Elder Loving

Written by Elder Loving but I just want to remember this moment and he wrote it so well and it was funny. 

If you've read my emails, you've seen my pictures of the crazy diverse food that this country prepares.  I love trying new things so it's been the highlight of my life the last 19 months. Well... that is until 2 weeks ago. We went to see our friend Vivian Agbo and she was so happy to have us around. She's an older woman who is grinding to take care of her mentally ill son and put the other younger son, Selasie, through school. To thank us for always checking up on her she gave us her special "hometown" Ewe koko as she called it. I loved this woman so dearly until this day. I absolutely hate koko. For referrence, koko is a breakfast pourage that you drink and is like drinking gross hot pancake batter. She went inside her humble house to prepare us the koko which I desperately wanted to refuse. Its not very correct in this culture to reject things so I accepted with the peace of knowing I would be able to take it to go. Koko is always served in a plastic bag so knowing I'd be able to take it away, I devised my plan to give it away, chuck it in a bush, or send it back to Hell from whenst it came. My hopes were shattered when she came out apologising that she didn't have disposable bags and had to serve it in a glass mug. I was forced to drink it all as she sat right across from me. Staring into my soul, she sat waiting for us to drink it. I have never taken her paticular tribe's koko before, so I prayed it would be better than the one I have had. My prayer was in vain because this koko was soo much worse. Banku, a food in Ghana, is a swallow food made of fermented casava dough boiled to a thick starchy paste. Well this koko was chunky banku in water. It was like a baby's banku vomit. You probably don't get the analogies I know, just know it was bad. Elder Busschau plugged his nose or something because Chale inhaled the whole mug. Guys a menace. I took as much as I could until my body about threw it all up. I had to get out of the situation so I started to hold my chest as if I was in pain. Very concerned, mommy Vivian asked me if I was OK. That koko was so gross it broke my will to live. I lied straight to this kind old womans face saying that I was having some severe heart burn and wouldn't be able to finish. I've never been a good liar but that night I mustered everything I had to pull it off. She got me some water but again I held my chest saying I needed to get home for a vitamin. She took the koko away but offered to bring us more. I declined of course. I'm not proud of it but it was for the greater good.