Pounding FuFu

Sunday, August 15

I took the trotro all by myself this morning and met up with Ivy for church at the Lighthouse International Church. The service was really fun- during one of the worship songs a few of the men went up front and danced/marched while everyone else was clapping and semi-dancing in the rows. The entire service had such great energy and the sermon was well done and interesting. I could hardly believe that the service was 2 hours long!

One interesting thing about the service was that there seemed to be 4 tithes or offerings. I never did find out what all of them were for, but each had a different theme (so to speak). One was the normal pass around the bucket type, one required you go to the front and stand there while the pastor prayed, the third was called silver and gold offering- a coin offering- and the last was the 1 GHc (their one dollar bill) offering. My embarrassing moment of the day was during the second offering-yes the “go to the front” one. Right before this offering, Ivy leaned over and whispered that when the pastor asks if it is anyone’s first time attending this church, I should stand up. Right then, the pastor said something that I didn’t understand and Ivy stood up and nodded at me, motioning me to go into the isle. She followed me into the aisle and then walked up to the front, whereupon I followed her to the front of the entire congregation. It was only once we both got up there that Ivy realized I had followed her as she went up to give her tithes and whispered that I should go back and sit down. I then realized that she had been motioning me to stand up so that she could slide past me into the aisle, not that I should follow her! Shortly thereafter the pastor very clearly asked for new visitors to stand up…great. After the service I was able to meet the pastor and his wife-both very interesting people. The pastor works for an international nonprofit aid organization here in Ghana. His wife works for the U.S. Embassy in Ghana and lived in Washington, D.C. for a few years. After meeting practically the rest of the congregation, Ivy and I left to go buy fabric. There were so many pretty choices- it was hard to decide! I think I ended up a bit on the safe side, but it’s a really pretty African-looking print. I think Ivy might make me a second dress if we have time, so maybe I’ll try to go outside my comfort zone with the next pattern!

We went back to Ivy’s house so she could take my measurements and when we got there her sister was pounding dough-looking food with a large stick. She was preparing a dish called FuFu- it’s a mixture of plantains and Cassava. I, of course, wanted to try, so she showed me how. Let’s just say that Ghanaian women have my respect! It’s hard work! Oh, and the little boys kept laughing at me! I kept asking if I was doing it wrong, and then they all started laughing at me- even a couple of men who were passing by pointed and laughed! They finally told me they were all laughing because they had never seen a white lady (yes, I got called a “white lady”) pounding FuFu. Ivy said that since I had ridden the trotro alone and pounded FuFu, that I was an honorary Ghanaian for the day!

I hopped back on the trotro to head home and even changed vans at a junction, making it back to the guesthouse just as it was starting to get dark. What a great day filled with new experiences!