Being Obruni

Well, let’s just say that I don’t exactly blend in.  I think I might need to visit Dr. Duah, because, if you read his sign from a previous post, you will see that he can cure “white”.  And one thing I’ve learned since I’ve been here is that I’m definitely white.  Some of the reactions I elicit from the Ghanaians are amusing; kids will follow me and chant “obruni”; they’ll run up close, grab my hand and touch my arm to see what I feel like.  They get all giggly and excited because I’m such a novelty.  Adults will call out obruni too - they’ll point at me and gesture to the people around them to look.  Unlike with the kids though, I could do without this from other adults (if I had a say in the matter, that is). 

People also call out, “give me money”.  The perception is that if you’re white, then you’re wealthy.  And, relatively speaking, this white person certainly is.  But, they’re thinking along the lines of Mitt Romney rich, or better yet, English royalty.  Someone actually asked me if I know Princess Diana -I had to be the bearer of bad news on a couple of fronts with that one.

All in all, even though being white has been a little more challenging and intimidating for me than for Steve (he works with other American expats and I’ve been forging my way alone at the school –as best I can tell, the only obruni to have ever turned up there), who knows, in the end maybe it’ll have been better that way –full Ghanaian immersion!