A Slow Week

[Belated Post]

There was not much that happened over the past week here in Hohoe. No get togethers of other volunteers, no time spent at the lab since Sunday afternoon, and not too much time spent roaming the area during the day time. Instead it was mostly spent with a few younger people who have found the bungalow a meet-up spot. As I mentioned before, my neighbor has a daughter who is 13 and has a keen interest in teaching me the finer points of every Ghanaian dish that I have eaten so far. Banku, fufu, plantains, okro soup, light soup, and a stew that went on top of rice which was awesome. So each day she has stopped by to ask, “What are you making?” When I answer just noodles and some tomato sauce, she shakes her head and changes the menu.

This has lead me to exploring a bit of the market close by so now I can move right along to pick up some of the basic ingredients that I will be needing every two or three days. I did have a slight problem when I went to the market last Saturday without much money. I thought the banks were open here on Saturdays but that was not the case, so my last cedi was spent on yams and one cassava. A mental note has been made to get an ATM card from the bank soon.

So cooking has been dominant here, learning the ins and outs of adding this to that and turning the heat up to scorching to cook things. Given that banku was so hard to make and most of the other dishes are hard as well, I may not be making this food often.

Most of the friends of the girl now know me and will stop by to see if she is around. This means that I more or less have a living room full of 13 and 14 year-old adolescents. When I was in the U.S. I typically did not entertain teenagers and I am using the same tactic here. Eventually my theory is that the will stop coming since there is nothing to do here. That will be fine with me. Adults are more my cup of tea.

Speaking of tea, I need to go get some mula out of the bank and buy some more tea for my morning breakfast. I ran out today. It has been several months since I have had honest-to-goodness coffee (instant coffee does not count, nor will it ever come close) and this tea business is the best I can do now. My electric tea kettle works real quick and the sugar and powdered milk kick start my mornings now. Back with more later.