Can't Get Over These Chickens

As promised, here is the video I was too impatient to upload earlier. Sorry it's sideways, I'm still getting used to my new phone. Pay attention to how loud it is, the tin roof really made it sound like the end of the world was happening.

Last night, we had a pretty decent storm. It rained sporadically through the night and cooled everything down. I couldn't fall asleep and I think it's because it cooled down enough that I became energized. Heat and humidity makes a person lethargic, and once I felt that it was cool enough to not live like a slug, it was hard to lay down. I woke up pretty late this morning and I took another shower. The water was a little cooler this time, mostly because the temperature outside was also cooler.

Afterwards, I tried setting up my phone with a Ghanaian number. I got a SIM card yesterday. I put the card in the phone, but didn't get any cell phone signal. I thought that was abnormal, and asked around. I took a gander at the actual chip on each SIM card, only to discover that American chips are a little smaller than Ghanaian ones. Conclusion: no Ghanaian SIM will work with my phone because of that small size difference. Wonderful.

As my hair began to dry, I felt it curling. I brushed it out to discourage the jungle hair, but it protested. Freshly washed hair in humidity tends to do what it will, and I think I'm learning that the hard way.

Jumanji? Also, like my use of Instagram?

I had a nice chat with an AIESEC e-board member for a while. I told him about my experiences as an RA (which is a book in the writing) and I'm not sure he believed most of what I said, but I have a few people to back me on the stories (right?). I also told him about this blog and how I used it to show people the food I make. That delved into an entire food-based conversation, in which I tried to describe the foods I've made.

What a challenge. I learned quickly how different America and Ghana are, culinarily speaking (is that a word?). I showed him a few pictures of my food and tried to describe it. How do you describe what cheesecake is to someone who doesn't know what it is? Or cream cheese for that matter? How do you even begin to describe what cheesecake is without the slightest knowledge of its foundation? I tried by saying that it's what you spread on a bagel, but that left me with a blank stare. This man has never had a bagel.

I was floored. A life without cream cheese.

I pressed further and became more shocked. No lasagna dinners. No idea what the most perfect combination of cinnamon-sugar tastes like. Hasn't the clue what Hot Tomato Oil tastes like (but a lot of people don't, so I'll let that slide).  He's never heard the word brownie. For the love of ZEUS what is a life without brownies?

Great. This is going to be the only thing on my mind for the rest of my stay.
[askmissa.com]

Could this be my first taste (no pun intended) of culture shock? I have this unignorable desire to cook everything I can for these guys. Ghanaian food is great, but as he said it perfectly, there isn't much variety Starch with something spicy. Mix and match from there.

With all that talk of food, I became extremely hungry.  We went in search of food, but unfortunately for us it is Sunday. Ghana is pretty religious, and has multiple masses on Sundays. Subsequently, everything is pretty much closed all day. We found a place that was open. I was highly recommended to get Waakye (waa-chay), which is a traditional Ghanaian dish that consists of rice and beans cooked together.

Most of the dish was exactly that, black beans and rice cooked together until they were pretty homogeneous (I'd say 80% homogeneous). I wasn't expecting the toppings. She scooped the rice in the container and added (1) gari - a dried part of the cassava tuber, orange in appearance, and gritty in texture, (2) noodles - i thought is was spaghetti, (3) a chicken leg - always welcome, and (4) that hot sauce that I discovered on the fried rice two days earlier. It turns out that the sauce is a mix of the two pepes I had yesterday, it's extremely spicy. I wiped a lot off before I ate to avoid the same mistake.

This is the most accurate picture I could find.
[flickr]

I ate enough to fill me, but it looked like I didn't eat anything. I wasn't putting a dent in this food. On the walk back from the place, I saw a ton of chickens. I couldn't get over it. They were just running around, bawking and clucking to their hearts content. I was so fascinated that the guy I was with started laughing hard. How could I not be fascinated, there were five chickens running around together! WHAT? They're so regular in Ghana, I'm just going to go ahead and assume that the chicken here is our squirrel equivalent. Most likely the only comparison the two animals will ever receive.