Before I came to Ghana I had no idea what kind of food to expect. Leslie stressed the importance of bringing our favorite power bar, canned tuna, boxes of mac ‘n’ cheese and microwavable oatmeal. Now I know why. Our favorite name brand foods at the local grocery store are pricy and eating out for every meal gets expensive and honestly boring. The Ghanaian diet seems to consist of grilled or fried chicken, beef, fish or gizzard, rice, chips (fries), plantains, groundnuts, mango and pineapple. The fresh fruit is amazing, but I am getting tired of chicken and rice. Ghana, where’s your variety?

Our power goes out frequently so it is difficult to go grocery shopping because we can’t buy anything that needs to be refrigerated unless we are going to eat it that day. I have consumed a lot of oatmeal, PBJ’s and macaroni and cheese in the past two weeks. Due to this lack of variety in our diet, we have been in search for a reasonably priced restaurant that serves something besides chicken, rice and chips! There is a large Chinese population here so there are great Chinese restaurants nearby; however, they are American expensive and we are all living on a college budget. Finally, after living here for two weeks, I think we found our spot. DNR, a local Turkish café and restaurant is only a 4 cedi ($2) cab ride away. The food is great and the atmosphere is relaxing. They have air conditioning and wifi; two of Ghana’s finest luxuries.

Last night the crew headed over to DNR after our power at the house went out. We brought our laptops and our appetites. Conor, Kelly, Juwan and I made ourselves comfortable on two big brown leather couches, ordered some Turkish tea, a mint flavored hookah and took a look at the menu. We decided to order family style because the portions are big and we all wanted to try each other’s food. After we ordered the food our server brought us a big green salad with tomatoes. My mouth began to water. I haven’t had a vegetable in over two weeks! We couldn’t resist. Despite the possibility of getting extremely sick, we devoured that salad in two minutes. The restaurant is nice and seems very clean, so I don’t think we will get sick. Fingers crossed.

The cravings for good food don’t stop there. We are in desperate search for a good Mexican restaurant. Someone’s coworker recommended one that’s near by. It’s expensive, but we might have to splurge. I would do anything for some chips and guac right now.

I didn’t realize that finding good food would be such a big issue here. Maybe we are all just food obsessed Americans that love food too much. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into a juicy hamburger when I get home, and stuff my face with vegetables.