MISSING

The reason why I went MIA is because I finally uprooted myself from Africa and re-rooted myself in the Middle East. For the summer at least.

Am so happy to be back amongst family and friends, for obvious reasons. And am actually happy to re-introduce salad greens to my diet which were NOT part of typical life in Ghana. 

Funnily enough, I am experiencing a renewed love for Tabbouleh (parsley salad) even though it wasn’t something I would have particularly requested before my trip. I guess that makes me a "rabbit" in the eyes of my Ghanaian friends!

Ghana did become my home for just over half a year, so it goes without saying that I will certainly miss a lot about it, like...

DA FASHYONN!

Mainly because I had an obsession with the fabric! Wax prints, batik, kente, etc. Quite a few popular prints had names and stories behind them that somehow came to be, circulated by the people, but origins unknown.

I would have a serious problem surpassing any fabric stall in the market without picking out a piece and rushing to the tailor.

Gorgeous prints and colors that drive your imagination wild with the possibilities! And the accessories too, just eye boggling!

Sure enough, their over the top fashion rubbed off on me. I had no choice but to shed my black clothes for bright colors! Hey, you can get away with anything loud during the summer!

 
Which is why my return suitcase was filled with a whole new wardrobe of “Afro-chic” clothes, as I like to call them. They go well with my shorter afro haircut!

And apparently, many sports brands and fashion lines have also taken notice of the African prints, finding them just as inspiring. Am loving the Adidas gazelle line and LAMB 2012 S/S collection:

Towards the end of 2011, Vlisco launched this campaign while I was in Ghana. Thought the visuals beautifully showcased their fabric collection and bags. I carried the catalogue back with me, just as memorabilia:

It’s funny how I loved the male fashion too. Don't these boys look so cute in their smocks?

I had a great vantage point from the spectators’ balcony during a parliament procession. It was like a smock fashion show as MP after MP walked in with a different colored baggy flarey top that swayed with their every move.

I could totally see myself wearing one (a sleeveless) with skinny jeans and a colored pair of heals. It’s so fluidy and hand stitched strip by strip.

A quality piece that is authentically Ghanaian (which the nation’s first President first made popular). They make them in all sorts of interesting colors, and when I went to Tamale in the North of Ghana, the nation’s smock-making capital, I couldn’t leave without purchasing one. And twirling in one!!! How fun. Rami here enjoyed my smock so much he asked for the price I'd be willing to sell it to him!

DISCLAIMER: I will not miss the bad tailors. And I mean the MANY bad tailors I had the misfortune to meet. One totally destroyed the “Angelina” dashiki print I love (seen below) and gave me a garment that can’t be worn, what a shame...

THE ELEMENTS

The wiiiiiind. The nature. The vast skies. The earthiness. So primitive. I know the isolation from society is a turnoff for many - I do consider myself to be a city girl. But maybe for this very reason, Ghana appealed to me even more. You need to change things up every once in a while! Ah, the stars on a moonlit night... The magical sunset on a lake... 

The beaches were just heavenly. A whole sandy shore to yourself (and the odd crab hunter or occasional fisher boys)

With a fresh coconut in hand, imagine yourself suspended between palm trees in a hammock, reading a good book, enjoying the sound of the waves, and tasting the salt in the air on your lips.

And just when you think this day can't get any sweeter, a team of 8 boys appear out of nowhere and proceed to cut through the waves. After a whole lotta pulling and swimming and diving and coming up for air, they make their way to shore with a net full of fish! Thanks to them, you can enjoy fresh fish for dinner cooked straight out of the ocean. Imagine you round off the night with a nice cold local beer and home roasted peanuts. What a day!

And traveling across the country, there was this one flaming tree that always attracted my attention, standing out from all the rest. 

Couldn't take my eyes off its bright orange blossoms and florescent green leaves. 

So I had to ask for its name and was told I was in love with the Royal Poinciana, or what is better known as the "Flamboyant tree". So fitting! Isn't it just gorgeous?

DISCLAIMER: I will not miss the scorching heat. To have your very life depend on the fan makes you quite vulnerable (and desperate when there’s an electricity cut). I can not describe the amount of sweat that came out of my body. Bucket loads would be my closest approximation.

THE LANGUAGE

Admittedly, I'm not the biggest language buff - my French is still 1st Grade level. But I do miss the Dangme basics I learned because it was over a few key words that I enjoyed such chemistry with random strangers. It's funny how the daily “O nge Saminya lo?” (how are you?) and “Aikoo” (ya3tik el 3afieh) never got old, even after the 100th time I passed the same neighbors day in and day out. I was pretty proud of myself towards the end - I think I managed well in keeping the dialogue going and sounding as slang as the locals (to my ears at least, ha!)

Particularly had fun joking around with the sassy market ladies. But it's the older village women that were the most fun. They'd usually catch me by the roadside as we'd wait together for a ride into town. They'd get a kick out of my genuine effort to hold up my end of the conversation but would always ensure they had the last word. As soon as they'd realize I had the basics down and wasn't doing too bad, they'd squint their eyes, their lips would curl up into a cheeky smile, and I could just tell that they were gonna hit me with a big one. And sure enough, they’d intentionally ask me a random question I couldn't have possibly been taught how to answer! So of course I’d be stumped, and could only helplessly exclaim "a! i nui sisi" (I don't understand) which would guarantee me a good hearty laugh and a pat on the shoulders. I secretly knew I could gain bonus points by exclaiming the way they do with a short, emotional, almost gruntal "a", or "o". "Oh blefono, you try". "Oppennoooo" (Thank yooou :)

THE FOOD

Left to right: Cassava, plantain, yam.

Perhaps the most difficult part of acclimating was getting used to the food (and how to eat it with your fingers, using only one hand). I must say though, I was a total convert by the end.  It changed my tongue palate, for the better I believe (hey, I never used to eat fish). And my table etiquette for the, er, I don’t know (I never used to eat with my fingers, like even pizza). 

So without further ado, I present you with the signature dishes of a typical local menu... Let's see what piques your appetite! 

1) Banku

Made from cassava tree root, has a sorta sticky dough-like texture, which you eat with pepper sauce and grilled tilapia. This started off as my personal favorite dish. Won't forget the first time I tried it though. I was in a public setting and it was ordered for me, so I had to watch others carefully and attempt as best I could to eat this sticky blob one small sticky piece at a time, using only a few fingers of my right hand. Happy to say I don't think anyone noticed what a mess I made of myself.

Yeah, those were some tough times!

2) Fufu

The most labor intensive dish I've ever witnessed prepared, hands down. Quite the upper body workout makes fufu truly a labor of love!

It's made from boiled plantain and yam pounded into a kind of gooey/slimy dough-like substance, served in a peppery onion soup with chicken or beef. It was just plain weird the first time I had it and had to sink my fingers into it.

And you're not supposed to chew, but it's supposed to just slide on down! It was all too weird for me to actually make up my mind whether I liked the taste or not, so I was on the fence about this one. However, it really grew on me every time I ate it. So by the end of my stay, it beat out banku in my books. I specifically requested it to be my last meal in Ghana - was difficult getting it down with a lump in my throat :(

3) Waakye (pronounced Waatche)

Basically rice and beans with a hot tomato sauce on top, mixed with noodles and dried cassava/gari to taste, possibly with a piece of fried chicken or fish or a boiled egg on the side. I liked this dish (without most of the toppings though).

As for the drinks menu...

A word of caution: Alcohol is frowned upon by conservative and traditional villagers, so you might wanna consider skipping the beer if you don't wanna start a discussion on the topic. For plain old water, you may not find any bottled water on hand, so you'll need to suck and squeeze on a filtered water sachet (whilst trying not to think of silicone implants).

But since you can get away with it as a foreigner, then the local Star beer would round off a truly Ghanaian meal.

And what's for dessert you ask? Well of course there is all the tropical fresh fruit of the season to enjoy. Anything from mangoes, papaya, watermelon, oranges, bananas, pineapple, avocado, etc. just take your pick.

Don't feel like a proper meal? Want a snack on the go? My favorite was boiled corn on the cob. Because, get this: people eat it with hard coconut - loved the tropical twist!

Oh and on those particularly hot days you feel like you're melting to the seat in the heat, you may just be in luck. Listen out for that all-too-familiar horn honk to the rescue with one of these frozen yoghurt packs!

Disclaimer: I will NOT miss the cooked plantain. I couldn’t reconcile its sweet/salty taste which threw my tongue off in total confusion.

RedRed: A beany kinda stew with cooked plantain

When purely salty as plantain chips for example, I was totally game. Made for a nice snack out of a trotro window on my way to the city.  Otherwise, no thanks.

THE SNIPPITY SNAPPER

Basically, the handshake (which is more West African than Ghanaian really). It’s so funny how I still have to consciously restrain myself from continuing every handshake here with the snap I grew so accustomed to using with everyone there. Basically, it’s a normal handshake, but then you let your fingers slide so that you hold the other person’s third finger between your own and your thumb. Then you snap. Off of each other's third fingers. You can see it at the start of this video.



It’s supposed to mean “nice to meet you”. It’s really cool when you get good at it! IF you ever get good at it, ha!