2011 Goes Down In Flames!

No no, don't worry. I promise it's not another school disaster... Look, here's Olivia just glowing!

Actually just before students vacated, a candlelight procession was organized in which the kids of the school and nearby villages walked around the neighborhood singing Christmas carols to the beat of an African drum. Correction: to the many beats of many African drums.

It was truly a magical night as we said goodbye to each other (and the entire past year).

As we watched the bonfire during a moment of silence, the simple symbolism of  "light" was lost on no one, most especially me:

Ever since we crawled out of that primordial slime, that's been our unifying cry, "More light."  Sunlight.  Torchlight.  Candlelight.  Neon, incandescent lights that banish the darkness from our caves to illuminate our roads, the insides of our refrigerators.  Big floods for the night games at Soldier's Field.  Little tiny flashlights for those books we read under the covers when we're supposed to be asleep.  Light is more than watts and footcandles.  

Light is metaphor. Light is knowledge, light is life, light is light.  

~Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider

We are each gifted in a unique and important way. 

It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.  

~Evelyn Dunbar 

In a profound sense every man has two halves to his being; 

he is not one person so much as two persons trying to act in unison.  

I believe that in the heart of each human being 

there is something which I can only describe as a "child of darkness" 

who is equal and complementary to the more obvious "child of light."  

~Laurens van der Post

How far that little candle throws its beams! 

So shines a good deed in a naughty world.

~William Shakespeare 

So my genuine wish for every single one of you readers: HAPPY FEELGOODING IN 2012!!!!!!!

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, 

and the life of the candle will not be shortened. 

Happiness never decreases by being shared.

~Buddha

SO LET THERE BE LIGHT :)

Dima The Crossdresser

For pure comic relief...
            Had some fun beyond belief... 
                             Pairing a boy's uniform shirt...

With a traditional funeral skirt :)

Exactly How I Feel

Don't you just love it when you play your ipod on shuffle and discover a long-lost forgotten song that makes complete sense in that exact moment? This was my feelgooding moment of the day whilst travelling by tro tro. Had to suppress my urge to clap to the song right then and there. I settled for a big kick-ass smile instead :) I think the other passengers musta thought I'm high on something. Happiness perhaps?

Soaking Up the Sun

About 45 of us crammed ourselves into a bus that fits about 30. All the body parts sticking out of the side windows were quite a sight!

But the end really did justify the means - a day at the Maranatha estuary (in Rastafarian territory) was well worth the agony it took to get us there. Come to think of it, even the painful part was fun. Not to mention memorable.

Once we arrived (in one piece, thankfully) I noticed only two bikinis at the beach. Only on two blefono white girls. My friends explained it’s because the girls here are shy to be seen so exposed.

That’s when I pointed out quite a few couples getting frisky in and out of the water, providing us with front row seats to a late night show in broad daylight. Even fully dressed, they weren’t too shy to be seen exposed if you ask me. I suspect it had something to do with their level of alcohol consumption, perhaps? Pure entertainment I tell ya! (no pun intended)

...after much splashing and funning around....

I’m glad to say that I am at least one shade darker brown, as opposed to many shades brighter red as my previous beach-going record would have you expect. I might be the fairest of them all here, but I’ll be the darkest of them all once I’m back amongst the Lebanese. Aaah, how I miss those cold chilly nights! Ironically, exactly a year ago, I was wishing the exact opposite when I spent December in Chicago. The grass is always greener on the other side...

Enjoying Working Overtime

Am working on a coupla projects I hope to finish before I head back home, so I will be extending my stay for another coupla months, roughly until Feb.

Which means I'm doubling my dose of feelgooding in Africa :)

But also missing out on Christmas & New Years with family and friends in Lebanon :(

Everything comes at a price, right?

Edible Wood

Q: What do you get when you cross a cherimoya/ashta fruit with shredded wood shavings?

A: Salleh.

Never seen or tasted anything like this before. The shell feels like velvety wood and you crack it open. The inside really looks like wood shavings.

You break off a piece like you do with ashta and each piece has a seed. So you suck on it as it melts in your mouth and then you spit the seed out. It's difficult to describe the taste, but it's a bit sour. I think.

La Vie Africaine En Rose

Let me guess... this is probably what you have in mind when you think of a typical African sunset... flaming orangy hues, right?

But from what I've seen so far, it feels like I'm wearing rose-tinted glasses instead!

N.B. Things aren't always so rosy though!!!!

Eeny Meeny Mighty Mo

Yes, she got me. Can you spot the mosquito in the picture? Happy hunting! *

Danger! Sleeping blissfully under a mosquito net but failing to spot the eeny-meeny-mighty mosquito already inside the net has dire consequences. Don't ever try this at home in Africa, especially when scantily dressed due to the heat. And especially when you've forgotten to take your malaria pill for the week. Be prepared for many sleepless nights to come.

Ok, ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little. But consider yourself warned if ever you follow in my footsteps: please don't!

This is undoubtedly a picture from my early days as evidenced by the fact that I was still wearing PJs to bed, ha!

* It's just a trick question btw :) 

A Taste of Ghana

ACT I - SCENE I: GARI

Characters:

Dima

Philemon

The stage is set in a schoolyard, as the students rush out of class for break on Monday. Philemon spots the fair-skinned lady and runs over to her.

Philemon: Madame Dima! How are you? I didn’t see you yesterday.

Dima: Hi! I’m good! Well where were you during dinner? I passed by the boarding house at night.

Philemon: Oh I don’t eat dinner.

Dima: What? Why???

Philemon: Two reasons. Firstly, I was told that when you eat too much, your body becomes lazy or heavy. Since I want to work hard to achieve my goals of becoming a footballer or President one day, and the Bible says we should all take care of our bodies, I want to take good care of mine. So I don’t want to overeat.  I eat Gari directly after school instead of a night meal.

Dima: [In disbelief] So you sleep on an empty stomach? And you don’t have breakfast, and you’re so physically active during the day doing all the boarding chores and you love to play football… So how do you last until lunch? As a 24 year-old man, doesn’t your body need more than 1 ½ meal a day? If anyone needs the most food around here, it would be you!

Philemon: I’m used to it.

Dima: Don’t you get tired of eating Gari everyday anyway?

Philemon: No, it’s my favorite.

Dima: Ok, so what’s your second reason? [as she secretly hoped he had a stronger, or at least healthier, one]

Philemon: Well, it’s my parents who pay for my schooling and meals, and so if I’m used to eating a lot and I lose my parents, then it will be a problem for me in the future. It would be very difficult.

Dima: [Wide-eyed, in greater disbelief] Huh? I don’t understand! You’re thinking of your parents’ death and living your life in anticipation of that potential “difficulty”?

Philemon: Well, here, many parents die young. And I depend on mine right now. So I don’t want to be heavy in life. I want to stay light, in body and spirit.

[Dima’s face fell as a wave of sadness washed over her L She couldn’t help but give him a piece of her mind! Even if the average life expectancy of a Ghanaian is roughly 57 - that's no way to live your life!]

APPENDIX:

The cassava plant

Suicide Watch: When eaten raw, the human digestive system will convert this to cyanide poison!

 Gari is made from fresh cassava, which is grated and the excess liquid is then squeezed out. The remaining cassava is then fried over an open fire, on a broad metal pan that has been greased with a little oil, could be palm oil or other vegetable fat. The resulting product is crisp and crunchy to taste, and is stored easily and can be eaten with stew or soup or shito and fish. In schools, it can be soaked with water, milk and sugar and consumed cold (as seen here). Sometimes people add peanuts. It's a truly versatile food and affordable too. 

Dima's attempt at stomaching it:

sniffitysniffsniff

she... er... slightly... hesitates, eyeing it with caution

she braces herself for impact

but much to her relief, she realizes she wasn't poisoned to death!

Your stomach really does take a beating by the way! 

I was thankfully warned so I was cautious not to consume a problematic quantity.

It tasted, er, quite herby/wheaty/nutty.

I know some of you have been asking for videos and this woulda been a good one to share, 

but these screenshots are the best I could do given the internet speed here.