Running Through Town

So, this weekend, I decided to run through town to Agona (about an hour's run away), instead of up and down the beach (which is really only about a mile to a mile and a half - 10 minutes at a REALLY slow pace).  One, let's remember shoes people.  The roads in Ghana are too tough even for my feet, and I run on the pavement, gravel, woodchips, etc. in the US all the time.  So, I had to remember to wear my shoes.  I am glad I remembered more than flip-flops, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to try.  Anyway, I went, and it was a good run.  I kept getting sidetracked by the people at the side of the road. They'd stop me and ask where I was going and why I was running.  It's not that common for people in Ghana to run just to run, apparently.  They've got too much other stuff to take care of, like figuring out what to eat and how to get it.  If they're running, they're going somewhere quickly for a purpose.

So, I gave up about halfway to town, since I hadn't been able to just run at a steady pace like I could on the beach.  It's rude to ignore someone, so I didn't feel like I could just yell back "Hello," and leave. I didn't want to give the impression I didn't care about getting to know them or their culture. But I just wanted to run. I walked back, since then I could carry on proper conversations and not get frustrated with getting stopped in the middle of running.  On the way back, I met James, a taxi driver, and James's father.  James asked me to marry him, and wanted to go on a date.  I said no, and then said I had to get going.  Marriage proposals are actually very common in Ghana, especially toward foreign women.  James's father and I had an interesting conversation.

We started off with the basics, what's your name, where are you from, etc.  When I said I was from the US, we started talking about Obama.  Apparently, he's a huge fan of what Obama is doing with the US.  He wants Obama to go another term so he can "finish what he's started".  There didn't seem to be any concrete thing Obama has done that this guy could point to which made him like Obama, but apparently it's very important that he be able to finish.  The gentleman even went so far as to say that, because of Obama, America should get rid of the two-term limit on the presidency.  I don't care how wonderful a person or their politics are, we should not get rid of the two-term limit.  I didn't say that. In fact, I didn't say much of anything. I really just asked questions.  Also, apparently everyone in America is rich.  I tried telling him about places like inner city Detroit, or New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  He was like, yeah, but that's still better than Ghana.  Perhaps that's true, I just don't think anyone should be ranking places to live since every place is bad and good in different ways. In Ghana, you don't have to worry about getting shot, and most people are happy even though they're poor.  Part of it is that they don't have any role models of richness.  Maybe that's horrible, I just think that the bad of Ghana doesn't necessarily make it worse than the bad of the US.  Anyway, it was an entertaining conversation.

I told Aankit when I got back about this conversation.  His response, don't talk to any Ghanaian over the age of 12. They're all crazy or just nice because they want something.  Except Yahya.  Apparently, Yahya is the only Ghanaian who is nice just to be nice.  And the house scholars.  At least, to the volunteers they are. ;)  While I admit the conversation confused me and made me a bit uneasy, it was good and interesting to hear a Ghanaian interpretation of the US political system.