THE LOCALS

This blog will not be as long as first thought as the power suddenly went out before and I lost everything that I had written.

So yeah, whenever you go outside your accomodation here, you are on display. There is no way of trying to blend it. The children frequently yell over and over again "OBRUNI" (white person). The adults can do this to, though not so much. Instead they yell "hello", "How are you?" Which you always say "fine". Often though guys stop and wait for you when they see you walking. They then stop you or start walking with you. A common coversation goes like this.
G:Hello
ME: Hi
G:How are you?
Me: Im fine
G: what is your name?
Me: Kylie
G: That is a real lovely name. Where are you from?
Me:NZ
G: NZ? (those who know it will say) far, far away
Me: Yes, very far.
G: how long have you been here?
Me: (time away)
G: So how long are you here for?
Me: Im in Africa for about 4 months
G: Do you have a boyfriend?
Me: No
From here it can take two directions, why I dont have a boyfriend and if I am interesting in a Ghanian boyfriend. In reality thought all the guys appear to want is for me to be thier friend or their special friend. It is really weird but they actually ask you "Can you we be friends? I really like people like you (though they never say what like you is like)" They then want your email and or ph number no matter what answer you give them.
Other Questions I get asked are "are yiou Christian?" "do you read the Bible or go to church?" Most of the time they do not like the answers I give them. Some then try to convert me or say that they can not be friends with people like me then.

When walking with a camera locals often stop you as ask you to "flash them" (take a picture of them). Normally I oblige and then quickly show them the picture. Later if I do not like the picture I simply delete it. It sounds harsh but otherwise I would have half my pics of random people possing that i have no idea who they are.

Being touched is also common. People simply come up to you and touch you and then at times quickly run away. It seems that somehow they think our skin will feel a lot different to theirs. Ghanians are very touchy people however though. They will often touch your arm when asking if you understand something they are saying, doing you a favour or at times for what appears to be no apparent reason. They will also just take you by the hand and try to lead you places.

Ghanians are bad at giving directions. They are very keen to help, even if they are unsure of where the place you are looking for is. They almost see your asking for help as some type of honor. Never ask them if something is "this way" and point to a direction as they will always say yes even if it is not. When asking how far away something is they will always say "small small" even if it is 20 -40min walk away. I guess time is just not as important to them as it is to us obruni.

Ghanains are very free people. They tend to hide very little and are not self consciuos. IT is certainly something that empresses me about them. When music plays they will dance anywhere or just start singing not caring who is around or what other people might think. they also talk very bluntly about topics that we would often not discuss, or do so in a lot more detail than we do at home.

Ghanians love their cell phones. everyone has one. Billboards are everywhere for them. If you dont have a cell then you only need to walk 20mts and you will see a space to space place on the street where you can make calls.