still hanging around the courtyard area and there was music playing and a bunch of stands were set up with food and drinks. Jennifer and a few of her girlfriends set up a smoothie stand and they made a fortune that weekend. We went over by their stand and had a few drinks and danced to the music blaring from the speakers. Everyone was dancing and having a good time and I started to feel like the silly white girl who couldn’t dance surrounded by all these AMAZING dancers. At one point we were standing in a circle and someone would go in the middle and do a little solo dance and it was really funny. They were being silly and goofing off, but still were better dancers than any American could ever be. Even Edem surprised me because he is just the quiet strong type, but out of no where this crazy silly dancer popped out! Then the worst happened…. The circle started chanting “Obruni Obruni!!” trying to get me to dance and then someone pushes me into the circle!!! I was stuck in there for about 20 seconds dancing and trying not to make a fool out of myself and then Edem came in and did some damage control thank god! Just what I need, ANOTHER embarrassing dancing experience in Ghana…It was actually pretty fun though because no one expected me to be able to dance anyways.

That night we went out to Genesis dance club which was by far the nicest and biggest club I’ve ever been to. I spent the night dancing away with my new friends and actually started to get a little rhythm in my hips and it ended up being a great night. We stayed out until 5:30 am! We headed back to our lovely guesthouse with AC where I slept until 11 the next day.

Before the finals rounds of the tournament started we headed to this chop bar where everyone went to eat some fufu and other Ghanaian dishes. I got to eat my favorite, omo tuo and groundnut soup (with goat which I wasn’t a huge fan of) and just hung out before everyone had to start getting ready to play some ball.

The actual tournament was really fun!! Literally the only oburunis there was this older guy playing on a team and me. Everyone crowded around the courts and there were hundreds of people around, and my little blonde self stuck out like a sore thumb. It was really interesting because I’ve yet to be in an experience like that, usually I had Bethany or another friend with me, but this was the first time that I was all alone with my Ghanaian friends and I loved it. The basketball games were 3 on 3 on a half court and 16 teams played. Edem introduced me to this guy Meme who was huge, probably about 6’6” and 210. We chatted it up and he was super nice, and I found out later on he’s like the Michael Jordan of Ghana. He’s easily the best basketball player in Ghana and is 30, he’s retired now, but he still does like promo stuff and plays every now and then. He’s like a celebrity, and here I am chatting it up with a Ghanaian celebrity that Edem is really good friends with. Seriously? This is crazy! On Meme’s team was this other guy that I can’t remember his name, but he currently plays on the Ghana National team and is really talented. Recently in an international tournament Ghana lost every single game, but he still won MVP for the tournament. That tells you a little bit about how good he is!! Needless to say, his team with Meme won the tournament, but Edem’s team won third and that was really cool. It was exciting cheering on my friends and seeing them get so far in the tournament.

That night there were a few more parties, but we only went to one because the boys were really exhausted from all the games. We went home early to them, which was 3:30 am and seemed plenty late for me!

The next day we hung out a little bit before we had to head back to Accra. We really weren’t in any hurry to head back and stayed until around 4 in the afternoon. It was really sad saying bye to everyone. Edem was upset because he’s so close to them all, but doesn’t get to see them very often. I was upset to leave just because it was so nice to hang out with them and for one weekend I felt like I was back home hanging out with my own friends. They were so cool and I loved their company. Luckily they all live in Accra when school is out and they have their finals earlier than us so we are planning on hanging out some more when their semester is over before I head home. That is definitely my favorite part about Ghana, just making new friends and hanging out. Over all, not the most exciting weekend in the area of traveling, but was definitely my favorite weekend in Ghana.

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