Ghana WINS!

Friday night was the FIFA Under 20 World Cup Finals, and guess who was playing? Ghana vs. Brazil! Futbol here is extremely popular, as it is in almost every country outside the U.S. For the past several weeks we have been kept updated on the status of the Ghanaian team.

We have no TV at the home base. So we all had been debating where to watch it. One thought was Malezia, a chop bar not far from the home base. (Chop Bar, is a bar/restaurant. Think American Bar and Grill as an equivalent.) But then Paul, a local, offered for all of the CCS volunteers to come over to his house and watch it there. Paul, and his friends Jojo and Van-li, became friends with the last group of volunteers and my group has continued those friendships. They are really sweet boys who are close in age to most of us and have a shop in town that we all hang out in a lot.

Anyways, Paul lives with his mother and sister in Hohoe. He walked us over there Friday night and we sat around in his living room watching the most boring game of soccer ever. 0-0 all game long, even through extra time. Just as it was getting to penalty kicks...the connection went out on the TV.

We were horrified. Here we had been sitting for over 2 hours with no excitement and we are missing the best part of the entire game. We tried to figure out what was happening from the yells of the neighbors but it wasn't enough. We head off down the street in search of a new TV. Around the "block", there was a chop bar. We stood outside peeking through the slated walls trying to catch a glimpse of the last couple of kicks. We couldn't see but we could tell when Ghana won because the place ERUPTED!

People were yelling, hugging, high fiving, and jumping up and down with joy. And here we were a bunch of (for the most part) American Yevu's in the middle of it all. As it settles down a little we head back towards town. Shouting and clapping our way down the street and congratulating everyone we meet along the way. A couple of times we encountered masses of people and were engulfed into their mix. Paul and his friends were a little worreid about one of us getting hurt but nothing bad happened in the crowds.

We thought we had seen crowds of people but that was nothing compared to what we faced when we actually got back into the heart of town. We had convinced the Ghanaian boys to lead us to Malezia to finish out the night with good music, lots of people, and maybe a nightcap or two. But as we approach the streets are packed. The only thing I can liken it to is pictures I've seen of New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

It was such an adrenaline rush to be a part of something that momentous. It was the first time an African country had won a World Cup finals and it was Ghana! I think that will go down as one of the top 5 memories I will take away from this trip. I don't think I've done justice to the energy that sizzled through the air Friday night.

It was diffently exhausting. After the excitement of Friday, I decided to stay in the rest of the weekend. I don't think I left the home base either Saturday or Sunday. It wasn't to do anything productive either because I still have a ton of laundry to do. Oh, well. Maybe that'll get done tomorrow morning...hopefully.