Making Tofu

Some people wish for a life of no problems, but I would never wish such a life for any of
you. What I wish for you is the great inner strength to solve your problems meaningfully
and grow. Problems are learning and growing experiences. A life without problems
would be a barren existence, without the opportunity for spiritual growth.
- Peace Pilgrim

Observations

1/15/08 Each morning, I sit at the tea stand, sipping my tea, people watching, absorbing all of the morning sounds and daily activities going on around me. The most amusing part of this daily ritual is watching what “western” clothing the men have decided to wear. Most clothes worn now by men are imported, second hand clothes from Europe and America. Women tend to still wear traditional Ghanaian outfits, but for men, this means wearing dresses and toga-like get ups. The funniest part of this is that no one knows the difference between men and women’s jeans, not to mention that they wear wool sweaters and down parkas in 70 degree weather and the other day I saw a man with the only the hood of a rather warm jacket, snapped around his head, with the jacket else where, making him look like the “knight of winter”; I wish I’d had my camera that day. But, back to the jeans. At first, I couldn’t understand why some of the men’s legs where stretching the denim so tightly, they looked as though they would split any second. Then it dawned on my that those were actually blue jeans intended for a teen ages girl, low-cut waist with flared legs and spandex all the way through. I stared at this man, only guessing at his discomfort in the crouch area, which was covered by his parka, imagining the sorrowful fate of his future offspring, clutched to death in the grips of spandex. However, the best so far occurred this morning. The gentleman who runs the kiosk next to the tea stand is a large man, burly and strong with enormous shoulders and broad chest, and even facial hair, which isn’t all the common. As I absent-mindedly watched him stirring a pot, filled with what I imagined to be his breakfast, he stood to show off his painted on, extremely trendy, skinny-legged jeans! They looked like a pair of tights, like a black Paul Bunyan in tights! I love this place.

New Discoveries

My life here is not at all what I imagined in many aspects, like having electricity and living in a rather populated area, but there are things that I’m learning that are beyond the expectations I had. Most are just foods that I’m learning to make, and they are things I could have learned in America, but since they were easily bought in the store, I always just took the easy way out. Like, for instance, making fresh Ginger Green tea and soymilk and tofu. These are things I enjoyed in America, but not by my own hand. And they are easy to make when you have the time to make them.

Ginger Green tea:

Take fresh ginger, peel it with a spoon, and chop it into 1/2 inch pieces. Then boil the ginger in a pot of water for 5-10 minutes. Reduce the fire and add 2 or three bags of green tea, or if you have fresh green tea leaves, add those. Steep 5-7 minutes. Strain the tea and discard the rest, or you can feed it to the pigs if you have them, like I do, ha ha ha. Voila, its so delicious. I drink a few hot cups and then I take the rest and pour it into a water bottle and chill it, so the next day I have ginger green iced tea. These simple joys make my life here so wonderful.

Here are some pictures of my making soy milk and tofu.
Its so amazing. I don’t think I’ll ever buy it again since its so good fresh. If you have a blender, its extremely easy. Here, however, I have to hand-mash the beans and this takes a while. The cool part is, when you use your own energy for tasks like these, you don’t waste electricity and you don’t need extra time to work out, your body just gets toned from everyday life. I like that a lot. I like using fun activities to keep my body healthy and conserve nature’s energy. When I was a member of a gym, 20 minutes of lifting weights seemed to last forever and was so boring, but I mashed those beans for an hour, switching arms several times and it went by so fast. Its getting into that lifestyle that makes all the difference. It’s easy once I made the shift, then the old tasks that were never fun become something I literally couldn’t imagine doing and the new activities I’ve picked up instead add so much more to my life. For instance, I can buy enough soybeans to last six months for around a $1.20, (even better, I can grow them myself which would mean that I spend time in the sun, bending and stretching and moving and giving back to the earth). But, even if I buy them, its still a difference of paying around 6.00 a week, which is what I would pay for a pint of soymilk and 1 small container of tofu, plus, $45 a month for a gym membership, totaling $426.00 in 6 months. And not to mention, the gas driving to and from the gym everyday and the time I used to waste sitting in traffic to get to the gym. By walking 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening, I get to greet the sun and the moon and stay healthy, all for free, and my walks always end up lasting longer than 30 minutes because its so beautiful and I don’t want to go home yet. Plus, the air is so much better outside than in the sweaty gym with all those TV s blaring at me, I never liked that part, but the machines are so crammed in that I didn’t have a choice, I once tried closing my eyes and tripped and almost busted my face on the front of the machine.

There are other things I’m learning about that I want to incorporate. I knew about these ideas before, from studying architecture, but now I’ve been able to see how to put it all to use, such as solar energy. Solar panels have been used throughout Ghana to bring power to small village clinics and other businesses existing out in the bush. Why wouldn’t I take advantage of the big old sun shining up there all day long? Africa and Louisiana get plenty of sunlight. Its free! It so simple, it makes me scratch my head. And it works the same as any other power source, you have meter and what ever power you use is depleted from the power you’ve acquired from the sun that day. How amazing. I think about all that wasted energy up on my roof back home. Then, what about rainwater? I have an enormous old structure in my back yard that could catch rainwater. With a little money and energy, you can install a reservoir that holds and filters your free water and then pump it into the house each morning by spending about 10 minutes riding a stationary bicycle! I love this. More exercise, less waste, no money, better health. Why aren’t we all living this way? Its amazing to me. Now that I’ve seen this, I won’t live another way. I’m just so grateful that I’ve been shown. With the amount of rain in Louisiana, I’d think everyone would want this way of life, but I also respect that many people just don’t have the time or the energy to shift and that’s cool too. I just want to be as considerate of the earth and my fellow man as I possibly can and so I’m thrilled with what I’ve seen here. There are other smaller ways to help. Recycling is probably one of the easiest simplest ways to make a difference. I wish it were a law in my community. I have a goal to get all of the local businesses and schools recycling. I don’t know, maybe the schools already do, but I have a suspicion it isn’t so. Just the paper that I’ve witnessed being wasted in the several offices I’ve worked in is enough to make me nauseous. I’ve never met a person that’s said, oh, I don’t really care for the shade from that tree, actually, I don’t really like trees at all, I think I’d rather just sweat out in the sun. Not to mention that every green living plant gives us air to breath. So in some weird way, its like we’re greedily swallowing up our own well being every time we hit print and then toss the paper in the trash. Don’t get me wrong, I love books and magazines and I like to hold them in my hand, but I recycle them when I’m done. And plastic!! Oh I love its many uses and I’m the first to use it to organize this or that, but its all recyclable. Imagine if it weren’t, I don’t think you can unless you’ve lived in a place with no trash pick up, where I watch the cows, goats, pigs and dogs eating plastic everyday, simply because it’s all over the ground.