Spurt of Social Life

Friday evening at the home of Rick and Mmathuba, we dined on hummus, crackers & wine, sliced beef, mashed potatoes & gravy, a vegetable dish of cabbage, carrots & beans, and even a wonderful salad (salad, alone, takes quite a bit of preparation cleansing the greens with a special treatment mixed in with the water). The piece de resistance was a delicious carrot cake topped with vanilla ice cream. If I can even come close to making a meal like that here, I'll really feel like I've accomplished something. Mmathuba, born in Botswana, and Rick, born in Canada, have lived in various African countries & are now in Tamale for a two-year assignment dealing with food security.
Saturday evening, Susan and Wyatt, both distinguished professors of African history with long-time ties to Tamale, invited us to join them for dinner at their Ghanaian friend's new guest house for goat soup, guinea fowl, jollop rice, fried rice, yams, cabbage, and chips. They live in Louisvillle, Kentucky which has been a "sister city" with Tamale for quite some time. Susan, in fact, has been made a "chief" and comes for about six weeks every year, staying on her palace compound. She is instrumental in providing ongoing scholarships to deserving students entering secondary school here in town.
Sunday was a delightful time spent with the Marshall family from South Africa. Damian works on a mango project outside of Tamale and his wife, Chriss & children, Ross & Emily, are here for a visit. After Mass at the Carmelites, we had breakfast at our house and later, the Marshalls hosted a beautiful outdoor lunch at Norrip village.
Think I've eated a month's supply of food in the past three days but will definitely get back to a more normal routine today.