Shopping, Dancing, Housing

I've been to the crafts market twice already - the first time for a quick jaunt with F, the visiting German Googler on Friday and the second time with Bridgette and Jens on Sunday.  Bridgette's been here for a year and it was good to hear her bargaining, switching into a local accent to prove she knows what's going on (and invoking her local boyfriend's name to show she's serious).  She got herself a pair of 5-foot-tall masks for 130 cedi, which translates to about $85 - not bad!  Jens and I got ourselves a beaded side table and a painting, and promised to come back later when we have an apartment we can furnish.

On Saturday night, Bridgette and her boyfriend and Jens and I went to the Heritage Africa Reality Show finale at the Alliance Francaise.  This ambitious show brought ten pre-auditioned couples all around Ghana to learn cultural dancing, music and crafts.  They each presented a dance from a different region, along with a presentation on the history, meaning, costumes, and instruments used.  A second round had each couple perform a piece of folk music they'd written themselves.  The presentations were great!  The dancers acted as storytellers rather than lecturers, using facial expressions and a lot of variation in their voices to keep the audience interested.  It also helped that each of the four groups remaining at the finals had huge cheering sections.  There was a debate on whether the "folk music" presented was really folk, as three of four songs used a full band and sounded like the West African stuff you hear on compilation CDs rather than something you'd hear from a tribe.  In the end, the pair I liked best won!

Jens and I spent most of last week house hunting.  Contrary to what you think, living here is expensive!  Living spaces at an expat standard of living don't generally go for less than $2000 - and are usually priced $2500 and up.  Yes, that's in dollars.  The other big shocker is that common practice here is to pay a full year's rent in advance.  At least you don't have to remember to make the payment every month!  We found a landlord we liked who has two places.
The yellow building is newly built and still has a few weeks' work left to do.  We love the style and decor of the apartment (and the huge kitchen!), though it's off a bunch of side streets.  Jens is charmed by the idea we'd be in the thick of a neighborhood, which is something I still have to get used to.
The problem with the yellow building is that a corporate client expressed interest in taking the entire building for their employees.  Of course it's understandable that the landlord wants to save the hassle of renting out each apartment individually when he can take care of all six at once. We're waiting now to hear back from the landlord on the company's decision.  In the meantime, as a backup option they offered us an apartment in their other building.
The blue building is much easier to find in a car.  It's closer to Oxford Street, which is the main shopping and eating street in the neighborhood.  It's not as cool as the apartment in the yellow building, but it is in a duplex style with the bedrooms upstairs.  There's a huge living-room space downstairs.  All in all, either one would be a good place, and we like the landlord/lady pair.  Jens's boss (who knows everyone who's anyone- seriously, you should see her networks in action) knows them and trusts them.  So now it's just a waiting game of which place of theirs we get to move into.

Next time: The Sounds of Accra... or maybe The Roads of Accra, I haven't decided yet!  Also, I have to tell The Story of the Eventful Monday, when my back was turned to a car crash 10 feet away, I overpaid a taxi horribly, and I bought some fruit.

Impressions

First things first: I'm posting from a Blogger app on my phone, which I think is fabulous. For that reason I'll try to keep this post short and sweet.

Accra is hot and humid. The streets are full of people walking and lots of cars. Drivers are insane, yet I've never seen an accident- people seem to slow down an instant before the worst happens. I've seen a bit of bad traffic, but only during rush hours and lunchtime. The part I enjoy the most about the roads is the street vendors. They wander between lanes of stopped cars hawking anything from phone credit to paintbrushes to plantain chips. And they carry their stock in plastic baskets or metal tubs, cushioned with a roll of fabric, balanced on the top of their heads. I took some photos but, since I'm on my phone now, can't post them quite yet.

On the home front, Bridgette's place is finally habitable and we're moving all our stuff over today. On our own home front, Jens and I have been house hunting and found a few places we like, though one especially stands out. It's smack in the middle of a neighborhood, so we get lots of mini market and pub and salon stalls but also a lot of winding side streets to get there. Still, it's a 10-minute walk to Oxford Street, which is a main shopping and eating area.

Today, Google's driver - yes, his job is to shuttle Google people around all day - is going to take me and two Googlers to the African art market and then a cultural museum.

I'm getting excited about this now. We met a friend of Jens's friend last night who told me she'd show me around next week when Jens is off in Nigeria. I'll get to know this place; I've already started learning some of the big streets. Onward and upward!