Saturday January 16, 2010 updated again

Today turned out to be even more amazing than I thought it would be. For starters we went to the largest outdoor market I have ever seen. The ones I experienced in Viet Nam pale next to the one in Kumasi Ghana for complexity, variety of items sold and the skill and memory it takes to work your way through it. I have assumed the role of being the "banker" for our funds which are used to purchase products for the orphanage and our other projects. Therefore I have to accompany our hosts as they take us to areas where we get the best products and prices. Today we shopped for more food, personal hygiene items, footwear and other clothing items. We got it all in the open air market in conditions that have to be experienced to be believed. The cacophony of sound from all the vendors hawking their wares competes with all types of music and the sounds of horns being blown in the traffic jam that surrouds the area. But, somehow it all works and we got all we needed at prices that were very reasonable and the orphanage is now resupplied.
After the market and a brief stop for lunch we then attended a funeral for a family member of our host/guide. At the funeral we were received as "friends of the family" and afforded many courtesies. We were even asked to join in the dance with our host, Ama, who led us out to the center of a large field surrounded by the whole village, it seemed, and we danced to very lively African music. It was intimidating to say the least, for me anyway as I have very limited dancing skills, but we got into the spirit of the occasion and managed to do quite well. We then met the village elder, our host's elder brother Professor Akwabi-Ameyaw who gave us a history of the customs that under pin what we had just participated in and it became clearer the reverence for life that Ghanaians have. A very good day.