I had a nice thanksgiving with a few other volunteers last week. We all put a lot of effort into it and it turned out really great. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, even pumpkin pie! There was so much food. I wanted to keep it as authentic as a real thanksgiving meal in America, so I made sure to go up for 3 servings plus a plate full of pie. Seriously, so much food! Right after the meal I got a phone call from my sister in the US. This was the first time I had talked to her in at least 2 months, so it was nice catching up with her on how life has been going. I got to talk to my mom too. They were just starting to prepare all their food over in the States, while I was trying to fight off my self-inflected food coma (so much food).
The next day I was out of my little American bubble and back in Sotouboua. Back to Togolese food, which I now find delicious. When I first got to country I was a bit unsure if I could eat pate or foofoo for two years, but now I can’t get enough of it. My favorite meal right now is pate (kinda like mashed potatoes, but with Togolese yams, and much thicker) with Togolese peanut sauce. Then there is also this amazing cheese type thing called Wagash. They fry it up so it’s really burnt on the outside, but still soft on the inside and it tastes so good. I found if you eat fried pieces of Wagash with BBQ sauce (that you can buy in Lomé), it tastes like chicken tenders from Burger King!
Sounds awesome. Food is really the way to learning another culture. Funny you should mention your sis tho, first thing I see when I get back to Orlando and walk in my front door, your sis asleep on my couch lol. When are you coming back to FL next?