Accra Saga Part 2

Continuing with the theme of the previous entry...being in Accra also had a great side benefit, as another young dude is staying with Adisa so I was able to made my first solid friend. Laugh it up ladies and gents, but making solid mates that aren't out to for something, be it wealth or status, is remarkably hard and I'm a seriously social dude! One of the LTOV's got serious why we laughed about feeling lonely during in-country, no jokes though, I'm so used to being on a island in my mind now that I wonder if I'll be able to back into it. Then I remember who my friends are back home and know they ain't gonna show no mercy! Thankful for that. Figure it's kinda like hockey after the offseason, when you strap them up for the first time your worried your gonna be a total spoon, but it all comes back once you get out there. Plus "it taste's so good when it hit's your lips!"
Getting back on track...Osman is a chill dude, and remarkably, at least after living in the north, is educated, obsessed with football, and likes hitting the "pub" for pints. Thought the pub here is really a patio, and they call pints bottles. Either way, I jonesing for it bad, cause anyone who knows me, knows I love the pub...and of course the occasional drink! Try to keep the sarcastic comments to a minimum on that one! Was good to kick back though and have some solid locker-room conversations, plus Osman has a master's in agricultural development and fleunt english so I got some perspective. Funny part about drinking in Ghana though is everyone is super cheap, I mean junior high cheap. I'm all tall boy number three and feeling maybe a slight buzz, Osman's half done two and definately riding high! Shot's are out of the question too, a case of one an done, kinda want him to make it to the 'peg so I could take him out to the toad, he nearly passed out from my recounting of an average night....worried it might TKO him though..
Watching football here is nuts, people go straight off the handle, and that's with everything in Ghanaian culture already dialled up to 11. What you do is go to this little shack that has one or two small tv's with the feed on it and pack it to the brim. It's like a adidas "power of sport commericial"! Anyway, was wicked since the UEFA cup was on, so everyone was especially jacked and the matches where solid. Also I want to go on record saying that fried egg sandwiches are god sent, was a nice switch up to eat for pleasure rather than simply for substinence.
Only really downer about staying in Accra was the market, it's not that it wasn't intriguing to see, it's just that being a white person is a more significant obstacle than in Tamale. Up north, while I know I'm going to get jacked on the price, people are at least polite, which ain't the case down south. I went to the market on the saturday before I caught the bus with aspirations of finding myself a pair of used jeans and ended up getting so frustrated that I didn't buy a thing. It all starts with everyone grabbing me, it's like a gauntlet, every person has to get in my face and physically grab my arm and try pulling me toward their wares. I know I'm supposed to be an ambassador, but that crap just don't fly in my world, so I'd end up ripping my arm away from them. If that wasn't enough, the price hikes were now to high for me to write off as supporting the economy and people absolutely refused to barter, which is traditionally the point of a market right? Also it hurt me that I was taking away from the experience of those I was in the market with since they were getting over charged on account of me, while having to deal with comments like "just get the white guy to pay for it". In the end I had to just wander away so they could get some of the things they wanted. Brought me down a notch though, I feel like I let the market get to me and detract from my experience, which in hindsight I will not allow to happen again. Another aspect I struggled with was I'd see stuff and think, that'd make a great gift, but the problem is it's something that people could get in north america, only just alot cheaper. Bringing back people gifts that were made in China and supporting the destruction of indeginous industry are things I just can't do, but if you want to buy local in the market your in for a long day. Felt sort of the same as when I went to the cultural center, it was so fake, no one who was Ghanian ever visited there, or used any of the wares, it's solely designed to cater to tourists. Which again runs me into the ethical delemmia of not wanting to cheapen the experience I've had here, I want to bring back gifts I got in real local markets. So I've made a list and I'm going to start having at it this weekend.
Got to go to the beach around mid-week, which was sweet, and selfishly one of the real touristy activities I'd had on my list for the trip. Ended up swimming in the ocean with the sun setting, actually laughing at the whole thing. Don't think my old man ever though one of his boys would be doing this. Definately through the rasta lifeguard for a loop though, as next to no one in Ghana can swim, so he was freaking out about how far I was out...though he might choke on his whistle...or maybe that was a hope., Only detractor was that you have to pay to use the beach, and people are constantly trying to sell you junk, but that's the way everything is here..everyone trying to milk a buck out of the same cow without ever trying anything new.
Like before, gonna chop this one here to keep them readable.