Goaaaal

Sunday, June 13th, 2010
Mole National Park- Mole Motel Room N8

We started our day at 7 AM with our 2.5-hr safari. We saw loads of deer, chimps, boars and got lucky to see a pack of elephants taking a nice path. Apparently, elephants are actually black, but get their brown color that we usually see from all the dirt they kick up when they walk. So when they were in the lake bathing, they indeed were black. At the end of the safari back at the information center, we saw a chimp with her baby. Thus ended our short trip to Mole National Park. The ride back seemed less bumpy, but it always seems faster on the way back that to the destination right?

After a little recovery at home, the Ghana vs. Slavonia World cup game began. We watched the first game at the volunteer house, and then John, Marti and I went to Sparkles Restaurant (and met up with David who was already there) to watch the game on an overhead projector… but the screen was kind of hilarious because it was essentially a large white piece of cloth hanging on the ceiling and held down by two Gulder beer bottles in each of the lower corners. The room was PACKED, with about 1:1 ratio of Ghanaians to non-Ghanaians. When a Slavonia player was ejected due to being awarding two yellow cards, the Ghanaians in the room went absolutely insane. When another Slavonian committed a foul in the box (aka the Black Stars are awarded a goal kick), they again went insane. And when the goal was scored, it was just berserk. Guys jumping up and down, girls dancing around, while all the non-Ghanaians clapped, smiled, but stayed in their seats. It was quite a contrast worth seeing in person.

I needed an Alvaro after seeing all that action once the game finally ended with Ghana: 1, Slavonia, 0. John/David went to find Ali to see some health community service, while Marti stayed in Sparkles to party a little bit more, and I went off to the little shops to look for items. Then, I spent about three hours just browsing through town and taking in the environment of a Ghana marketplace after a Ghanaian fútbol win. People lined the streets screaming in joy while vehicle after vehicle showed off Ghanaian colors/flags, with some even equipped with huge speakers to blast dance music and/or Ghanaian/African songs. It was truly an incredible sight. I even had some individuals approach me and ask how I liked the game.

I also tried from a random food stand something called fried cheese, Wagashi, and the taste was very similar to cheese curds that you would get at the state fair. However, I actually learned the most when I got into a taxi for 1.5 cedis to go home. Since the driver had to take some people to the Tamale Teaching Hospital first (drivers often take more than one passenger to go multiple destinations if they are in relatively the same area), he told me some of the average finances that a driver would get per day. For him, he would earn a minimum of $20 cedis per day after taking into account gas. After paying for food for both his immediate family and his father/mother, he would end the day with about $5 cedis. If this is truly what a Ghanaian taxi driver has to deal with, that is a very hard life indeed… =(