A Day In The Market

Today we dedicated our day to shopping in the markets, which was a truly remarkable experience. The majority of us were out to buy fabric to give to our tailor, who is coming to our dorms tomorrow. A large number of the people here in Ghana have their clothes made for them by tailors. As students who stick out like sore thumbs, we try our best to do as the Ghanaians do and fit in as best we can. The tailor takes our measurements and our design (one of mine is shown above) and makes the clothes out of the fabrics we bring her. Today I purchased three yards of the two fabrics above for GH 4.00 a yard. The fabrics here can  be relatively expensive, as they are one of the only things that you can't really bargain down. The mask, also in the picture above, I was able to bargain down from GH 20.00 to GH 4.00. That should give you an idea of how much you can typically bring down a price in the market place. Although, the man that sold me that mask did say "I give only you this mask for GH 4.00 because you are my wife". 

The market was full of beautiful stuff. The art market that we went to in particular was very impressive. There were wooden carvings of elephants, giraffe and all sorts of animals, as well as many masks. The paintings for sale were also very impressive, I will certainly be coming home with a number of those. I wanted to buy so much, but decided I would come back another day when I had more time and more patience. It is quite overwhelming being an american girl in the market place. There was not a single male, or female that did not try to get me to come into their shop. Some men went as far as to physically try to pull you into their shop. 

One trick I found was effective for the shop keepers was to extend their hand at you, gesturing for a handshake. I found it harder to walk away from the men that were trying to shake my hand and introduce themselves, than to walk away from the ones that just called to you.

All of the shop keepers were very kind and fun to have banter with, but after ten minutes I found that my patience was running out. The NYU staff keep reminding us that you have to have patience to live in Ghana.... Don't they understand that I live in New York City most of the year? Patience is so not my strong suit, so this will be a great learning experience. 

Several things in the market place freaked me out a whole lot. In the areas on the outskirts of the market food is sold. When I say food, it is not an americans idea of food. There are live GIANT snails for sale, as well as women walking around with giant tubs of uncooked hacked off pigs legs on their heads. The pigs legs were really what got me....I genuinely thought they were bloody human limbs until I noticed a hoof.  It is pretty safe to say that I will not be eating any of the foods sold on the street. One other thing that I found particularly disturbing was the newspapers that advertised prostitution. There was nothing subtle about these particular newspapers, and as a female I was horrified by the graphic and grotesque images that were printed on the front page. Although, I don't think you would have to be a female to be horrified by these images.

Prostitution is illegal in Ghana, but it is not enforced. The police force recognize it as a way to make a living and sympathize with the women, allowing them to walk the streets and work the bars, as well as publish newspapers with their adds. 

Despite the moments that I felt uncomfortable in, the market was an over all great experience. You have to take the good with the bad and learn from it all. That is what this experience is all about. I can't wait to see what else is in store for me here in Ghana.