We went dancing at this little hole in the wall club the other night, and after a while I went to sit down outside. A small man approaches me and shakes my hand and asks me the same questions I've been asked by every other Ghanaian. I don't really want to talk to him, but he doesn't seem to mind, he just wants somebody to talk to. He tells me that he is vendor in Osu, the big tourist part of town. Most vendors there rip off tourists he says, an obvious truth. But he goes on and on about it, how it costs them so many cedis to buy a jersey and then how much they sell it for, and soon I see there are tears in his eyes. He is really upset about this! He says his people are liars and thiefs, and, that, when he sees me he will give me a free soccer jersey. Now, this has been going on for a while, so I thank him and go back inside.
Ten minutes later, he approaches me again. I think that he wants to talk more about how his 'brothers' want to rip off tourists, but, no! he wants money! It is hard to get him to go away. This is a weird thing about Ghana. Everybody is very friendly, and is always eager to help you, and, quite naturally, I am often in need of help, being a stranger in a strange land. Most of the time thats it, they're glad to be of service. But, at places like nightclubs, beaches, and other spots frequented by tourists, there is a whole blossoming service industry. It is conducted by young people whom we refer to disparagingly as Rastas. Thats because most of them introduce themselves as such, talk about one love and Jah almost continuosly, and, unlike other Ghanaian men, sometimes wear their hair long. Not all Rastas are trying sneakily to take money off of you, and not all those who sneakily take money off you are Rastas. But, for simplicities sake, we call them Rastas.
It is hard what, exactly, to make of them. On the one hand, they are most definitely trying to take money off you through preprosterous scenarios they enter you in. For instance, one showed my friend the way to the bathroom, and then, later, demanded money for the favor. But, on the other hand, they sometimes really seem to believe you owe them. They lie so convincingly that they fool themselves. I have seen a Rasta in tears because he was not given the money he thought he was owed. More0ver, they seem to represent the only real alternative youth culture in Ghana. In America, we have punks, goths, skaters, whatever. But here, the Rastas are the only youth who talk and dress differently from their peers. They are a weird phenomena, created perhaps as a rebellion against the predominate culture but subsisting by preying on western tourists.
I've been lazy, but I'll try to put photos up soon. Ok, peace!