The bead molds.
The adinkra we made.
This weekend our program took us to Kumasi, which is one of Ghana's largest cites. It is located in the southern part of the Asante region, a 140 mile drive from Accra. About half of the drive was on dirt roads and it took a long time to get there, but on the way we bought some tasty new foods from people selling them on their heads. We bought the African equivalent of a tamale which was a steamed corn husk containing corn kernels and peanuts. We also bought a loaf of sweet white bread, which may have been the best bread that I have had in my entire life!
When we arrived at the hotel we got settled in and then went to the hotel restaurant where they prepared a great lunch buffet for us. It was truly fabulous Ghanian food.
After we were done eating we hopped back onto the bus and went to the king’s palace museum. The king of the Asante region has the most power of any of the Ghanian kings, although the kings don't have much power now that Ghana has a democracy. We had a hilarious tour guide and it was a lot of fun.
We then went to the Kumasi market, which is the largest market in west africa. We stayed there for less than an hour so we didn't see very much of it, but what we did see was really cool. The market sells every thing that you could possibly imagine. The venders mainly sell clothing, household supplies, food, and various other things. Some venders sell a lot of things, some only have one thing to sell. There are huge metal bowls in some of the little store huts that contain anything from homemade peanut butter to rice to giant snails.
We briefly walked through the leather section of the market. It was interesting to watch all the men cutting and sewing the leather into sandals, belts, and other commodities. Later we walked through the market's meat section, which was quite the experience. The smell of the fish and the various types of meat stagnated in the air so I tried to breath through my mouth. We quickly walked through the open building full of tables covered in a medley of animal parts. Ghanians eat pretty much every part of the animals, and to eat the head of any animal is a delicacy. It was a cool experience but I was very happy when it was done!
In Ghana it is expected that almost every price is bargained down. It is fun to bargain but can be difficult sometimes, I am getting better at it though.
On Sunday we went to the kente fabric market. It was really cool to see how kente is made and how much work goes into each piece made. Each of us got to try to make a portion of kente ourselves. I'm sure that it takes a LOT of time and practice to master the art. I bought one big piece of the beautiful fabric which I plan on either hanging on a wall or using as a tablecloth.
Next we went to a adinkra building. We got a history lesson on adinkra and how it is made. Adinkra is a traditional paste made from the bark of a certain tree that grows in the northern region, which is stamped or painted onto cloth. All the stamps have different meanings such as love, ambition, friendship, etc. We then got to stamp some onto cloths to take home with us. As we were making our pieces a huge thunder storm rolled in. Every time the thunder struck it was so loud that it made us all jump.
Our last stop before we journeyed home was the bead making factory. One of the owners of the family business showed us how they make the beads and the different ways that they can put designs in them. I never knew that bead making was such an art!
The bus ride was at night time so I happily sleep through paved road portions and the bus ride went quickly.
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