Bankou and Stew for Two: Friendship and Food

Part of any big move is adjusting to losing your community and building yourself a new one.  As I'm blessed to be surrounded by loving friends and family at home, I have been impatient with myself and want the whole friendship-network building thing to happen apace.  Being the only foreigner in my small town right now, it's easy to resign to loneliness at times.  Despite that, I've been trying hard to meet people and build connections with those around me.  The folks in my town are amiable and have a real playfulness about them.  I've been meeting people left and right, but my schedule of working from home during the day and hangin' with my little dudes at night, hasn't allowed me to to organically take the quick introductions to friendship level.

Last week, Joe and I traveled to Bolgatanga, the town where our mailbox is (puts things in perspective, huh ;)), which is about 45 minutes to two hours away depending on how much the bus wants to stop.  On the way we took a trotro, which are vans (usually rickety) that work like a private bus system.  You're usually sitting on half a seat with someone's arm in your face, but they can be a shorter ride than the Metro Mass Transit buses because they stop less, but more importantly because the drivers are reckless and launch off potholes and go much faster than you think any rusty tin can on wheels should.  When we got to Bolga, I got my first glimpse of other foreigners in the area!  THEY EXIST!  I peeped about a handful and vowed that when I start coming to the town alone, I will ardently hunt them down and force friendship upon them.  Though my main focus is to make friends with the people in Sandema, I think it's important to have at least a few ex-pat connections to ease the feeling of "doing this alone".  Only a foreigner truly understands what another foreigner is going through.  After a lovely day of exploring this mini city, we got on the bus to head home.  For the way back, we decided to take the MMT bus so I could experience the different options.  The bus is pretty nice, but there is obviously no AC and it gets packed to the brim.  As folks were piling in, a lot of the men who were sitting, gave up their seats to the women who were standing (chivalry ain't dead in a culture where women stay in the kitchen! ...wait).  Joe gave up his seat to a young lady which ended up being a great move in the my chess game of life.  The woman's name is Veronica and she's a 27 year old nurse at the Sandema hospital but is originally from the mailbox town.  The bus ride ended up taking a solid two hours, which allowed for some quality getting-to-know-you time, albeit sweaty and uncomfortable getting-to-know-you time.  Vero and I really hit it off and decided to meet up soon.  When we got together, she told me a bit about her life and it turns out she's quite the foreigner magnet.  The year before nursing school, she worked at an orphanage with some German volunteers.  She built great friendships and somewhat understands what the volunteer experience is all about and knows how to deal with us non-Ghanaian folk (when to look out for people cheating us, cultural considerations for how not to offend, and the reality that most volunteers (though they are "white"--I'm white here) are actually pretty broke).  She's extremely generous, thoughtful, and has this sassy sense of humor that you can't help but be taken by.

This past Thursday, Vero came over to teach me how to make bankou and okra stew.  Before I get into that, let me tell you a bit about the food here.  Generally, the flavors remind me of Korean food as the stews and soups are robust and quite spicy.  I really enjoy all the stews, but my only complaint is that they are heavily oil-based so can make you feel a bit like a 300-pound pizza-face post-meal (mmmm, pizza...........sushi...bagels...).  Now, what is eaten with the stews and soups is something to get used to.  BB calls this the "globular food group," which is the perfect description.  Bankou, foufou, and tizzet are some of the different types of globs with flavor and texture variations.  Bankou and foufou are similar in texture, a mix between bread dough and mashed potatoes.  Bankou tastes kind of like sourdough bread or Ethiopian injera and foufou is blander and potatoey.  Tizzet is more flavorless like foufou, but it has the texture of firm tofu made of porridge.  The object is to take a small piece of glob (ALWAYS WITH YOUR RIGHT HAND), make a little indent in it, and pick up the stew or soup.  Excuse me, but have you EVER tried to eat soup with your hand?!  I would think it impossible if I didn't see all the boys at the centre plow through their soups using their globs.  Needless to say, I fail at this and the resulting mess is greater than what I actually get into my mouth.  I've been more shameless in asking for a spoon when I eat at the centre so I can actually enjoy Madam Judith's cooking.

So, Vero set out to teach me how to make bankou and stew, and I have to say the result was tasteriffic!  

Vero mixing the flours and water for the bankou

As it heats up, it gets super paste-like and very difficult to stir

So I finally surrender to the notion that there are veggies I don't really like, and okra is on the list.  Though the stew was incredible in taste, I can't get over the slimy phlegminess of okra.

putting the cooked bankou into plastic bags for setting

The stew is finished!

how it's served

sweaty from the hot kitchen and ready to dig in!

Vero and I enjoyed our evening so much that we decided to make meal-making a weekly affair!  I can't wait until she teaches me fish and egg stew with yam (non-glob but used the same way), my favorite thing I've had here so far.  I'm so grateful for this new friendship and I hope to make many more meaningful connections with my fellow town dwellers.

Thank you home friend/family network for supporting me, loving me, and following on my adventure.  You have no idea how much I appreciate all of you that have been a part of sending me here with funds, words, and love.  I miss you all so much!  I wish I could get a good squeeze from home :)

Love from Sandema,
Tippy