FC Ghana

Ghanaians love shouting.

If you don't shout, you don't get heard...
Whether it be yelling the main concept of refraction to more than 50 students; trying not to get ripped off ("negotiating") at the market; or explaining exactly why, in a shouting match between guys watching the football on a Sunday afternoon, David Moyes should in fact not be sacked.

There's nothing that gets everyone shouting quite like football. In this country it's perfectly acceptable to spend hours discussing the freedom given to his full-backs by Roberto Martinez this season at Everton, the inadequacies of Man United's creative midfield options, and asserting that of course Ghana are going to win the World Cup - God is on their side, obviously. I would hope so given the amount of prayer meetings dedicated to this "miraculous victory"!
And don't even get them started on the Messi Vs. Ronaldo "best ever player" debate. (It's Ronaldo as he has more "swag" and Messi wouldn't survive in the premier league. Of course.)

For the record, most people are Chelsea fans - a legacy from the Drogba and Essien era. But then some support Man United and Arsenal at the same time... It's a bad time to declare yourself a Red, however.

They shamelessly love the drama, the skills, the media comments... In a previous post I said religion is what really matters here. Forget it - it's football that matters.

At the school I teach at, once of twice a week we take to a "park" riddled with bumps at a gradient of about 10%, to play some 4-a-side with tiny goals. It's all I can do not to fall over sometimes, the skill and strength of the students is incredible. Compared to them, I have the physique of mashed potato.

The women here have arms like tree trunks from carrying and preparing food. And even twiggy people can beat me in arm wrestles. It's embarrassing. Most Ghanaians find the concept of a gym hilarious - they do so much manual work growing up that "toning up" never enters their radar!

It's not a taboo topic to discuss someone's weight, either. I witnessed a hilarious encounter this week when a male student was commenting that a female student had "eaten plenty" over the Christmas break, and was now "too fat around the buttocks"! He got a thump on the shoulder for his trouble. I explained if he said that to a British girl he would do well to escape with all his limbs intact.
Luckily for me, I'm losing a fair amount of weight. I've started jogging in the morning, and the change in diet is clearly working wonders for my digestive system. Just wait until I rediscover fried breakfasts and biscuits when I get home...

For now, I'm just enjoying being in a country where every other person on the street is wearing an obscure retro football shirt (we're talking Watford away, Rangers circa 1996, and even a couple of Wales rugby jerseys) and pretty much everywhere you go there is a football game to be enjoyed.