Awesome!

<3

I am an Indian girl who grew up in Ghana, the term Obruni is never used in an offensive manner. It is merely used to distinguish the difference between locals and foreigners, in the same way the western world uses the terms Black, Asian, Hispanic, etc. In general, they are aware of the difference between Indian, American, British, etc. but it is a lot easier for them to use the word ‘foreigner’ for all of us who are not ethically Ghanaian.

While it sounds strange to a tourist or in your case a foreign exchange student, for us who know the term well in the various scenarios that it may be used in; it is always an endearing term because Ghanaians do not know how to be racist. They are the warmest of people you will ever find.

Ethically you are Indian, as am I. By my passport I am British, however I am more Ghanaian than most of the locals out there in the way that I think and behave. So identifying yourself as American is perfectly fine, but once you find yourself in another foreign country, say Spain for example, you will still be Indian because that is how others see us, by our skin colour. That is how most people anywhere in a foreign country are perceived, it’s purely just a matter of acceptance.

also, the final question “Now here is a challenge to us all, How many times have you said ‘she’s beautiful even though she’s dark skinned.’”
this is not really a common statement or question — it sounds as if you’re struggling with this concept yourself and are projecting these thoughts and feelings onto the entire indian community as a way to cope.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajiv_Malhotra may be interesting to you.

Regards,
Shunya