A quiet day in Accra

Monday, June 17, 13

            I don’t have a whole lot of exciting adventure to report on today.  After my breakfast, I went to town to deliver some mail at the Circle post office (let’s see if all my letters make it this time!) before looking for a personal souvenir downtown.  I took a trotro back to Fise junction, and upon seeing that my favorite fruit vendor wasn’t at her post, I set out for some fruit elseware.  Down the road, I spotted what I was looking for – Mango and Abrobe (Pineappe). 

            “Ma achi, aura.  Ma me abrobe, mianue, mango, mianue” I asked the woman working the stand.  I wanted 2 mangoes and 2 pineapple to go.  She was thrilled (I suppose most people don’t come asking for so much fruit at once) and she got to work preparing them.  Meanwhile, an older man who was cracking some brown nuts offered me a seat.  I stared blankly down the road, and after some time, was tapped on the shoulder.  The older man held out some peeled nuts for me.  “Wote Brofu Anaa?” I asked.  Do you speak English? – He said yes.  I asked him what I was about to eat, and all he said was, “Chree chree!”  I suppose that’s the name of the nut.  It was one of the more odd sensations that I’ve felt eating these nuts.  The “flesh” was soft, almost spongy, and porous.  Yet when I took it and popped it in my mouth, the fuzzy red flesh dissolved, not unlike cotton-candy.  And the taste: sweet and mild.  At the center were these large, dense seeds, which I assumed one was to spit out.  I thanked the couple kindly and took my fruit back to the joy family lodge.

The Unknown fruit - It was tasty!

            I spotted my friend James sitting drinking a hot beverage on the lawn. I fetched my neatly cut pineapple, and told him “Come, you are invited.”  We ate the pineapple and talked casually, but I noticed something was a bit off with James.  “I am sick,” he said.  With what – “Malaria.”  It was so nonchalant, I had to ask him to repeat it.  He informed me that some six months ago, he was bit by a mosquito and contracted the disease.  From time to time, he gets the chills, and his body aches; this feeling is exacerbated when he’s bitten by a mosquito.  Last week, I was laughing at his concentration, the way he would stop a conversation mid sentence and swat the air with his hands just to kill a passing mosquito – Now, I know why.

My friend Peter, the gardener/security guard.  He shyly asked me to take his photo