alan mccall [sometimes updates the area below]: Independence Day!... Oh, No One Cares?

Today, I got up early and went down to Independence Square with Tim, Hannah and Catherine to watch the independence day festivities. Being conveniently located in Accra, the capitol of Ghana, we were lucky enough to have the biggest event of the day close by.

Google was on the ball like usual today... Even on a local level (google.com.gh)

As we arrived it seemed as though this wasn't a very exciting holiday for most Ghanaians. There was far less excitement, decoration and fanfare than typically seen back home on the 4th of July. There was only a small crowd filtering into the assembly grounds and contrary to expectation, traffic was fairly light. It was very strange. I expected Ghana to be more excited about their independence day since it's a smaller country and they only gained independence from Britain in 1957. But I was completely wrong.

As the morning went on the crowd grew to fill capacity of the square but I still wouldn't be so bold as to say excitement had reached fever pitch. Basically, this was just a crowd of thousands of very mellow people observing their holiday out of what seemed like obligation. This is of course only my experience, I'm sure some people celebrated with the utmost jubilance. Unfortunately, I failed to see these people.

When the president arrived there was some applause but that was to be expected. He then gave a speech which was completely inaudible due to poor acoustics. The ceremony ended with some cannon fire and a fly over. I captured the most exciting moment on film for everyone to enjoy (possibly more than the Ghanaians)

Anyhow, it was a lovely morning despite the lack of excitement. I still had a good time despite the Ghanaian sitting next to me who slept through the entire two hour ceremony. As a result, I inherited the task of pushing him back into his seat with my elbow when he started encroaching on my space in a incapacitated slouch. I asked myself at least a dozen times: "Why did he even come here if he was just going to sleep? Isn't a bed more comfortable?"... Then I felt like Dr. Hefzy, one of my professors who routinely made that argument to drowsy students.