- Do you have any issues? (do you have any children)
- Exercise your franchise. (go and vote)
- Tomantoes (tomatoes)
- Bredy fool (bloody fool)
- On it/ off it (put it on / put it off)
-Thank you (no when someone is being offered something)
-Gargantuan (huge)
-Pear (avocado)
-Dash (a tip or cash gift. Both noun and verb)
-Chilling (relaxing)
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How to play oware (pronounced o-wa-ree)
-Game is played by 2 people. Place the game between the 2 parties, 6 pods on each side and 4 beads in all 12 pods.
-play by collecting all 4 beads from any one pod from your side and depositing them one at a time anticlockwise .
-when you deposit the last (4th)bead in your hand into the 4th pod you will have 5 beads and you pick these 5 and continue depositing one at a time anticlockwise. Repeat as many times as necessary till the last bead in hand falls into an empty pod. This ends the first round for player 1.
-player 2 takes over beginning form his or her side. Does exactly what player 1 did.
-If player 1 drops his/her last bead in the side of player 2, s/he wins. But if it is not his or her last bead then it is player 2's win becasue it is on his or her side.
-The player who adds the last 4th bead to a set of 3 in a pod is the winner and collects the remaining 4 beads wherever they are in any of the pods and this ends the game.
-Both sides count their beads and the one who has more is the winner.
If in the mood game can continue with the winner filling each pod with 4 beads and going into the other player's territory and marking that as his or her own due to the fact that s/he has the beads to fill the pods (4 in each pod).
The loser then takes the remaining pods as his/hers and plays as first round.
Game finally over when one player doesn't have any more beads to play with.
As with all board games it requires strategic thought to see how to win 4 on your side and also to win on the other player's side (remember if it is the last bead in your hand you deposit to top up a set of 3 on the other player's side you collect the 4).
Legend has it that a man and a woman played this game on and on and because it too so long they found themselves in love in the process and got married. The name oware means to marry in Twi, a language of Ghana.
This is a delicious snack that deserves to be known all around the world.
- Cut each plantain lengthwise in four. Then cut across each quarter (at an angle or horizontally) to make large cube size.
- Put in bowl. Spice with salt and pepper to taste (you can also add a little ginger yum yum and/or a mixture of finely ground fresh pepper & onions as an option)
- Fry in hot oil as you will potatoe chips/french fries. When golden brown remove from oil onto tissue to drain excess oil.
- Let cool a little and eat. Bon appetit.
If plantains are very ripe the kelewele will soak in the oil making it very oily to eat. Choose plantains that are between hard and soft.
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Every country has its folklore. Kweku Ananse is a spider character in the folklore of Ghana and neighbouring countries. The fantasy stories explain the whys of life and sometimes have a moral lesson at the end. In case you have ever wondered why spiders like to hang out in ceilings, here is a folkloric take to enlighten you ;) ! Enjoy.
Why the Spider Prefers a Ceiling
One day the lion, king of the forest called all the animals together and said to them. “I have called you all today, because today is my birthday. I want to reward the wisest among you. So each of you should come and prove how clever and wise he is”.
He
started by telling the lion and all the animals what he had done. After
listning to Ananse spellbound, all agreed that indeed Ananse was the wisest and
should be given the reward. But the birds said, wait a minute, Ananse You may
be the wisest [and] you have done a lot of things. But what you can’t do
is to fly”. Ananse was very angry, he said “You wait and see, I can fly as
well. I will prove it to you by the end of the week”. Ananse then turned to the
king of the forest and said, “Your majesty, by the end of the week, I want to
prove to the birds that I can fly too”. The lion looked at Ananse quietly and
roared “Very well Ananse. But let me warn you, if you are not able to prove
this, you will lose your life.
Ananse
went home. That evening he thought and thought and thought of how he will be
able to prove to the king of the forest that he could fly as well. The next day
he went to the forest and set traps. He caught a lot of birds, killed them and
removed their feathers. Thereafter he had great number of feathers, he went to
get rubber from the rubber tree. He glued the rubber to himself and put on the
feathers.
The
feathers stuck to his body, and he started learning how to fly. Ananse
continued practicing for some time until he was able to take off-from the
ground and soar high in the air. Ananse could now fly. He sent his eldest son
Ntikumah to tell the king of the forest to assemble all the animals, because it
was time he showed them that he could fly. As soon as Ntikumah delivered the
message, he was arrested and put in chains. The lion said, “If your father
doesn’t show up, you will be killed”. The lion then assembled all the animals.
Then they sat down to wait for Ananse. Some of them got tired of waiting and
wanted to go home. They were just about to leave when Ananse’s son shouted
“There he is” “Where” asked the animals in union. “There in the sky, Ntikumah
pointed, They followed the direction of the pointing finger and saw a huge bird
like creature coming towards them, It was Ananse all right. Ananse shouted and
said “I told you, didn't I. I told you I could fly”. All the animals
clapped their hands and hailed Ananse, “Ananse you are indeed great”.
The eagle was very angry. He
flew to meet Ananse and said to him, “Let’s see how good you are at flying,
follow me and show me how you can fly”. Ananse followed the eagle at top speed.
The eagle flew high in the air and Ananse followed closely behind. The animals
were enjoying the drama in the air with interest. The eagle went higher and
higher and higher, Ananse followed with confidence. Now the eagle went in the
directionof the sun. So high had they gone that Ananse could now feel the sun’s
rays. It was getting hot indeed. The wax holding Ananse’s feaders began to
melt. Ananse was in trouble. He started to fall at top speed. He flapped his
wings but they all came loose. The wax holding the feathers had melted. The
animals were almost choked with laughter, they almost laughed out of their
skins.
Fortunately for Ananse, he fell
into a thatched roof and he quickly went and hid in the ceiling out of shame.
That is why up till today the spider, Ananse, stays on the ceiling.
Cut your coat according to your
cloth. Its easier for a child to break the snails shell and not that of the
tortoise.
- Kwesi H. (Sly)
Ghana tourguide, writer, actor, playwright and generally a good story-teller
- Kwesi H. (Sly)
Ghana tourguide, writer, actor, playwright and generally a good story-teller