Home » Ghana » African Adventure to Ghana - Summer 2003 (part II)

My summer of 2003 was a very exciting one. I went to Jonquière, Quebec to learn French for 5 weeks, and with only a few days to prepare (including a party at my friend Paul's cottage in between) I was off to Accra, Ghana landing July 1 (Canada Day, and also Ghanaian Independance Day). After that, within 3 days I was back at Ottawa to complete my Economics degree, so it was a very action-packed summer.

African Adventure to Ghana - Summer 2003 (part II)

Andrew Wozniuk
2006-04-02 10:41:09

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to make a living, it really is not all that bad. They work hard for what money they get and take every opportunity they get to try to get a bit more. (I'm sure everywhere in the world people think the same way). Besides, usually, if you at least have an idea of how much you should be paying you don't pay that much more. This is why visitors many times will pay more, but if you atually live here for a while, then you get used to the prices and pay what anyone else would. So at first when I took a bit of offence with the locals trying to get me to pay more just because I was foreign (I felt like I was getting ripped off), now I understand more about it, and it doesn't bother me. That's a bit of cultural understanding for ya :)

Aug 2, 2004
Funny Cars and Tailors

One thing that is always funny to see is how people supe up cars. In Canada I've seen some pretty silly set-ups on cars. Here in Ghana, there isn't a whole lot of that sort of thing, but when it happens, it's definately a sight! Some of the cabs have hubcaps which look like they have the Stanley Cup coming out of the side of them! The other day I saw on Dodge Caravan on my road. It had rally lights and Momo rims. I couldn't believe it when I saw it.

Now some things here like milk are more expensive than back in Canada, but somethings are much cheaper. I needed a haircut so I went to a barber. This was an expensive place and the guy was comfortable cutting white hair (many barbers haven't done it before so are uneasy about it). I ended up paying 10,000 cedis for my haircut ($1.50 CAN) and apparently if you go to a cheap barber - the ones that most of the locals use you can get a haircut for 5,000 cedis. I payed a premium for a barber with experience, and it was still a good deal.

I decided to get some clothes tailored for me. I went to the market and bought some material and then took it to a tailor and got measured up and I'll be going back in a few days to pick it up. I have no idea how it will turn out, but I think it will be cool either way.

I'm half way through my trip here. The time has been flying by, and now I'm starting to get my classes all set up so that when it comes time to register, I can do it nice and quick (via the internet). I also have an 11 hour stopover in London so I'm thinking of making a little trip into the city real quick on my way home.

Im hoping to make some more trips around to see more of Ghana, so I'll be sure to write about it and post pictures :)