Hello loved ones
It has been a while since my last blog--- I was waiting for content and time!
Monday past marks exactly my halfway mark of my time aboard! Four months have gone so fast J I have secured a flight home and will arrive on September 24 via Brussels and London!
Last weekend I was planning to return to Kpalime, the town 2 hours north of Lome. Some of us wanted to enter Ghana and visit the popular Wli Waterfalls. I was told that there was a legal arrangement whereby we could pass the Kpalime border and stay 24 hours in Wli at a hotel responsible for us and avoid paying for a 30$ visa. Closer to the time I discovered that this was in fact an illegal arrangement. I know that it is very important that we do not put ourselves above the law or abuse the hospitality show to us in Togo. Also it is important to maintain a good witness to the people here. I am also dead against any form of bribery and seek not to pay an undue cent! For these reasons I decided to spend last week on the ship.
This was, nevertheless, an exciting weekend to be aboard. The annual short film festival was being hosted on Saturday. This is a black tie event. For the first time I felt that perhaps the smart clothes I was told I would need and subsequently brought with me are not totally useless here.
There were strict requirements regarding length, lines and even characters in the films. There were one or two music videos, horrors but the majorities were comedies. Following this there was a buffet and then a dance party. I am glad that I was not working during this weekend.
On Saturday I relaxed, watching the Formula1 and final game of the English Premier League season. It was absolutely heartbreaking but nonetheless very exciting. I hosted two friends of a day worker that afternoon. Visitors are only allowed on Sundays which means I can only host every second weekend. I have left hosting too late since next week no visitors will be allowed due to a function and the following week (which I work) will be the last for visitors in Togo. It is sad because there are some day workers who would really like to have their loved ones aboard and I would like to host them.
Last week I took part in a cooking competition. It was kind of like a Masterchef challenge where we had a pantry of ingredients and then 4 mystery items which HAD to be used. For the main course they were cinnamon bark, walnuts, chicken breast and a cassava (a staple root). Seeing the pantry before I had decided to make a curry (there were tinned tomatoes!) fortunately the mystery items were all suited to my curry! I included the cassava in the curry and when it was soft enough I crushed it or mashed it against the side of the pot which thickened the curry :) I put some cinnamon in the rice which gave flavour to the rice! I also put it in the curry of course! I put the rice in a ramekin, turned it onto my plate and spooned the curry on top of that. Then the roasted, crushed walnuts and oregano for colour and a swirl of cream and oregano around the plate :) I was very happy with it!
We then introduced the meal to the crew in the cafe area 45 minutes after we began and the judges tasted and gave feedback. They then judged the best two and I was one! So I progressed to the dessert making round (joy). I was content with not being 'chopped' but I didn’t actually want to go on and a make dessert. My competitor on the other hand was most keen. This time our ingredients were lemon juice, molasses, pumpkin pie mix and hazelnuts. I had minimal inspiration! I began the half hour by melting butter, lemon juice, sugar and oats together with the hope of making a crust or base. That sadly never had enough time to harden in the oven. The pumpkin pie mix was ready to eat (which stumped me) but I added cinnamon sticks to that (seeing as they had faired me well so far!). The mix was VERY sweet and in hindsight I should have added the lemon juice to that! I then roasted the hazelnuts with the molasses. I began with honey and then the loose oat base on top of that, then pumpkin mix and the nuts which had been rolled in cream. This time I went for a square shape since that was the only shape I could find!
I ended up coming second to a far superior and better planned pumpkin biscuit and lemon/molasses icing. I won 5$ :) I was glad I entered and was calm throughout the cooking which I was happy with. I also learnt from the comments of the judges. It was the first competition of its kind but is likely to become an annual event. I am trying to find some images and will try update the blog or preferable post them next time.
Also, in my free time last week I managed to walk along the Boulevard Circulaire- an arched road through central Lome which has many interesting restaurants such as KFG and Al Donald. In total I walked 14km that afternoon. I also visited the University of Lome, a news house and TV broadcasting center. I was privileged to see where three day workers live and share a meal with them at one of theirs’ houses. I also tasted Degue- a treat of couscous, yoghurt, sugar, milk and ice in a bowl. It is considered a drink but was a filling as a meal!
Much of this activity is inspired by the Run/Walk to Guinea Competition. The challenge is for a group of 6 to run or walk, during the next 2 months, a total of 1600km (the distance from Togo to Conakry, our next destination.) My morning runs and afternoon walks are amounting to something J
At my mum’s request, I am also applying for medicine at University of the Free State as well. This application has to be posted and received by the end of this month. Ideally I would not like to have the additional expense of living away from home while studying which would burden my prospective student loan all the more. Can I ask for you to pray that the Lord’s will be done with regards to my applications and that He would make it clear where He wants me.
Please could you also pray for safety and smoothness in our last few weeks of service and subsequent sail to the Canary Islands. We will be sailing in less than a month. Lastly please also pray that this course of cortisone tablets I have had to resort to would eliminate the eczema from my arms and now behind my legs for good. Thank you
Peeling a cassave
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