Obruni in Ghana

Maybe you’ve noticed I changed the name of my blog. The moon and the star are still in Ghana (apparently having a tattoo here is something that is quite shocking for some people ) but they’re being called “obruni” many times a day. Obruni literally means “white man” (if I’m right) but Ghanaians call obruni every foreigner, no matter what the color of the skin. Thus, African-Americans are called obruni, too (I’m not sure, however, if it is so also for Africans from other countries). It might sound a little racist but they don’t call you obruni to offend you. Most of the time, they just want to say hi, ask how you’re doing or welcome you in Africa. Sometimes, they want to sell you something (obruni = opportunity to charge more than usual ). And kids just want your attention, because some of them have never seen an obruni before. So I took it as a challenge and my mission here to be an “ambassador” for all the obrunis coming to Ghana. When someone calls me obruni, I smile, say hi, ask how they’re doing. I try not to get upset that some people see me as a walking wallet (and no, I don’t feel guilty, I work here for free…). I try to create a good reputation for all future obrunis coming to Accra.