Guest Author: Charity Holladay
We were scheduled to leave for shopping at 9:00am. However, Mom (Kandie), Dad (Steve), Faith, and I were all up around 6:30am. So we got ready and ventured out on a walk to see what we could find for breakfast. We walked down and around the corner to a little restaurant/fast food place that had premade croissants and coffee. Mom ordered up a varying assortment of muffins and croissants. I was excited about the coffee. I ordered a mocha latte for myself and a plain latte for Lindsay. I don’t know how to explain the food here. Anyone that has gone overseas I am sure understands. It doesn’t taste exactly how you expect it to. Not that it is bad…just different. The coffee was no exception. When I took my first sip, in my mind, I was expecting a white chocolate mocha from Starbucks. A white chocolate mocha it was not J
I was telling everyone tonight that I am excited to have a salad when we get back to the states. We have not eaten any lettuce or uncooked vegetables since we left Yendi. Mom soaks all our vegetables in an iodine solution to make sure there are no lingering germs. When we eat out we don’t take any chances with the fresh veggies. Right now we do have a watermelon chilling in the fridge. I am very excited to eat that in the morning. It smelt sweet while she was cutting it.
We walked back to the hotel and the driver arrived at 9:00am. We had him drive us down to an area that is full of vendors. It was a very peppy place. One large area had even hired a DJ and they played music while we shopped. Some of the sellers are aggressive. They are trying hard to make a sale. The first price is always way too high and you never pay what they are asking. I love to try to get the best price. I get it honestly.
We shopped until lunch time and we walked to a Chinese restaurant to eat and rest. We ordered our food and drank a lot of water. It was at this time we noticed Lindsay and Faith, our extremely fair skinned people were burning. Mom dug around in our bags and pulled out some cloth and had Faith turn it into a scarf and gave Lindsay a hat to wear. Luckily we weren’t in the sun for too much longer.
While we were at one of the shops there were 2 men there and one of them asked for Faith to marry him. I told him no and Faith explained she was promised. But he was persistent. We just kept walking and went to the next stall. He tried to follow but finally gave up.
We walked and drove around town going to jewelry stores and a variety of other shops. We ended up going to the Arts and Crafts Center. I really enjoyed shopping there. It is an outdoor shopping area that has little open air shops. They are all lined up and the sellers are vicious! There can be 3 or 4 at a time hollering and trying to get your attention. It is not for the faint of heart. The prices are high and you need to be ready to argue. The sellers are very dramatic and you have to match it or they will take all your money. Some of the men thought I was funny and when they found out I was mom’s daughter they thought that was grand fun. One man thought mom was my sister. We got a good laugh out of that.
Jordan and Lindsay were able to buy some beautiful wood carvings. I purchased some small gifts for my kids. I bought a carved lizard for no other reason than the man was very nice and he asked me to consider him. Mom bought a beautiful basket and was able to get it for 250 Cedis ($23). The man had 2 identical baskets. I told her that maybe should go ahead and purchase the second one so she can have it to give as a gift. The man wouldn’t give it to her at the same price. He said the price of that one was 300 Cedis. It is that way around here. Sometimes they will give you a good price on one because they need to make a sale that day but they won’t give you the same price on the second one because they don’t “have” to sell it.
We ended our grand shopping day with Pizza Inn. Mom and dad got them and brought them up to our room. The pizzas are not what we get in the USA but were a pleasant end to our busy day.
Our time in Ghana is coming to an end. Yesterday when we had a problem with our flights Faith said she had an idea on how to fix it. She said we should just return back to Yendi and stay for another week and try to fly out again next week. She doesn’t want to leave. We have loved our time here and the talks of when we are coming back have already started.
Please Pray For Safe Travels,
Steve and Kandie Taylor
Faith and Charity Holladay
Jordan and Lindsay Taylor
