The New Year, Cast-uls, and Goat Meat

Wow - I haven't updated this blog since last year.....(sorry, but the new years jokes like that are just too fun not to make)

Hope everyone had a great New Year's celebration!  We spent ours eating some homemade pizzas, pita bread and hummus, rice krispies, and a cheese ball with chips!  When the clock struck midnight, we celebrated and watched all the many firework displays around the world on CNN.  Afterwards, we had a good time of reflection and sharing about God's blessings in 2011 and what we are looking forward to in 2012.  And I have to admit, for the first time in my life, I was in bed by 1 am on New Years!

Our delicious New Years snack

We spent Saturday un-decorating from Christmas and now we are in full work mode as we continue to work on the lesson plans. making copies, binding books, typing homework pages, etc.  As I was making copies yesterday, Mathias (one of the workers here) asked me if I had been to the "cast-ul" yet.  I said, "the what?"  He said it again, this time slower..."cast-ul."  I still had not idea what he was asking, so after about 3 times repeating it he spelled it.  Here, he was asking if I had been to the CASTLE yet, as in the slave castle here in Prampram.  Oi ve - it's funny how even the simplest word can be completely misunderstood.  We got a good laugh out of that.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet or not, but I have recently had the opportunity to try some Ghananain dishes.  Salome, a friend of OITC for many years, brought fufu and peanut soup for me to try the other week.  Yesterday, Janet (a previous OITC worker) brought some fufu and light soup with goat meat.  Then, last night Salome came again, this time with Chicken stew!  I was very touched at their thoughtfulness and I know that it was a sacrifice for them since meat and vegetables are a speciality here.  Thankfully, I have Mr. Ambrose here to help me eat the massive quantities they make!  The balls of fufu are so large - but, it makes sense because they fill the stomach.  I have to be honest in that I didn't particularly care for the fufu or the goat meat, but the rest of the dishes were better.  There's something different tasting about their food that I can't get used to - I think it may be the palm nut oil?  One thing that I really enjoy are the plantain chips.  Just writing that made me hungry for some!

Light Soup with Goat Meat (bones still intact)



Fufu with peanut soup and chicken



Eat Up!

Now that Christmas and New Years are over, the Ghananains are starting to head back to work.  Because of the fact that Christmas fell on a weekend this year and people already have the weekends off, they decided to celebrate Christmas and Boxing Day for the entire week after Christmas!  We went to pay our electric bill and were told to come back in a week or so because they were on holiday.  And, ironically enough, during the entire Christmas and New Years break we've had consistent electricty.  It makes me wonder if they don't just enjoy turning ECG on and off for entertainment when it's not a holiday.

I've really enjoyed meeting some of the people that Bishop Miller knew from her first trips here - it's been such a great privilege!  We visited a lady named Josephine who helped Bishop Miller when she would come back to visit.  Josephine is in her 90's and she spends her days outside on a little porch built for her at her home in lower Prampram.  We brought her a Christmas present and she kept saying, "oh, many thanks, many thanks."  It was a neat experience and she still asks about and prays for Bishop Miller.  She calls her "my sister."

Madame Susie visiting with Josephie

Well, I have to keep working on typing up outlines, so I'll sign off for now and leave you with a few snapshots from Ghana!

Adorable group of kids at the preschool located by the post office.



We are so blessed in America - this little guy's mom works at the vegetable stand in the Tema market and this is where she keeps him during the work day.  And people complain about not having enough maternity leave back home!

Christmas goats for sale alongside the motorway.

Getting measured by Rebecca, a local seamstress, to have some pieces made from the fabric I bought at the Tema Market.