Your Mom is Cross Cultural

I discovered something today. After a bit of contemplation, I deemed the story only partially-worthy of a blog post. I decided write about it anyway, because this is my blog, and in the words of Cartman, "Whateva, whateva, I do what I want."

So here it is... No matter the country, language, or culture, your mom is funny.

This afternoon around 3pm, I was walking through Wenchi station, feeling very weary after a day's travel and a bit ill after a bout with food poisoning. My eyes are cast downward towards my slow moving feet ̶ as they usually are when I am not feeling like my chatty-self. The ground is reddish-brown dirt so dry and packed so hard that a blind man could have mistaken it for concrete. All around, I hear the usual calls of girls selling things off the tops of their heads: "nsuo nie!" (water), "kosua ne mako!" (eggs with spicy pepper sauce), "meat pie wϽ hϽ!" (meat pies are here), etc. I saunter forwards towards the place where I know I will find a tro to Menji.

All of a sudden, from about 10 feet away on my left, a man yells at a rather obnoxious volume, "Akosia obruni!!" (white lady). I don't look up or veer off my course. It happens every time I am in anywhere besides my town, so I have become quite accustomed/ numb to it.

"AKOSIA OBRUNI HELLO!!" he yells again, this time even louder. I still don't look up or stop walking.

"OBRUNI HELLLLOOOOOO!" he yells yet again. But this time, out of my peripheral vision, I see him rapidly approaching me.

"Akos, wo kϽ he?" (lady, where are you going) he fervidly demands.

Without looking up or hesitating, I reply, "Wo maame fie!" (your mom's house). We lock eyes, each as shocked as the other. I stare at him, waiting for some kind of reaction, thinking, 'Oh shit that was a major mistake.' He's a young man, tall, too skinny, and a little goofy looking thanks to the gap in his front teeth and the pink t-shirt that's 2 sizes too big. After 5 solid seconds of an incredibly awkward staring contest, he busts up laughing. I mean serious, bent over, knee-slapping laughter. He gasps, looks up, and cackles, "ME maame fie??" (MY mom's house?).

I start laughing too and reply, "Aane, wo maame fie! Anwummerԑ yie," (Yes, your mom's house. This evening.)

His lanky frame shaking with laughter, he adds, "Saa! Me frԑ no sessei, Ͻbԑ wϽ fufu!" (Is that so, I will call her immediately. She will prepare fufu!).

We shake hands, while continuing to crack up, then part ways.

Moral of the story... Even in Africa, your mom is still funny.

I dedicate this post to funny Moms all over the world.  

Especially my mom, Janers, who is loved by all, from Australia to Africa!

PROJECTS!

So now that I have been at my school for a term, I have assessed the schools needs/ wants, and I have started compiling a list of all the stuff I want to get done in the next 2 years. Here is that list in summary!

• Chemistry Lab... While I have cleaned out all the bat poop and piles of dirt, there are still holes in the ceiling, floor, and walls of my lab. And because of these holes, it rains in the lab during the rainy season. Thus, the lab is dark and dank. Also, there is no electricity, and the natural light is not sufficient (even despite the gaping 5ft hole in the ceiling). The answer to this issue: apply for grants and keep my fingers crossed.
  
  
• ICT Lab... An assemblyman from the district donated four nice, new desktop computers to the school to start up an ICT lab. However, the room which is destined to become the ICT lacks proper floors/ windows/ ceiling/ ventilation, electricity, tables on which to put the computers, and chairs on which to put the students. The answer to this issue: apply for grants and keep my fingers crossed.
  
  
• Excursions (Field Trips)... This is more of a fun goal, than a serious development goal. The school has a nice new bus, which was donated by the government. The students really want to make use of it, and who can blame them! But what teacher wants to organize and chaperone 30 high school teenagers? ME! So this term I'm going to start planning some field trips for the kiddzos.
  
  
• School Farm... MASS stands for Menji Agricultural Secondary School. So where's all the agriculture? The students don't have a practical component to their agric. education, which I see as absolutely unacceptable! For the garden, I only need to obtain some type of fencing to keep roving packs of goats from munching the seedlings. The community members have offered to provide seeds and tubers to get the plants going, so that part is taken care of. For the animals, I want to have chicken coop full of layers, which can provide extra moneys and eggs for the school. And eventually I want to also have some basic livestock like a goats, a grasscutters, and maybe even a pair of moo-moo's!
  
  
• A Volleyball Team.... This part of the plan is already on it's feet as we're out there every day after school. However, this plan will truly blossom, when Scott and Carolyn Mooney come visit. They are hoping to provide jerseys, balls, and a new net. I also plan to arrange 2-day weekend instructional clinics for the students at my school, and the surrounding schools.
  
  
• A Science Fair... I always wanted to be in a science fair, but since none of my schools had one when I was younger, I figure the next best thing is to organize one. Plus the kids can do all sorts of cool stuff. Like catch lizards and talk about ecology or whatever!
  
  
• Science Camp... This is really nerdy, but I am totally serious. I want to put on an intensive week-long science camp during a term break at some point during my stay here at MASS. It will be for students who are particularly interested in the sciences - biology, chemistry, physics - and want more exposure. I could collaborate with other Peace Corps teachers to come up with an appropriate location (ie. a school where there aren't bats in the desks and holes in the ceilings). Then, we could apply for funding to pay for the room/board, laboratory supplies, t-shirts, travel costs, and whatever. Seriously, an overnight science camp... Now, again, I know I am a nerd, but I would have LOVED such a thing when I was in high school!!
  
  
• A Girl's Club... Now this project is already starting, and I did not initiate it, I am merely a mentor and adviser. The girl who is starting it is the girl who helps around my house, Adilla. She has all sorts of neat ideas. At each weekly or maybe bi-monthly meetings, she wants to discuss some female-related topic. Some weeks, we will be serious and some weeks, we will just have fun. For example, the topic might be sexual health, sewing, dancing, dressing properly, jewelry-making, manners, cooking, exercise, nutrition, etc. She wants to also include activities like pop culture quizzes and movie night!  
  
  Woot Woot!  I am really excited about all of this.. Wish me luck!! :)

My Emotional Food Experience

I just had an emotional experience with a bowl of palmnut soup and fufu. If I were a poet, I'd write a sonnet. If I were a singer, I'd sing a ballad. If I were a rapper, I'd bust a rhyme. That was by far the best meal I've eaten since my farewell dinner back in May, when Holly made chicken-veggie burgers and roasted cauliflower. Those chicken burgs were so delicious that I thought I might pass out mid-meal! But this time it actually happened. Tonight, while savoring all the incredible flavors of the fufu and soup, I passed out. Seriously, it was so tasty I fainted, face straight to soup.

Ok, ok, so the passing out part isn't true. But the part about my dinner being a remarkably marvelous meal was very true. Please allow me to describe it more thoroughly.

The base starch of the meal, fufu, was prepared as usual with cassava and plantain. Although a sturdy and reliable base, fufu is far from basic. First, the cassava and plantain are peeled and chopped. Then, the prepared cassava and plantain are boiled together over a fire for approximately 30 minutes. For some reason, the plantain is always layered over the cassava in the pot. Then, the boiled plantain and cassava are pounded with a mortar and pestle. Fufu-pounding is serious business. It is, after all, a two person job. One person sits on a stool and pushes or "drives" the food around the pestle, which is essentially a 40 pound, 1ft high x 2ft diameter flat-bottomed wooden bowl. The other person rhythmically and forcefully pounds the fufu in the mortar with a 5ft long x 3in diameter wooden mortar. The pounding of fufu is no simple task as it takes teamwork (or the driver will lose a digit), strength (the pounder must have excellent upper body strength and cardiovascular stamina), and dedication (the pounding process takes never less than 20 minutes). The plantain is pounded first into a lumpy yellow mass flecked with black seeds. Subsequently, the cassava is pounded into a smooth white mass. Then the two are the pounded together, which results in a smooth, elastic, off-white substance known as fufu. Finally, the fufu is divided and lovingly rolled into softball-sized servings and placed into bowls.

This evening, on top of the fufu was served palmnut soup, which is no less labor intensive than the fufu. First, the bright orangish-red palmnuts are boiled in a large pot for approximately 45 minutes. Palmnuts are similar to dates in size and in that they both possess hard, black, oblong pits. Next, the boiled palmnuts are pounded in a mortar similar to the fufu mortar, only slightly different in shape. While the fufu mortar is low and wide, the palm nut mortar is tall and narrow, at about 2ft high x 1 ft wide. The pestle looks about the same, altough a bit narrower, maybe only 2" in diameter. After the palmnuts are thoroughly pounded, the resulting orange mush is pushed through a sieve with water to remove the seeds, peels, and other tough fibrous parts. The outcome is a thick, perfectly smooth and beautiful orange liquid, which is then boiled for 30 minutes to an hour. Next, a much smaller clay mortar is used to grind together tomatoes, onions, garlic, and hot red peppers, which results in something like super spicy, smooth salsa. In the meantime, beef is chopped into ~1ounce chunks and red onion is finely diced. The beef, onions, and a bit of water are cooked together briefly in a small pot. At last, the ground tomato-pepper mixture along with the cooked beef and onions are added to the palmnut soup and cooked together for another 30 minutes. A generous pinch of salt is added for flavor. In the last few minutes of cooking, a few handfuls of flat mushrooms are tossed into the soup.

Finally, the food is ready to be served, soup carefully ladled over fufu.

And that –fufu with palm nut soup, mushrooms, and beef – ladies and gentlemen, was my incredible, delectable dinner.

Prep time: 2 hours. Eat time: 2 minutes.

Love, Betsy

Moneyzzz

Money in Ghana is interesting to me. Well actually, much like every other homo sapien, money anywhere in the world is interesting to me. So this post is all about moooooooneyyyy$$$.

The equivalent to the US Dollar ($) is the Ghana Cedi(¢). The cedi comes in a 1¢ coin or bills (1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50.... and I've never had anything bigger than a 50¢). The bills are really pretty. Here's a picture of some Ghana moneys.

The current rate of exchange is about 1 US$ = 1.60 GH¢.

Paying for stuff... All in cash. Credit cards and stores that accept them are incredibly rare outside of the major cities.

How much stuff costs...

Item                     Quantity                Ghana ¢                   US$

Eggs                    30                             6.50                         4.33

Gas                       1 litre                      1.58                          2.37

       Conversion  1 gallon                  3.47                         5.21

Pineapple             1 big                      2.00                          1.33

Avocado             1 medium               0.50                          0.33

Mango                 1 big                       1.00                          0.66

Apple                   1 big                       1.00                          0.66

Baguette              1                              1.00                          0.66

Tomateos            6, 2" in diameter    0.50                          0.33

Onions                6, 2" in diameter     0.50                         0.33

Bananas              Bunch of ~12        1.00                          0.66

Water                  500mL sachet        0.05                           0.03

Chicken              1/2 a chicken         4.00                           2.66

Box of Wine       1 litre                      3.00                           2.00

Wooden Stool   1                             4.00                            2.66

Mosquito Net    1 double size        10.00                         6.66

Batik Fabric        1 yard                     5.00                          3.33

Black Currant Jam  1 jar                    4.50                          3.00

Cell Phone Sim Card 1                      1.00                          0.66

Toilet Paper       1 roll                       0.50                           0.33

Fast food            1 order chicken/rice 2.00                      1.33

Plantain Chips  1 small bag               0.30                          0.20