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October 1, 2004 — Eating Fu Fu

Me nnamfo ne me die fu fu: My friends and I ate fu fu.

Fu fu is a traditional Ghanaian dish that consists of a dough-like ball made up of smashed boiled cassava and plantains (it kinda tastes like soft rice cakes). The "dough" is in a bowl of light, spicy broth with your choice of goat, chicken or fish (I personally like goat). You scoop pieces of the dough with the soup with your fingers and slurp it all down. When I first tried it, I ate like five bites and I threw up because I wasn't used to the taste and texture. But now, I can't get enough of it! Eating fu fu is a great conversation starter because random Ghanaians will sit down with me and just be so amazed that I eat it so enjoyably. It's sooo good!!

Exploring the Volta Region

The past two weekends, I traveled to the Volta region (northeast region in Ghana). The community is dominated by people belonging to the Ewe tribe. The people were nice—it was not uncommon for children and adults to say to us, "You are welcome!" The area is mostly rural and very lush and tropical. It's really nice to be able to get out of the busy city (Accra) where I live.

Celebrating Yams

The first weekend, we traveled to Ho in Volta for the Yam festival, a huge tradition for the Ewe. The festival celebrates the Ewe freedom from a tyrant ruler (they escaped from Togo and eventually settled in Volta), and it celebrates yams (yams are extremely difficult to grow, but are a good source of food for sustenance and survival). To get to Ho, we only needed to take one tro-tro (mini bus), and that takes about two to three hours depending on the condition of the tro-tro, how many potholes are on the road, and traffic.

The festival itself was a lot of fun. There were many performances with traditional drumming and dance. There was one dance that really shocked us though. The Ewe tribe from Togo walked into the crowd with two big coned, straw huts. It looked like someone was walking in each one, lifting it as he walked. Randomly, the huts would spin, shake, or be completely still. Then some of the Togo Ewe men would lift up the hut and turn it over and there was nothing but a rock underneath! Supposedly the huts were possessed by spirits, but I can't think of any other explanation. They put the huts back upright after showing the crowd there was nothing inside, and the huts started shaking again and chased after the crowd of little kids—they were so scared! I know all this sounds strange, so you can imagine how weirded-out we were actually seeing this with our own eyes!

Staying in Ghana Longer

I feel like time is going by really quickly. I've made really great friends, and I feel like I have just got used to everything—familiarity with places, food, bargaining, personality traits, and habits of Ghanaians (some which us international students picked up). I'm really sad that we only have two more months, but I have to make the best of it. If any of you study abroad or anything like that, I suggest you stay for a year. It's one thing to travel somewhere as a tourist, but it is another to actually live there. To have to get used to a new way of life is difficult and sometimes frustrating, but now we're used to it and it's a great feeling that we're able to adapt to the point where it's almost natural to us now. It really does open your eyes—REALLY WIDE!

More information on programs in Ghana

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