Day 80 (monday)

Saw this lady in town today...They carry everything on their heads, it's amazing.

Woke up in the middle of the night and had a bit of a hard time falling asleep again. I woke up again and checked some emails regarding schooling information and got going on some of those matters. Maureen prepared salad and toast and warmed some water so I could have coffee. After breakfast she showed me around her garden. The property is pretty big so most things were pretty spread out. No one really took care of the garden while she was away so most of the plants are dying off and the vegetable garden is completely gone. I can imagine how great it used to look. I came back in the room for a bit to relax and write in the blog. I am noticing that my legs are getting torn up again, just as they were completely clear, oh well, something to remember Ghana by I suppose. We went into town for awhile and visited the art center. It was pretty cool with most of the things similar to what I had already seen. I visited a few shops (everyone wanted me to see what they had) and I eventually settled on a few things and finally began to round out buying things for people. Bargaining and being able to say no is pretty valuable if you can actually do it. I was going to possibly buy some paintings and the guy told me an absurd amount and I said no. He came down a bit more and I said no and that I wasn't going to be prepared to spend a fourth of the amount that he was asking and so I moved along. As I was visiting another shop, the guy showed me some of his things and then showed me some of the same paintings that the previous guy did, claiming that he was the artist. Needless to say, I purchased two paintings for less than the price of one that the other guy was trying to get. We made our way into town a bit more so Maureen could go to the bank and then began the journey through town and through the central market and eventually to the house. We heard from Edwina's (she's my classmate) sister and learned that there were a few items that she would like to be sent back to Utah for her. There was a bit of a breakdown in communication and she was supposed to come to our end by the end of the night but that ultimately didn't happen. We were also expecting a lady who makes beads to call as Maureen had previously had the lady make some beaded jewelery for me to take home for some people. She eventually called and it was getting pretty late but she came by and showed us the other things that she made. I wasn't in the best frame of mind because I was trying, to no avail, to get my traveling situation taken care of. It had been pretty stressful not knowing when I would be leaving but over the past week or so I had received notice that there would be a change to the itinerary and I was given the option to accept or deny the suggestion. After denying it, I hadn't heard back from them until the night before with an absurd proposal. I couldn't call them (the only numbers to reach them are from within the US) and they were not responding to my emails. I was speaking with Aunty Grace and Uncle Joe about everything and Uncle Joe grabbed me and said come on. I wasn't very presentable but he insisted that I just come anyway. I figured we were just going on a walk but we eventually went to a couple of bars. He told me to get whatever I wanted, I didn't really want anything but he insisted, and through the language barrier, I obliged. I ended up with a coke at one place and another soft drink at the other while he had a couple glasses of wine. He was trying to buy some drinks for me and I absolutely appreciated the gesture but couldn't adequately explain to him that I don't consume alcohol (although there were times I thought about it). We finally headed back to the house so I could try and figure things out. I finally got in touch with mom (who automatically became stressed over my stress...and little bit of greed) and gave her the information and she got things settled for me. Now I know that i'll be leaving tomorrow night and will be home in the SLC on Wednesday in the early evening. I was up pretty late figuring a few other things out but eventually made it to bed.