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Published: December 21st 2008
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Hi everyone,
We've moved to New Abiriem, 4hrs North of Accra in Ghana. It's tiny, one shop with supplies, but numerous other stalls or converted shipping containers with electical goods or latex foam matresses or pre-paid mobile phone cards. We live just 5 minute walk outside the village, which has about 1500 residents. New Abiriem is about 6 degrees north of the equator, so we are in dry season at the moment. That means 30C/85F days with 60% humidity - it's always sticky. It's rained twice since I arrived, heavy downpours that are short & sweet.
There are 2 market days, Tuesday & Friday, but most things are available everyday if you need something. The supply of fruit & vegetables is limited, and it doesn't keep well. We have plenty of dried beans (Called cow peas here, black eye beans elsewhere) & tomatoes available, eggplants the size of a large egg that turn orange just before they starts to wither, & Ockra, ginger, chillis plus the omnipresent cassava.
The locals eat cassava like bread, but it takes a lot of effort to even get it to the dough form they like. The raw root is peeled from a brown skin/husk, &
has white flesh, is roasted & pounded , then cooked in a big pot without water to form a paste, then formed into a glutinous ball they call "Fufu". This is pulled apart to form a scoop, & eaten with a meat stew and chilli/fish sauce. Less available veges; cucumber, cabbage, carrots - & some form of green leaf I haven't found the source of yet.
Fruit: Paw paw, pineapple, oranges (less flavour/tart juice), plaintain & bannanas are common. Less available; coconuts, limes & apples.
Meat: Chicken, beef & ...... Fish! Ghanaians love fish, it's part of their culture. Dried & fried fish is everywhere. The government has had to clamp down on illegal fishing in Ghana waters to stop over-fishing, but the stuff is smoked and cooked before it arrives here. The market stinks of it. Often coiled on a stick - 3 to 4 mackeral sit covered in flies until they are bought up for the evening meal. Eggs are available everywhere, always sitting in the heat, just for those who argue eggs must be kept in the refrigerator.
We took a trip to kumasi, about 2 hrs to the north yesterday. It's a much bigger town than
Abiriem, where we can pick up some supplies from a supermarket. The road is really good for most of the way, unfortunately that means people drive way too fast without the ability. Result; lots of crushed wrecks line the road. Lots of Logging trucks with the twin rear wheels removed on one side & undergoing some rigourous repair work with levers & hammers. My favourite logging truck story; the curb-side rear wheels missing, a drag mark about 75 feet long in the asphalt. At the end of the gouge, the logging truck with 3 massive logs about 2.5 feet in diameter chained to the payload frame.The logs had moved in the accident, and were overhanging the failed wheel's axel. The truck already tilting because of the missing wheels, plus the precarious overhanging logs provided the perfect place to sit in the shade. 4 or 5 people had taken advantage!!!
Kumasi on Saturday - the big market day. A tip for anyone going - don't take a backpack or anything apart from essentials. The alleys are so tight , you don't have room for even a day pack to turn around without knocking over someones display of shoe polish or fruit.
(I was the culprit of the latter) There wasn't an inch of room to spare! The centre of the road island was covered in shoe sellers, belts & snack foods. The alleys are divided into sections - say textiles or shoes or toys. Each stall is crammed packed and only 3 feet wide, with wooden doors that open outward and provide more space to hang merchandise & less room to walk. Sometimes a child will be asleep on the goods, while mum russells up the trade with a bell or yelling in your ear. The traffic is bumper to bumper - no rules about where you stop to load or unload so it all moves at a snails pace. Nobody was begging, everybody was selling something. strangest sight; A truck came past in the side streets, trailed by about 15 blue suited Santas - yes,... that was Santas i said - complete with long white beards, throwing out samples of... milk powder! A santa gave us Abuni's (whiteys) a sample each. Which we promptly handed to kids nearby.
All for now
I have to make some dinner.
Chris
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