People moving quickly down the street, reaching out to grab your arm, get your attention, holding things out for you to see. Watching where you’re walking, trying to maneuver through people, and looking at all of the products and produce being sold; it can be hectic and overwhelming if you aren’t prepared.
I set out Friday morning with Melissa and Alexandra to go to Madina market to look for fabric. I’ve been walking through Madina to get to my internship, but I haven’t ever entered inside the maze of shops. Most of the market is located outside with people using umbrellas and there are also small shacks set-up selling stuff inside. We ventured into a few of these to look at fabric and attempt to bargain with them. A few of them got upset when we tried to bargain the price down so we moved on and tried not to worry about upsetting them.
I ended up getting three different fabrics (see the photo) and taking them to the seamstress later that day. She let us pick the patterns we wanted from her magazine choices and then she measured us. I am having a skirt and two dresses made because I couldn’t stop buying fabric. Finally during my last debate on whether to get fabric or not, Melissa turned to me and said, “I think that you would want me to tell you not to buy it.” There’s always next time, or even the next day…
On Saturday morning, Nikki and I decided to head into town to go to Makola Market. We really had no idea where we were going or what it would look like but once we were on the tro-tro we met a Nigerian woman who talked to us about the U.S. and helped us when we got off. Although, we did have to leave her because she was on an errand and wanted us to follow her, but we realized that we should adventure on our own. Once we got to the market we entered into the produce and fish area. It’s sort of divided like a large department store would be into sections, but there are no signs, no way of recognizing where you came from or where you are going, and there are only small pathways on which to maneuver past people carrying large items on their heads.
After we got out of the fish area, which was very smelly, we stumbled upon the fabrics. From there we found shoes where I bargained for a pair of sandals. Then we came across the kitchenware and then jewelry, and then finally we managed to find our way out – but where were we? As soon as we got onto the street, we were turned around. It was like we were emerging from some underground tunnel but then had to find our way back to the trotrostation and we couldn’t go back the same way. While we walked in the direction that we thought it was, we encountered many more items along the way. I ended up purchasing a used dress and trying it on in the middle of a busy sidewalk.
Finally we made it to the trotro, got on, and headed towards Opokonglo where we were going for a football game with the other CIEE students.
Everything one would need is in the markets. From dish soap to flip-flops, from undergarments to crabs, from jewelry to kitchen knives – it’s all there. It might take you time to find it and bargain but it’s definitely worth the experience as well as the money that you save. Now I better understand the reason for marketing and hopefully during my time here will go with Grandma to see how she bargains, as she was very upset that I paid ten cedi for my used dress (although I thought I had done a good job bargaining from 15 cedi to 10).
My weekend ended with a great conversation with Felix about cultural values. One of the classes that I am in, a seminar titled Living and Learning in Ghana, has been helpful in expanding my knowledge of Ghana and understanding pieces of the culture here. I started to ask about the imposition of Christianity and expressed my difficulty understanding it but I think that it will take time to verbalize how I am feeling about it so I will wait until the right time to ask again. Until then I’ll be thinking about it…
No comments:
Post a Comment