Sorry for the delay, but the following is a quick account of our trip to Togo, Ghana's eastern neighbor. (Semi-written by Zahava, semi by Rivky. This is Rivky. Hi.) It was a completely crazy experience. It was all the ridiculousness of Ghana but in FRENCH! Surprisingly enough, our French skills (1) from Frisch did not come much in handy.
A couple of weeks ago, CIEE sent out an email to all of the students with a travel advisory not to go to Togo because they were holding elections. Because there was no major coup after the election, we figured our trip would be fine, but then two days before we left, we heard that the new president was being sworn in on Wednesday (our trip was Sunday to Tuesday) and that the opposition party had been rioting in Lome, the capitol city. We were told not to sleep in Lome until after Wednesday. On Sunday, when we got to the border, we were told that they actually pushed up the date, and the inauguration was going to be on Monday. Apparently, the government is trying to keep the rioters on their toes so they can't try anything. Fun how a country can just decide that.
When we got to the border of Ghana and Togo, it started raining. First we had to go to Ghana’s building to get checked out. We filled out a card (and will continue to fill out every time we enter or exit, about 4 times over this trip) called “Embarkation/Disembarkation Form” (as if that’s a word).
Crossing the border is so annoying and completely inefficient. Ridiculously enough, the Ghana side was actually more organized and more logical than the Togo side, and what's more is that in Togo, everything is in French. I know like it seems as if I'm harping on this, but we didn't realize how bad the language barrier would be until we actually got there. Most people didn't speak a word of English. The Togo side refused to help us for the first ten minutes we were standing there because it was raining. Eventually we got out and took “moto,” which was somewhere between a motorcycle and a motorbike, to the city center. They were awesome! I'm convinced that there is no better way to travel. We got dropped off around the market area and saw the capital monument. It was raining and Sunday so a lot of things were closed. We still got a feel for the city, but it would have been cooler if we had actually seen things. We had brought cookies and peanut butter, and in the market bought bananas. To take a break for a little bit, we sat under a building and had lunch. As we did, every single person there stared at us as if we came from Mars. From the way they were staring, it seemed as if they had never seen or never even heard of white people before.
We slept in Aflao, the border town, on Sunday night. It was beautiful; after a lovely dinner of tuna and crackers, we took a walk to the beach, where the waves were much stronger than in Accra. In Ghana, people always come up to white people to initiate conversation, just because they love the idea of speaking to such foreign people. In Togo, it's similar, but the language barrier quickly takes over and they walk away, which was pretty much a relief, actually.
We realized on Sunday night that we were going to run out of CFAs soon, but we decided against wasting time on Monday morning, and instead taking money out of an ATM once we got to Kpalime, where we would sleep, on Monday night. Readers, bad idea. I'll explain when we get to that part. So anyway, on Monday morning, we went back to Lome and took a tro-tro two hours north to the foot of Mt. Agou, the highest mountain in Togo. The drive was gorgeous, we were surrounded by beautiful scenery. Green everywhere! It seemed strange that so close to Ghana, a place so nature-y existed. Accra is dusty and dirty, and Togo was generally more similar to the Volta Region in the east of Ghana, lush and green.
At the bottom of the mountain, we tried to explain to the men working (2) there that we wanted to hike up the mountain and then take motorcycle cabs back down afterwards. Again, it obviously took 20 minutes to communicate that in French. We were dying of laughter the whole time, but luckily, the French-English dictionary we borrowed from our friend Dela came in handy. We looked up the word for “walk” (marcher). We pointed up and said “marcher.” Then we pointed down and said “moto.” Eventually they got it but were still advising against it, for unknown reasons. (3) The road up the mountain is 12 kilometers, but there is a more vertical hike through the bush, instead of on the road, which is both faster and prettier. Along the hike, there are small villages and lots of fruit trees. We were able to pick cocoa (4), mango, and guava. Fresh guava is awful, FYI. There were also hundreds of cocoa beans drying on the side of the road. We made it up halfway, and then we called some motorcycle cabs to take us the rest of the way up. When we got to the top, right before the peak, there was a man standing there in an Addis jersey saying that he was a soldier, and we need authorization to pass and it costs 2000 CFAs ($4). Clearly it was a bribe for no reason, but after yelling about bribery and the inappropriateness of the entire system, we paid our $4 and sat at the top for a little while. Almost ten guys followed us the whole way: our three drivers and a bunch of other guys who worked (5) there. They were being loud and rowdy and ruining our peaceful scene.
At the top of the mountain, we had lunch (cookies and peanut butter again). Then we left the mountain, and these three motorcyclists drove us to Kpalime, the town we were staying in. We wanted to stay there to visit the Cascades, which are a collection of waterfalls that are supposed to be beautiful. We had them drive us first to an ATM, but all three of the ATMs that they tried driving us to were broken. Eventually, we just had them drop us off at the hotel, assuming that the hotel would either take credit card or know where the nearest ATM is. Bad call on our part, because the hotel only took cash and the receptionist doesn’t know where an ATM is. Don’t forget that no one speaks English! (I know, I'm sorry I keep mentioning it, but it’s just important to keep in the back of your mind because that makes every situation so much funnier.) He told us not to worry about the ATM now; we’ll go to a bank in the morning and pay then. So we didn’t worry about it; we settled in a little. Then we went out at night to walk around the town, buying bananas and avocado. While trying to communicate with the avocado boy, a Nigerian guy came up to us and began to translate. (Nigeria is an English-speaking country, but he's lived in Togo in a while, so he was fluent in both languages. Sweet.) He ended up walking with us all over town. We explained that we needed an ATM, and he walked us to the one the motorcyclist had brought us to. It was still broken. We said that we were planning on going to the Cascades in the area tomorrow, and he said he would come with us because we need a guide. However, I was getting more and more anxious, working backwards in time. I had a final on Wednesday (went really well, thanks!) and didn't want to get back really late on Tuesday night, because obviously I had no clue when the exam was. We knew we also had to figure out how to get money in the morning, so we didn't want to risk taking the time to go to the Cascades. It was slightly disappointing, because the Cascades were a big reason why we came to Kpalime, but Mt. Agou was awesome, so it definitely wasn't a waste. He walked us back to the hotel, and we can had excellent dinner of, you guessed it, more tuna and crackers, took showers, played squinch for a little and watched CNN (the only channel in English) and fell asleep.
On Tuesday morning, Yamit and I woke up bright at early, telling a groggy Zahava at 8:45 that we were leaving and we would be back in about half an hour. We spent the next two hours wandering around Kpalime, and I don't think I exaggerate when I say that most people in the center of town were familiar with us and knew that we were broke Ghanaian exchange students. The ATMs weren't working, fine, but the language barrier was the worst part. We managed to find a sketchy money changer in the middle of the market, and we exchanged some cedis for CFAs, but we still didn't have enough to pay the hotel. When we got back, Yamit told the receptionist plainly that we couldn't pay the hotel, but obviously she had no clue what we were saying, so we just shrugged and went back to the room, where we woke Zahava up and the three of us sat to ponder our situation.
We pulled out all the CFAs (19,500) and cedis (25) that we had. The hotel cost 16,000, and we needed 6,000 for the motos to get to the border. We decided to go down to the receptionist, put 13,500 CFAs on the table and say, sorry that’s all we have and there is no working ATM in this entire freaking city. So that’s what we did. We promised to send her the money, and that this whole situation was completely unintentional, and we felt horrible, etc. Obviously, she didn't understand what we were even talking about, but then when she finally got it (probably around the time that Yamit opened her empty wallet), she sort of shrugged and took the 13,500 CFAs. What else could she do?She wrote down the phone number of the hotel on a piece of paper (unclear why she didn't write the address, so we could send her money, but I wasn't going to press), and we left. We got motos to the border. On the way, there were three checkpoint type things, even though we hadn’t yet left Togo. At one of the checkpoints, they made us go into this room and this guy wrote down our passport information, unclear why. Eventually we crossed the border and walked to the tro-tro station. And by tro-tro station, I mean a dirt paved parking lot with a tree in the corner that two tro-tros were parked under. We waited for the one going to Ho to fill up, which took about 30 minutes, but while waiting, we entertained ourselves by making friends with some guys who were trying on Yamit’s pink sunglasses and dancing to the music on my iPod. I think they were impressed by my West African hip hop collection, what can I say? I'm a music connoisseur. At Ho, we finally found an ATM, but obviously, it was the only ATM working in the whole city, so the line was about 15 people deep. Eventually we got on a tro-tro to Madina. Once we were on it, we decided we were gonna try for lunch, and as I opened my baf to take out the peanut butter, I realized that both the peanut butter and my deodorant had opened and were all over each other and everything else. It's actually kind of great, because we're always so gross here, with our disgusting clothing and hair flying everywhere, and, you know, deodorant in the peanut butter, and Ghanaian women are so much more classy than we are. They probably think Americans are pigs. So we spent a significant amount of time on the tro-tro and energy on the tro-tro trying to clean that up. (While the Ghanaians looked at us like we were insane.) When that was over, we had a lovely lunch of cookies (sans peanut butter).
And that's basically the full story! I left out a bunch of things that are too complicated for a written account, but this is the gist of the tale. If the internet were fast(er), I'd upload some great pictures, but for now, we must be content with words. Sorry, guys.
Oh, and 7 days until our flight home! If you're lucky, maybe Zahava or myself will write a post about feelings leaving Ghana. We'll see.
(1) Oh, internet sarcasm.
(2) More sarcasm!
(3) It's sad that this lack of communication cannot be blamed entirely on the French. There is a genuinely different way Americans and West Africans speak; their logic is different. It's hard to explain.
(4) Cocoa plant is delicious! We had it for the first time in the first week of Ghana, on a tiyul with our program, and it's amazing.
(5) Are you picking up on these yet?
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Our first shabbos guests!
[Note: Okay, I know we still haven't posted about last shabbos, when we visited the Jewish community of Ghana in Sefwi Wiawso. But it's incredibly long- both the transportation and the actual shabbos experience, so I haven't gotten around to it yet. So I know it's out of order, but first, this shabbos:]
[Oh and it's Rivky!]
We went to the Jewish community in Sefwi Wiawso last shabbos, and we stayed with a really big family who had two extra bedrooms for us. They were so sweet and good to us, and we invited them to come to us for shabbos, not actually expecting it to happen. They took us up on it, which was awesome, and three of the children- Anthony (22 years old), Patrick (20 years old) and Sarah (17 years old) came for the weekend. This was HUGE for them. I think Patrick had been to Accra once before, but Anthony and Sarah had never been. Sarah had never even been to Kumasi, the closest "big" city to their village- three hours away. She had never spent a night away from her house before! Though she didn't say it, it was clear that being in Accra was a huge step for her, and for the rest of them.
For shabbos, we made a lot of food- on Friday night, we had stew, boiled plantains and salad and 3 challot, on Shabbos day, we had fish, yam balls and sauce, salad and 3 more challot, and then we also had a sizable seudat shlishit, including two sweet challahs, one with chocolate chips (fancy, I know).
It was just so interesting having them for shabbos. When we went to Sefwi Wiawso last weekend, sitting in shul and talking to them in the house, we were visitors in their world, and having them in our dorm with us, they got to experience a taste of what Orthodox American Jewry is like. We sang kabbalat shabbat and zmirot on shabbos. Patrick and Anthony sang along, and Sarah read along in the Artscroll English. During seudat shlishit, we all sang some of the songs they've been taught by American visitors through the years.
One thing that was really interesting- on Friday night, during dinner, a girl on our program came in and talked to us for a couple of minutes. She told Anthony, Patrick and Sarah that she was Jewish also. When she left, they asked us about her, and we explained that even though she identified as Jewish, she didn't feel compelled to have Shabbos dinner. They didn't understand how someone could be Jewish and not do shabbos. We tried to explain that in America, plenty of people identify as culturally religious, but not observant, but it was pretty alien to them.
On motzei shabbos, Cornelius and Richard (and Richard's cousin) picked us up and we all went to the beach. The beach is always cooler at night, but it was especially awesome because Anthony, Patrick and Sarah had never been to the beach before. They had never seen the ocean! At first, they were slightly nervous, but one by one, they all came with me and we put our feet in the water. I felt privileged to be there with them for something that I don't think any of them will ever forget. Sarah is really shy, and she has such a sweet smile. At one point, the wave came in a little high and our skirts got wet- she grinned and squealed, and it was really awesome.
Today was a chilled out day. Pretty much our entire dorm went out, but I spent the day at the apartment- took a long shower (we had running water, while Teaneck was out; a fitting way to end Adar, no?), read a lot. Hadn't been by myself in a while, it was nice.
Patrick definitely had the best English, and last night, he wrote us a really sweet note- for posterity, I want to write it over. He drew a picture of himself, Anthony and Sarah, and then he wrote:
"We really do not know how much to thank you all for hosting us all among you, and taking us, as your brothers and sister, that is really mice you have show to us that we are all one as a whole to be Jewish.
We are going back home to tell our community and parent about what you have done. May the Lord Almighty bless you all and grant you peace.
Ladies, do you know what we like most about your hostel? All your friends are friendly and share everything with us all. May God bless them too.
We are very sorry we have to leave on Sunday but we hope everything is well with you all.
We also thank Yamit mother for paying for our transportation. May God grant her long life and prosperity we are hoping to see her sometime.
We say that you all: meda wo fe; Todarabah.
May God send you back home safely and best in your exams when you come back to Ghana!!
We also enjoyed your food! You are all best in cooking and making sauce. We tell you all the food we eat is among the best food we have ever had. Bye to you all!"
HOW FREAKING CUTE IS HE???
It was just great because we were able to give back to them a little bit of what they gave to us. They told us that every couple of weeks, they host American Jews who are visiting for shabbos. But that means they are always hosting; they've never before been the guests, they've never seen how other people make shabbos. I think they had a good time. Hopefully they'll come again before we leave, but who knows. We'll definitely be in touch with them, though.
[Oh and it's Rivky!]
We went to the Jewish community in Sefwi Wiawso last shabbos, and we stayed with a really big family who had two extra bedrooms for us. They were so sweet and good to us, and we invited them to come to us for shabbos, not actually expecting it to happen. They took us up on it, which was awesome, and three of the children- Anthony (22 years old), Patrick (20 years old) and Sarah (17 years old) came for the weekend. This was HUGE for them. I think Patrick had been to Accra once before, but Anthony and Sarah had never been. Sarah had never even been to Kumasi, the closest "big" city to their village- three hours away. She had never spent a night away from her house before! Though she didn't say it, it was clear that being in Accra was a huge step for her, and for the rest of them.
For shabbos, we made a lot of food- on Friday night, we had stew, boiled plantains and salad and 3 challot, on Shabbos day, we had fish, yam balls and sauce, salad and 3 more challot, and then we also had a sizable seudat shlishit, including two sweet challahs, one with chocolate chips (fancy, I know).
It was just so interesting having them for shabbos. When we went to Sefwi Wiawso last weekend, sitting in shul and talking to them in the house, we were visitors in their world, and having them in our dorm with us, they got to experience a taste of what Orthodox American Jewry is like. We sang kabbalat shabbat and zmirot on shabbos. Patrick and Anthony sang along, and Sarah read along in the Artscroll English. During seudat shlishit, we all sang some of the songs they've been taught by American visitors through the years.
One thing that was really interesting- on Friday night, during dinner, a girl on our program came in and talked to us for a couple of minutes. She told Anthony, Patrick and Sarah that she was Jewish also. When she left, they asked us about her, and we explained that even though she identified as Jewish, she didn't feel compelled to have Shabbos dinner. They didn't understand how someone could be Jewish and not do shabbos. We tried to explain that in America, plenty of people identify as culturally religious, but not observant, but it was pretty alien to them.
On motzei shabbos, Cornelius and Richard (and Richard's cousin) picked us up and we all went to the beach. The beach is always cooler at night, but it was especially awesome because Anthony, Patrick and Sarah had never been to the beach before. They had never seen the ocean! At first, they were slightly nervous, but one by one, they all came with me and we put our feet in the water. I felt privileged to be there with them for something that I don't think any of them will ever forget. Sarah is really shy, and she has such a sweet smile. At one point, the wave came in a little high and our skirts got wet- she grinned and squealed, and it was really awesome.
Today was a chilled out day. Pretty much our entire dorm went out, but I spent the day at the apartment- took a long shower (we had running water, while Teaneck was out; a fitting way to end Adar, no?), read a lot. Hadn't been by myself in a while, it was nice.
Patrick definitely had the best English, and last night, he wrote us a really sweet note- for posterity, I want to write it over. He drew a picture of himself, Anthony and Sarah, and then he wrote:
"We really do not know how much to thank you all for hosting us all among you, and taking us, as your brothers and sister, that is really mice you have show to us that we are all one as a whole to be Jewish.
We are going back home to tell our community and parent about what you have done. May the Lord Almighty bless you all and grant you peace.
Ladies, do you know what we like most about your hostel? All your friends are friendly and share everything with us all. May God bless them too.
We are very sorry we have to leave on Sunday but we hope everything is well with you all.
We also thank Yamit mother for paying for our transportation. May God grant her long life and prosperity we are hoping to see her sometime.
We say that you all: meda wo fe; Todarabah.
May God send you back home safely and best in your exams when you come back to Ghana!!
We also enjoyed your food! You are all best in cooking and making sauce. We tell you all the food we eat is among the best food we have ever had. Bye to you all!"
HOW FREAKING CUTE IS HE???
It was just great because we were able to give back to them a little bit of what they gave to us. They told us that every couple of weeks, they host American Jews who are visiting for shabbos. But that means they are always hosting; they've never before been the guests, they've never seen how other people make shabbos. I think they had a good time. Hopefully they'll come again before we leave, but who knows. We'll definitely be in touch with them, though.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Purim in Ghana
Sorry I (Rivky) haven't been posting lately. The truth is that not much is going on recently, but Purim was this weekend, so I want to describe that a little bit. Because it was absolutely ridiculous. Nothing like any Purim I've ever experienced.
Ta'anit Esther was on Thursday, baruch Hashem I didn't have any classes. I spent the fast baking hamantaschen (1) with Rachel (2) and Brittany (3), two girls from my dorm (4). We had awesome fillings- fresh pineapple, fresh mango, chocolate and peanut butter mixture, stam peanut butter, and apricot jam. The hamantaschen looked and smelled amazing, and we made about 75. This was all in preparation for our Purim party Saturday night, because we knew we would have to spend Friday cooking for shabbos.
On Friday morning, Sarah, the religious girl from ISH (5) called, and she told me that a guy she knew had just gotten into Ghana from England, and he had an actual megillah with him for Saturday night! Amazing. He was planning on reading at 7:30, and our party was called for 9:30-10, so we figured we'd be fine. So right after shabbos, we grabbed a cab. I can't even describe where this place was. Apparently, it was an ex-KGB building turned into some sort of guest house? There were random Jewish things everywhere, like this big menorah and cut-outs on the wall of Chasidic men dancing. We had to get let in this gate with barbed wire on top by an intense, scary guard. Obviously, we were cracking up the whole time. Because come on! There were two cabs of students from the university and a bunch of secular Israeli men, and then this British guy who gave a short d'var Torah and explained the story of Purim, and then he read the megillah. (6)
Anyway, we ran back to campus after the megillah (7) and set up for our party. We got into costume- Zahava was a fairy, I was Harry Potter, and Yamit was...something. A jester? She wore a lot of pink and purple. The party was just ridiculous. A bunch of our Ghanaian friends came (8), Dela DJ'ed, and people had awesome costumes. At like 1 AM, when Yamit and I walked Daniel and his friend Maxwell downstairs to say bye, a guard came over to us yelling about parties and rules and whatnot. We didn't really know what he was talking about, but it was already 1 and we had to wake up early on Sunday morning for the seudah anyway, so I agreed to close the party. The guard followed us back to the room anyway, glaring, but whatevs, we shut down the party.
On Sunday morning, we woke up early to have our seudah. Zahava made pancakes and Yamit and I made matzah brie. Yes, weird seudah food, but whatevs. Jenny brought us mishloach manot, which was reallllly cute. We couldn't do a megillah reading with the British guy on Sunday, because Purim was also the day of the CIEE Olympics at Bojo Beach. So instead of doing it in person, I arranged with Rabbi Marwick that I would call him and we could put the Hopkins megillah reading on speaker. Zahava, Yamit and I found this bizarre ex-bar thing where we huddled underneath, so you couldn't hear the waves and the wind, and we waited two minutes to call Rabbi Marwick, but obviously, before we got to call, the fishermen came in pulling in their nets. We were dying of laughter- it was the most Ghana moment. We found a different spot, but Hopkins was running late, and before they read the megillah, the fishermen were done with their fishermen stuff and we went back to our awesome hut. Listening to the megillah there was an amazing experience. We were sitting under fifty feet from the Atlantic Ocean, in flipping West Africa, listening to a crystal-clear megillah reading in Baltimore. (9) So surreal, but so incredible.
Anyway, that was Purim. Nothing big has happened since then- we haven't had water since Thursday night. (Yes, it's Tuesday afternoon. Whatevs, Ghana. Whatevs.) Last night, Yamit and I showered in this guy Sidney's apartment. It was the best water pressure I've felt since being in Ghana. I'm attempting to make french toast for dinner soon, I'll let you know how it goes. (10)
(1) Wiki it. It's a traditional Purim dessert- a triangular cookie with a sweet filling.
(2) Rachel Sternberg. Jewishest name ever. Besides for Rivky Stern.
(3) Close enough. She has black curly hair and she's like, majoring in the Holocaust in college. Seriously.
(4) Did I mention that basically all my friends live in my building? It's really easier that way.
(5) International Students Hostel, the other dorm building for international students. It's a half hour walk, aka I've never been there. It's just so far!
(6) My favorite part was that he was reading it sfard, probably because the Israelis asked him to, but kept accidentally slipping back to the "suf."
(7) Figuratively.
(8) Even Daniel, from our political science class! Hi, Daniel!
(9) Shoutout to Ezra, Josh, Ben, and Rabbi Marwick for doing a great job with the megillah.
(10) I'll probably forget, how sad for you.
Ta'anit Esther was on Thursday, baruch Hashem I didn't have any classes. I spent the fast baking hamantaschen (1) with Rachel (2) and Brittany (3), two girls from my dorm (4). We had awesome fillings- fresh pineapple, fresh mango, chocolate and peanut butter mixture, stam peanut butter, and apricot jam. The hamantaschen looked and smelled amazing, and we made about 75. This was all in preparation for our Purim party Saturday night, because we knew we would have to spend Friday cooking for shabbos.
On Friday morning, Sarah, the religious girl from ISH (5) called, and she told me that a guy she knew had just gotten into Ghana from England, and he had an actual megillah with him for Saturday night! Amazing. He was planning on reading at 7:30, and our party was called for 9:30-10, so we figured we'd be fine. So right after shabbos, we grabbed a cab. I can't even describe where this place was. Apparently, it was an ex-KGB building turned into some sort of guest house? There were random Jewish things everywhere, like this big menorah and cut-outs on the wall of Chasidic men dancing. We had to get let in this gate with barbed wire on top by an intense, scary guard. Obviously, we were cracking up the whole time. Because come on! There were two cabs of students from the university and a bunch of secular Israeli men, and then this British guy who gave a short d'var Torah and explained the story of Purim, and then he read the megillah. (6)
Anyway, we ran back to campus after the megillah (7) and set up for our party. We got into costume- Zahava was a fairy, I was Harry Potter, and Yamit was...something. A jester? She wore a lot of pink and purple. The party was just ridiculous. A bunch of our Ghanaian friends came (8), Dela DJ'ed, and people had awesome costumes. At like 1 AM, when Yamit and I walked Daniel and his friend Maxwell downstairs to say bye, a guard came over to us yelling about parties and rules and whatnot. We didn't really know what he was talking about, but it was already 1 and we had to wake up early on Sunday morning for the seudah anyway, so I agreed to close the party. The guard followed us back to the room anyway, glaring, but whatevs, we shut down the party.
On Sunday morning, we woke up early to have our seudah. Zahava made pancakes and Yamit and I made matzah brie. Yes, weird seudah food, but whatevs. Jenny brought us mishloach manot, which was reallllly cute. We couldn't do a megillah reading with the British guy on Sunday, because Purim was also the day of the CIEE Olympics at Bojo Beach. So instead of doing it in person, I arranged with Rabbi Marwick that I would call him and we could put the Hopkins megillah reading on speaker. Zahava, Yamit and I found this bizarre ex-bar thing where we huddled underneath, so you couldn't hear the waves and the wind, and we waited two minutes to call Rabbi Marwick, but obviously, before we got to call, the fishermen came in pulling in their nets. We were dying of laughter- it was the most Ghana moment. We found a different spot, but Hopkins was running late, and before they read the megillah, the fishermen were done with their fishermen stuff and we went back to our awesome hut. Listening to the megillah there was an amazing experience. We were sitting under fifty feet from the Atlantic Ocean, in flipping West Africa, listening to a crystal-clear megillah reading in Baltimore. (9) So surreal, but so incredible.
Anyway, that was Purim. Nothing big has happened since then- we haven't had water since Thursday night. (Yes, it's Tuesday afternoon. Whatevs, Ghana. Whatevs.) Last night, Yamit and I showered in this guy Sidney's apartment. It was the best water pressure I've felt since being in Ghana. I'm attempting to make french toast for dinner soon, I'll let you know how it goes. (10)
(1) Wiki it. It's a traditional Purim dessert- a triangular cookie with a sweet filling.
(2) Rachel Sternberg. Jewishest name ever. Besides for Rivky Stern.
(3) Close enough. She has black curly hair and she's like, majoring in the Holocaust in college. Seriously.
(4) Did I mention that basically all my friends live in my building? It's really easier that way.
(5) International Students Hostel, the other dorm building for international students. It's a half hour walk, aka I've never been there. It's just so far!
(6) My favorite part was that he was reading it sfard, probably because the Israelis asked him to, but kept accidentally slipping back to the "suf."
(7) Figuratively.
(8) Even Daniel, from our political science class! Hi, Daniel!
(9) Shoutout to Ezra, Josh, Ben, and Rabbi Marwick for doing a great job with the megillah.
(10) I'll probably forget, how sad for you.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
i'm sick though not with malaria.
It's Zahava. I'm not doing too good.
Finally, we learn to make actual good food, and I can’t eat any of it. I’m having incredibly intense heartburn, apparently. I called my doctor last night in tears. I told her that since Friday night I have been having really intense pain in my chest every time I swallow. I feel like I swallowed a pill wrong. It kind of feels like when you swallow a fish bone and for the next few hours you can feel it every time you swallow because it scratched you on the way down. Well, it feels like that plus really bad heartburn. She asked me to remind her which malaria medicine I’m on. Doxycycline. She said, “Oh no. Okay. You’re having heartburn. A side effect of Doxycycline is really bad heartburn. You need get off it now, and we’ll switch your medication. You also need Prilosec, an acid reflux medicine.” I said, “Okay. I can do that. Should I stop my current malaria medicine before I can get the new one, or should I wait?” She asked, “How long will it take you to get a prescription?” I said, “It doesn’t work like that. There’s a pharmacy down the street. You just walk in, say what you want, and they give it to you. I could get it tomorrow.” She said, “Okay. Good. So, yeah, don’t take the medicine tonight, and start again tomorrow with the new one.” (I was expecting more of a “What kind of crazy system is that that you don’t need a prescription?!” response, but oh well.) She said I should only get a week or two worth of each and have someone in America send the rest because she doesn’t trust Ghanaian medicine. (Email from my mom after she spoke to the doctor.) “If you were in a developed country, she'd want you to see a doctor, but since you're not, she doesn't think you should.” She also said somewhere in the conversation that I need to get off the medicine because “you will not last a semester on Doxycycline.” Thanks, way to freak me out.
Today Rivky and I went to the pharmacy. We got a week’s worth of each medicine. The acid reflux one they had was a generic brand made in Ghana. A little sketch, but I decided I’d buy it and call my doctor. An hour later, I was really in pain from the half liter of water I had been drinking, so I took the medicine. Then Rivky and I spent the next two hours walking all around campus adding and dropping classes. (Don’t even start with me about the stupid system they have in place with registration.) By the time we got back to the room, I was ready to faint. Because of the pain, I haven’t been able to eat much since shabbos. I barely ate anything yesterday. This morning, I had one slice of bread with a tiny bit of cream cheese and a liter of water. I tried to have potato chips, but it just wasn’t going to happen. I had absolutely no energy. Rivky went to drumming (which I couldn’t go to because it’s outside, and I would have fainted), and I collapsed into bed and called my doctor. I was going to ask her if the generic brand is okay, how many times a day do I take it, and what kinds of food does she suggest I eat in the meantime? The receptionist said she doesn’t work on Wednesdays, and no one else is available. I should find a doctor where I am. I hung up the phone and started bawling. I was so hungry and in so much pain. After about ten minutes, I had controlled myself enough to get up and eat something. I made a packet of instant oatmeal and cut a slice of bread. I forced myself to eat them because it hurt so much but I knew I needed calories. It’s now a few hours later. I’m feeling a little more energized, but my chest still hurts. The website of the acid reflux medicine says 1-4 days to see effects and 2-4 weeks for full recovery.
Finally, we learn to make actual good food, and I can’t eat any of it. I’m having incredibly intense heartburn, apparently. I called my doctor last night in tears. I told her that since Friday night I have been having really intense pain in my chest every time I swallow. I feel like I swallowed a pill wrong. It kind of feels like when you swallow a fish bone and for the next few hours you can feel it every time you swallow because it scratched you on the way down. Well, it feels like that plus really bad heartburn. She asked me to remind her which malaria medicine I’m on. Doxycycline. She said, “Oh no. Okay. You’re having heartburn. A side effect of Doxycycline is really bad heartburn. You need get off it now, and we’ll switch your medication. You also need Prilosec, an acid reflux medicine.” I said, “Okay. I can do that. Should I stop my current malaria medicine before I can get the new one, or should I wait?” She asked, “How long will it take you to get a prescription?” I said, “It doesn’t work like that. There’s a pharmacy down the street. You just walk in, say what you want, and they give it to you. I could get it tomorrow.” She said, “Okay. Good. So, yeah, don’t take the medicine tonight, and start again tomorrow with the new one.” (I was expecting more of a “What kind of crazy system is that that you don’t need a prescription?!” response, but oh well.) She said I should only get a week or two worth of each and have someone in America send the rest because she doesn’t trust Ghanaian medicine. (Email from my mom after she spoke to the doctor.) “If you were in a developed country, she'd want you to see a doctor, but since you're not, she doesn't think you should.” She also said somewhere in the conversation that I need to get off the medicine because “you will not last a semester on Doxycycline.” Thanks, way to freak me out.
Today Rivky and I went to the pharmacy. We got a week’s worth of each medicine. The acid reflux one they had was a generic brand made in Ghana. A little sketch, but I decided I’d buy it and call my doctor. An hour later, I was really in pain from the half liter of water I had been drinking, so I took the medicine. Then Rivky and I spent the next two hours walking all around campus adding and dropping classes. (Don’t even start with me about the stupid system they have in place with registration.) By the time we got back to the room, I was ready to faint. Because of the pain, I haven’t been able to eat much since shabbos. I barely ate anything yesterday. This morning, I had one slice of bread with a tiny bit of cream cheese and a liter of water. I tried to have potato chips, but it just wasn’t going to happen. I had absolutely no energy. Rivky went to drumming (which I couldn’t go to because it’s outside, and I would have fainted), and I collapsed into bed and called my doctor. I was going to ask her if the generic brand is okay, how many times a day do I take it, and what kinds of food does she suggest I eat in the meantime? The receptionist said she doesn’t work on Wednesdays, and no one else is available. I should find a doctor where I am. I hung up the phone and started bawling. I was so hungry and in so much pain. After about ten minutes, I had controlled myself enough to get up and eat something. I made a packet of instant oatmeal and cut a slice of bread. I forced myself to eat them because it hurt so much but I knew I needed calories. It’s now a few hours later. I’m feeling a little more energized, but my chest still hurts. The website of the acid reflux medicine says 1-4 days to see effects and 2-4 weeks for full recovery.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
I can't believe I put off showering for 10 minutes to update this thing. Gross.
Okay, haven't updated in a while, so even though this is a light post, I thought I'd give it a go. (It's Rivky, by the way.) The truth is, not much is going on. Classes are good, my dorm situation is good. I went out for the first time this Saturday night- to a friend's friend's friend's birthday party. (Yes, that would be party-crashing squared.) It was a very interesting night. I can't really describe it here, because it's entirely too complicated and sort of bizarre, the more I think about it, but maybe we can talk about it in person if anyone reading this chooses to come visit!
I have three hours of dance a week, even though it's only two credits, so it's the class I spent most of my energy on. In the beginning, I was horrible, and two weeks in...I'm still pretty bad. But better! I know most of the moves, and I don't think I embarrass myself as much I did in the beginning.
This weekend, we have a tiyul to Cape Coast(1) and the central region of Ghana. We'll be touring the castle(2), etc. The rest of the group is doing a Saturday and Sunday trip, but because they love us(3), the director is taking me, Yamit and Zahava early- we're doing the entire Saturday tiyul on Friday before shabbos- while the group is doing the tiyul on Saturday, we are spending shabbos in the hotel, and then we rejoin everyone else on motzei shabbos.
Oh and last thing before I go shower(4)- I don't think Zahava or I wrote about food this past shabbos, but it was our most successful yet, by far. Zahava made two gorgeous challot- they were delicious and fresh and amazing. We had TILAPIA (cleaned/ cooked by yours truly)- broiled with onions. Yamit made yam balls and sweet potato balls both(5), we all made salad, and I made chocolate chip cookies. I can't even describe what a success this shabbos was. It was so much delicious food, and so satisfying- it was difficult but we really pulled it off.
Okay, now really the last thing- I'm so excited for the Super Bowl next week! We're not sure where we're going to watch it, but at least ten of us in the dorm are going to find a place- maybe Champs, this American-ish place everyone goes to(6)- to watch the game. It starts at 11:30 PM on Sunday night, but it's worth it. I'm rooting for the Saints, just because New Orleans hasn't been able to catch a break in, say, 8 years. But I'm really just hoping for a good game.
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Coast
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Coast_Castle
(3) i.e. they are the nicest, most accommodating people of life, they're really going above and beyond what we expected.
(4) for a recap of my daily activities- all I do here is nap and shower. You forgot?
(5) Turns out yam balls, which- don't forget!- are really potato balls, are better. Who saw that coming?
(6) shockingly, never been there.
I have three hours of dance a week, even though it's only two credits, so it's the class I spent most of my energy on. In the beginning, I was horrible, and two weeks in...I'm still pretty bad. But better! I know most of the moves, and I don't think I embarrass myself as much I did in the beginning.
This weekend, we have a tiyul to Cape Coast(1) and the central region of Ghana. We'll be touring the castle(2), etc. The rest of the group is doing a Saturday and Sunday trip, but because they love us(3), the director is taking me, Yamit and Zahava early- we're doing the entire Saturday tiyul on Friday before shabbos- while the group is doing the tiyul on Saturday, we are spending shabbos in the hotel, and then we rejoin everyone else on motzei shabbos.
Oh and last thing before I go shower(4)- I don't think Zahava or I wrote about food this past shabbos, but it was our most successful yet, by far. Zahava made two gorgeous challot- they were delicious and fresh and amazing. We had TILAPIA (cleaned/ cooked by yours truly)- broiled with onions. Yamit made yam balls and sweet potato balls both(5), we all made salad, and I made chocolate chip cookies. I can't even describe what a success this shabbos was. It was so much delicious food, and so satisfying- it was difficult but we really pulled it off.
Okay, now really the last thing- I'm so excited for the Super Bowl next week! We're not sure where we're going to watch it, but at least ten of us in the dorm are going to find a place- maybe Champs, this American-ish place everyone goes to(6)- to watch the game. It starts at 11:30 PM on Sunday night, but it's worth it. I'm rooting for the Saints, just because New Orleans hasn't been able to catch a break in, say, 8 years. But I'm really just hoping for a good game.
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Coast
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Coast_Castle
(3) i.e. they are the nicest, most accommodating people of life, they're really going above and beyond what we expected.
(4) for a recap of my daily activities- all I do here is nap and shower. You forgot?
(5) Turns out yam balls, which- don't forget!- are really potato balls, are better. Who saw that coming?
(6) shockingly, never been there.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
not completely about food, but mostly.
It’s Zahava. We’re a week into the semester and slowly but shortly learning [from our mistakes]. An annoying proportion of things we try to do end up being complete disasters.
1) Food the first shabbos. We made boiled plantains and Israeli salad. Then we bought canned curried vegetables and canned spaghetti in tomato sauce. We wanted to make bread before shabbos, but we settled with matza. We didn’t have a fridge, so the plantains went bad by lunch. The dressing we bought for the Israeli salad was disgusting. The canned vegetables were decent, but the spaghetti was horrid. We had wanted to make bread on Thursday, but the only kosher yeast in the store was for making beer. We brought 6 boxes of matza: three egg matza and three flavored non-egg matza. Fun fun- all the egg matza boxes broke in transport. So we are running lower on matza than we thought.
2) The “yamballs.” In Rivky’s last post, she mentions that we made yamballs for this shabbos. I would just like to finish the story. First, we thought we were buying a yam (synonymous with sweet potato). Then, when making the batter, we realized we had bought a potato. We kept saying things like, “Oh. This is really good, but it would be even better with yams.” We thought we were such idiots and had bought the wrong vegetable. Then, turns out that in Ghana potatoes are called yams! So we did everything right the whole time! Footnote: we decided that they would actually better with sweet potatoes, so next time we make yamballs, we’re going to use sweet potato.
3) The fridge situation. I hesitate a little before posting this story because I fear that it is not finished yet. Here is the situation as of now. The day after we arrived in the country, we told a guy that we needed a fridge. Yeah, yeah, you’ll get one. We said we needed one before shabbos. He said we could get one by Friday. Great. Friday comes, and he tells us we will get one on Saturday. Saturday comes, and he tells us between 9 and 10am on Monday. That time didn’t work for any of us, so we asked if later in the day was okay. He doesn’t speak English so he reassured us that he will come at 9am. All four of us (Rivky, Yamit, Yamit’s roommate, and I) were planning on going to a class at 9:30am on Monday, so that was a little annoying. Odds are I wouldn’t be staying in the class, so I volunteered to wait here for the fridge. We called him at 9am on Monday to double check that he was actually coming, and he said he was coming at 3pm. I missed the class anyway. 3pm called him, and he said he was picking it up right then. 7pm he showed up in our suite with a “fridge” and charged us C5 more than the price we agreed on. Tuesday afternoon we notice it is freezing our all our food. There is no dial to turn down the temperature; it is simply a freezer. We told him on Wednesday. He brought us a new fridge today. It smelled horrible, so after shabbos, the first thing we did was clean the whole thing out. It took about an hour, but it looks and smells much better. It’s been on for about four hours. The freezer is working fine, but the fridge part seems to be broken. To be continued.
4) Classes. Classes started last week, and I have no idea what I’m taking yet. Besides Twi, I’m currently signed up for 11 classes. I already decided I’m dropping 3 of them. I went to the other 8. Out of those 8, only 2 of the professors even showed up to the first class. The final exam schedule doesn’t come out until later this week, so I won’t know about shabbos finals until then, so I can’t even know of the 8 classes which I have to drop. Ahh! How is it possible to really not know what classes you’re taking over a week into the semester?!
5) Showering. We’re getting used to bucket-showers. Once this week I wasn’t able to take a shower in over 24 hours. I have never felt more disgusting in my life.
6) Electricity. Last night, around 10pm, we’re sitting in our common room, and all of the sudden the light and the ceiling fan go out. The fans in the bedrooms are still working, and the electricity in every other suite in every other room in the building is still working. Mickey (our madrich/counselor/21-tear-old Ghanaian student) was sitting there with us. He said we might have gone over our monthly allowance. Ahhhh! No way!
Right now Yamit is taking a bucket shower in a dark bathroom. We had oatmeal for dinner.
1) Food the first shabbos. We made boiled plantains and Israeli salad. Then we bought canned curried vegetables and canned spaghetti in tomato sauce. We wanted to make bread before shabbos, but we settled with matza. We didn’t have a fridge, so the plantains went bad by lunch. The dressing we bought for the Israeli salad was disgusting. The canned vegetables were decent, but the spaghetti was horrid. We had wanted to make bread on Thursday, but the only kosher yeast in the store was for making beer. We brought 6 boxes of matza: three egg matza and three flavored non-egg matza. Fun fun- all the egg matza boxes broke in transport. So we are running lower on matza than we thought.
2) The “yamballs.” In Rivky’s last post, she mentions that we made yamballs for this shabbos. I would just like to finish the story. First, we thought we were buying a yam (synonymous with sweet potato). Then, when making the batter, we realized we had bought a potato. We kept saying things like, “Oh. This is really good, but it would be even better with yams.” We thought we were such idiots and had bought the wrong vegetable. Then, turns out that in Ghana potatoes are called yams! So we did everything right the whole time! Footnote: we decided that they would actually better with sweet potatoes, so next time we make yamballs, we’re going to use sweet potato.
3) The fridge situation. I hesitate a little before posting this story because I fear that it is not finished yet. Here is the situation as of now. The day after we arrived in the country, we told a guy that we needed a fridge. Yeah, yeah, you’ll get one. We said we needed one before shabbos. He said we could get one by Friday. Great. Friday comes, and he tells us we will get one on Saturday. Saturday comes, and he tells us between 9 and 10am on Monday. That time didn’t work for any of us, so we asked if later in the day was okay. He doesn’t speak English so he reassured us that he will come at 9am. All four of us (Rivky, Yamit, Yamit’s roommate, and I) were planning on going to a class at 9:30am on Monday, so that was a little annoying. Odds are I wouldn’t be staying in the class, so I volunteered to wait here for the fridge. We called him at 9am on Monday to double check that he was actually coming, and he said he was coming at 3pm. I missed the class anyway. 3pm called him, and he said he was picking it up right then. 7pm he showed up in our suite with a “fridge” and charged us C5 more than the price we agreed on. Tuesday afternoon we notice it is freezing our all our food. There is no dial to turn down the temperature; it is simply a freezer. We told him on Wednesday. He brought us a new fridge today. It smelled horrible, so after shabbos, the first thing we did was clean the whole thing out. It took about an hour, but it looks and smells much better. It’s been on for about four hours. The freezer is working fine, but the fridge part seems to be broken. To be continued.
4) Classes. Classes started last week, and I have no idea what I’m taking yet. Besides Twi, I’m currently signed up for 11 classes. I already decided I’m dropping 3 of them. I went to the other 8. Out of those 8, only 2 of the professors even showed up to the first class. The final exam schedule doesn’t come out until later this week, so I won’t know about shabbos finals until then, so I can’t even know of the 8 classes which I have to drop. Ahh! How is it possible to really not know what classes you’re taking over a week into the semester?!
5) Showering. We’re getting used to bucket-showers. Once this week I wasn’t able to take a shower in over 24 hours. I have never felt more disgusting in my life.
6) Electricity. Last night, around 10pm, we’re sitting in our common room, and all of the sudden the light and the ceiling fan go out. The fans in the bedrooms are still working, and the electricity in every other suite in every other room in the building is still working. Mickey (our madrich/counselor/21-tear-old Ghanaian student) was sitting there with us. He said we might have gone over our monthly allowance. Ahhhh! No way!
Right now Yamit is taking a bucket shower in a dark bathroom. We had oatmeal for dinner.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
A Noticeably High Proportion of Our Posts Have Been About Food, Haven't They?
**I switched to numbers, as a way of footnoting. So everyone can stop yelling at me, kthanks.**
Hi, it's Rivky! I'm sitting in the common room at 1 in the morning, watching Zahava fry potato balls.(1) CIEE has a trip tomorrow, so we're not going to have time to cook for shabbos, so we made everything today. Yesterday, we made beer bread- yeah, I meant to say that. Since there's no kosher yeast and we haven't been able to make challah yet, we improvised. Yamit likes to share little tidbits of wisdom with us, and she's informed us that beer bread was very popular in the 70s (often eaten with Jello!). Today, while Yamit and I were at Shoprite (more on that later), Zahava made fried plantains, and now, we're finishing up the potato balls.(2)
To buy all these ingredients, we took our first trip to Medina Market today.(3) We went with Ann, our first Ghanaian friend! It was ridiculous- like the shuk in Yerushalayim, but on crack. It was packed, and we were the only oborunis (white people) in the entire place. We stood out like a sore thumb(4). We bought mangoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, plantains and a yam.(5) We also bought bananas, and ate them on the spot. They were delicious; the bananas here are amazing, plentiful and incredibly cheap. They're also about half the size of American bananas.
Anyway, back to the current activity, frying 'yam' balls. When we tried the batter, we realized that we had bought a potato, and not a yam. In this country, apparently, there is actually no way to tell them apart. Hehe. We panicked a little bit, but we figured we'd just make them anyway. Turns out they're delicous- Zahava and I keep snacking on them. The first couple are actually ball shaped, but then we got bored because WOW they were taking a long time to cook, so the rest of them look more like latkes.(6) They're amazing. Can't wait until shabbos- we have a feast! Bread, fried plantains, yam balls(7), and salad?
Okay, we're almost done. Normally, we would wash the dishes now, but the water is out. Duh. We had to do bucket showers tonight- we took the buckets to the spigot across the street, where we filled them up(8) and lugged them back to the building, up the two flights of stairs, and into the showers, trying not to spill too much along the way. It was a thrill.
Tomorrow, we're going to Abonsi, a village about 90 minutes away from Legon. Apparently, while at Abonsi, "we will get the opportunity to meet with some of the local leaders of the town and also and also a traditional ruler to see how local governance takes place in communities in Ghana." Should be interesting. Maybe I'll even get to be made queen of a village!(9)
Oh, almost forgot! At Shoprite, we ran into Moshe and Uri, two of the Israelis living in Accra! We talked to them for a while, then Uri drove us back to campus and we met Sarah, the frum girl living in ISH (International Students Hostel). It was great, and we're planning on doing a lot of shabbatot together, but the best part is that Moshe's apartment has a WASHING MACHINE and he is letting us use it!!! Our hand-washing was a miserable failure last week, so this is a big step for us. Very thrilling.(10) Okay, time for bed! We have to be on the bus tomorrow morning in under 6 hours. Fun.
(1) They were supposed to be yam balls, an authentic Ghanian food. But they're not. More on that later.
(2) A real team effort. Yamit made the mashed potatoes, I shaped the balls, and Zahava is doing the bulk of the frying.
(3) Presumably named after the city in Saudi Arabia, not the Hebrew word for country. But who knows?
(4) But how much do sore thumbs even stand out? I, for one, never even look at thumbs.
(5) Or not a yam. Whatever. Still more on that later, promise bli neder!!!
(6) And these are literally potato pancakes. For future reference, even though I don't usually like latkes, apparently, when the potatoes are mashed, I do!
(7) GO AWAY we're still calling them yam balls, even if they're not.
(8) Good question on Yamit's part- if there is water across the street, is there really no way to make it get up to our suite?
(9) Shout-out to Elana! Or really her friend, who was made queen of a Ghanaian village she visited last year. How awesome.
(10) Also, at Shoprite, we bought Magnum. Amazing. A shabbos treat!
Hi, it's Rivky! I'm sitting in the common room at 1 in the morning, watching Zahava fry potato balls.(1) CIEE has a trip tomorrow, so we're not going to have time to cook for shabbos, so we made everything today. Yesterday, we made beer bread- yeah, I meant to say that. Since there's no kosher yeast and we haven't been able to make challah yet, we improvised. Yamit likes to share little tidbits of wisdom with us, and she's informed us that beer bread was very popular in the 70s (often eaten with Jello!). Today, while Yamit and I were at Shoprite (more on that later), Zahava made fried plantains, and now, we're finishing up the potato balls.(2)
To buy all these ingredients, we took our first trip to Medina Market today.(3) We went with Ann, our first Ghanaian friend! It was ridiculous- like the shuk in Yerushalayim, but on crack. It was packed, and we were the only oborunis (white people) in the entire place. We stood out like a sore thumb(4). We bought mangoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, plantains and a yam.(5) We also bought bananas, and ate them on the spot. They were delicious; the bananas here are amazing, plentiful and incredibly cheap. They're also about half the size of American bananas.
Anyway, back to the current activity, frying 'yam' balls. When we tried the batter, we realized that we had bought a potato, and not a yam. In this country, apparently, there is actually no way to tell them apart. Hehe. We panicked a little bit, but we figured we'd just make them anyway. Turns out they're delicous- Zahava and I keep snacking on them. The first couple are actually ball shaped, but then we got bored because WOW they were taking a long time to cook, so the rest of them look more like latkes.(6) They're amazing. Can't wait until shabbos- we have a feast! Bread, fried plantains, yam balls(7), and salad?
Okay, we're almost done. Normally, we would wash the dishes now, but the water is out. Duh. We had to do bucket showers tonight- we took the buckets to the spigot across the street, where we filled them up(8) and lugged them back to the building, up the two flights of stairs, and into the showers, trying not to spill too much along the way. It was a thrill.
Tomorrow, we're going to Abonsi, a village about 90 minutes away from Legon. Apparently, while at Abonsi, "we will get the opportunity to meet with some of the local leaders of the town and also and also a traditional ruler to see how local governance takes place in communities in Ghana." Should be interesting. Maybe I'll even get to be made queen of a village!(9)
Oh, almost forgot! At Shoprite, we ran into Moshe and Uri, two of the Israelis living in Accra! We talked to them for a while, then Uri drove us back to campus and we met Sarah, the frum girl living in ISH (International Students Hostel). It was great, and we're planning on doing a lot of shabbatot together, but the best part is that Moshe's apartment has a WASHING MACHINE and he is letting us use it!!! Our hand-washing was a miserable failure last week, so this is a big step for us. Very thrilling.(10) Okay, time for bed! We have to be on the bus tomorrow morning in under 6 hours. Fun.
(1) They were supposed to be yam balls, an authentic Ghanian food. But they're not. More on that later.
(2) A real team effort. Yamit made the mashed potatoes, I shaped the balls, and Zahava is doing the bulk of the frying.
(3) Presumably named after the city in Saudi Arabia, not the Hebrew word for country. But who knows?
(4) But how much do sore thumbs even stand out? I, for one, never even look at thumbs.
(5) Or not a yam. Whatever. Still more on that later, promise bli neder!!!
(6) And these are literally potato pancakes. For future reference, even though I don't usually like latkes, apparently, when the potatoes are mashed, I do!
(7) GO AWAY we're still calling them yam balls, even if they're not.
(8) Good question on Yamit's part- if there is water across the street, is there really no way to make it get up to our suite?
(9) Shout-out to Elana! Or really her friend, who was made queen of a Ghanaian village she visited last year. How awesome.
(10) Also, at Shoprite, we bought Magnum. Amazing. A shabbos treat!
Monday, January 18, 2010
move over hokie-pokie, i've got food!
Zahava here. A little confused. A little stressed. A little frustrated. I’m trying to go with the flow.
By the way, I’m really glad they said it was REALLY IMPORTANT! to be here for orientation. Today is our one-week anniversary of being in Ghana, and we would not have missed a thing if we came today. Most of the Ghanaians aren’t even here yet. The third room in our suite is still empty. Yes, classes started today. No, neither of my professors showed up to class, nor did 90% of the students. Apparently, the first week of classes doesn’t really count. Classes are technically in session, but no one is expected to go. Except sometimes it’s important. But you can’t predict.
As classes have yet to start, yesterday we went to the beach. Fun fact: Before we left, I made sure to put on a lot of sun screen. To my demise, I did not do a very good job. I have burn patches on my collar, the back of my hands, and the back of my left arm. Okay, so here is a summary of the beach. A lot of impressive Ghanaians were playing Soccer. I wanted to join. So I went over to a guy standing on the side, and he said no. These guys are really intense. But he hurt his foot, so he can’t play, so I do want to toss the ball around a little on the side? Yes! We played for about an hour with a few different guys coming in and out. It was awesome and quite sweaty. When I couldn’t breathe anymore, I pulled Yamit into the water. We “swam” for also about an hour also. Men do not understand the concept of personal space to say the least. Guys will walk up to you, introduce themselves, shake your hand, and not let go for ten minutes while they try to have a whole conversation with you that ends in asking for your phone number. Literally, I have touched more guys in this past week that in my entire life before that.
Here are a few stories that sum up my beach experience.
1) Three guys proposed to me and Yamit at the same time. They all got down on one knee in the ocean.
2) When I asked one of them why he wanted to marry me, he said, “I want to marry a white girl so I can have white children.”
3) Yamit and I were holding hands for most of the time in the water because we were scared of being separated. They asked us why we were holding hands. “You know,” one of them said, “it’s illegal in this country for two girls to swim together in the sea.”
4) (And last but not least…) “Okay. Really, I have a serious question. I’ve had this question for a really long time. I’ve been waiting to meet a white person, so I can finally know the answer. Okay. So you know how our women are shaped like guitars? (He did a nice curved outline in the air with his hands.) You know how you girls are not? Is that because your mothers never caressed you when you were babies?” I died of laughter! I did not know what to do with myself. “You know,” he continued, “when you have a baby girl, you shape her a** (he made the air gesture again) and you shape her head. Don’t you guys do that?” Really?! My culture is the weird one here because we don’t shape our baby girls butts so they’re curvaceous?
Sunday night we also had this big dinner party thing with a live traditional African band and then performance. There was also this girl who is with us for three weeks who I met. She got this amazing scholarship from her school to do this on-site research project. She’s studying African dance in Africa versus in the Diaspora. She’s going to like 15 countries, each for three weeks. It’s all paid for with this scholarship! How amazing!
Now, on to today. I’m not going to write too much as to not bore you, but firstly, as I mentioned earlier, people have no respect for schedules. They make a schedule, tell people there is going to be class, and then the professor doesn’t show up. Not okay. This happened in both of my classes today. Secondly, Rivky and I were walking back from dance “class” today around noon, the hottest part of the day. I had been walking around all day, and I was dying of heat. We finally made it up to our rooms, collapsed on the chairs and each screamed, “I need to shower!” I go into the shower and THERE’S NO WATER ! Luckily, there was still a little in the faucet that comes out of the wall of the shower, despite there being none in the shower head. So I filled up a bucket and took a splash-shower. I have never felt more uncouth, but it felt so good.
After Twi (my only class today because it’s given by CIEE, not U of Ghana), I was seriously craving something sweet. I wanted a cookie or something. Oddly enough, we are fresh out of cookies. So baked some! Well, first I fried some. All we have is flour, sugar, eggs, and oil, but I decided that would be enough. I mixed them in a proportion that seemed appropriate and fried them. They were great! Then we went all out. Yamit sorted and cooked rice with onion soup mix. Yum! She also made scrambled eggs with garlic powder salt that we bought at Shoprite last week. After dinner I made another batch of cookies, but this time I baked them. Dee-Lih-shus! Basically, dinner was amazing. Tonight was the first time since I left America that I have been full, that there has been more left over that I was unwanting and unwilling to eat. It was a great feeling.
I do not yet have a schedule for the semester, but I have food. Life is good.
P.S. So far, there is really only one class that I am determined to take. Home Science 412 - Select Topics in Home Management. I am so excited!
By the way, I’m really glad they said it was REALLY IMPORTANT! to be here for orientation. Today is our one-week anniversary of being in Ghana, and we would not have missed a thing if we came today. Most of the Ghanaians aren’t even here yet. The third room in our suite is still empty. Yes, classes started today. No, neither of my professors showed up to class, nor did 90% of the students. Apparently, the first week of classes doesn’t really count. Classes are technically in session, but no one is expected to go. Except sometimes it’s important. But you can’t predict.
As classes have yet to start, yesterday we went to the beach. Fun fact: Before we left, I made sure to put on a lot of sun screen. To my demise, I did not do a very good job. I have burn patches on my collar, the back of my hands, and the back of my left arm. Okay, so here is a summary of the beach. A lot of impressive Ghanaians were playing Soccer. I wanted to join. So I went over to a guy standing on the side, and he said no. These guys are really intense. But he hurt his foot, so he can’t play, so I do want to toss the ball around a little on the side? Yes! We played for about an hour with a few different guys coming in and out. It was awesome and quite sweaty. When I couldn’t breathe anymore, I pulled Yamit into the water. We “swam” for also about an hour also. Men do not understand the concept of personal space to say the least. Guys will walk up to you, introduce themselves, shake your hand, and not let go for ten minutes while they try to have a whole conversation with you that ends in asking for your phone number. Literally, I have touched more guys in this past week that in my entire life before that.
Here are a few stories that sum up my beach experience.
1) Three guys proposed to me and Yamit at the same time. They all got down on one knee in the ocean.
2) When I asked one of them why he wanted to marry me, he said, “I want to marry a white girl so I can have white children.”
3) Yamit and I were holding hands for most of the time in the water because we were scared of being separated. They asked us why we were holding hands. “You know,” one of them said, “it’s illegal in this country for two girls to swim together in the sea.”
4) (And last but not least…) “Okay. Really, I have a serious question. I’ve had this question for a really long time. I’ve been waiting to meet a white person, so I can finally know the answer. Okay. So you know how our women are shaped like guitars? (He did a nice curved outline in the air with his hands.) You know how you girls are not? Is that because your mothers never caressed you when you were babies?” I died of laughter! I did not know what to do with myself. “You know,” he continued, “when you have a baby girl, you shape her a** (he made the air gesture again) and you shape her head. Don’t you guys do that?” Really?! My culture is the weird one here because we don’t shape our baby girls butts so they’re curvaceous?
Sunday night we also had this big dinner party thing with a live traditional African band and then performance. There was also this girl who is with us for three weeks who I met. She got this amazing scholarship from her school to do this on-site research project. She’s studying African dance in Africa versus in the Diaspora. She’s going to like 15 countries, each for three weeks. It’s all paid for with this scholarship! How amazing!
Now, on to today. I’m not going to write too much as to not bore you, but firstly, as I mentioned earlier, people have no respect for schedules. They make a schedule, tell people there is going to be class, and then the professor doesn’t show up. Not okay. This happened in both of my classes today. Secondly, Rivky and I were walking back from dance “class” today around noon, the hottest part of the day. I had been walking around all day, and I was dying of heat. We finally made it up to our rooms, collapsed on the chairs and each screamed, “I need to shower!” I go into the shower and THERE’S NO WATER ! Luckily, there was still a little in the faucet that comes out of the wall of the shower, despite there being none in the shower head. So I filled up a bucket and took a splash-shower. I have never felt more uncouth, but it felt so good.
After Twi (my only class today because it’s given by CIEE, not U of Ghana), I was seriously craving something sweet. I wanted a cookie or something. Oddly enough, we are fresh out of cookies. So baked some! Well, first I fried some. All we have is flour, sugar, eggs, and oil, but I decided that would be enough. I mixed them in a proportion that seemed appropriate and fried them. They were great! Then we went all out. Yamit sorted and cooked rice with onion soup mix. Yum! She also made scrambled eggs with garlic powder salt that we bought at Shoprite last week. After dinner I made another batch of cookies, but this time I baked them. Dee-Lih-shus! Basically, dinner was amazing. Tonight was the first time since I left America that I have been full, that there has been more left over that I was unwanting and unwilling to eat. It was a great feeling.
I do not yet have a schedule for the semester, but I have food. Life is good.
P.S. So far, there is really only one class that I am determined to take. Home Science 412 - Select Topics in Home Management. I am so excited!
Friday, January 15, 2010
First erev shabbos
(EDIT: Forgot to say, though it's probably obvious by the post, this is Rivky!)
Today- our first erev shabbos* was a completely hectic day, and I think it will give a feel for what life here is like, at least some interesting aspects.
We woke up at about 8:30 and were out the door 10 minutes later. I always wake up gross and sticky, there's absolutely no such thing as a cool night. The ceiling fan makes no difference.** We (me, Zahava, Yamit) trekked around the campus with a map*** and arrows detailing the order of the departments we wanted to look at. We went to Poli Sci, History, English, Dance, Music, and a couple more. To look at the classes, you literally have to walk up to the front door of the department, where you find a bulletin board with a piece of paper detailing the different classes available in that department. Some of the departments had times listed also, and some didn't, which is bizarre seeing as classes start on Monday. I saw a bunch of classes I was interested in, so I think I'm just going to go to all of them and then see from there which I want to officially register for.
At 11, we were done walking around campus looking at departments and we headed outside of campus to catch the tro-tro, this semi-shuttle service that brings you everywhere. We took one that brought us to the Accra Mall, where they have Shop Rite, which has a lot more kosher food than any of us were expecting. They import from South Africa, saved our lives. We bought food for shabbos- fruit, vegetables, even canned spaghetti in sauce!**** We also bought YOGURT to eat on the spot- I'm not exaggerating when I say it's the first cold food we've eaten since Sunday.***** It was delicious. Seriously, amazing. One of the main reasons I stopped eating most meat is because I thought I wanted to be aware of what I was consuming- and in Ghana, that is all too constant.
When you are driving in the tro-tro, by the way, there is no sense of personal space. Everyone is on top of everyone, and everyone's sweat is mingling (charming, no?), and all you can do is daven to be lucky enough that you will be able to sit near a window so you can stick your head out and feel some air. But the plus side is that the ride is only 25 Ghanaian cents (peshwar, or something like that?), which is only about 18 cents American, ridiculously amazing.
We left the air conditioned Shop Rite and headed back to campus- waiting by the side of the road in the blazing sun and sweltering humidity for 10 minutes****** and then taking a tro-tro back to campus, and then walking the 10 minutes from the main gate back to our dorm and then we deposited everything and actually melted.******* It's so sweltering all the time. It constantly exhausts us.
Now we're cooking and cleaning and trying to get everything ready and nice before shabbos at 5:50 and before classes start next week. I didn't go to the lecture that we have right now even though it looked really interesting******** because I am seriously exhausted and I don't think I can move another muscle. Seriously- I can't stand for more than 10 minutes without needing to sit down, that's how tired my legs are from walking around this huge campus.
Meeting Ghanaians everywhere, the culture contrast is stark. They are all in incredible shape, men and women, from doing physical labor all day, as opposed to Americans who sit in offices. They are ridiculously friendly- they always ask if I'm lost and need directions, or offer to help with other things- and they expect the same in return. A Ghanaian woman on our flight had no compunction about asking me to take care of her baby both before the flight and after it. It's so different, and it's really something I can respect.
The lack of formality is also something different, but I can't tell how I feel about that. On the one hand, I think it's important how friendly everyone is with each other, and how chilled out everyone is- professors don't dress up, they have full-day office hours to speak to students, and everyone we pass says hi with a smile. On the other hand, I am too compulsive to appreciate that they don't know the times of some classes yet, and classes start on Monday! It really flusters me*********. But I just need to step back and relax and just go with the system- that's how they do it, and it works for them, so it will work for me.
K, time to shower. Again. It's all I do here. I know- big contrast to home. Some changes had to made to accommodate the unbearable heat.
*Friday, technically the day before shabbos. Although let's call a spade a spade- is there actually anyone reading this who doesn't know the jargon?
**Although obviously, until yesterday, that barely worked either. But baruch Hashem we got it fixed.
***That I had drawn! Impressed? Me too.
****Yes, I'm aware how gross that sounds. What's your point? Beggars can't be choosers.
*****We don't have a fridge yet. It's broken, duh. We're getting it soon, I think. I really wanted it for shabbos to have cold grape juice, but again, I guess beggars can't be choosers.
******Felt like an hour.
*******Not literally, for those who get confused about what that word means. Hint: it does NOT mean figuratively. In fact, it's meant to be used as a contrast to figuratively. More people should know this, I think.
********Politics in Ghana Post-Colonialism
*********Hey, Laur!
Today- our first erev shabbos* was a completely hectic day, and I think it will give a feel for what life here is like, at least some interesting aspects.
We woke up at about 8:30 and were out the door 10 minutes later. I always wake up gross and sticky, there's absolutely no such thing as a cool night. The ceiling fan makes no difference.** We (me, Zahava, Yamit) trekked around the campus with a map*** and arrows detailing the order of the departments we wanted to look at. We went to Poli Sci, History, English, Dance, Music, and a couple more. To look at the classes, you literally have to walk up to the front door of the department, where you find a bulletin board with a piece of paper detailing the different classes available in that department. Some of the departments had times listed also, and some didn't, which is bizarre seeing as classes start on Monday. I saw a bunch of classes I was interested in, so I think I'm just going to go to all of them and then see from there which I want to officially register for.
At 11, we were done walking around campus looking at departments and we headed outside of campus to catch the tro-tro, this semi-shuttle service that brings you everywhere. We took one that brought us to the Accra Mall, where they have Shop Rite, which has a lot more kosher food than any of us were expecting. They import from South Africa, saved our lives. We bought food for shabbos- fruit, vegetables, even canned spaghetti in sauce!**** We also bought YOGURT to eat on the spot- I'm not exaggerating when I say it's the first cold food we've eaten since Sunday.***** It was delicious. Seriously, amazing. One of the main reasons I stopped eating most meat is because I thought I wanted to be aware of what I was consuming- and in Ghana, that is all too constant.
When you are driving in the tro-tro, by the way, there is no sense of personal space. Everyone is on top of everyone, and everyone's sweat is mingling (charming, no?), and all you can do is daven to be lucky enough that you will be able to sit near a window so you can stick your head out and feel some air. But the plus side is that the ride is only 25 Ghanaian cents (peshwar, or something like that?), which is only about 18 cents American, ridiculously amazing.
We left the air conditioned Shop Rite and headed back to campus- waiting by the side of the road in the blazing sun and sweltering humidity for 10 minutes****** and then taking a tro-tro back to campus, and then walking the 10 minutes from the main gate back to our dorm and then we deposited everything and actually melted.******* It's so sweltering all the time. It constantly exhausts us.
Now we're cooking and cleaning and trying to get everything ready and nice before shabbos at 5:50 and before classes start next week. I didn't go to the lecture that we have right now even though it looked really interesting******** because I am seriously exhausted and I don't think I can move another muscle. Seriously- I can't stand for more than 10 minutes without needing to sit down, that's how tired my legs are from walking around this huge campus.
Meeting Ghanaians everywhere, the culture contrast is stark. They are all in incredible shape, men and women, from doing physical labor all day, as opposed to Americans who sit in offices. They are ridiculously friendly- they always ask if I'm lost and need directions, or offer to help with other things- and they expect the same in return. A Ghanaian woman on our flight had no compunction about asking me to take care of her baby both before the flight and after it. It's so different, and it's really something I can respect.
The lack of formality is also something different, but I can't tell how I feel about that. On the one hand, I think it's important how friendly everyone is with each other, and how chilled out everyone is- professors don't dress up, they have full-day office hours to speak to students, and everyone we pass says hi with a smile. On the other hand, I am too compulsive to appreciate that they don't know the times of some classes yet, and classes start on Monday! It really flusters me*********. But I just need to step back and relax and just go with the system- that's how they do it, and it works for them, so it will work for me.
K, time to shower. Again. It's all I do here. I know- big contrast to home. Some changes had to made to accommodate the unbearable heat.
*Friday, technically the day before shabbos. Although let's call a spade a spade- is there actually anyone reading this who doesn't know the jargon?
**Although obviously, until yesterday, that barely worked either. But baruch Hashem we got it fixed.
***That I had drawn! Impressed? Me too.
****Yes, I'm aware how gross that sounds. What's your point? Beggars can't be choosers.
*****We don't have a fridge yet. It's broken, duh. We're getting it soon, I think. I really wanted it for shabbos to have cold grape juice, but again, I guess beggars can't be choosers.
******Felt like an hour.
*******Not literally, for those who get confused about what that word means. Hint: it does NOT mean figuratively. In fact, it's meant to be used as a contrast to figuratively. More people should know this, I think.
********Politics in Ghana Post-Colonialism
*********Hey, Laur!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
gourmet in ghana
We are shmancy people. That is basically what it comes down to. We are going to eat like kings this semester.
By the way, it's Zahava. I am taking a stand and establishing my place.
The story begins a few days ago. We were starving. We'd been starving since. We could no longer live on a diet of dry cereal, calcium chews, and small tuna packets. Something needed to be done. So today after Twi (a whole other amazing story in itself), Rivky, Yamit, Mufleha, and I went to Shoprite. Oh yeah, we've got a Shoprite! Turns out it's basically Glatt Express. The whole freaking store is full of food with South African hashgachot! There's even OU tuna! There were cookies, oil, butter, cream cheese, ice cream, and lots more. We don't have a fridge yet, so we didn't buy much, but oh we made lists. We were freaking out in the store. Mufleha was pushing the cart and laughing. We were screaming and making a scene. When we noticed an Israeli product, we really lost it. A Ghanaian guy came over to us, who we thought was going to yell at us for making a scecne. But he just asked us if we were Israeli and told us how tzioni he was. We bought limited foods that came out to 63 cedis (the currency, pronounced CDs, 63 cedis = no more than $63), including four packages of OU tuna, yeast, flour, sugar, oranges, and yams.
We got home and were totally pooped. The plan was to make our dinner right away, but we got back at 9pm and were hot and exhausted. We each went on Skype for an hour. Around 10:30, we were ready. We set up music and assigned positions: Rivky on the eggs, me on the yams, and Yamit on the running around to get things. The eggs are brown shelled (surprisingly though in the nine eggs, there were no bloodspots). The yokes are super light, and the omelets looked and tasted like egg-white omelets. The yams are white too, similar to potatoes one might say. But they taste like yams. Then we had oranges for dessert. Then we had tuna. Then we had crackers. It was a freaking five course gourmet meal. It was great. And they say there is no kosher food in Ghana. Pshaw.
We are going to eat like kings.
By the way, it's Zahava. I am taking a stand and establishing my place.
The story begins a few days ago. We were starving. We'd been starving since. We could no longer live on a diet of dry cereal, calcium chews, and small tuna packets. Something needed to be done. So today after Twi (a whole other amazing story in itself), Rivky, Yamit, Mufleha, and I went to Shoprite. Oh yeah, we've got a Shoprite! Turns out it's basically Glatt Express. The whole freaking store is full of food with South African hashgachot! There's even OU tuna! There were cookies, oil, butter, cream cheese, ice cream, and lots more. We don't have a fridge yet, so we didn't buy much, but oh we made lists. We were freaking out in the store. Mufleha was pushing the cart and laughing. We were screaming and making a scene. When we noticed an Israeli product, we really lost it. A Ghanaian guy came over to us, who we thought was going to yell at us for making a scecne. But he just asked us if we were Israeli and told us how tzioni he was. We bought limited foods that came out to 63 cedis (the currency, pronounced CDs, 63 cedis = no more than $63), including four packages of OU tuna, yeast, flour, sugar, oranges, and yams.
We got home and were totally pooped. The plan was to make our dinner right away, but we got back at 9pm and were hot and exhausted. We each went on Skype for an hour. Around 10:30, we were ready. We set up music and assigned positions: Rivky on the eggs, me on the yams, and Yamit on the running around to get things. The eggs are brown shelled (surprisingly though in the nine eggs, there were no bloodspots). The yokes are super light, and the omelets looked and tasted like egg-white omelets. The yams are white too, similar to potatoes one might say. But they taste like yams. Then we had oranges for dessert. Then we had tuna. Then we had crackers. It was a freaking five course gourmet meal. It was great. And they say there is no kosher food in Ghana. Pshaw.
We are going to eat like kings.
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