This morning we were charged with our first independent
(without direct assistance from our extremely knowledgeable advisors) group
task: to use the city
transportation to once again reunite with our advisors by 8 am. There are several ways to get around in
Ghana, most of which do not include having our own personal driver; we had been
very much spoiled throughout the first days of our visit. The streets of Kumasi are bustling with
taxis, buses, and tro-tros. The
latter option, tro-tros are re-purposed vans that make frequent stops along the
main highways and can transport upwards of 10 passengers short distances around
the city for extremely reasonable fare.
Because we were interested in transporting all five of us a short
distance to our meeting point, we chose to travel by tro-tro. When we decided to leave during morning
rush hour, however, we quickly realized it would be unlikely for all of us to
commute together.
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| A tro-tro junction near KNUST |
Two of us
(Mollie and Chelsea) hopped in the first available tro-tro and, just as the
two began to worry about the others, the remaining three (Clayton, Helena, and
Mike)-who had had to wait a while to find a tro-tro with enough room- were
dropped off by a second one. Both
groups successfully communicated the stopping destination; therefore we
completed our first independent mission--and all for a cost of 30 peswas (in
USD, approximately 15 cents) per person!
On our final day with our advisors, we again had a full day
mapped out. First, we travelled by
tro-tro to downtown (or, in Twi, “adum”).
There, we had beginning lessons in bargaining. In Ghanaian markets, there is no such thing as a price
tag. Rather, when you ask “how
much?”, sellers are likely to give you (especially if you are an obruni—the
Ghanaian term for a white person), a starting figure of as much as 10 times a
reasonable price. Having been
first informed of a reasonable price range, the five of us bargained for masks
for our advisors.
Then we met our advisors at the CSIR Basic School to meet
the classes that we planned to work with the next day. Since we planned to teach science
lessons to the students, we went into town with Godwin, one of our trusty
drivers and Cornelia, a new friend of ours from FORIG. We tracked down supplies like Vaseline,
vinegar, baking soda and kebob sticks from the outskirts of Kumasi’s Central
Market, the largest market in West Africa.
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| A colorful booth in the market |
The streets were overwhelmingly crowded with customers and
vendors of all sorts. In order to get the kebob sticks, we asked a vendor
selling kebobs where to buy the sticks.
A woman near the stall tried to explain to Cornelia where to get them,
but ended up leading us to them herself.
It was quite an adventure trying to keep up with the woman with the six
of us trailing at varying distances behind through alleys, through a market on
the train tracks and back through twisty-turney alleys again. The eventful chase was well worth it,
though, we were able to get our kebob skewers!
In the market Helena, Mike, and Mollie bought some fabric to
make into custom shirts and dresses too.
And the group bought bread, peanut butter, and bananas, which we later ate
for dinner. After dinner, Mike and
Helena bought some snacks at a local gas station, where Mike also had his hair
cut for 5 cedi ($2.50)!
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| A fabric store near the market |
