Pack your bags U.S.A.

Shortly after meeting my host family, Angelina and I put our Ghana jerseys on, grabbed my Ghana flag, and walked out of the Kwaw’s home. Our destination? A theatre in town where many were gathering to watch the U.S.A. vs Ghana game. We met up with Ken, a Global Mamas co-worker, who seemed to take it upon himself to keep us safe. We showed up early so we were guaranteed good seats. The other Global Mamas volunteers walked in, sporting their white, red, and blue. I had warned them earlier that day that, although I understood they wanted to support their country, when it comes to the world cup it’s not just a game.  I told them that futbol is passion and after all they were in Ghana so they needed to be ready for humiliation, taunting, and good old fashioned trash talk. The Ghanaians of course liked Angelina and I right away as we were arduous supporters of the Black Stars. I have adopted them as my own team, seeing since Nicaragua has very little chances of ever qualifying for the preliminaries (but one can still dream…).

I can’t even describe how fun and exciting this experience was! I screamed and danced along to the drumming during the entire game, jumping off my seat after the goals were made and biting my nails whenever the US attempted to make a run for it. The guys sitting in front of us would constantly turn around to taunt the American girls and tell me “you are supporting Ghana well” (I was yelling and clapping a lot). After the game, there was crazy celebrating in the streets…obviously! I held my Ghana flag high and chimed in to the “Ose Ghana!” chant, making Ghanaians smile and laugh with me. Or at me.

Apart from the occasional tugging of my flag by strangers, and our taxi driver having to drive through herds of people (literally) who, upon seeing us inside, began yelling and talking to us about the game, slowing down traffic even more, we made it safely home. As we walked into the living room, where Mr. Kwaw was watching T.V., I greeted him with an “Ose Ghana” as I waved my flag. He got a kick out of my Fanti attempt, laughed, and gave me a high five. I congratulated him on a game well played and we proceeded to tell him about our experience in town.

With Mr. Kwaw we get to watch all the games and talk about soccer, our countries, other countries, cultures, languages, etc… I don’t care that I’ve had to take bucket showers and do bucket flushes because the water has been out for almost a week at their home. It’s great to be in a family atmosphere and getting to watch every possible game is the icing on the cake.