The Price is Right.

So here is the rundown of "what stuff costs". For the mathematicaly-inclined among you, the exact exchange rate right now is $1 USD = .932 New Ghana Cedi (pronounced seedy). I'm going to use the new currency because it is very similar to ours, but I'll do the first few with the old currency in parenthesis.

1 loaf of bread: .50 (5,000 old cedis)
1 bottle of Fanta: .35 (3,500)
(the bottles are 300mL glass and you are always asked to drink it and return the empty
bottle so they can get their money back for it)
1 liter of Petrol: .93 (9,300)
1 hour on the internet: .60 (6,000)
a plate of chicken and rice at a restaurant: 2.00 (20,000)
1 orange: .05
(they sell them everywhere with the outermost skin peeled. To eat them, you cut off the top,
squeeze the juice into your mouth, then rip it apart and eat the inside. No utensils, no mess,
so great!)
3 bananas: .10
3 apples: .50
1 pineapple: .60
1.5-liter bottle of water: .70
.5-liter satchet (bag) of water: .04
a hand-sewn outfit: 7.00
(this includes a traditional top, skirt/pants, head piece, and 'baby wrap'. I should have mine
by the time I post next...)
a 15- minute phone call to the US: 4.00
1 snickers bar: .90
1 disgusting spicy peanut butter thing: .10
a night in a hostel in a city: 6.00
overnight bus from Kumasi to Accra: 4.50
(about 5-6 hours)
a 1-hour tro-tro ride: .90

a bowl of Fufuo: .10

(a traditional dish made of pounded plantains- a dough-like substance- eaten with a soup.

There's no chewing, you just kind of slurp it down. And there's no utensils, you use only your

right hand.)

a medium cheese pizza: 5.20
(only in international restaurants in big cities)

Prices can certainly vary depending on what city or town I am in and if I am in a market or a store (there is a lot of bartering in the markets but prices are usually fixed in the stores) but that gives you a good idea of the things I buy and what they cost. I eat LOTS of fruit and bread and water. I have only had the pizza once. We always travel by tro-tro and stay in cheap hostels. I am also getting a pretty good connection-basis so frequently when we travel we are able to stay for free. All of this puts my weekly spending at a very low average.

I have some pretty big plans coming up. This weekend we are going to Cape Coast to walk on "Africa's only canopy walk", spend the night in a stilt village, and go to a reggae party on the beach. Next week, Froukje (who we all call Mo) and I are packing up from Mampong and traveling north...All the way north...into Burkina Faso for two weeks. (Note: for those who were in Maine with RRCB last year, Padgett gave me the award: "most likely to live in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso". Well, I'm going there. Good work, Padge!)

We will return in November to recieve a friend from home who will travel with us back to the volta region. The three of us are planning on living and volunteering at Tafi Atome, the monkey sanctuary, until Christmas. Then I will return to Mampong and the babies.

Hopefully I will be able to post again before we take off on this big adventure!