Ghana - 1 Serbia - 0

I had the best first day in Accra, Ghana’s capital. I have not felt culture shocked at all. Driving through the streets of Accra has not been too different from driving through some streets of Managua and other Nicaraguan cities. Ghanaians are famously friendly, and today, not that I ever doubted it, I have found this to be true. I even got a marriage proposal. 

But the highlight of the day was Ghana’s win over Serbia in their first game of the 2010 World Cup.  Renae Adams (Global Mamas co-founder) and I watched the Black Stars dominate Serbia, along with other ecstatic Ghanaians in the Paloma Restaurant. Afterwards we drove to the Global Mamas store in the area of Osu and as expected, all over the streets people were dancing, yelling, blowing horns, madly waving their flags, and even occasionally running around wearing nothing but a Ghana flag wrapped around them like a diaper.    

Later in the afternoon, Renae and her husband Dave put Ghana jerseys on their dogs to go out for a walk in Osu, where the victory party was still going. This was quite an experience. You see, Ghanaians don’t like dogs. Correction, they really don’t like dogs. This is mainly due to fear. Granted, the Adams’ dogs are huge and look intimidating, but they are very friendly. But apparently it doesn’t matter how small or cute a dog is, most Ghanaians will still be scared. So you can imagine the reception we got walking down the crowded streets. Some walked away scared, others were mad, and much to my surprise a few people actually felt insulted. But there were also many that were amused, taking pictures, and laughing “Ghana dog, Ghana dog, I like your dog”. We chilled at Duncan's, a bar owned by Duncan, a funny and very hospitable Ghanaian man. He told me to tell others to go visit his bar.


Tomorrow, after a late morning business meeting, I will be going on a 4-hour bus ride down to Cape Coast where I have been assigned to carry out my internship work. As I sit here writing this, I can hear the music in the streets from people still celebrating. I already love Ghana.

Watching the Ghana vs Serbia game

 Walking through Osu with the dogs