Showdown (8/4)

(Also written 8/4/09)
So last night I had my first really awkward moment in Ghana. I was talking with Kofi and he said he was going out to buy credits for his phone. A few minutes later I hear shouting outside and then "Guillermo! Guillermo come quick!" I ran outside and there was Kofi, with no shirt on. He frequently walks around the house with no shirt on but today it added to the fierce look in his eyes.

I walked outside and had no idea the shit storm I was about to step into. Kofi was shouting and throwing his arms in the air, and it occurred to me just as I was trying to calm him down that he was in great shape and although I probably weighed more than him, he could easily lay me out. It would be as we say in Miami "a 2 hit fight".

Kofi hits me. I hit the ground.

So Kofi was fuming, the new lady with the baby was crying and shouting as well, Auntie (my wife/mom) was yelling in the mix as well. Kofi then yelled "Guillermo, did I say anything about her!? Did I say anything about this woman to you??"

ooook. Now this is all making a lot more sense.

Kofi: Did I say anything about her?
Me: No... not at all...but calm down
(I tried to pull his arms down and he batted my hands away)
Her: I heard you two talking about me!
Me: Me?? When?
Auntie: No! You do not speak! You are not involved.

Wow this is awkward. So Kofi outraged, her accusing and crying, Auntie chiming in at times, and somehow me mixed in now. Sweet situation. The yelling was mostly in Twi, and there were eruptions of English as well. Although I was 100% positive he wouldn't get physical with anyone there, it was still looking out of hand how angry he was getting and I didn't know what to do. The screaming kept getting louder and eventually reached a peak where I was like, fuck.. now what...

Just as the fight reached its most intense moment, and Kofi was really making me nervous, Kwabena (big tree) showed up and made short work of removing Kofi from the situation. For how much I realized Kofi could overpower me, Kwabena grabbed him by the waist of his trousers, and dragged him away with less effort than it took for me to lift Wahubu into the tree. When he had dragged him some distance away, Kwabena let him go. He angrily tried to shove and push Kwabena out of the way and it seriously looked like he was shoving a brick wall. I mean zero movement at all from the huge Ghanaian.

For how intense the situation was, it was actually pretty hilarious. I have this thing when I get really nervous in awkward situations, a defense mechanism kicks in that I just start smiling at the small humor involved, which usually REALLY pisses people off, so I tried hard to hide the smile that was creeping on my face as Kofi furiously pounded at the 6 foot + carpenter wall in front of him.

Once Kofi and Kwabena left I tried to figure out what was going on and make it very clear that (I'm not even totally sure who she is) much less have anything to say about her...

I then realized something: about 30 minutes later I was the only person still upset about the situation. Which brings me to another cultural note: there is zero reserved and brewed feelings in Ghana. If there's an issue, people just argue and yell it out, get it out of the system, and almost immediately after it's all good again. I've seen it with parents and children, in business negotiations where someone feels cheated, and one time recently in a serious toned physical fight which turned into a play fight. (Usually in the US it goes the other way around).

Yesterday I saw it at my house. It's probably a much healthier way to be; deal with problems head-on, accept that it's OK and healthy to be angry, but still it was quite uncomfortable and I'm glad at least the storm passed. Tonight is seriously like any other night, like it never happened. Auntie has been making jokes with me, I played cards with the kids, gave a round of kisses goodnight. Totally normal. (And every night since I wrote this journal entry about 2 weeks ago was just as normal)

I still have a lot to learn about this place.