fish: it's what's for dinner.

i realized i had begun to adjust to life in ghana when, one day at
lunch, i no longer had a craving for pizza or nachos or lasagna, but
for bofu.
don't get me wrong: i would still LOVE to have any of those other
cheesy items of goodness, but i'm becoming more realistic.
my friend sonya and i started the craving game way too early into our
time in ghana. after only a week or so, we were already describing
which american foods sounded perfect at that moment. and we were
really good at it: a plate of nachos with cheese and salsa and
guacamole and a margarita. or a slice of cheesecake with a big glob
of whipped cream on top. or simply, a glass of milk.
but then, one day, i realized that i knew i wouldn't get those things
for a very long time. and at that moment, bofu sounded wonderful.
bofu is basically a fried dough ball, sold from roadside kiosks or off
someone's head, for about 10 to 30 cents each.
or you can get cocoyams with pepe, which are fried potato-like things
with a side of spicy hot pepper sauce. they are about the same price.
egg sandwiches are always a safe bet. you order the sandwich from a
lady with a stand at the side of the road. you order based on how
much you want to pay, say "two eggs and three thousand bread." what
you get is two eggs cooked up with tomatoes and onions on a huge thick
piece of bread. the eggs are 30 pesewas each, and three thousand
refers to 30 pesawas of bread, so we're at 90 pesawas (60 cents or so)
for a very satisfying meal.
from roadside stands (or the tops of peoples heads) you can also get
fried rice, groundnuts (peanuts), bananas, corn, bread, etc.
and let me mention, the items i have described are those items i will
actually eat.
but the best of all of these is fanmilk. these are little plastic
bags of ice cream frozen goodness, and they simply rescue any ghana
food disaster day.