Journal Entry 34: Shopping in Chaos and Making Kente Cloth

One weekend my exchange program took a trip to Kumasi, a place well known for making Ghana’s popular kente cloth. We first stopped at the Central Market to shop and it was not the most fun experience for me. It’s the most chaotic market I’ve been to in Ghana thus far. People were pushing me left and right, people with shops were shouting at me “Ayy Americana!!” or “Hey! My sister!” and the strong stenches of pee and fish that filled the air didn’t make the experience any more pleasant. I had to be sure to look at the ground and my surroundings simultaneously as I was walking, because the ground was not clean at all and if I didn’t look around me, I could easily be knocked over (especially by someone carrying something very large on their head—as is often done in Ghana). I made sure to stay close to my friends, holding their hands tightly and stepping over little kids and dead chickens. It was definitely a once, and only once in a lifetime experience.

We also went to a kente weaving village where we were taught how to make kente cloth. I was fortunate enough to be one of the volunteers chosen to demonstrate how to break up the wood that would be used. After, we were able to choose fabric and stamp our own symbols on it. We were taught that all of the symbols have a meaning and I wanted to make sure I got something good. The two symbols I stamped on my cloth were “Going back to your roots” and “All-powerful”. A couple of guys in the village agreed to help me and give me a gift, and a couple of kids also said they had a gift for me as well. Based on my past experiences (from my "Ghana Gone Gangsta" blog entry), I knew that couldn't be a good thing, and of course I was right when I saw how they responded to my refusal to accept their "gifts". They surrounded me and my friends as we tried to pile onto the van, almost shoving their items in our faces screaming "My friend, my friend!", "I'll reduce the price!", and "Come, look!". 

Lastly, we went to a little shop that sells a lot of the traditional African print and learned about the different types of kente cloth. I paid a good piece of change on my three pieces, but it was well worth it! But I must admit, shopping isn't my favorite thing to do, especially not in Ghana!