I should know that you're no good for me

SAFETY AND SECURITY: U.S. citizens should avoid crowds, political rallies, and street demonstrations and maintain security awareness at all times. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1066.html





(I was sitting about three rows above the man with the yellow umbrella)

Disregarding the State Department's advice, several large groups of Mercy Shippers when to the Benin vs. Ghana football game. This game was a HUGE deal for Benin, because if they lost, they were out of the running for the African Cup. The atmosphere was electric with excitement.

A group of us went to the game in a Mercy Ships vehicle. We slowly drove through the masses, drawing a lot of attention because of our car and our complexions. A police car cut through the crowd in front of us, so the guy who was driving followed it. It headed past the long lines of people towards a gate, and so did we. We got to the gate and were waved in behind the cop, which we all found impressive. However, Katie and I wanted to buy jerseys and one of the other girls in the group didn't have a ticket, so we ventured out of the gate and back into the crowd.

Katie and I got our jerseys pretty quickly and the other girl got her ticket, but then some of the girls wanted to buy Ghana wrist bands. As we were standing by the blanket with all the merchandise on it, a guy grabbed my hand. He wanted to talk to me. He introduced himself as David and asked my name. I told him I didn't want to tell him my name. He wanted to know where I was from and I said America. He asked when I was going back and I said that I wanted to talk to my friends now. Katie started talking to me at that point, but David stuck around and we had a similar conversation a few minutes later. Persistent, these fellows. The girls FINALLY struck a deal that they were happy with and we headed back towards the gate. We passed the line by and cut in without waiting, just like the Americans we are.

We got some pretty good seats for about a minute until all the people in the cheaper seats rushed down to see the teams get out of their buses. We didn't like the crowd so much so we snuck around the side and sat up in a less crowded area. Arguments and one full on fight broke out in the areas around us, but none got close to us and were all stopped by the police or other fans before things got too out of hand. Most people were just excited to see the game. We waited about two and a half hours for the game to start. There were at least three separate bands for Benin, all playing their own songs and doing their own separate thing. The relatively small Ghana section never stopped dancing. (As an aside, Ghanaians have the most national pride of any people I've encountered thus far. I have the opportunity to go to Ghana in a couple of weeks and I'm quite excited to see "the promised land" as they call it)

Benin, the underdog going in, dominated the game. We guessed that they were in possession of the ball about 75% of the time. But no one scored. As the time ticked towards an end, we were getting a little bored. The scoreboard time was officially up, but the refs for whatever reason let the people play for a couple of minutes after it was over at the end of both halves. Katie, Megan, and I turned around to pose for a picture and in that moment, Benin scored. The stadium erupted in shouts of joy. It was amazing and very cool.

We waited a few minutes before heading out. Everyone was patting our backs and trying to talk to us about the great victory. We made it to our car and out of the stadium rather quickly. Everyone was waiting around to see the bus with the players drive out.

It was all so much fun and an amazing experience. Just so you all know, I was in a large group of people that included several men and we were all very aware of our surroundings the whole time. There was never a moment when I felt in danger. So don't worry, my lovely friends and family!

Today I got a letter!

Please pray for my shipmates. There are some illnesses going around, and there are actually three people who got malaria on their trip to Ghana.

P.S. I wanted to make sure you all know that Mercy Ships always informs us of safety threats. For example, they have posted several places that there are no safe beaches in Benin and are always reminding us of the dangers of taking zemidgans. They didn't say anything about the football game.