Droopy Drawers

Sunday, August 22

I quickly got dressed this morning and headed out to catch a cab to meet up with Ivy before church. As I was walking to where I would find a cab I noticed my shorts were quite loose and were inching down as I walked. Actually, all of my clothes have been a bit loose. Had the cab driver been looking as I got out later he would’ve got a big glimpse of my underwear as my shorts tried to stay in the cab without me. Between being sick this past week and being hesitant to eat much local food, I’ve been relying on the packaged snack-type food I brought. While I did bring high-calorie snack foods (trail mix, peanut butter, protein bars, etc) they are still just snacks and don’t really constitute a meal. Now that I know there aren’t many options in Kpong for non-sketchy food, I am planning on a trip to the grocery store in Accra to get meal options that I can prepare quickly and easily and that are relatively high-calorie.

Thank goodness I was meeting with Ivy before church because she had finished one of the dresses she is making me and I was planning on wearing it to church. It turned out so well (see picture)! After wearing the clothes I brought for fieldwork for the past week, it felt so good to be in something feminine. After church I met an American girl named Tiffany and we started chatting like old friends. Both of us have had some similar experiences with food, communication, and just generally being foreign, so it was fun to share those with each other. I was telling her my plans to try to make it to Cape Coast next weekend and she said that she was also going on Saturday with her host family and that I was welcome to join them. This is such a blessing! I really want to go and I know multiple people would readily volunteer to take me, but I really want to go with someone else who wants to go as a tourist. While I would definitely appreciate someone taking me, I want someone to be enjoying it along with me, not watching me to make sure I was having a good time.

After church I met back up with Robert for round 2 of shopping. Since we ended up leaving the Arts Center early yesterday, Robert said he would take me to a different and less well-known Arts Market today. This time I was determined to be a better bargainer. I was all set with my disinterested attitude and my lines: “I’m just looking today” “that really isn’t exactly what I’m looking for” and “I’m not really sure on this one, I should probably look at the next shop”. What fun it was to shop in a more leisurely manner in which I was bargaining and sticking to a good price! I realized it’s a game and everyone actually enjoys playing! It’s part of the shopping experience to spend 10 minutes talking back and forth, hemming and hawing over the price, starting to walk away and then taking a second look. I left getting exactly what I wanted at exactly the price it should be and I felt so accomplished! Robert even praised me saying that I totally learned from yesterday and did 100% better today!