The acrobat and the soya bean

Hello my sweet little set of American eyeballs. That's right, I'm talkin' to you. It's been a while since I've written, sure, but everything here remains in an upward arc of deliciousness. The evidence, if I may:

Exhibit A: Asasse Pa - the name of the vegan truck (go on, rub your eyes like Sylvester the Cat, you read right) that opened last week right next to the night market. Since July, we've all grown very attached to the night market, that colorful, claustrophobic row of wooden and sheet metal local food stalls (boasting names like "Blessed Bless Fast Food" and "The Lord is My Shepherd Amenities") that keep their lanterns lit well past midnight, selling everything from papaya to toothpaste to lemon chocolate to fish and okra stew. It's only about a thirty second walk from our front door, and last week, out of the arid landscape just behind it, a vegan truck sprouted up overnight. I thought it was some sort of crazy mirage at first, maybe triggered by my malaria medication. But no! It's run by Amitsah and Ranite, two incredibly sweet Ghanaian ladies who make wheat-meat sandwiches on whole grain rolls for under a dollar (!), tofu stews, soy ice cream, coconut rolls, plantains with spicy vegetable sauce, peanut butter soup with squash and brown rice, and so on and so forth. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I implore you. Close your eyes and imagine the soft pitter-patter of the gentle stampede of herbivores that rushed the stand on its first day. Imagine our gratitude, after months of mushy egg sandwiches and stew-less rice, cream crackers and peanuts. Imagine our toothpaste-commercial grins. It's a ridiculous dream.

And so, inspired by our sudden feelings of healthy nourishment, Nathalie and I have taken up early-morning yoga and running through the botanical gardens. I've never been an early bird in my life, I don't think, but it feels really good. We're working toward the point of waking up for the notoriously gigantic sunrise at least once or twice.

I've also been to the Alliance Francaise three times since my last post. It's a really cute little outdoorsy venue that hosts cultural events and attracts a king's ransom of Europeans, all wearing khaki shorts and zany-weeeee-I'm-traveling shirts. In the past month, I've seen a flamenco quartet with a Brazilian singer, a Portuguese acrobat and, my personal favorite, a traditional drumming, dancing, and Kora show featuring my Kora teacher's band.

Speaking of the Kora, I just learned a really wonderful jazz piece, but watching Arouna's fingers fly around like angry bees, I can see that I've still got a long way to go. Speaking of to go, hey! I'm going to go to Togo next week! We leave on Tuesday for Togo and Benin, the two eastern neighbors of Ghana that are famous for their butterfly-infested forests and Voodoo, respectively. There are six of us making the trip, and I just picked up our visas from the embassy yesterday, which is very exciting. We come back the following Monday, and I expect there will be plenty to write about.

As for everything else, it's pretty much the same. I've had a few midterms lately, which went well, including a Twi exam. I didn't realize how much of this wonderful and impractical language I knew until that afternoon. In other news, I've received my fair share of marriage proposals. One man even said, as if to bolster his case, "a lot of my Ghanaian friends have American wives, and they are veeeery, very happy!" Oh! In that case, let's dance our way to the steps of city hall!

The weather is getting hotter, the dragonflies are multiplying, and whoever is reading this, I miss you very much.