Last night I had a dream that resembled a Taco Bell commercial. There was flowing cheese and crunchy taco shells mingling with a river of fire sauce- all for under five dollars.

Meals in Ghana have been rough.

With 14 cooks in the kitchen, even Top Ramen is time-consuming and people try to secretly add cups to the pot of boiling water. We elbow each other out of the kitchen and hoard pots and pans under our beds at night. Silverware wars have struck and we’ve already lost two. (Slight exaggeration).

The first week was overwhelming. I’m convinced that Patrick has been surviving on only granola bars while the ever-inventive Michael seems to wrap bananas and Nutella in tortillas for every single meal. We all drool a little when Catherine somehow makes the world’s most delicious-looking vegetarian pasta.

The best meals are those that never end. As Monica explains, these tend to happen on afternoons where we have no escapades planned for the group. They start as snack time soon after lunch and bleed into appetizers, main course, and dessert. These hobbit-like meals consist of an array of handfuls of trail mix, fresh pineapple, and of course Top Ramen.

In case you haven’t noticed the pattern, we eat a lot of Top Ramen here.

Sometimes we get a little too creative. Tonight Jake made soup from a strange powder in a packet. To make it a little more Jake-worthy, he added a cucumber, garlic powder and an egg. Megan, for lack of better judgment, decided to go in on his soupy concoction and made some over-watery rice. After draining the soggy grains they mixed the two into what just may be the scariest meal that we’ve seen in Ghana.

Others tend to stick the basics. I was honestly a little surprised when I saw Michelle at the table quietly munching on a piece of bread. No spread, so seasoning; just bread. Annie is also another predictable character with her crackers and peanut butter. She claims that she has the same eating habits at home, but really no one purposefully combines two ingredients that make your mouth so ridiculously dry and uncomfortable. No no, it must be a Ghana thing.

We definitely miss foods from home. I’m pretty sure that Shawna is having burrito withdrawals. I may or may not have overheard her in her room last night crying in the corner about her desire for some cheese and beans.

It’s been a consensus that we all wish we had packed more food. Many of our comfort items are expensive and have a slightly altered taste. The yogurt is a little goopy and the cheese is at least twice the price as it is back home. Beer is expensive and can sometimes, according to Jake, be a little “skunky”. When we inquired about mixed drinks the bartender informed us that he not only did not know how to mix any drinks, but also as a bartender that was not his job. I’m still curious as to who does mix the drinks at Ghanaian bars.

Even the Voltic brand of water tastes as though the plastic has leaked into the water. I think it’s supposed to be safer than the local tap water, but I’m not 100% convinced. The water in general takes getting used to. From brushing your teeth to making a cup of tea, you have to be very conscious about using bottled or boiled water because the local water is not clean. We have a large water jug in our house that we take turns refilling and many, many scattered plastic bottles of water in the house. It’s not very environmentally conscious, but we haven’t figured out an alternative as to date.  So for now we buy the plastic and hope that our hippie friends in Eugene are doing their part.

I’m sure this is part of the adventure and as time goes on meals will get easier. But for tonight our menu included: breakfast quesadillas, cucumber curry soup with an egg and rice, pasta, sandwiches, pineapple, microwaved pop tarts, and at least six servings of Top Ramen.

-Neethu