Day 37

August 20th

I pounded fufu today. Fufu is a staple carbohydrate in Ghana made from cassava (which is kind of like large oblong potatoes) and unripened plantains. I can’t eat too much of it. The diet here is heavily based in carbs, and it feels so heavy in my stomach. Good but whew, I need a salad, lol. After we cut the cassava and plantains, and boiled them we went to pound the items. My host family doesn’t have the tools to pound it so we had to walk to another neighborhood to pound it. First one woman came and said, “Aye! The oburoni is pounding fufu!” I got a small crowd of woman and children. The women kept telling the children to leave. But they didn’t. Just moved to a safe distance. They asked me how I was doing in Fante, I responded and asked the same in Twi. They were all surprise and laughed. It didn’t take as long as I thought. I have a war wound. A blister. And I need a nap, lol.

SIDE NOTE Random funny conversations:
1) Pastor’s wife, pastor, the house helps, and friends are in the living room. I enter and sit down. Everyone is laughing about something.
Pastor’s wife says to one of the house helps, “Aww fuck you!”
My eyes get really big. “Wow.”
Pastor laughing,“What? We heard it on the American movie.”
Me chuckling, “Oh. Well… in the US people would be very surprised to hear a pastor or a pastor’s wife say that word.”
Pastor’s wife, “Oh we don’t know what it means.” She walks over to me laughing, “Tell me what it means in my ear.”
Me, lost for words on how to define the “f” word. “I don’t know. Its like saying ‘your mother’ or something it’s a curse or something.”
Pastor’s wife no longer whispering, “So what should I say? ‘No fuck you.’ ‘Please no fuck you.’ ‘Don’t fuck you.’ ‘Don’t be a fuck.”
Me, feeling something weird between behind slightly offended and wanting to laugh “No, it’s the word it’s not how you say it.”
Pastor’s wife, “So, no fuck you?”
Me, “No, it’s the word, it not…ok.” LOL.

2) Me to one of the house helps, “Would you like some juice?”
House help, “Ohhhh noooo.” Shaking her head.
Me, “Oh, you don’t like juice?”
House help, “Yes.”
Me, “So you do like juice?”
“No.”
“Ok you don’t like juice.”
“Yes.”
“So…ok” LOL.