I spent a lot of time at the Green Market today and let me tell you, it is a very special place. It is filled with every African trinket you could ever want. These trinkets are sold by lovely vendors who swarm you if you take just one look at their tent. They all use some form of the phrases, “Just for you I give you special price,” “Take your time,” and my favorites “it’s free to look and free to touch.” I don’t really like saying no to people and the vendors sure don’t like hearing it, so I learned to stop touching and looking at random things I knew I didn’t want and just go for the gold. I also learned that I needed to be more assertive with my bartering. The first time I went to the market I did a terrible job and settled for very close to the starting price. Today I halved the starting price and they were offended and tried to explain that the necklace was handmade and that the mask was ancient and how absurd it was that I was trying to pay such a low price. At first they will tell you that there is no way they can sell it for that low, but if you start to walk away they make you a deal. This strategy does not always work and I sadly had to part with some of the things I wanted because the vendor did not follow me. Let’s just say that didn’t happen very often. When I got home today I realized that by the time I had gotten gifts for family, friends, and myself I think I could start a little stand of my own.
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