Liberia People In general, especially the further you venture away from the towns, the people are extremely friendly. Most of those in the villages when you ask of their welfare will usually come back with either "no rice" or "no money to buy rice" if it's in the planting season. Often out of town greeting one another while passing (especially men to men, women to women) is required and sometimes individuals will be insulted if you do not. Bartering Vendors will try and sell you a miriad of things and it's down to you to determine what's worth buying. Liberians love to barter and a joke or two with them is not a bad thing. Depending on the product, the more expensive the more it can be reduced. If you want to barter with foodstuff (usually things like fruit) then it has to be in bulk. For example, say one piece of fruit is one dollar. Offer two dollars for three pieces. For larger pieces such as carvings, however, this is not possible and there are two main routes for bartering. You can either 1: Find out the initial price and offer what you will pay and don't budge from it. They won't sell for a loss and if you don't get it then you know for next time. 2: Find out the intial price and cut it by 50% or 75%. Then as they decrease their price and you increase yours you'll eventually meet somewhere in the middle. It's a good idea to know the ballpark figure so you know whether you're getting ripped off or not.
|