Happy Chocolate and Valentine's Day!

So it's Valentine's Day all over the world, so let me start by wishing you all Happy Valentine's! Like the Good Book says, Love is the greatest commandment. Love your neighbour as yourself. Pretty golden quote to live by.

Where I'm from, aka Ghana, February 14th is National Chocolate Day. It was adopted by the Kuffour government in 2007 to boost the consumption and sale of cocoa. Ghanaians like to claim the best cocoa (or even chocolate) comes from Ghana. February 14th is a day cast in stone for high consumption of chocolate and cocoa products in Ghana. I know when I was in Ghana for February 14th in 2008, I bought my family a big pack of Golden Tree Chocolate. I shared my story on GhanaConscious too. So yes, we must buy made in Ghana-products all the time, but if you needed any reminders, we have National Chocolate Day. Too bad, I don't have any here to give us gifts. In fact, I am wondering where I could get some. I MUST get some Golden Tree Akuafo Bars today!

I don't know if Valentine's Day is celebrated more in Ghana than the US or vice versa. I don't listen to the radio in the US and hardly watch TV here (unless it's basketball or sports) so I can't make an educated decision. The Valentine's Day movie that just came out looks good, want to see it. In Ghana, Valentine's Day is synonymous with the colour RED. Just like World AIDS day. So now think about that for a second. The two reddest days couldn't be more connected. Remember, it's as easy as ABC. Abstinence, Be faithful to your partner, wear a Condom. If it's not on, it's not in. The whole point of this paragraph was to get this sentence "If it's not on, it's not in" into the blog entry. :-D

People claim Valentine's Day has become so commercialized that people have been missing the point. Well, what is the point? Well, that's we love Wikipedia. Wikipedia says "Saint Valentine's Day" (kai, the day is even meant to be holy) is a holiday celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. Ahem, intimate companions. So if people go get busy as a result, let them get busy. Ghanaians shouldn't complain if condoms all of a sudden become in short supply. :-) The Wikipedia entry also says it's a holiday where lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). In the US, the only time when more greeting cards are sent than during Valentine's is during Christmas.

How am I spending my Valentine's day weekend? Well, it's also NBA All-Star weekend, folks. It's a long weekend too, I wish I could have gone somewhere. I know where I would have gone, had some things fallen into place, but that's a secret. No, it's not the All-Star game in Dallas. And it's not Sin City either. So, I will be watching basketball most of the time. I'll call or communicate with a few loved ones too. I already sent one card and a few more will go out today. Oh, did I mention that men spend twice as much as women during Valentine's? Like we didn't know that already. Oya, me, I am doing my part to make sure the ratio decreases.

Since I'm a big African music person, I have to share with you this African love songs playlist on Museke.com. I'm a fan and I'm sure if you listened, you'll become a fan too.
Listen here

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!