Ghanaian Garb

Our group has officially figured out that our enjoyment of the beneficial exchange rate extends to clothing. Within the town market there are numerous booths that sell fabric, and on our way home one night we stopped by and each picked out a few we liked. Typical prices ranged from 1.5 to 3 cedi’s per yard (remember that a cedi is roughly equal to a dollar). A tailor had also been recommended to us from several of the Peace Corps volunteers we’ve been spending time with, so we took them up on their suggestion. Surprisingly, having the clothes made cost even less than the fabric, so the whole deal turned out pretty cheap. While I had a few shirts made, some of the girls went all out and got skirts, pants, tops and dresses. We just picked up our clothes yesterday, and we’re all very pleased with our “Ghanaian Garb”! The bright colors are very much in style here.

Yesterday I tagged along with another student to help him in one of the rural areas in the surrounding areas. We had to get around on motorbike, which wasn’t my favorite idea but I couldn’t really object since it’s the only form of transportation that can reach some villages. Cars don’t hold up so well on the rural roads. Here’s a picture of my guide and his bike I rode around on all day. He’s a funny guy with a great sense of humor, and he also happens to speak at least 8 languages (it’s hard to tell exactly because he’s kind of modest about it), which comes in handy. The dialects can change completely from village to village, even when they’re separated by only a few miles.

Of course lots of kids were following us around while we were working, and one grabbed my hand a few times when I let it hang at my side. They were all constantly smiling and loved yelling “hello” even after several hours into our time together. Here is a picture of a fraction of our entourage.

Another few interesting pictures that I forgot to post are included below. The first is taken in Kpanvo on the morning before the Fire Festival (see the prior posting). This is right after we drank pito and shots of gin. Notice how only the visitors are smiling; that happens a lot here!

And this picture shows what we were served for lunch. The white stuff is called Tizet, and it’s a staple food that doesn’t really taste like anything. The green stuff are vegetables mixed with groundnut stew, which kind of tastes like unsweetened peanut butter.

There were a large group of us who had never had it, and we unanimously loved it. So despite it’s appearance, it’s pretty good.