It was easy to wake up this morning! ... i was up and wide awake at 5 am, showered and eating my breakfast...
Clutching my backpack, full of essentials: detailed currency converter, masking tape and pen to note prices on the beads, Ghana cedis and water, i set off.
This time i beat Dela to the tro-tro station where i was accosted by people asking me where i was going and trying to get me to go on their bus ... but shaking my head i said i had to wait for a friend and they good naturedly directed me where to go...
Later i asked Dela about this bewildering arrangement ... and he said there were two kinds of tro tros (just like the taxis) One set of tro tros go from town to town directly, the others also go from town to town but pick up and drop people along the way. The men who were trying to get me on their bus were trying to fill up their tro tro so they could get going...
When i arrived our tro tro was filling up quite quickly... there was only about 4 spaces left. So i phoned Dela to get him to hustle because otherwise we would be stuck like last time waiting ...
He arrived, all dressed in white and looking immaculate as usual. I am quite envious of his ability to look so suave despite the heat and grit!! ... i definitely don't have that talent and start to look windblown and soggy from the start ... I have given up feeling self conscious about it and just enjoy the heat!! There is something liberating about letting Africa win in this case....
Finally the bus was full, everyone had stacked up on water, biscuits and eggs for the trip and we were off... always a fizzle of excitement as each tro tro trip is a real journey!
Everyone drowsed off to sleep, to catch a few extra zzzs .... with the punctuations of the towns disrupting everyone's doze but no one did any extra shopping... and our journey was quite smooth.
Arriving i felt comfortable as we did the usual drill.. off to a small restaurant for a drink and ...the use of their great washroom... i took the time to do some strategy planning with Dela... i thought it would be good if he would chat the sellers up and distract them from me a bit... also i was hoping to interest him in the beads so that if this whole Bead Industry thing i was dreaming about did take off i would have someone here i could turn to.
This time at the market i went straight to Tk's stall as i knew this would be quite straightforward. He sells glass beads that are one colour (reds, turquoise, etc) but i had noticed he had some interesting shapes that i had not seen before. Also the ladies from Lady Volta (the Office) had phoned ahead again and told him i was coming.
This time he realized who i was and was very welcoming but refreshingly quiet and patient. I had a wonderful time sorting through the gorgeous colours and shapes ... and my pile grew.
We negotiated a price that made both of us happy. He gave me his card telling me to come and visit his factory in Accra.... It was all very civilized and easy!!
Earlier Dela had spotted some Christmas beads on our way in... and they were the best ones i have come across so congratulated him on his find!
But the stall was run by Immanuel who has the old style of selling.... He says he recognized me from 5 years ago at the other market, Agomanya Market. He remembers me buying Christmas beads there... And i to remember buying beads from someone like him!!! And i do believe he has backed of a tiny bit from his aggressive selling style but not by much!! He had some very interesting beads so i stuck around but it took an enormous amount of energy to block him ... so i could choose and think .. making this experience of bead shopping much more one of negotiation than enjoyment.. i felt i had earned every single bead!! it was definitely all about bizness!! i had to concentrate on choosing which beads i thought i could sell taking in to consideration both the bead's quality and price.
Then to top it all off was negotiating the price and handling the money.... Again, i was happy to have Dela there. I have become aware of how little we handle actual dollars back home... For most transactions a machine figures out how much one should pay and then we feed this machine with a plastic card with no real human interaction!!... in Ghana it is all about interaction ... Dela tells me Ghanaians need to feel the money in their hands!! ...and it is true.. watching them negotiate so comfortably ... they are true traders still.
My hat was a big help, too. It shaded me from the sun ... and i could pretend not to see the very pushy men beckoning me to 'Come, come ...' instead i ambled around enjoying the beads and smiling back at the friendlier faces... the beaming faces...
I was really starting to feel at home in this new environment. There were a lot more sellers than last time ... and i found some very interesting beads...
Finally i ran out of both energy and money... this is the good part about having to deal in actual dollars you can set a real limit!! Today i worked within my budget and really milked every dollar for every bead i could get ... i felt proud of my accomplishments...
Dela could see me struggling under the weight of my treasures and took control of a couple of my bags... trust me my treasures weighed way more than their worth in gold!!!...these bead are just very heavy!!!
We sat down in the shade with a very nice, easy going dealer to make sure all the beads were priced... oh my!! i saw to my dismay ....the beads from my very pushy but lovely Immanuel were not priced... Dela and another Immanuel (both are Ghanaians and seasoned market goers) laughed at me when i said i just could not face going back and asking him the prices... i felt i just would be skinned alive!! They both offered to go and find out for me!!!..my sigh of relief told them everything they needed to know!!
Once that was all sorted out and the beads safely stashed away... we had a delightfully freezing cold beer to revive us before our long trip home...
Soon we were ensconced in our tro tro on our way home... this time i was nodding off.. in fact i had my head down on my arms dozing when i realized there was a bit of excitimennt trilling through the van...
i woke up to a very dark thunder cloud in the distance .... and then quite suddenly driving rain.. Instantly the van windows were fogged over ... the driver wiping away a window he could peer through...
But instead of slowing down which would have been the sensible thing to do, it was like the rain was a signal to go faster... here we were careening down a road spraying up the river we were driving through!! Oh, my! i just closed my eyes and hope for the best!!
The feeling in the air was quite magical though ... from a dry, dusty atmosphere suddenly there was that wonderful smell of rain and green stuff...
This went on interminably and then ... suddenly.. stopped! The sun broke through and it was like there had never been any rain...
There is this spot on the roadside that sells avocados ... the best avocados i have every tasted. On the way, i had said to Dela if it was at all possible it would be great to buy some on the way home.
So when i heard Dela talking in Ewe and i heard 'pears' i had this inkling he was telling the driver he needed to stop so he could buy some avocado 'pears' for me... and sure enough when he pointed out the stand the whole tro tro with its 16 passengers stopped so Anita could have her avocados ... i thanked the driver and he just smiled sweetly at me... i was very touched.
.... then a little while later the tro tro again comes to a screeching halt.. and Dela motions me to get off (i am in the seat in the aisle) ... ok, i thought we were dropping off the guys behind me... and when they troop off i made to get back on the van ... when Dela motions for me to stay ... so i look around to see what is going on ... only to see all three guys and the Driver peeing out there for all to appreciate!!!!! oooh! i felt a tiny bit conspicuous but everyone was so blasé about the whole affair i relaxed... but i felt a little less guilty about everyone stopping for my avocado pears!!
We all settled in again .... off we went..
When we arrived at the outskirts of Ho i phoned Christianne to see where everyone was... she said she would pick me up at the office as she had to drop something from home...
So i went in to the Office...
I had really wanted to go back as my batik was being finished today and i wanted to see the final product...
I got such a warm welcome from everyone... asking me how my bead shopping had gone and telling me i was 'Welcome!'
And my batik was all finished and dried ... it was very beautiful!!
What an amazing day!!!
