Sunday, September 20, 2009

A traditional meal followed by a day at the beach


After a long but rewarding week of work we were looking forward to the dinner we had been invited to at the Western Heritage Home. They were intending to make Fufu for us, a traditional and well loved Ghanaian dish that is not often found in restaurants. The dish is extremely labor intensive requiring a whole day to prepare. It is a mixture of cooked cassava and plantain that is pounded with a very large long stick, with one brave soul turning the mixture by hand after each strike! The children entertained us with their repertoire of songs which was very sweet and touching. After that we all sat down to our long awaited meal. The Fufu was served in a soup called light soup which contained both chicken and smoked fish and was extremely spicy! The way to eat Fufu is by using your right hand to "tear" off a piece and use it to eat the liquid with. The Fufu is supposed to be swallowed without chewing, something that we all found impossible to do. Ravyn, unfortunately, was the only one of us that could finish her whole meal. The rest of us tried very hard but between the texture of the Fufu, and the spiciness of the soup, we found it impossible to finish. After dinner we were shown around the home by the children and the staff, each of us with our own special little escort in tow. All in all, a lovely evening.



Saturday was our first day off, and we all decided a day at the beach town of Basua was just what we needed. Basua is a small village about 1 hour drive east of Axim. It is such a beautiful spot with long golden beaches and surf just perfect for novices. Gary, Colleen, and Mike all went boogie boarding or surfing and really enjoyed the big, but even waves. We enjoyed watching them from the beach side cafe where we met up with Steven and his family for the day. Wilson and Kingsford also joined us for the day so we had quite the table full of people relaxing and enjoying each other's company. As much as we all love Axim, it was really nice to see a different part of Ghana.

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