All of the lights

Just a little story:
The Semi-Celebrity Life of the Obruni
So, Jolien (AFS Belgium) and I were fabric shopping in a busy area of Accra together before she went back to her host family in Ashanti Mampong. We had a great time walking around, looking at fabrics, beads, and whatever else that interested us throughout the afternoon but by the time we were finished getting back home was looking a little more difficult than we had imagined it would be. In order for us to get back to our separate homes, hers being a temporary host family in Don Simon, an area of Accra, and mine on Spintex Road in a different area of Accra, we had to tro-tro to Circle and get another tro-tro from the station there. The line, or rather the mob of people waiting for a Circle tro-tro was pretty big. Over twenty at least, and every one of those twenty I'm sure had more experience pushing on to tro-tro's than we did. Add my fear about someone hitting Jolien's injured leg into it and we knew it might be impossible to get a Circle tro-tro, we had started to consider getting a taxi. Just then a tro-tro pulled up, the crowd yelled "Circle? Circle?" to the mate and he looked at us and shook his head. Then right as we turned he beckoned us over while putting out his arm so no one else could get on the tro-tro and said "Circle, Obrunis bra!" Startled and confused we jumped on without thinking and only realized twenty seconds later that he lied to that mass of people, told them he wasn't going to Circle, and let us on in the confusion. We sat there, gap-mouthed and tried to hide our faces from the other passengers and angry people we drove by. The right thing would have been maybe to let someone else on, someone who was waiting longer than we had been, but I have been beaten to a tro-tro Ghanaians before and it's normally not a very big deal. It just happens. So, as surprised we were, we were thankful and were able to get home before it was too late.
Being obruni in Ghana is sometimes like being a celebrity. Occasionally there is 'paparazzi', a Ghanaian coming up to you wanting to pose in a photo with you even though they don't know you at all or someone taking photos of you walking along beside them in sidewalk-traffic. Sometimes you get hassled and it's annoying. People can assume you're EXTREMELY wealthy and ask for money, people will ask for invitations to the US, and to marry you like they're asking the time. Sometimes you'll get a free piece of fruit or someone will pay for you on a tro-tro. Sometimes someone will walk you all the way to some place instead of just giving you directions. Sometimes people will just give you the shirt off their backs if you say you like it in passing. Or even, you'll get a helping hand onto a packed tro-tro. There's a line, I definitely think, between enjoying the advantage once in a while and totally taking advantage of your obruni status but in the end... it's all part of the exchange trip. Oh, Ghana!