Is March any different?

 

I have not set down much for March, or so I told myself at first. There was nothing to say, but I made a pledge at the start of the year to write one blog post each month, and I intend to keep it. There are a few things to tell, especially a story that still draws a laugh from me when I remember and hope I that, when I meet those people again, if only to say what I could not say then to them. On a Tuesday in Osu, I contradicted myself in front of a group of decision makers. It was so amusing, confusing or like a tug of war and I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it. Later, I saw their new opening on a mutual’s page; I paused, looked at it for a while, and chose to laugh. I do not always find the right words when I need them. There are times when I stand before a scene like a bloodhound that has lost the trail; alert, but unsure of the next step.

Between February and March, I travelled to Sierra Leone for a few days. I loved my stay there. The people were so generous to me: the receptionist and the lady at the bank. I learned a little Creole, enough to greet and respond, enough to understand. Sierra Leone has a wide range of culture which needs a bit of “hype”. When I arrived at Freetown International Airport, I knew at once that I had entered a place different from the others I had seen. It wasn’t Turkey or Algeria from last year. Well, more like South Africa last year but different.

I was unable to take photos because my grandmother had come to attend to her own affairs, and I went along as her companion, but the scenes stay with me: the roads that turn toward the hills, the order of the streets, the presence of the sea not far off. It was a picturesque place in ways so difficult in description.

This year has already taken me across three different borders on three occasions. I have been to Nigeria twice in January & February, and to Sierra Leone once.

Lately, I have noticed two new flowers: the calendula, with its bright face, opens similarly to a small sun, which is interpreted as an endurance to light. And the camellia, by contrast, holds a limit with petals that sit in careful order, almost severe, and then soften as they grow.

When I returned from Sierra Leone, I stayed in an apartment that pleased me so much that I didn’t want to leave.  I loved the space and got the concept of why people rent an Airbnb and remain there for a long period of time.

I need to find myself space and also, I need to settle into it and build a habit of travel that gives me room to think. Well, the job search has not been...

In the midst of all this, I have taken to cooking. I made coated yams, salads, and fruit salads. For the coated yams, I used eggs, flour, and milk to form a light covering before frying. They turned out well, crisp on the outside, tasty inside and fluffy within, best taken with ketchup. I enjoyed the process as much as the result. For the fruit salad, I wanted grapes and many apples, but I worked with what I had. I found one apple, and the pawpaw came at an expensive price. I prepared two versions, one with milk and one without. Next time I will bring together banana, apples, pawpaw, mango, coconut shreds, perhaps some nuts and dates. I will mix condensed milk with fresh milk to form a cream.

If anyone is inclined to sponsor this small kitchen ambition, I would not refuse.