between then and now

From our blog silence you may have thought that between Ghana and now we have sat at home moping. We have a bit, but we have also been busy now and then, but just feeling too bleurgh to getting round to posting a blog about it


OEA meal at Hotel Ricardo - a huge paella dinner for 25 of us

Fundraiser at ICCV - a library project for in Ouaga

Lon learnt how to put out fires with the rest of the embassy as part of a team building day

Nev went to the vet a few more times to deal with an infection in his claw

we got the dining room table refinished - as the water damage was so bad from the last leak (plus ten years of general abuse had left it looking a bit sad)

slight panic when he started sanding!

all shiny again

we taught the cats the art of synchronised snoozing

I successfully made alloco - Lons favourite fried plantain

we had a ladies dhosa brunch courtesy of Geeta

Nev turned 4!

 

Sint and the Piets came to get ready to celebrate for Sinterklaas at our house

and last night we went to celebrate St Lucia with our neighbouring Swedes

my hair is getting long!

I went to Bobo and I bought...

Back in October we planned a weekend away in Bobo, and despite the fact that Ouaga was jumping with parties, food (fairs) and dinners we still went anyway.

We wandered round, shopped, ate and drank beer - all helped by the changing weather (it doesn't hit 30+ until midday, and is down to 16 at night)

So on Saturday night we sat at a maquis in front of the train station for a beer and to window shop

any number of sellers walked past us and offered their wares, over the course of two beers we were shown:

Kora –a local guitar/lute
Surge protector
Extension cord
Belt
Vest (undershirt)
Iron
Clothes pegs
Garden hose
Headphones
Phone credit
Sim card
Dvds
Inflatable plane
Inflatable horse
Scrabble
Tissues
Chewing gum
Tea strainer
Cigarettes
Dried meat
Slip on shoes
Underpants
Kola nuts
Peanuts
Radio
Socks
Gloves
Melamine plates
Tinsel
Christmas tree
3 in one exercisers
kids football kit / dress
football
sweets
biscuits
lock and keys
padlock
brush
scissors
comb
tuareg leather box / dagger

all of which we managed to turn down (I began writing stuff down after a while!)

we did buy an inflatable santa though!  he has a squeaker in his foot, and if you are in Bobo the poulet televise (rotisserie chicken) is pretty good (too dark to photo by then)

we came back with a haul of treasures to remind us of our stay.

On the way back from Bobo, we stopped for lunch - and picked up a grilled funky chicken (guinea fowl) - complete with its feet and head intact!

List

The long awaited list is there. We will not mention it was due 35 days before. We wonder why we both got a headache at the news it finally arrived. It has been difficult not knowing anything about our future.

Short background. In the Dutch foreign service there is a yearly change of posts, normally everyone changes every four years, because of the closure of the embassy the next 'round' means a change of post for us as well. We get to give our preferences around November, headoffice will judge them all and than gives the outcome in March/April.

The options for me this time are limited.

Two postings of the same job; in Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Kampala (Uganda).
A few with more general and consular affairs added to the development work I do now, but that includes Iraq and Syria. Budapest and Madrid are an option.
And there are a couple of postings in The Hague, but we really prefer to go abroad.

In two weeks time we know how many people reacted to which post, that might give an indication of our changes.

To be honest we probably will still be tense until the we get the decision, it can go any way. 4 long months.

Dawadawa

while we were in our fancy suite in Accra we enjoyed watching the Ghanaian channels, and I really enjoyed a cookery program, proudly sponsored by Onga (stock cubes and sauce mixes).  The guest chef was from the Northern region and cooked some specialties.  She talked about a seasoning/spice used regularly called dawadawa - which she added in powdered form to a dish.

On my birthday in Bolgatanga I saw dawadawa rice on the menu - and thought - why not?

If only I'd known the French, or English name for dawadawa since I would have stuck to vegetable rice! Fermented dried seeds of the African locust bean, known here in BF as Soumbala and sold in balls at the market- the ladies call it Maggi africaine (african oxo cubes?) - protein rich, and with reputed health benefits from diabetes to heart disease, it is very much in the same kind of seasoning as Thai/Vietnamese fish sauce - savoury / salty / smelly to be used with discretion.

yes they do resemble turds

Discretion was not used on my rice. Just lots of dawadawa and some extra added hot sauce to render it utterly inedible.  We didn't take a photo. It was a plate of greasy grey rice.

Luckily we had provisions in the hotel room, since it was by this time too late to try and order something else. Cup a soup to the rescue!

Post-Ghana post, with post news

The north of Ghana, especially our incredibly long drive from Hoehoe to Tamale, and the escarpment really brought memories of our truck journey back in 95 flooding back.  There has not been much development there, especially relative to the rest of the country, so some villages still have no electricity, roads are not tarmacked, rooves are thatched and water is pumped at the well.



there were times driving along, which for me - felt right - the sounds and smells were so familiar. Africa definitely got in my blood all those years ago.

In case any of you are wondering about the choices available to us on the list for the next posting, so are we. Due to reasons (ministry speak) the posting list has been delayed by a month.  Good thing we didn't come back early from our holiday in order to download it. Oh wait. We did.

Anyway, the rollercoaster starts again on the 25th. Possibly.

Roadside

Lots of our time in Ghana was in the car, so a lot of our experiences were viewed through the windscreen. We of course took photos..

each red traffic light was a shopping possibility

lots of stools, racks, tables etc

the road / market to our hotel in Kumasi

a truck full of bikes - the load was coming off and all traffic detoured via the Shell station

the blue bagged food was popular at the coast - still unsure what it is

palm oil for sale - used everywhere!

petrol station

donkeys have largely been replaced by these 3 wheelers in Ghana

good to see boys doing their own laundry

schoolkids mucking round

cuties

cushions and wreaths - the village roadside was full of them

school trip to collect wood?

winnowing in the wind

public conveniences

Add caption

footy match

What a fate I need Medical back!

I looked through some more of the Ghana pics, and here are some signs.  As always for each one we managed to capture there were 50 more we did not...

??? - what a fate

oddly sinister schoolyard sign

Food joints and Chop bars everywhere selling chicken and rice

...what could it be?

note the placement next to the open (but covered) drains

Church signs next to the mosque - it seems very tolerant

MTN's ad campaign

I don't think it would work in Europe..