Emmanuel said he would come to me on Sunday or Monday morning to discuss cutting specifications and sign contracts. I guess he also is on ‘Ghana time’ and showed up the middle of the afternoon. That seems to be the name of the game here in Ghana and we were waiting for Ghana Telecom to show up on Monday anyway. He agreed to the specs we needed and contracts are signed. I had already cleared a draft copy with TIDD so we should be well on our way.
And GT didn’t show up at all. Nor did they come today. And I don’t have a phone number to complain, but I don’t care because it would do no good anyway.
By the way, we went to Ahwia on Saturday. A lady in Accra had told us about ‘stool town’ where they made the chieftain’s chairs that were sold in the shops. We had also heard there was a factory where the elephant and giraffe carvings were made. Supposedly one would get the goods cheaper at the factory. Turns out it is all in Ahwia.
The village is not that easy to find for us, so we took the Pastor’s children with us to ask directions in Twi. Theo an 11-year-old friend from last year also came along with us and they were rewarded with a nutritious lunch of ice cream, cookies and donuts and bananas. J They were pleased to choose to buy whatever they wanted.
But the carvings were not cheaper. All the salesmen were schooled in the same school of barter and begin by asking outrageous prices followed by “that is my first price”. If you barter, it is followed by a second and third price and then “because I like you” or “because you are my friend” you can have it for less. The prices wind up the same as the hawkers at the cultural center in Kumasi or Accra.
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