Eat Your Veggies

So several weeks ago, our Fruits & Vegetable Crops lecturer, Madame Blay, decided to send us with a few TAs to three of the local markets/grocery stores to compare and contrast produce and their packaging.

We were all American and on time (why do we bother) and we ended up leaving an hour later (I could have gone to the class I skipped after all!). Off we went on another Ghanaian adventure. Two of my classmates (boys of course) crammed into the seat beside me, and one beside Karlie, despite all the teasing and laughter from everyone else for trying to sit with the obroni (white) girls. We talked about our farm and how it compared to agriculture here. It is always so interesting to hear what they think about America. (FYI- TV doesn't do us justice lol)

After a few instructions, the busload of us was unleashed on a large produce stand on the side of a very busy street in downtown Accra. We were required to write down everything we saw, the scientific names, and its packaging (or lack thereof). After a few minutes, I realized there were tons of them for which I did not even know the common names. But to my surprise, my classmates started turning to Karlie and I and asking questions. It finally became clear to us how little vegetables in particular are valued here. But even more amazing, was that the students were turning to us. After weeks of asking them questions and turning to them to fill in the large gaps in our knowledge of plants here, Karlie and I were finally making considerable contributions to class. It was an awesome feeling.

As we slowly moved from the market to the upscale (basically rich obroni) grocery store across the street, we continued to encounter produce very unfamiliar to them. I was basically drooling over the food I used to eat but is far too expensive here to afford as I explained how we prepare/eat everything from celery to pears.

As we moved through the aisles, my excitement for the fieldtrip grew. We slowly filtered back to the bus to head to our last stop. The class was just as excited as us I do believe. Bright, our class representative (which basically means he has all the notes for the class and can help you out if you ever need anything) was buying ginger cookies (a local specialty) and forcing everyone to try them, several of the girls had icecream cones, and Asontua had a bag of the tiny tropical flavored marshmallows that everyone was grabbing handfuls of and continuing to eat despite the awful faces they were making at the taste of them. I couldn't help but laugh inside at the mayhem that was our fieldtrip. I only wished Madame Blay could see how much we were learning, even if it was a little different than she had imagined.

The bus dropped us off in the parking lot at the mall this time. We were headed to Shoprite, the upscale grocery store in the upscale mall. Piling off the bus, it was like dejavu from the first few days after we arrived and they dropped a busload of obronis off at the mall. This time I felt a lot more confident and not just because I had a busload of Ghanaians behind me. I could tell how much I had grown in this place.

As if the first two stops weren't blessing enough for us, this stop was even more wonderful. There were even more new fruits and vegetables to discuss...and free wine samples. Hilarious trip. Everyone was so funny as they shoved the samples in each others faces to try. It was like children in a candy store (although slightly more controlled). Everyone was pointing and grabbing things and asking questions. It made me so happy to be there with them.

Definitely one of my best days in Ghana.

We all loaded back onto the bus with a few more packages of things to pass around. Everyone was discussing the end of the year parties for the department and the seniors and yelling at the traffic. I love Ghana. And I love my people who love crops.

Thank you Lord for days like these. Amen.