The second day in Ghana we decided to go to Accra for the day to visit the big market there. While Accra is only about 16 miles from Tema where we were docked it took about an hour and a half to get there because of traffic. Once we arrived we were immediately mobbed by venders who were pulling us over and begging us to buy their paintings or bracelets or whatever they happened to be selling. We just wanted an ATM and one of the men was willing to lead us to one (probably in the hopes that we would then buy something from him, but maybe not—that Ghanaian people are very outgoing and friendly) so we could get some cash. I was in a group with Sarah, Danielle, Megan Drew, Ainsley and then two girls I don’t know very well. One of the other girls said she knew where the market was so we followed her. Turns out she didn’t really know how to get there so we ended up wandering around for over two hours but it was actually pretty fun. We walked through neighborhoods and shanty towns and got to see the real Ghana and talked to people and play with children all morning.
There is an organization called Global Grins that was founded by two SAS alumni that gives out toothbrushes to people in need all over the world. We have thousands of these toothbrushes on board and were given the task of handing them out. On our walk that morning we gave them out to many of the children that we saw and whenever we handed them out more would come running saying that they needed one two. One woman scooped up her daughter and ran after us yelling because she was so desperate to get a toothbrush for her. It was a really neat and eye-opening experience that I will remember for a long time and reminded me why I am on this trip.
Anywho, we finally found the market which was located on a beach of sorts that was also a landfill (if you could call it that). Basically there were a lot of huts set up as shops and outside of them the men (they were almost all men) were working on their craft. Carving masks, forming drums, sanding mancala boards, etc. There were trades and crafts of all sorts and as we wandered up and down they constantly called out for us to come and visit them and their shop. Yes, some were a bit pushy but for the most part they were very friendly and they wanted to learn about us almost as much as they wanted our business. They were always interested in our names, where we were from, if we went to school, what our thoughts were on politics/religion/etc, did we like Ghana?, it went on and on and it was really fun to share our stories with them and to learn their stories as well.
Once you walked past these hut/stores there was a bigger building divided into small stalls where they were selling beads, jewelry, fabric and clothing. There were also some paintings and other artsy things being sold there. In this building there were mostly women working the shops and they were very excited to see us and would exclaim loudly and hug us when we came over to their stalls. We purchased some souvenirs and gifts as we wandered and personally I had a bit of a hard time with the haggling but I think I did alright in the end. My problem was that we were told to start at half the price they named and work from there. I could have done that. My problem was that every single time I tried to buy something instead of naming a price the vendor would say, “how much do you think this is worth?” or “how much you willing to pay for this?” I was so lost because I didn’t know what a reasonable price was as many of the items were not things I was used to buying and so I had no idea what was fair, plus I didn’t want to offend them by saying something too low. Either way I got some cool reminders of my time in Ghana and don’t feel I got ripped off at all so I guess that’s all I can ask for :)
That night we went back to the ship and talked with some of the vendors who had set up shop right at our port when we docked. There was one man there, a painter named BA, who was our buddy. He is 27 and was a very vibrant and outgoing guy who really wanted to learn about us and our culture. We sat and talked with him for about an hour and a half, discussing politics, religion, the upcoming elections, our majors and studies in college, his experiences in college, what it was like to grow up in Ghana or the US, and so on. He also taught us a traditional Ghanaian game called Ampee. It is sort of played on the principles o rock-paper-scissors but not quite—ask me when I get home and I’ll be happy to how you!
That was basically it for the second day, we shopped, we talked, we got gross and sweaty walking around all day, we handed out toothbrushes, we got stuck in traffic, we had a great day experiencing Ghana!
Love you all,
~Colleen
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