More and More Ghanaian

Little things remind me that I am acclimating to Ghanaian life…

1. When my teaching day has closed, I don’t immediately rush to my house to change into shorts. I can actually continue to function in the weather while wearing trousers

2. Ghanaian TV is becoming palatable. I get 9 channels on my TV. 6 of them are Ghanaian. The other three are South African. At first, and still mostly, I prefer the South African stations because they show syndicated programming from the US sometimes: Friends, CSI, Girlfriends (yes, I even watch WB shows); and they also at times carry Al Jazeera English, and CNN International. The Ghanaian stations show a combination of local Ghanaian news, political talk/rant shows, music videos ranging from hip-life to reggae to gospel, Christian and Muslim preachers, Brazilian soap operas with English voiceovers (sexy Brazilian women speaking with ridiculous English voices – it’s actually quite comical) and Nollyhood movies (Nigerian, that is). Well, the preachers still aren’t my style, but I have found myself getting into the occasional Nollywood film – mostly set in rural villages and usually featuring an angry, boorish man wearing a white undershirt, running around yelling and screaming at all the women who live in his house, from his wife/wives to various daughters, sister-in-laws, and nieces. All the while, the women are usually plotting a way to get back at the man either by slipping something in his food to make him ill, or stealing his secret stash of money and slipping away in the night. They are strange, to say the least, have terrible sound (WAY over modulated!) but of late, are becoming more attractive to me.

3. I’m starting to take Ghanaian food. For two months I survived on pasta. Lots of pasta. And occasionally I would eat rice – plain white, fried, jollof (spicy tomato based). A few weeks ago I tried “red-red” again, after taking it the first week I was here and really disliking it. This time – quite good! I’ve had it a few times since. It’s sort-of like Ghanaian baked beans (made with fish and palm oil, giving it a red color) that you eat with plantains fried in palm oil – which also makes them red. Thus the name.

And last night, at a local restaurant, with all sorts of choices before me including pizza, I opted for: FUFU with Lite Goat Soup. And it was yummy. I have some FUFU and soup left in the fridge (I ate all the goat meat) waiting for lunch today!

4. I’m using little British english terms more and more as you may have noticed in reading this: "classes close”; “trousers”; “take” Ghanaian food; etc.