The quick stop to get fabric turned into a seven hour adventure. As I mentioned before, today is a national holiday – Republic Day – so the roads were packed and slow going. Our first stop was the car shop to try and replace the rim for the van’s spare tire. No luck, unfortunately, the one they had didn’t fit. We headed into Accra by a new route and saw some different neighborhoods, parked in the Nkrumah Memorial Park parking lot and headed to the market.
It started at a busy intersection, went through a parking lot and then into several narrow passageways. Fish, vegetables, pots and pans, scarves, shoes, spices, hair weaves and finally fabrics.
It started at a busy intersection, went through a parking lot and then into several narrow passageways. Fish, vegetables, pots and pans, scarves, shoes, spices, hair weaves and finally fabrics.
Madam Fausty and I got to work looking through the myriad colors and patterns; it was such fun. 
The woman who sold me the fabric was getting her toes painted at the same time she was advising my choices.
The polish color was red, if you’re wondering. Hilarious!
The woman who sold me the fabric was getting her toes painted at the same time she was advising my choices.
The polish color was red, if you’re wondering. Hilarious! Joey and Charles had a mission themselves – a power drill for the school. We started down a busy street when Charles decided to hit a different market so we went back to the van to relocate. The same guy was washing the van who cleaned it the last time we were there for the Memorial Park; he kept an eye on things for Charles. : )
Charles and Joey investigating measuring tools on the way back to the van
The next stop was to a market area that led us down several narrow corridors far from the main road. It opened into a square with little passageways of wood huts branching off of it like limbs of a tree. The courtyard was filled with people, goats, chickens, tables holding shea butter and soap. This area is occupied by Ghanaians from the north so many of the wood sheds in the center of the square were filled with large bags of grain, beets, yam, cassava all from the northern region. This is also the region that Charles and Madam Fausty are both from.
We kept walking passed some stores that was piled high with dried animals, and by that I mean bats, iguanas, birds, frogs, snake heads…the works. This was a medicine shop….not recommended by doctors I might add. Beyond that the paths narrowed and we entered the hardware section of the market. Charles knew what he was doing; he went to four different shops, tried out increasingly large drills, and negotiated one shop down to $110 cedi. It was great to watch. He told us later he was testing the merchants to make sure they weren’t overcharging him because of the accompanying abrunis.
We went back to the car and then headed to another area which is sort of like Chicago’s Michigan Avenue – all the fancy stores and overpriced goods and tourists galore. Here we all sat down and had meat pies while people-watching.
We had some delicious meat pies and minerals and then back into the van for….one more stop.
Charles drove us directly into the eye of the holiday shopping storm – straight into the parking lot of the largest mall in the city.Accra Mall – exactly like stepping into a mall in Shaumburg (sorry Shaumburg residents).
These pictures are in the Teacher Store in Accra Mall
It was so gluttonous and overpriced, Greenie, Joey and I felt right at home. Charles took us to the “Wall Mart” to check the prices of the concrete drill he had bought – vindication. It cost $450 cedi! Unbelievable.
Greenie pumped some iron in the weightlifting area and then we roamed the corridors of the mall, people watching and price gaping. The cell phone store was selling iPhones for $1650 cedi – that is $1237.50 US dollars. Charles bought his at the market for $150 cedi. The gouging is really unbelievable but there is status connected with shopping at the mall. As Joey just pointed out, “For me being the mall was like –‘Look, we’re in America.’ But for Charles it was more like being in a foreign country and he’s saying, ‘Look at all these stupid people paying too much.’” That sort of captures it. Charles kept saying, Look, they buy this here and then they go home and cry.” He said it with a smile but you can tell he’s absolutely incredulous about the whole thing.
As it turns out, a mall is a mall is a mall. The place was filled with teenagers flirting and ogling one another awkwardly. Adults dolled up for a day off, little kids clinging to their knees.
Now we’re home. Tired from our journey. Tomorrow we’re back to school and then the Ghana-Uruguay game. Think positive Ghana thoughts for the team.
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