In L.A. Step 1: Visit a West African Restaurant

i found a restaurant on Wilshire boulevard, practically in our backyard, called Ngoma in the mid-wilshire district. first step is to head on over there to eat fufu, a mallet-pounded plantain mush and Ghanain staple.

i'm sure we won't have to pound it ourselves at Ngoma (as depicted in the picture of Ghanaians hard at work bringin home the fufu, at left), but i haven't been, so we'll find out.

i've also started reading this one guy's blog; he's living in ghana working for an NGO, doing humanitarian farm aid work. it's pretty interesting to read his posts, which aren't frequent, but i'd have to say, i'm not really looking forward to killing my own chickens for dinner. it's also harrowing when you consider ghana is one of the poorest countries on earth and for this guy named douglas, who's originally from so. cal like us, he's been confronting some strange customs and beliefs, especially of the mythic kind. the ghanaians he talks to believe in ghosts and spirits, and these supernatural beliefs and superstitions seem to rule their every day lives.

Ghana!!!

john and i will be in ghana come february, so i've created this blog to record our trip. we'll also attempt to update from the road if dsl and internet connections avail themselves in sub-saharan africa.... we'll see. here's our partial preparations checklist, so far: vaccinations for yellow fever, malaria, disco fever.....(for John!), tickets, check, passports, check. All we need to do is read up on west africa. That and learn to eat with our fingers.