While I'm sure January 20th, 2009 is a day many Americans will never forget, I can almost positively say that Ghanaians will never forget the inauguration day of the United State's 44th president, Barack Obama, either.
I was already aware that Ghanaians love Barack Obama and the U.S. for that matter, but watching the inauguration speech with more than 500 Ghanaians was a surreal moment, and really put things into perspective, and helped me realize the great country I come from, regardless if the economy is suffering at the present time.
On Tuesday, our entire ISEP group went to the W.E.B. DuBois center, where I would compare the event to somewhat of an Obama rally. People were dressed in Obama outfits (literally! they made clothes from material that had Obama's face all over it), Ghanaians were waving American flags, and what really gave me chills... at the end, everyone stood up to sing the Star Spangled Banner, and the Ghanaians sang along! They knew the words to our national anthem.
A girl's school brought their student's to the event to watch the historic day. This was only one venue of many in the city, that were hosting viewings of the speech just like this one.
During orientation week, I was talking to one of our Ghanaians guides and she was talking about how during the election period of the United State's president, you couldn't go a street block without seeing something with Obama on it or someone trying to sell you something about Obama. Being the first black president in the United States, he truly is an icon for Ghanaians, and they are hoping for great things, as are the Americans.
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