Dinner With the Class

In preparation for our trip to Ghana, we have been taking a Language and Culture class for the past six weeks. This class is set up specifically for our group, as well as the other Pavlis group, which will be traveling to India.  For the language portion of the class, we split up into our travel groups and meet with a Teaching Assistant (TA) from our respective countries.  Last night our Language and Culture class shared a Ghanaian/Indian meal at our teacher Sylvia's house.  Our TA Emmanuel and his family came as well.  It was wonderful to meet Emmanuel's wife, Ester and his son, Adom, who turned out to be the life of the party!

Emmanuel, his son Adom, the Ghana Group and Emmanuel's "First Lady" Ester

For the dinner we made a West African peanut soup that was a hit with the Americans at the dinner, however it was deemed too sweet due to the creamy peanut butter we used in the recipe.  Speaking of sweet, we have learned that using sugar is rather uncommon in Ghana and that sweets are nowhere near as popular there as they are here.  Some students who have traveled to Ghana before have shared with us that they had a hard time satisfying their sweet tooth, especially with limited access to kitchen appliances such as an oven, fridge or freezer.  Our solution?  No-Bake cookies, made on a stovetop, with ingredients that should be available in Ghana such as peanut butter, chocolate, sugar, oats, milk and butter.  So in preparation for brining American food to Ghana, we made a test batch to bring to the class dinner.  Unfortunately most of the cookies were gone from "taste testing" the first batch, so we ended up making a second batch as well ;)

By the way, don't forget to check out our wish list of items to bring to Ghana.  Items must be ordered by this Friday and are all between $5 and $25!  Thank you so much!

Meet the Team

Mike, Chelsea, Mollie, Helena and Clayton

There are five of us going to Ghana together and we're getting to know each other really well so we thought we'd share a bit with you!

Name: Mollie Ruth 

Major: Environmental Engineering
Hobbies: Playing Cello, Skiing, Sewing, Hiking and Camping
Project Interests: Shipping school supplies, water testing, biochar, tree planting, hygiene/microbiology lessons
Hometown: Ann Arbor, MI
Fun Fact: I've been to eight different countries (not counting airports)
Biggest Excitement for Ghana: Buying fabric in the markets
Favorite Word in Twi: Fεfε (beautiful) or fεfεεεfε (very beautiful) or fεfεεεεεεεεεεεfε (extremely beautiful)

Name: Michael Carey 
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Hobbies: Cars, engines, machines, building, biking, and skiing
Project Interests: Lister Engine, Planting tree's, Monkey Sanctuary
Hometown: Good ol' Shelby, MI
Fun Fact: This summer I'm driving my 40 year old project car as a daily driver, and I've learned that not every "improvement" I think I make is a good idea.
Biggest Excitement for Ghana: Seeing monkeys in real life and trying out the local beer
Favorite Word in Twi: M'adamfo (My friend)




Name: Helena Keller
Major: Chemical Engineering
Hobbies: Cross country skiing, running, knitting, swing dancing, gardening, clarinet and guitar playing (not at the same time...)
Project Interests: Biochar and the Duasidan Monkey Sanctuary projects
Hometown: Elk River, MN
Fun Fact: I have been skiing in July.
Biggest Excitement for Ghana: The music and dancing :)
Favorite Word in Twi: Hyehyeeeehye (very hot - weather-wise)






Name: Clayton Doyle
Major: Electrical Engineering
Hobbies: Banjo, Hiking, Film
Project Interests: Lister Engine Generator and Science Demonstrations
Hometown: Hopkins, MN
Fun Fact: I'm an Olympic-level gymnast and bad at lying.
Biggest Excitement for Ghana: Getting the chance to speak the language
Favorite Word in Twi: m'adamfo (friend)




Name:  Chelsea Uganski
Major:  Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Hobbies:  Tennis
Project Interests:  Investigating medical needs/logistics, health and other education, tree planting, monkey sanctuary ecotourism plan
Hometown:  Whitehall, MI
Fun Fact:  I've never been outside of North America.
Biggest Excitement for Ghana:  Experiencing/learning from a different culture.
Favorite Word in Twi: Meda ase (Thank you!)