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Shopping in Ghana is an adventure. Because the group I accompanied to Ghana was full of tension and problems, we often escaped to the markets. Following is one experience:

Forget the GroupLet's Shop!

Honeymoon's over, it seems. Group tensions are rising steadily and it's frustrating to deal with negativity in such a beautiful, positive place. It's actually not the group so much as one individual who has tremendous power over the group dynamic. So we have a strong source of negativity to contend with here; imported American attitudes are bleeding into the everyday and we're struggling desperately to hold on to our "but-we're-in-Ghana" spirit. I won't harbor the negativity, even here, so let me move on to one of the most fascinating and (for me) exciting parts of our experience: the shopping.

Our University of Ghana bus translates to International/American money to street vendors and anytime we stop, in traffic or otherwise, we are surrounded. Wooden masks and carvings, jewelry, instruments, t-shirts, the most random things you can imagine, art, whatevereach window is dark with faces, chatter, offers, pleading, and all you can do is buy or ignore. When we load out of the bus, I feel like a movie star with paparazzi surrounding me, tracking my every move. Only I'm a tourist and they are desperately trying to make a living off of their talents. I feel bad bargaining down these art formspaying $2 for a hand-carved wooden figure seems like a crime, so I bargain, but not to oblivion. And I can't just ignore (as anyone who knows me knows), so I tell them that it's beautiful but I'm not buying it or that I appreciate their offer to sell me a Ghanaian drum for $5 but just don't have the money. That only enhances the frenzy and I know by week four, I'll pretend they don't exist. It's all just such quality materialthe wood is solid, the material hand-woven and dyed, the paintings incredible. But I didn't plan to have to spend so much money on everything elsetaxis, laundry, food, paying to swim, unexpected pharmacy needs. Some things are cheap here, but generally it's much more expensive than we anticipated (and were prepared for).

So shopping isn't on the top of my list anymore, unfortunately. Souvenirs are about it, since my personal splurge has been with our now-personal seamstress, Miss Elizabeth. She brings incredible fabrics, measures us, and in a couple days, brings dresses with hairwraps to match. Or skirts, shirts, purseswhatever you want. And she's affordable. Dresses usually run 10,000 cedis (about $11) and hairwraps are 20,000 ($2.50). Last night, we ordered two halter shirts (one for me and one for Jen), a hair wrap, and a scarf for my mama for $20 American. Ross prices, really, but handmade beautifully with amazing fabricin Africa.

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