weekend things

our friends who are staying in apam at the hospital came back on friday night to stay for the weekend. they were sooo happy to be in accra where there is running water and where they can choose what they want to eat for meals. we took them out on friday night to a bar that we frequent and then to a club where there was dancing. it was really fun and i think that the new girls really enjoyed being back in the city.

on saturday we all travelled to aburi for a conference. scholars from england, the US and different parts of africa were present. the conference was held high up on the mountain with a beautiful view of the Ghana plains. the scholars had each written papers and then they would present their topic and leave time for discussion. we caught the tail end of the first morning discussion, but stayed for the second morning discussion and the longer discussion held after lunch. the topics were generally about economics, and the afternoon discussion was focus on the gendered idea that women in ghana are more poor than men. we ate lunch with two professors from harvard, no big deal. it was really cool to hear idea from these big names, even if we didn't fully understand everything that was going on.

today we brought the new girls shopping at the market and in osu. i got a lot of good presents (michelle, i got you two presents youre going to loveeee) and i finally got a jersey of Gyan that i'd wanted but didn't see a nice one. they finally had nice ones and i bought mine for 15 cedi less than another kid who had bought one during the study abroad (sucker). i didn't realize how much of the culture i've absorbed until i watched the girls at the market today. i'm very comfortable now telling a pushy vendor that i don't want their product and i'm getting really good at bargaining. i've realized that a story comes with the price, the vendor tells how something about how long it took him to make the product or the quality of the wood, etc. i respond with telling him that i'm a student and a volunteer so i don't have much money. it's like a play that is put on every time you go to buy something. it's really fun once you get the hang of it.

when we went to the art market, we found a friend that mhairi had made the first time we went there. he had given her and her roommate a drum lesson. we were welcomed into his show with open arms. he (and three of his friends) proceded to play us a welcome song. their music was so beautiful, a lot of people passing by stopped to dance. he then gave us all a drum lesson (for free). we weren't pressured to buy anything and he seemed genuinely happy just to teach us african music. he runs his shop very differently than most other vendors at the market. i hope we can go back for another lesson.