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Feb. 1, 2002 Dear friends, Our last big grocery shopping trip was in Accra before Thanksgiving, so supplies at our house are becoming a bit limited. Richard and I made a quick trip to Tamale on Christmas Eve, but even that was about a month ago. That, coupled with a major case of "cabin fever," prompted us to take the kids on a full day trip to Tamale last Monday. Shopping anywhere in Ghana can be reminiscent of the old "Scavenger Hunt" game, going door-to-door looking for seemingly obscure items. Imagine buying everything for your family, even groceries, flea market style, and you will be close to the mark. We generally do not take the time for this in Yendi, because even though the selection is very limited, optimistic sellers always ask us to "wait small" while they go ask all their friends and relatives if any of them have the item (a long and seldom fruitful process). Tamale, while not nearly as well-supplied as Accra, does have a lot larger selection than Yendi, and there are quite a few regular shops, rather than informal kiosks, so the customer is able to make his own selections. Of course, complicating the whole process is the fact that we do care something about cleanliness, quality and price! Our "most urgent" grocery list included fifteen items we have seen at acceptable prices in Tamale before, plus produce. In addition to shopping, our other errands were: filling cooking gas bottles from almost everyone living on our compound (eight in all), getting the truck registration and insurance updated, and buying two motorcycle piston rings. How long could it all take? We informed folks at home to expect us back well after dark. The three hours total driving to and from Tamale was the easiest it has ever been. The road is being graded regularly now, and we expect the pavers to come in February. (Amazing what having the Vice President's mother living in your town can do!) In Tamale, our first stop was the "fast" gas place, North of town. It was deserted, so we immediately went South of town to the "other" gas place. There has been no cooking gas in the North since Christmas, so we were a bit anxious to get this chore off our list (loading up eight bottles so that they will not beat the truck to death on the rough dirt road is a lot of work). We were relieved to see that this place did have gas. The employees asked us for gifts the entire time we unloaded the bottles (now we remember why they are so slow). While we were in the neighborhood, Richard went to the vehicle registration place while I checked out the Shell Shop across the street. I met Richard and took over at the registration office (the Shell Shop had only a small selection today, and most of the canned goods were expired and really looked it) while Richard walked to Japan Motors for the piston rings. Finding them "on break," he returned, amazed that I was now in the final stages of getting our truck registered for 2002. The man immediately in front of us in line had been there for several hours, but the supervisor was now "in" to sign the forms, so we came at a great time. After a fruitless search of that side of town for soda pops (the supply in Yendi was wiped out by New Year's festivities a few weeks ago) we returned to Japan Motors. Thirty minutes and four "scribble clerks" later, Richard emerged with the piston rings. As expected, Richard had to buy pistons to get the rings, even though they are priced and packaged seperately. By now, several hours had passed, so we went back to the gas place - too soon. We decided this would be a good time to eat a late lunch. One of the highlights of a trip to Tamale is that there are two hotel restaurants who serve delicious (and clean) Chinese food. We had not eaten in Tamale since September, so you know I was really looking forward to "eating out." We were rereading one of our old favorite stories, The Lord of the Rings, aloud whenever we were all together, so the travel time and the long wait for food went by quickly (the kids are anxious to see how they did with the movie, but it hasn't yet come to a 'theatre near us'). Richard dropped me off in the shopping district and went to get the insurance for the truck. The insurance office has always been very efficient, and today was no exception, so he was back before I had completed my quick search through the three "largest" grocery stores in Tamale. By making a few compromises, I was able to pick up 10 of the 15 items on the grocery list. We went to several gas station shops and smaller stores, feeling successful and ready leave Tamale after finding two more items. My favorite produce kiosks were especially well stocked, so we went home with an unexpected treat - a whole "flat" of fresh, unbruised apples. And, we were home by 8pm. I pray that this finds you and yours healthy and happy. In the Service of Our king, |
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