The morning is a delight. I sat outside on the deck to read the paper and drink my coffee. I kept stopping to listen to the birds and the rustling of the leaves on the swaying branches. Today will be hot, in the low 80’s. Tonight will be cooler. I have an errand, the only entry on my dance card.

When I was in Ghana, I learned groundnuts (peanuts) grow under ground which makes the British/Ghanaian name perfectly descriptive. Its flowers grow above the ground while the fruit, the nuts, grow underground. In the afternoons, when the school year was just beginning, my students harvested the nuts. I went and watched and took pictures. Groundnut stew is a common Ghanaian dish. I was skeptical that groundnut paste (peanut butter) as a base made for a tasty stew, but it did. It had tomatoes and onions and chicken. The stew was the color of the groundnut paste.

In Bolgatanga where I lived, I was the only white woman my first year there. Everyone in town knew who I was. When I was learning Hausa, the language taught to me during training, I learned the greetings first. I used them all the time as I was greeted everywhere I went, and I loved being able to return the greetings. That always delighted the Ghanaians. I could use the specific greetings like I greet you in the market or I greet you at work. I could also say good morning, good afternoon or good evening. I could ask how you are feeling. The answer was always lafiya lau. I’m fine, no matter how you felt. When I went back to Ghana the first time, I greeted people at dinner in the hotel restaurant, ina wuni, good evening. Later I found out there was discussion at their table about the white lady who knew Hausa. That was when they figured out who I was.

I love mangos and papaya. I eat hummus, falafel and tabbouleh, the foods I ate in the Lebanese restaurants in Accra. They were inexpensive foods, perfect for Peace Corps volunteers. I like fufu with stew, a Southern dish, and also t-zed with stew, a Northern dish. I could eat plantain, my favorite Ghanaian food, at every meal and also jollof rice, my favorite Ghanaian dish, at every meal, and we’re talking breakfast too.

I brought so much of Ghana home with me, not just things, but memories. When I watch YouTube videos of Bolga, I feel joy and happiness but also sadness that I am not there.

Explore posts in the same categories: Musings

This entry was posted on August 26, 2022 at 11:02 am and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.