If you're going to be stupid...

After confiding in a good friend an urge I had to do something compulsive and decisively permanent (I believe it involved getting a thorny rose tattoo wrapped around my forearm), my friend said, "Becca, if you are going to be stupid, be smart stupid." Needless to say, I did not wind up getting the tattoo, but I also learned a very wise lesson that I now apply to all realms in life, especially travel.

How does this apply to Ghana? Well, traveling to Ghana is safe. However, many unsafe (stupid) decisions can be made. Thus, I have taken an opportunity to share the rules I have picked up already having been in Ghana for a mere eight hours.

1. If you are going to eat street food (and want to avoid getting typhoid, hepatitis, or any of the other numerous disease one can get from food cooked hours ago and left out in the sun all day), be sure to get the freshest fried, grilled, or otherwise prepared selection in the lot.

2. If you are going to ride a moto (motorcycle taxi that often results in an alarmingly high number of deaths), be sure your driver is sober and over the age of 15.

3. Swimming is fine in the ocean, so long as you avoid the riptide and never turn your back on the waves. Swimming in fresh water is the worst idea ever (schistomiasis anyone?).

4. Learn how to meet and greet people in their native language (English is Ghana's official language, but a majority of Ghanaians also speak Twi). Ghanaians may be more forgiving of the inevitable blunders and general awkward moments you will surely have as the new guy in town. They might also be more inclined to save your life when you step out in front of an oncoming bus that is clearly not following any traffic laws or signals.

5. Wear mosquito spray and take malaria pills if you are in a mosquito-ridden part of Africa. In fact, go ahead and get every vaccination the doctor recommends if you are traveling to a country like Ghana. Jenny McCarthy and her minions of anti-vaccination followers have no idea just how bad life can be if you contract diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, or typhoid. Does she not know how many people died in the US prior to malaria's eradication? Thousands, if not more. Seriously. If there is a vaccination, get it. Don't be stupid.

Safe travels everyone! And remember, if you are going to be stupid, be smart stupid.