They Told the Truth about Paris (Personal Story)

By Abena Ankrah

When I received my admission letter to study in Paris in 2000, I was overjoyed because I knew that I would be visiting one of the most beautiful cities in the world. That was my expectation but once I arrived in Paris and visited other parts of France, what I witnessed took my breathe away.

Paris was all that I heard about. The architecture was phenomenal, the food was great and the preservation of history everywhere was unbelievable. In Paris, some of my favorite things to do were climb the Eiffel Tower, shop at Champs-Elysee, and visit the Louvres, the biggest museum in the world. To date, some of my most treasured photos include photos of famous artworks such as the Mona Lisa. Paris is indeed the place to vacation. There is so much to see and do. The year 2000 was the year to be in Paris. The Eiffel Tower was lighted for the first time (See first picture on your right for a daytime photo of the tower) and there were concerts everywhere celebrating the new millennium. With the food being so great, I was addicted to panini au saumon (salmon sandwich) for the four months that I lived there. I can say so many things about Paris but you cannot fully appreciate exactly what I am talking about until you visit this great city.

I loved Paris but my favorite place to visit in France was the Loire Valley area in the south where a lot of castles that are centuries old have been preserved. This preservation of history is what impressed me the most about France. These castles, including the Blois Castle, were inhabited by kings and queens of France and such as Catherine de Medici and Louis XII, hundreds of years ago. The castles preserved today are still the fortitudes that they were many years ago. Amazing to see were some of the kings’ and queens’ chambers which look today exactly like they did all those years ago. Pictured on the left is the Chaumont Castle which was my personal favorite among the Loire Valley castles.

The castles in Loire Valley were great but I believe the most magnificent castle in the whole of France is the Versailles Castle. Built in the 17th century under King Louis XIV, this castle is a city of its own. Some of the materials used on the buildings and aesthetic sculptures include pure gold and brass. Inside of the castle, many of the chambers and halls have been preserved till today such that when you enter, you feel like you are living in the 17th century. The many gardens are perfectly groomed with exotic flowers and beautiful fountains. There are many activities for tourist to do at Versailles including ride in horse chariots and row little boats on the river around the castle. I visited this castle for an entire day but was still unable to see everything. Pictured to the right is the entrance gate to the castle and this shot alone tells you how huge the castle is.

I have been to many countries but to this date, I cherish my time in France the most. It is impossible to visit this country without being impressed with at least one thing.

Photo Credit:
Eiffel Tower and Versailles Castle Gate: Abena Ankrah
Chaumont Castle: Karen Dallas

Springfield Mall Welcomes Consumers on Presidents Day with Big Sales (Consumer Story)

By Abena Ankrah

Like most malls in America on holidays, Springfield Mall had its share of customers including those seeking to shop for clothes, electronics, books, etc. or those just wanting to have a good time with their families. There were huge sale signs in windows everywhere at the mall with discounts as big as 70 percent off the lowest ticketed price on merchandise. (See first photo below) Consumers flocked the mall as soon as the doors opened in order to catch good deals.

Truman Nguyen, a salesman at a Simply Wireless stand in the mall said that he expected to open new phone lines for customers and sell many cell phones with the specials his company was having. “We always have specials but we take advantage of the holidays to win many customers,” he said. On this holiday, the Motorola L6 which was originally priced at $350 was now selling for $190 for eligible existing T-Mobile members who wanted to switch their phones. The many customers crowding the Simply Wireless counter was evidence that people were willing to take advantage of the specials being offered.



As their parents tried to shop for items, children were everywhere in the mall either running around (see photo to the left) or trying to convince their parents to let them participate in paid children’s activities at the mall. One such popular activity at Springfield Mall is riding the carousel. (See photo to the right below) With the cheap ticket prizes, parents seemed to be happy to foot the bill so that their children could have some fun on their day off from school. Three tickets cost $5 and the more tickets purchased, the bigger the discount received. Kevin Martinez of Dale City, Va. said he drove all the way to Springfield Mall so that his one-year old daughter Adrianna could ride the carousel. “This is her first time, and she is only a year old so I’ll be standing by her side and holding her the whole time she is riding the carousel. I hope it will be fun for her,” he said.

Clothing shop employees at the mall were kept busy all day with customers buying more clothes than usual because of huge discount savings. Nadia Hussain who has worked for Motherhood Maternity for a year said that their shop received more customers than normal. “It’s been much, much busier today than it usually is. We’ve had several customers, especially when we first opened our doors in the morning,” she said. Hussain said that for a maternity store which has relatively fewer customers, it was great to welcome the many expectant mothers taking advantage of the sales. According to Hussain, the sale will continue at Motherhood Maternity until they get rid of the winter items in order to create room for the spring line. Currently, some tank tops and shirts on sale range between $7 and $9 while some pants are on sale for about $20.

It seems like as long as there are sales going on during holidays, many Americans will be at the mall. For now, consumers may slow down on their shopping but come Memorial Day week-end, we can speculate that the malls will be packed yet again.

Photo Credit: Abena Ankrah

New African Market in Stafford, Va. Confirms the Formation of a New African Community in the Area (Community Story)

By Abena Ankrah

When Kwame Twumasi opened Devine International Market in Stafford, Va., in October 2005 to serve the international community in the area, he knew he was taking a big risk considering that the number of Africans in the area was still relatively small. Now, he says that it was worth taking the risk.

Located off U.S. Route 1 , the market (See photo to the right) which sells African, Caribbean, Asian and Latino foods, now boasts of a committed patronage. Twumasi said that he gathered statistically from friends that many Africans, especially Ghanaians were moving to Stafford from Alexandria, Va. where thousands of Africans reside when they first arrive in the United States. Alexandria therefore has a myriad of international stores selling predominantly African food. “Our culture does not allow us to adjust to foreign foods so when I heard that many Africans, especially Ghanaians were buying homes in Stafford, I immediately thought about opening my shop here because I knew my people would be looking for food from home.” Unlike Alexandria, there are currently only three African markets in Stafford, the last two which opened after Twumasi opened his store.


Felicia Obeng (Pictured in photo to the left) who lives about a mile away from the store said she visits the store about twice a week. “I usually come here to buy a phone card, send money home or buy food that I can’t find in the regular grocery store. Today, I am here because I would like Kwame [Twumasi] to post fliers about my hair braiding business, in his store.” Twumasi said he started selling phone cards because he found out that, most people who did money transfers in his store were looking for phone cards to call their relatives at home to give them the code for the money transfer. “The money transfer service and phone card business go hand in hand,” he said. According to Twumasi, the customers' needs have guided him in choosing the products to sell. He said that most customers coming to buy yam or plantain were looking to buy meat as well. “I decided to expedite my meat department but I first had a battling problem with the Department of Agriculture due to the type of meat that my customers were demanding. Things are okay now,” he said.



Twumasi said that he has a variety of customers. (Click on the audio box above to listen to Twumasi talk about his customers.) He said that most of them are Africans, but he occasionally has Latinos and Asians in the store because their food is very similar to what Africans eat. He said he also has American customers like people trying to organize lunches where some African friends will be attending and are therefore looking for African food, and missionaries and people who work for the state department who lived in Africa for years and got accustomed to eating African food. Occasionally, a few British or Scottish customers stumble into his store, he said. “Since most African countries were colonized by the British, most of the provisions we eat come from Britain. For example, whereas Red Bull is a popular energy drink in the US, Britain and Africa, Lucozade is the popular energy drink so the Africans and few British here come looking for stuff like that,” Twumasi said. He also said that other English products they come in for are Heinz baked beans, salad dressing and tomato ketchup.
One such American couple that lived in Uganda and is interested in African food is Stephen and Joannie Doe of Fredericksburg, Va. (Pictured in photo to the right) “We came to the carpet store next door but the sign outside this store caught our eye and we decided to come in and check it out. We are happy that they have mango juice in here. We ate a lot of mangoes when we were in Uganda,” Joannie Doe said.

Other items in Nkansah’s store include free advertisements such as business cards of African real estate agents, fliers announcing African babysitter services and hair braiding businesses. Twumasi also sells African movies, especially Nigerian movies which are now very popular in Africa, England and the United States. Twumasi is happy to offer some of these free services because, according to him, it increases his clientele because some people come to his store purposely to ask about these types of services offered by other Africans in the Stafford area. Africans seems to be forming their own little community in this once predominantly American neighborhood.

Photo Credit: Abena Ankrah