Yam

 I didn't know how clueless I was about yams.  I thought they were just like sweet potatoes...

It turns out, they're usually way bigger.  

And they taste different.

This one was a medium size.

It can feed the two of us for at least three meals!

Boiled with salt (see below), it tasted half sweet potato, half manioc. 

Here's where it gets interesting: turning boiled yam into Ku Tô.

A previous blog post showed you the making of other types of tô.  That kind was made by stirring flour into boiling water.  

Ku (the name for yam in Djoula) is made into tô by pounding the boiled yam in a mortar. 

You can see how stretchy it became, like the same thing that happens when kneading bread dough.  Adama pounded the yam for 15 minutes, but the end product was still a bit chunky because our mortar isn't well-shaped from use.

Check out the video: Pounding Ku Tô

 

Here's the finished tô.  It tasted different than plain boiled yam, although the only difference was in the pounding.  The ku tô stuck to my fingers while we were eating it.  That time we ate it with some yummy peanut butter sauce. 

Excellent English

 The past week we've been busy making plans to open a center called Excellent English.  We're looking for people who would like to make an investment in education and the development of Burkina Faso by donating to help us get started!  Please take a look at our website to find out more about Excellent English: http://excellentenglishburkina.weebly.com/

These pictures were taken while I was teaching the English Club at the American Embassy.  When either Adama or I volunteer to help with an English club or discussion like this, we are afterward often approached by students asking us what they can do to learn more English.  This has been part of the inspiration to open Excellent English.  (See more: Why Excellent English in Burkina Faso?)  Please help however you can, even just by spreading the news!

Guonray

       We tried to come up with a spelling that you might read somewhat close to how it sounds!  Plus, we don't know how to spell in Moore. 
       Anyway, this guonray was a gift from our neighbors.  They rang the doorbell at 1:30 in the afternoon and gave us a plate of still-hot guonray.  When I returned the plate the next morning, my neighbor told me how they made them.
    Beans are soaked, then taken to the grinder.  (I clarified that today when we were walking together and we passed the grinding place that's just down the road.)  The ground beans make a sort of "pie" that is made to stick together with the addition of okra powder.  This pie is put into round containers and steamed over boiling water.  Then the steamed guonray is cut in slices. 
     You can see in the picture that they served the guonray with fried onions and salt.  They were pretty good, and my neighbor promised to invite me to get in on the cooking next time she makes them. 

Mosquito Net

It's morning!  Time to crawl out from under this mosquito net.

For those of you who have read about the famous things, but aren't acquainted beyond the name, here's a little walk-through of daily dealings with mosquito nets.

All day long, the net hangs from the ceiling, tied in a knot (poor thing!)  Sometimes it serves as a batting toy while trying to fall asleep for a nap.  Sorry, mosquitoes.  No lunch at 12:00 noon.  Come back at 12:00 midnight. 

This kind of netting, as you can see, hangs from a central string.  In Bobo Dioulasso, we had the rectangular kind that was tied up at four corners.

When it's time to sleep, we untie the net...

...and tuck it under the mattress.  

Tucking the net under the mattress would not be easy except for the happy idea of sewing in a draw-string at the bottom.  We're glad we did that!

From the inside....

Sorry, mosquitoes.  No lunch at midnight either. 

You couldn't get through THIS!

Thanks for reading.  Don't let the mosquitoes bite.