I
have had a lot of you ask about what the shopping is like here in Ghana.
At first we thought there was very little to buy, but the longer we are
here we are finding there really is a lot here to choose from-you just have to
know WHERE to look. If you want chicken you can buy one on the street and
kill and cook it. We go to a Cold Store (a place with a freezer) and buy
frozen chicken. I have seen chicken legs all frozen together without a
wrapper. Pretty.
Just load it into a taxi and take it home for dinner. Speaking of taxi's.
If you want bread just wait for the taxi to deliver it to your favorite
stand where the ladies then put it in plastic bags. By then you have no
idea who has handled it.
When you do find a small store a girl follows you around with a basket. You point to what you want and she takes it down and puts it in the basket. Everything is done in cash - no debit or credit cards are heard of. They then carry it to your car. Sometimes in the market women try to take things out of my hands without asking to carry it for me. Of course they want to be paid. I have had a literal tug of war trying to keep hold of the goods I am buying.
When you do find a small store a girl follows you around with a basket. You point to what you want and she takes it down and puts it in the basket. Everything is done in cash - no debit or credit cards are heard of. They then carry it to your car. Sometimes in the market women try to take things out of my hands without asking to carry it for me. Of course they want to be paid. I have had a literal tug of war trying to keep hold of the goods I am buying.
You have to know what you want and be ready to pay in cash.
We went to Kumasi this weekend for our Couples meeting with President Holmes.
Kumasi is a city of 2 million, Techiman is 100,000 and Tamale is 500,000.
Kumasi is a huge sprawling city and nearly everyone is out on the streets
buying and selling.
I am still not good at bargaining. Most don't speak English that well.
Elder Olson and I keep learning new things everyday. If we
can find a parking place we feel like it will be a good day. The
pineapples, mangos and bananas are wonderful and cheap. A huge head of
cabbage is 1 Cedis or about .45 cents. We do eat well, but very little
meat and lots of rice. We are healthy and doing well. Elder Olson is a most kind and loving
companion. In 2 weeks we are having a District Conference and they will be forming 2
Branches out of our 4 groups. We will have a lot to share with you then.
Thank you for your love, prayers and emails.
Elder and Sister Olson
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