Friday, October 17, 2008

Random musings

RANDOM MUSING #1: In the streets of Ghana you may come across stores (which may be a 6x6x10 wooden shack, or part of a concrete building) that have names like these:

God Reigns Cold Store
Gifted Hand Beauty Salon
No Weapon Beauty Salon
Alpha & Omega Unit Transfer
Girls Next Door Mini-Mart
Merchants of Daughters Security Systems
Sober Spot Drinking Bar & Food Joint (a bit of an oxymoron?!)
But Seek First the Destiny of God Construction Works

You might see on the back of a taxi or tro-tro:

Holy Ghost Fire
God Dey

RANDOM MUSING #2: The fruit here is fresh, cheap and available almost anywhere. Here is my list of favorite fruit in Ghana:

1. Mango (not currently in season, but occasionally you can find it)
2. Pineapple (
its so soft and juicy you can eat almost the entire fruit)
3. Plantains (fried, heated, as chips, its delicious any way its been prepared)
4. Guava (very sweet, this fruit was new to me)
5. Banana (best bananas I've ever tasted, smaller and sweeter than ones in the US)
6. Grapes (I've only seen red)
7. Coconut (coconut trees are everywhere...someone climbs a tree, pulls them down, cuts them open, and you drink the juice. Then you can scoop out the goopy white stuff inside and eat it. But it stains your clothes)
8. Orange (most of the skin is cut away, the top is cut open, and you squeeze what's left of the skin to get the juice out of the open top. Basically you are drinking juice straight from an orange)
9. Papaya (hadn't had this before, resembles melons)

RANDOM MUSING #3: The sound of what seems like a million frogs outside my house is driving me insane. It starts at dark, maybe about 8pm, and seems to continue on and off all night long. If you don't hear from me again, I'm probably out trying to find and capture all the frogs so I can take them to Burkina Faso.

I'm working on getting a camera, but it probably will be a while before I post pictures. Farewell!

2 comments:

herb and mary said...

Joe,
It is wonderful to read your blog. Although you are half way around the world-it doesn't seem that far away - after reading about your days in Ghana. We are so glad that you are following your dream.
Also happy that you were able to attend a 'ceremony'. You didn't mention if you drank the shots from the bottle cap filled w/gin?? before you began playing the kagan.
All is well in NJ. Mark plans to drive to Pitts. and will attend the Pitt/Rutgers game with Jeremy. Not sure which side they'll sit on! Carolyn and I had an oppty. to visit Paris. What an incredibly beautiful city. Notre Dame was most impressive and spiritual.
Are we able to send you emails? If so, would you get your email address to us?
Hoping you continue to have great musical experiences despite the lack of water, numerous insects and frogs, etc.
Have fun and be safe.
Love,
Mary, Herb, Carolyn and Mark

Barbara Sheehan-Zeidler said...

Greetings from Colorado!

Seems like you're getting into the swing of your new surroundings, Joe! Reading your musings makes me "see" what you're experiencing and, like Aunt Mary said, this makes you not seem so far away. We're enjoying an extended Colorado Fall Season and we're all just soaking up the varied shades of golds, reds, and greens of fall. Hope you get the "sticks" soon and are able to enjoy another fascinating ceremony, Joe!
All our best, Joe...hugs and smiles from Colorado...B, P, S, Z, R, and Grandma