Un-American Football

After hitting up a chop bar for some groundnut soup and rice balls for lunch on Saturday, I rode around town looking for a place to watch the soccer games on TV. I had seen various places with chalkboards announcing what games would be on their TV’s. The one closest to my guesthouse did not look very happening, so I rode the Al-Hassan Guesthouse where I knew they would be showing them.
When I arrived I paid my $.50 entrance fee and was shocked to find such a huge crowd in the courtyard. There were easily 150 Ghanaian men packed into rows of benches under a temporary tarp roof. They had just started to watch the first two games, Chelsea vs. a less important team on the 30” flat screen on the left, and Manchester United vs. another less important team on the 40” flat screen on the right. I sat down on the end of a bench about halfway up. Although this was supposedly a popular place for backpackers as it is the closest guesthouse to the bus station, I did not see a single non-Ghanaian the whole time.
A guy behind me tapped me and said something I did not understand (this I have become very used to). I just smiled and nodded and he seemed to agree. Then I realized what he said. “Are you for Man. U?” NOOOO!!! I thought. I don’t follow soccer, but I know that Manchester United is one of the big teams that people all over the world idolize, Ghana being no exception. But I just could not picture myself rooting for a team with a name that sounded so…British!
But, I went with it, as it was easier and more fun to root with the majority, especially since I have no loyalties to any soccer team, expect maybe for the Sounders, the Chivas, and the Mexico national team. It did not take me long to get into it, though it took some work to follow both games. They were both pretty exciting, especially since almost all the goals were scored in the last ten minutes. Man. U won, 2-1 I think, and it was chaos for a few minutes as everyone celebrated. And for the other game, I think it was also 2-1, not sure who won. As you can see, I am still not that enthusiastic about soccer, but it will always be fun as long as the crowd you are with IS enthusiastic about it. This I have learned several times now. I just wish the world loved basketball like they do soccer.
After the two simultaneous matches were over, and there was about 15 min. till the next match started, I ran out to scrounge for some food. I walked around the nearby market and found something I hadn’t tried yet: Kenke. So, I was optimistic as it was made from corn and wrapped in a cornhusk, like a tamale, but bigger and denser and fermented, and not filled with a delicious stewed meat. It was served with a red sauce, which I don’t know if I quite feel yet. Well, I was able to eat most of it, enjoying primarily the fact that I had paid only $.30 for an enormous amount of food. If I am ever served this again, like in a village, or as a guest somewhere, I will happily eat it. However, I don’t see myself voluntarily buying this while I have other food options.
The next game was starting by the time I got back and the crowd had dwindled to maybe 100. This game was also pretty good, but I was so tired by the end of it I could not stay for the Barcelona vs. whoever match.
I rode back to my guesthouse and had some oranges, then went to a “spot” next to my guesthouse to have a beer. This spot usually has good music blasting when I pass by, so I figured it would be good. When I sat down there was a father and son (maybe 14 years old) manning the beer fridge while watching the Top 10 countdown of Ghanaian music for 2008. I was able to strike up a conversation with the kid about the music and he was able to explain who everyone was. The father, however, did not seem to be interested in conversing at all, and never smiled. Eventually the wife and her sister arrived. The wife, who seems to kind of run the spot, has rad dreadlocks and she and her sister have a very jovial, though intimidating demeanor. Like they could be great friends, though I would always be scared off them. One of them brought a bootleg DVD she had bought in town of 80 music videos from all over Africa. It looked pretty sweet so I need to go find it. Anyway, during the music videos, I saw the wife doing some steps that looked like salsa. I joked, “hey, do you salsa?” And she replied, “yes,” though I was not sure what to make of this. She asked how I knew, and I said I had learned a little bit in Central America. Then her husband (the quiet, angry-looking guy) pipes up, “do you speak Spanish?”… “Sure,” I said, knowing that it was pretty safe to show confidence in my skills here. He looked doubtful, “really?” he asked. “Umm, well, I speak it pretty well I guess.”
“Buenos Noches,” he responded, me thinking he had just picked some up from some Spanish NGO workers or something. But no, we then proceeded to have a long conversation, all in Spanish, about how he lived in Cuba for twelve years, and about politics, and Ghana and all this. It was kind of a shock, but it was good to know that I wasn’t going to be taking three months completely off from speaking Spanish. His accent was difficult to understand, but I think returning occasionally could be a good idea.
On Sunday I washed my clothes in my room before hanging them out on the line. The rate for having clothes washed by them is 4 pieces for a dollar, but I figure since I am spending so much on my room I’ve gotta save wherever possible.
At around 2:00, I rode a couple of km. to Tamale’s brand new soccer stadium to see RTU (Real Tamale United) play the Hearts, a team from Accra. The stadium was built about 2 years ago for the Africa Cup of Nations, held in Ghana. It is an awesome venue that has a strange resemblance to the “Bird Nest” from the Olympics this year. On the way in a couple kids asked me to pay their way in. I felt bad because entrance was only $3, and it would feel good to let these kids see the game. But when I looked around I saw a lot more kids hanging around that would also be expecting me to pay their way. I had only brought $10 anyway. But then I felt really bad because right after denying them, I spent a dollar on an RTU flag. Should I have given that dollar to one of them instead, hoping they could ask someone else for the balance? It seems like it could be harmless, but I really don’t know.
I parked my bike (cost me $.30!) and got my ticket and headed in. A middle-aged man struck a convo with me on the way in, and eventually kind of attached himself to me. He was friendly enough, and it was his first time in the stadium too, so he was a fun “single-serving friend”.
As soon as we started getting into our seats near midfield, just a few rows back some men were having a pretty heated argument. It escalated pretty quickly into a fight/mild brawl. It took the military/cop/security guys a few minutes to react. They look intimidating with their camo and rifles, but after watching some of their law enforcement, I am not too fearful. They also carry sticks, though some of their sticks are literally large twigs ripped off a tree. One of the guys, though, had a pretty hefty 3 foot long, inch-thick dowel. He started to raise it to one of the guys fighting, and the guy reached up and held his arm back. The cop proceeded to slap him, then bust him over the head with his stick, breaking it in half (the stick, not his head). Essentially the cops, apparently not having handcuffs, or the balls to use their guns to intimidate, became part of the brawl. Most of the people not involved in the fight just laughed. It was pretty entertaining.
As nice and modern as the stadium was, I bet the games were more fun at the old stadium. This place has a capacity of about 20,000, though I bet it was only ¼ full (leading me to wonder about this dispute over seating, as there was plenty of room for everyone).
Seeing as the game was held in Tamale, I assumed the majority of the fans would be for RTU, though if this was true, it was only a slight advantage. Accra fans must be dedicated because a LOT of them made it up, all yelling their team’s slogan, “PHOBIA!!!” While RTU said “WheWeYouNa” (Where Were You Now).
Late in the first half Accra scored the first goal, causing quite a bit of jubilation around me. Within five minutes, though, RTU scored on a PK, which lead to more jubilating, and possibly another fight.
Whatever lead to this fight, it quickly broke into several proxy fights, and I was quickly surrounded by big men beating eachother, army cops running up waving their sticks. At one point the butt of one of the guns was about a foot from my face, the stick 2 feet away. I just kept waving my RTU flag in celebration. Seriously, these cops were so ineffective, and actually seemed to be listening to what the guys fighting were saying, trying to sort out the situation in the middle of the brawl. They seemed to have very little power to escort people out of the stadium. Most of my section seemed to be in unrest as the people fighting kept running around, breaking more seats. By the end of the half things seemed to be under control, fans on both sides laughing at how ridiculous it all was.
During the break I walked out of the seating area to the corridors of the stadium, where men were lining up for their afternoon prayers. Some of them were using their RTU flags as prayer mats. I liked their resourcefulness.
When I got back to my seat, some of the guys sitting next to me had busted out some food from somewhere. One of them offered me some of the meat he was eating. I asked what it was. He didn’t seem to know, but then says, “oh, uh, bush meat!”. Umm, that can mean anything from iguana to monkey…Then I saw the little arms and claws. Oh, “is it grass cutter?” I asked. “Yeah!” he replied. It’s like a large rat. So I took a chunk off his full animal, and it was actually really good, and had strong flavor. He offered me half, but at that moment, I decided to draw the line at meat that still has visible hair, so I politely said no. I was glad I denied it because he seemed to eat the whole thing, bones, claws and all. Hardcore.
And early in the next half, ANOTHER fight broke out, though this one was in a section about three over and two up from me. Most of the stadium turned and watched the brawl as the armycops ran up there with their guns and sticks. One of the guys actually gave up on his stuck, and started slamming the butt of his rifle into the fight. Eventually we saw this one guy break free from the fight and we all laughed as he ran through a few sections of empty seats doing a good job of making fools of the cops trying to chase him. It was made all the more comical as the guy getting chased had a Rolling Stones shirt on, you know, the one that is just the mouth with the tongue out. Awesome. He eventually ran into a mob of reserve armycops that came from below and he was escorted out.
Then Accra scored again. Lame. Then the game was basically over. As the teams exited I saw another scuffle start down near the tunnel, but I didn’t feel like running down to watch like everyone else, so I peaced out. Although my team didn’t win it was a pretty fun experience (though not nearly as ridiculous as the Guatemalan soccer game I watched about a year ago).