Macaulay in Ghana

We began the morning by going to visit a small fishing village on the beach. It’s wasn’t exactly comes to your mind when you think of a beach. It was nice to go off the beaten path and see a bit of the real Ghana. There were lots of people working, catching their fish for the day to sell at market. There was a woman caught a massive, massive cassava fish. She was glad to show us her prized fish.

We ate at weird restaurant that was clearly meant for non-Ghanaians: burgers, fries, pizza. I love the food our hosts have been cooking for us, it’s so spicy but flavorful. I really didn’t need the break.

After lunch we went shopping. It was extreme. I thought I’d be prepared from my time in India that has similar markets where you bargain the prices. I was a little rusty. The shop owners were friendly. They’d called you sister and shake your hand, but it was part sincere and part strategy because they would hold your hand and lead you to their shops. They didn’t appreciate when we asked our local hosts whether the deal we were getting was fair.

The markets were empty and it really made you wonder how they made money. You could tell they were happy to see us because they knew we would buy souvenirs and would probably not know the value of anything. I felt a little bad bargaining since they needed the money more than I did but after a while you just don’t want to get taken for all of your money.

I bought two paintings for 35 cedis. I later found out that they usually go for 10 cedies each.

Ghanaian Market: 1
Me: 0

It’s fine. I’m ready for round two.