The Food and Living Conditions
I ate FuFu today! It was my 3rd time ever and every time I get better with it. I really do like to eat it, it’s super easy to swallow, even the bites that seem too big. My companion and I are gonna start cooking together starting this week, and I can’t tell you how excited I am! I gained about 5 pounds in the MTC and lost 10 since I got into the field.
Fufu is to Western and Central Africa cooking what mashed potatoes are to traditional European-American cooking. Fufu is a starchy accompaniment for stews or other dishes with sauce. To eat fufu: use your right hand only to tear off a bite-sized piece of the fufu, shape it into a ball, make an indentation in it, and use it to scoop up the soup or stew or sauce, or whatever you’re eating. The custom is to swallow it whole. In Western Africa, Fufu is made from cassava tubers or yams, sometimes combined with plantains. Making fufu involves boiling, pounding, and vigorous stirring until the fufu is thick and smooth.
Some information from Ghanaweb.com
I take my Doxycycline and Vitamin every day. Pharmaceutical Drugs aren’t regulated here, so anything you want, you can get it over the counter for pretty cheap. I have a filtering water bottle from the MTC that I use about half the time. Mostly when it’s Dom-so. When the power is out, (dom-so) I have to shower out of a bucket… not fun. I much prefer the shower head. I shower every night and day and apparently I’m getting tanner every week. I can only imagine what I’ll look like going into the winter in 2017. I’ll be a sight to behold.
The Ups and Downs
This week was an interesting one. My companion couldn’t go out for a couple days since he had runny tummy (Diarrhea) so I had a lot of time to read and study in our apartment while he very unfortunately suffered. It just didn’t seem like a good time for him and all I could do was try to serve him as much as possible and watch. I also learned a very valuable lesson this week.
Missionary work is not exactly what I thought it would be. While I thought that it was a cookie cutter mold, it’s not. Every area, if not every mission, is like a child. They all have different needs and you can’t treat or approach them exactly the same. Culturally, this area is interesting because the sun rises at 6am and sets at 6pm every day. The town wakes up at 5-5:30 and falls asleep by 8 unless you’re a young adult out with friends doing worldly things: definitely not what I considered what this would be like. Also, this area has been open for over 6 years. Most of what I think needs to be done is reactivation. Reactivation is just as important as baptism.
I’m becoming better friends with my companion. He speaks english perfectly, it’s just his accent I have difficulty with, so no problems there. That and culture differences that we just need more time to work out. But we’re learning from each other how to better communicate and it’s awesome. 🙂
Anyway, I’ve run out of things to say, so until next week, my friends! My love is with all of you!
Just Gilbert 