Preparing Pineapple to Sell in Thailand

Preparing Pineapple to Sell in Thailand
Learn how Thailand prepares a Pineapple to be sold by street vendors. This video was made in the hope that people in West Africa can earn more money selling Pineapples using this method of preparation. It is a good idea that needs pass along.

This is a gift to West Africa, a good idea… from Thailand.

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Bangkok, a.k.a Krung Thep, Thailand Southeast Asia
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com --- Submit Hotel URL
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This is what happens when a Thailand girl or person puts there hands on a Pineapple, what comes after they finished is great to eat.

I travel round and round the planet earth, I see a good idea in one country and wonder why they do not use it in another. It is hard to come up with an original idea and sometimes I think,
- All the good ideas… have already been taken. -
Note… allthegoodideas.com is now taken…

However, you make the stew, the problem to me is this, we need to share recipes, we need to share ideas, and good ideas could make a better life for a family. I think we need to pass them around, easy to do now with a video we put on the internet for all to see.

There are many Pineapples for sale in West Africa, and it appears to me, if the vendors of West Africa, Ghana, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast etc. would cut up a Pineapple and sells this way, a family could have more money, and this very healthy food would be eaten more.

I suppose when I was there, I should have videoed the way West Africa cut the peeling off an Orange and sold it.

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VIDEO BELOW
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VIDEO ABOVE
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Take care, a Thailand girl with a knife.



The start of the process of preparing a Thailand Pineapple to be eaten or sold by the public.



I never purchase a Pineapple in Thailand, it cost 24 Baht in the store, I can purchase a whole Pineapple prepared and iced down for 20 Baht, however normally I purchase half for 10.



After they are finished, these Thailand girls with Black Hair and Brown Eyes push this cart around selling Pineapple,

Please Send to Africa, Thanks

Preparing Pineapple to Sell in Thailand

Burkina Faso Date

Burkina Faso Date
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, West Africa
Tuesday, September 17, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

I believe these are Dates, a sweet type of dried Fruit sold in Bobo-Dioulasso and other cities here in Burkina Faso. I finally had a young boy offer me less than a kilo so I purchased a few.



A girls in Bobo is arranging the Dates, Cashew, and bags of coffee that are shipped by train from Cote d’Ivoire.



A picture of 100 CFA worth of Dates, this is about 20 cents USA and I suspect this is way over priced.



A nice change of snacks, there is this seed in the middle, healthy and I probably could carry in my backpack a few without worry of spoiling or starting to grow. Once had some Garlic that sprouted.

Burkina Faso Date

Ghana Food Fufu Video

Ghana Food Fufu Video
Mampong, Ghana West Africa
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

Click here to see the video

HoboTraveler.com Videos



This is a photo of Naomi in the Video City Hotel in Mampong, Ghana making Fufu.

Fufu is made from Cassava and Plantains, or with Yams. It is an exciting food because they use this large straight wooden mallet to mash the Cassava and Plantains into food to eat.

They will eat the mashed Cassava and Plantains called Fufu with a ground sauce made of Tomatoes and Peppers.

The process of making Fufu by my interpretation and the understanding as of today is listed, however, this may change as the Fufu culture unfolds.

1. Growing of Plantains and Cassava together in the field plot.

2. Boiling of the Cassava or Yams

3. Mashing of the Cassava and Plantains, the exciting part, or sometimes Yams.

4. Grinding of Tomatoes, Pepper and making the sauces.

5. Eating the Fufu by plucking with fingers and dipping into the sauce.

Fufu One Video

I am in Bolgatanga, Ghana presently and have now traveled too far north for the proper growing of Plantains. The locals have almost stopped eating Fufu, therefore I have decided to publish this video with very good clips of the exciting part. I hope to add later a more completed story, but for now, a very exciting Fufu video if you want to call Fufu exciting.



If you received this in your email box, you probably need to click on this link to go and see the video. HoboTraveler.com Videos

Ghana Food Fufu Video

Barfroat Ashanti Ghana Food

Barfroat Ashanti Ghana Food
Mampong, Ghana West Africa
Monday, August 27, 2007

Deep Fried Food



I took a walk in search of a food called Achoma, and found the sister food called Barfroat. Yesterday, Sunday, there was a line of people waiting for Dora the woman to finish cooking the first batch. I decided to sit down and wait in the shade while they finished the cooking. I like them well done, so wanted to be last in line.

I decided, this looks like a good video, so I started a small clip, it was funny, I did not notice until I was filming, however there are a couple of girls that were fully aware as I was photographing their dip shower area. The camera was not able to catch them, however as I was filming the would occasionally pop their heads above the side and see what I was up too.

Notice at the end of the Video, a girl in a black dress, who has now on two days tried to repeatedly to teach me Ashanti words. Her name is Dorcas and the sister of the women cooking the Barfroat.

Barfroat is more or less an extra large Donut Hole, without them making the donut. I do not know presently the type of flour used.



If you received this in your email box, you probably need to click on this link to go and see the video. HoboTraveler.com Videos

After this part of various videos was done, I proceeded to eat one of the Barfroat; a man came up and spoke some English. He invited me into the home where I met his wife, and realized that Dorcas and Dora were his daughters. His name was Joseph; I took a video of the inside of the compound area, and the family welcoming to their house.

It was great day, then after that Joseph, took me across the road and I made a video of them making Fufu. To explain each of these situations I need to collect some words and a couple of extra videos so the stories are complete. I guess there is a need to return to see the future stories or videos.

One video would be of the inside of a compound home and the other explaining how they make Fufu, in Ghana.

Barfroat Ashanti Ghana Food

Chlorine Used to Wash Dishes

Chlorine Used to Wash Dishes
Lome, Togo West Africa
Monday, August 6, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

I went to the Hand of God Cafeteria here in Lome, and found I was given a new lesson in how to choose a Restaurant. I have went around and around in my head, trying to choose a Restaurant, and in the end, I am happy I do not enter the kitchens.



I have found a very good place to two egg sandwiches in the morning. I order a two egg omelet, which technically by definition is a couple of eggs mixed up then fried to completely cooked. Extra ingredients are more or less a luxury, I get mine with Peppers inside.

I have always like to watch my food being cooked, it makes me feel safer to see the cook.



My new lesson was, watch the people who clean the dishes. I am not going to try to inspect where they clean the dishes first, then once I see how they clean the dishes, I then will choose the person to be my cook, and watch the cook. I would almost say in West Africa, the men are pigs, need to find a female cook.

This is Rochele the cook, if she does not cook, I do not eat.



The menu, although I think more for looks, what you can eat and what is on the menu are always different.



Soap Suds, with some Javel added to the water, a chlorine product and used to purify water.

I was recently in Atakpame, the man at the cafeteria dumped the water from a can of peas into the dish soap as I was watching. I lost my appetite. I then proceeded to watch them do this water wash down of the pans with no soap.

People are delusional that they do not drink the water, I have never seen dishes cleaned in purified water. A great restaurant in the world has hot water to clean. I dream of hot water being used in Kitchens, and think all the talk about purified water is childish rubbish, and lacks any critical reasoning. Everyone drinks the water, it is not possible to avoid it when traveling.

My new lesson in Restaurants, I need to first inspect the dish washer or dish washing, then watch the cook. It is possible to avoid a bad dish washer, but not possible to avoid drinking the water.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine

Chlorine Used to Wash Dishes

Gateau Batoken and Achtomon

Gateau Batoken and Achtomon
Atakpame, Togo West Africa
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com



These wheat cakes are called Gateaux for many and Gateau as one. There is a little mark above the A, but I am going to ignore it and hope it goes away.

Next comes the Mina Language, I can ask for a Gateau, and the locals will try to give me what they have close to them, the word Gateau is a general word for cake, however normally here in Togo means these round things.

On the left is the type called Batoken and is smooth, and on the rough one on the right is an Achtomon in the Mina language, maybe I say Gateau Batoken if I want the left type and maybe I say Gateau Achtomon if I want the right. The truth is, I do not say either one if I can see them, I just point at the one I want, and saves many silly communication headaches. My goal is to communicate first, and learn the language second, better to be a good communicator than good in languages.

However, the problem is this, I like the Achtomon, the flavor is sweeter, and takes less like oil, more or a cake and less of a fried taste, it is my favorite Gateau here in Togo. Now, when I have a fancy for a Achtomon Gateau, I need to inquire around, because I have now learn the specific words, I can not request,

Achtomon

I suppose I could say,
- Je veux le gâteau achtomon -
Or maybe,
- Je veux le achtomon gâteau -

Complete with the little pyramid on top of the A, however I will probably just say,
- Achtomon -

Then point, or hold my palms up, and in universal language of hand talk, I will say where is Achtomon?

I like to communicate first and learn a language second.

I guess soon I will climb the French ladder and figure out what is the difference between a Gateau and a Beignet. As I see it, they both are deep-fried in oil, so I cannot say the Gateau Achtomon was bake and a cake. I saw is my favorite Gateau deep fried in the street in front of my eyes, and I like to see my cook, it makes me feel safer to eat.

I forgot, there is probably a word for Gateau in the Mina Language, I could learn that and forget my French. Would I be learning to communicate, or would I be learning a language?

Gateau Batoken and Achtomon

Tapioca

Tapioca
Lome, Togo West Africa
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

I ate Tapioca here in Togo today.

It started yesterday, as the polite cleaning girl here in my quasi home stay rental room in Lome, Togo asked me,
- Do you want to eat La Bouillie de Tapioca? -



This is a photo of the tray brought to my room around 7:30 am, after I opened the door to a very quite tapping on the door. I was told the day before, however I thought she said, rice, I now realize she said both rice and La Bouillie de Tapioca. I am debating, maybe this means baby food or maybe it means boiled, my French dictionary and Systran Translators is not helping clarify.

My literal from French to English is
- The Baby food of Tapioca.-



This is a photo of the Cassava or Manioc Tapioca served to me, then I poured into a cup, they kept asking is it hot. I poured some onto the plate, so I could take a better photo. They say the word cassava, and then add the word manioc to me; I then try to learn the word in the Ewe Language.



This is a photo of words the cleaning girl or servant girl Adjo politely wrote down for me.

French Language: La Bouillie de Tapioca
Ewe Language or the Local Mina Language: Tapioca Zogbe
English: The Baby food of Tapioca

If I desire to eat the same food repeatedly, it is best to learn the local word for the food, then I am able to purchase or have made faster. They call this food in Ewe, Zogbe, although the e is not an e, if you look close, it is written different.

Tapioca

Quote
Tapioca is an essentially flavourless starchy ingredient, or fecula, produced from treated and dried cassava (manioc) root. [1]and used in cooking. It is similar to sago and is commonly used to make a milky pudding similar to rice pudding. Purchased tapioca comprises many small white spheres each about 2 mm in diameter (althugh larger grain sizes are available). These are not seeds, but rather reconstituted processed root. The processing concept is akin to the way that wheat is turned into pasta. These tapioca pearls are made mostly of tapioca starch, which comes from the tapioca, or bitter-cassava plant. In other parts of the world, the bitter-cassava plant may be called "manioca" or "yucca".

Cassava is native to South America. The balls are prepared by boiling for 25 minutes, until they are cooked thoroughly but have not lost pliancy, then cooled for 25 minutes. The pearls have little taste, and are usually combined with other ingredients, savory or sweet.

Tapioca is a word derived from the Tupi language of Brazil (from tipi'óka). [2] This refers to the process through which cassava (Manihot esculenta) is made edible. We should note, however, that as the word moved out of South America it came to refer to similar preparations made with other esculents: 'Tapioca' in Britain often refers to a rice pudding thickened with arrowroot, while in Asia the sap of the Sago palm is often part of its preparation.
Stop Quote
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapioca

Note: For you SEO junkies, I went for the one word title of Tapioca, this means I hope to get in the top 10 search resuts, I normally target farther down.

Tapioca

Agpe Popcorn Learning Togo Ewe Language

Agpe Popcorn Learning Togo Ewe Language
Lome, Togo West Africa
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

I am becoming Togolese.

That is a scary thought, I hope to take the good and leave the bad, I am sadly aware I will take a little of both.



However, the good!
Agpe Popcorn.

I do a daily stroll through the neighborhood; it is how I become Togolese. I like the popcorn they sell, I have my own personal popcorn woman, she is nice, and I claim her as my popcorn person. The other day, I almost cried, hard to believe I can say that, half way do it, nonetheless, the truth is I was so touched by this women I almost started to cry.

I thought later, I am going go take her photo and try to say those words, some dream of writing touching words that explained what I felt. I started to, and I could not, she is not for sale, she is mine, and yours.

What happened?
I purchase two 25-CFA bags of popcorn daily, this is about 10 cents US, I try to give the lady correct change because I like her, I reserve the big money for the stores I do not like.

She knows me, I know her, no words are needed, she sees me, she knows I will grab two of the clear plastic bags of popcorn and give her either 50 CFA or drop it down into the plastic tub as is the custom here. They store the coins in the tub, or under the small towels that serve as table clothes. If I cannot find the vender, then it is self-serve, I just place the coin down, and I make my change and continue on the path.

The level of honesty at this level is amazing in Togo Africa, they leave money just sitting around in the open, one days pay here, can you imagine putting 100 dollars in the coffee area at work, and this is what they do.

I do the transaction, I say,
- Merci, -

This is French, I now she speaks the local Ewe Language 99 percent of her daily life, however I do not speak Ewe so, I say in the business language French,
- Merci -
Alternatively, thank you in French.

I look at people, I do not ignore people, as I give her the money, I grab my wrist as is the custom with offering of money, semi-do a small bow, she is woman of respect, older, I must be, I just must be… I am becoming Togolese.

Then it happened!
She looks back at me, nods her head, and says,
- Agbpe -

I look around, I can feel the piercing of my soul, this women just reached inside me, I can feel her touching me.

She is saying, I am you, you are I, we are together, however now as you are my son, you should say,
- Agbpe. -

I repeat,
- AackPay -
- AaghBay -

She repeats, I try to repeat, I do not have an ear for languages, this is tonal language, and I know I need to hear it many times to say correctly, I have to stop thinking, I am to repeat the word.

She has now adopted me, she is my teacher, and I am her student, as I become Togolese. I think, and I hope she said Thank You in the Ewe Language.

There is an art to learning about people, it may be you need to be touched, and allow them to touch you.

I was touched, and life is indeed good.

Agpe Popcorn
Lome, Togo West Africa
Wednesday, June 19, 2007
06 degrees 07.155 North
001 degrees 12.598 East
10 Meters of altitude above sea level

Three-quarters of a block North of Galion Hotel, Lome Togo
Please say,
- Agpay -

Do not worry about the spelling, I hope she will correct you…

For a real treat, watch her pop the popcorn, she will very so lightly add some salt, test the popcorn, shake it, add, adjust, then test again, she makes sure the popcorn has just the right amount of care.

Agpe Popcorn Learning Togo Ewe Language

Photos of African Food

Photos of African Food
Lome, Togo West Africa
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com

READER WROTE
Please send us some pictures of the grocery store. I love looking at
all the different stuff they sell. Snap the meat market area, vegetables and the check out counter. It will show what differences the culture is from here.

Interesting proposal or request, and not easy to do, because

1. 10 percent of food is sold about the same as the USA, the check out counter, the meat section is almost the same.

2. Then there is the 20 percent combinations of modern and traditional types.

3. Then there is the 70 percent normal world open markets, supplemented with small corner stores to distribute the imported foods.

The normal country of Togo is self-sufficient in they grow about everything they want or need, I think maybe a problem with Vegetable Oil and Rice, however everything else is here.

If I want to make the country look rich, I take photos of 1, if I want to make it look poorer, I can take pictures of number 3, and if I want be fair, I need to take many photos of all levels, and put on the same page. This is why I am often very annoyed with Journalist, I know they just took an isolated incidence and portrayed it a the normal situation.

To be fair is difficult, hard to make a very clean meat counter in a fancy Supermarket seem special, I will try to be creative and take more Togo and West Africa food photos.

Photos of African Food

Togo Food Biscuit Kolonto

Togo Food Biscuit Kolonto
Lome, Togo West Africa
Monday, June 11, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com



25 CFA or about 5 Cents US per biscuit

The name for this food in the local language Ewe language of Lome, Togo is Kolonto, pronounced as you would pronounced French. Koh Lone Toh.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewe_language

Interestingly the persons selling this corrected me when I said Ewe and they said Eva language.



This food is maybe made from wheat flour, however I have never seen wheat in Togo, maybe of corn or millet, hard to know. This food is more or less flours with water made into patties and baked, I think they add some licorice flavor or something, just a tinge. This is hard and stays fresh or ok to eat for days in these containers.

Lots of calories for a few cents.

Collecting information on language, culture, foods is like chasing rainbows, just when you think you are close it is further away. I read information written with too much force or authority, I do not want to portray confidence in this information. I am often very confused and it can take years to unravel the truth.

Who to trust, the educated people try to hide information and the one with no education cannot read or write. These simple street foods are often ignored as low class foods and not worthy to mention. This is a common food, easy to buy in Lome, Togo as you would walk around in neighborhoods, however, I do not see many Yebo walking around in neighborhoods.



In the USA or Indiana we say supper, this is a word in Indiana, a person teaching English should not avoid the real word, or the person traveling to Indiana will be surprised.

This is a normal food of Togo, normal is normal and special is special, culture is all things of a culture, not just special.

I read often about special foods of a country, I go to the country and never even see the food, I semi-believe what is obvious is the culture, and what is not obvious is history.

Togo Food, Food, Togo, Street Food,

Togo Food Biscuit Kolonto

Inca Kola or Irn-Bru or Cocktail de Fruits

Inca Kola or Irn-Bru or Cocktail de Fruits
Lome Togo West Africa
by Andy of HoboTraveler.com

I would like to bring this soft-drink Cocktail de Fruits into the ring, I have seen this drink daily in Togo for two months, I feel and suspect it sells better than Coca Cola in the country of Togo, West Africa.



I think a new contender has entered the ring, Coca Cola has another challenger for who sells the most for another country.



There is always a tourist and traveler glee in saying,
- Inca Kola is the only soft drink in the world to sell more than Coca Cola in a country. -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_Kola



This is gossip, now I am reading and it appears so does Irn Bru, in Scotland or somewhere.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irn_Bru

The world of Coca Cola, these are the little mouses that roar, these are the little Trains that go,
- I think I can. -
- I think I can. -
- I think I can. -
- I think I can. -

Inca Kola or Irn-Bru or Cocktail de Fruits

Mesonges du Tchoukoutou

Mesonges du Tchoukoutou
Atakpame, Togo West Africa
Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Sunday it the day for Tchoukoutou in Atakpame, Togo



Tchoukoutou is some type of corn mash beer, and Sunday is the day to partake.



This girl went to visit her parents and drank some Tchoukoutou, then proceeds to tell me she only drain half a bowl. I said, Tchoukoutou Mesonges, however she corrected my French and said, Mesonges du Tchoukoutou

More or less the lies of the home brew. She says she speaks Kabiye.

Sobabi is the high powered brew or distilled drink they make, I have started noticing signs on building saying Sobabi. More or less come buy moonshine here.

Beer, Drinks, Food, Street Food, Togo Food, Togo

Mesonges du Tchoukoutou

Togo Beignet

Togo Beignet
Badou Togo West Africa

This is Togo Street food, found in Badou, Togo and other places I forget already.



Beignet d Haricot Piment Sel

One man says, or wrote this, it is a bread type of food, deep fried, and with an African type of pepper inside and salt. The pepper really is a good extra kick, I learned to like them before I knew they were made with Beans, Haricot in French is beans. If you would have said beans, I would have refused.

Literally this is

Fried Bread of Bean Pepper Salt

It is a little frustrating and sensitive to me, the Togo or West Africa diet has so many calories packed into every food. Pate, Fufu, Yams, Cassava, etc, then they put oil on the top of many things. This is an over packed country, the people are fat, there is no easy way to say if nourishment is correct, however if there is fruits around they eat better.



This is a lady in Badou, Togo, does not seem to understand French, is grumpy, and I am a regular customer. The way to buy food in Togo is often to just to give them money. Give here say 100 CFA or Franc and she gives you a bag with some amount you will learn the price after the fact.



My most cultural experiences and the best, I am have about a 1 in 50 chance of understanding what happened. I am slowly, it has taken 10 year of practice, but slowly I have learned how to understand a culture fast. This food as explained by one man, maybe the information is correct, maybe it is not, learning about food and culture is a process, not an event. I like the pepper taste of this bread like food.

I eat what is tempting to me, not what someone tell me is good. I do not like the Pate or the Fufu, therefore, I do not want to learn about it. I want to learn about what I enjoy.

The food of Togo is difficult, either I am in restaurant that is twice as expensive as the USA, and the same as France and the food is terrible or I am in the streets. There is very little middle ground, I like the street food 100 times more than feeling like a victim to an overpriced Tourist menu with bad food.

This lady prepared these perfect, strangely I had one on a moto trip to the Ghana border, and had to throw them away.

I have discovered by in Atakpame, it is rare and difficult to find the cooked cheese called Wagassi, I am sad or hungry or both.

Food, Togo Food, Street Food, West Africa Food, Togo, Togo Budget,

Togo Beignet

Wagassi Togo Street Food

Wagassi Togo Street Food
Wagassi Wagashe Wagasee
Badou Togo West Africa
Thursday, May 3, 2007

One man wrote it down as Wagassi from the Kotokoli language, but what does he know, he only speaks the language.

Street Food of Badou, Togo West Africa

I have considered trying to think of guidelines and a tip on how to eat safely anywhere on the planet. I believe the safest way to eat food is packaged or processed foods, like crackers in a package and any food on a shelf in a container of some type, I now check the expiration dates, and I go in stores that are selling a lot of food, eggs make me nervous.

Then second is to cook the food yourself.
Third is Street Food
Fourth is a busy food stand.

I think the more expensive the restaurant maybe the more dangerous the food. Numbers, what I feel I need, I need numbers, I count the people, how many people are eating the food. Here in Togo if I go into an expensive Tourist fare restaurant, I am probably the only person in the restaurant. This make me extremely nervous, unless a busy Tourist Fare restaurant with lots of tourist.

Busy is good, slow is bad. More food tester, maybe we all die.

Now, when the food comes out from a Tourist Fare Restaurant, it looks good, and it may be good, but how do I know how long that chicken was there in the kitchen, and when they cooked it. They may have cooked the chicken five days ago, it could have been sitting in a basket, on a shelf, and now they think, we will sell it or we lose money, so let us heat it up and sell it. They are happy to sell the left-over food, because why would they lose money to be safe.

I have traveled for 10 years, I see this all the time, every day of the week, the food that was not sold yesterday, is served the next day. I took a photo of cooked chicken in Thailand at 7:00 in the morning, this is normal, not abnormal, and do would you trust a leader in Africa, and you trust the cook.

Street food, I like street food, I can see them make it, I cannot see goulash, or sauces, or complicated foods being made, but if I can see many people eating it, if the place is busy, I know, there is a good chance this food is fresh, because it will soon be gone.



This is a very happy and fun lady just as I clear the parking lot of the Cascades Plus Hotel here in Badou, Togo. She is selling as best I learn and surmise, cooked cheese.

One piece is 25 Franks and 10 would be 250 Francs or
50 Cents US. How much does cooked cheese cost in a restaurant in the USA?

I had an opportunity to eat this at a stop along the road when coming from Atakpame to Badou, however, I could not see them cooking it. Plus not much fun to watch all the locals squeezing the cheese as the reached from inside the van, then grabbing many pieces, squeeze food and put back on the plate, normal for them, touch the food, not normal of me. Why are you touching the food, have you no manners, oops, I am in Africa, this is about what maybe 147 down on the Human Development scale, they did not get that far down the list by being developed, they are under developed.



This is Wagassi, I would say there is maybe no correct way to spell and if there is, then so what. I trust the man today who offered to write the name down for me, then demanded a Cadeau for the service, I ended up giving him my pen, what a pain sometimes to talk with people, everything has a price on it.

I like this food, great to eat, the fat lady was fun, and the man who wrote the word down was ok, in a twisted, you have to love them sort of way.

He says the language is,
Kotokoli

Never heard of this, and not sure where it came from, not sure I care, it I cared about what I seen everyday, I would need to go home and relax after one day of travel. The world is endless, there is more than I can every learn, but great for a curious sort like me, and I do get hungry.

Food, Togo Food, Street Food, Togo,

Wagassi Wagashe Wagasee
Wagassi Togo Street Food

Goodbye to Electric Hotplate

Goodbye to Electric Hotplate
Atakpame, Togo West Africa
Saturday, April 28, 2007

I am saying goodbye to my save money product, I am saying goodbye to my electric hotplate and going to use the alcohol cooker.

I am using just the base that holds the alcohol of the Alcohol Cooker. Yikes, I just learned this gift I received cost about 15 to 40 times more than my can of Tuna cooker.

I guess they call this the Trangia Burner.
http://www.clikstand.com/
http://www.clikstand.com/order.htm

I think it cost 15.95 for just the base, I do not think the average person need the rest unless they go jungle for months, and I stay in rooms. A windscreen can be made out of trees. A nice gadget, however I think I would use the tuna can, my friend Chris sent it to me.

Alcohol is very heavy!

I have been using an electric hotplate for years, and it is cheaper to use than the alcohol cooker. The problem is I cannot use 100 percent of the time, however when have no alcohol, I cannot use that cooker…
Note: Arabic countries make alcohol almost impossible to buy, because people would drink it and they are Islamic.

I think I need to try gas, normal gas, I can always buy it. I am not going to carry gas in my bag. But I could buy quick and easy.

There are many problems with a hot plate.

- It will burn up the wires in your room, and you will have no electricity in a badly wired room.
- Blows a fuse about 10 percent of time
- Blogs a breaker about 10 percent of time
- Burns up wires about 1 percent of time.
- Breaks about 1 in 50 uses, so I have to rewire it.

Cheap to buy, an electric hot plate in the world is normally under 5 US dollars, and you can buy them most places. Africa is difficult, because they use wood about 99 percent for cooking fuel, and electricity is considered very expensive. I do not know, about 100 Fran per kilowatt.

I have tried to make a few of these; I just cannot find the asbestos material to make a small 220 electric cooker that works also in 110 but cooler. This one I purchase in India broke about 20 uses, it is too big and has many sharp edges, and the sharp edges it not normal. I can fix this, but I do not have the will.

I like the alcohol cooker, not because it works better.

Because I do not have to hide it, owners of hotels get Hotel Hostile when the see an electric cooker. About 60 percent do not care because they steal the electricity and do not pay. However, I do not show them my electric hot plate.

Africa has a problem with electricity here and I am opting for the alcohol stove. It is smaller and easier to carry, maybe this is not true, and the carrying of alcohol is a serious problem. I have found a special bottle.

I would not be changing, if I had not found that Togo sells this special bottle, and I think I can continue to buy it, so if I lose the bottle, I can buy or replace. Replacing the container is more difficult than the stove; a can of tuna will replace the stove.

Alcohol here cost about 4 US dollars per liter, this is not cheap, but it says, 95 percent alcohol.



My alcohol cooker unit is on the left, I have the other half of what I think they call a Dutch Oven or something, you can buy on
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com

I cannot find it, but I purchased three there, maybe discontinued, there is a top and a bottom, the pair together and make the safest place in my pack for delicate items to be stored. To kill the alcohol, I sit the pan of vegetable on top and kill the oxygen.

They have a funky; I would never buy Hobo Knife and Fork.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/20720-16501-634.html


Oh, rectangular items are easier to pack than round or oval, and a ball is ridiculous. I like this cooker because it optimized the space in bag.



One of the worlds most difficult to buy bottles. I have two shampoo bottles I have been protecting with my life for years. This could work for shampoo but is one liter in size, very big, but it rectangular and not round.

I found this in the market, here in Atakpame, they sell used bottle of all type in West Africa, and this one is special.

That little insert in the top, has a hole, it meets the inside of the lid, what happens this extra stopper helps to minimize leaks. This type of bottle takes a lot more beating than you water bottle ever imagined. This is why a Coca Cola bottle is so good. The world abuses the soap, coke, and other drinks. This extra stopper almost guarantees the bottle will not leak. Then if there is enough length of threads, I am good to go. I will trust this bottle farther, the problem, any bottle in a motorcycle accident can take a good squeeze, but this bottle. I should be able to fill it with alcohol and throw it from the top of the door height and not break, I will test later for fun.

This would make a great drinking bottle if I could wash the soap taste away, a liter in size, and would not leak. Hard to fill because you have to pry the top out. Water is an item you refill a lot.

I may need to buy a Hotplate again for a room heater.

Gear, West Africa Gear, Cooking, Stoves, Alcohol, Electricity, Food, West Africa Food, Hotplate

Goodbye to Electric Hotplate

Togo Playing in Rain

Togo Playing in Rain
Atakpame, Togo West Africa
Friday, April 27, 2007

For three day straight days, at about 2-3 in the afternoon, we have received a country cooling rain here in Togo. Contrary to any mythical movie type thoughts, it normally rains only about one hour in the afternoon, then it will start about 8-9 at night and rain all night in the so-called Monsoon areas. If you are in a real Rain Forest, like in Coca Ecuador, up on the mountain there, it will almost always be raining, or you are living inside a cloud.



These children from down below the hotel immediately came up after the storm stopped and played under the spouts coming from the roof of my Hotel.



This boy decided to wash his shirt, I am not sure why, I think he want an excess amount of water to rinse his clothes. I am positive he access to water, he is alive.



This is a photo from a big storm in the Danyi Apeyeme village on the Danyi Plateau.
http://www.hobotraveler.com/2007/04/danyi-apeyeme-togo-homestay.html

I finally realized, fresh drinking water is always available any place on the planet it rains. The problem is to collect and store the water.

This is rain drained off a rusty roof into a large 55-Gallon Barrel. I thought maybe it was bad to drink yet this website sort of says, no problem.

I am in a Rain area of West Africa, there is more rain in this belt than most parts of the planet.
http://www.eng.warwick.ac.uk/DTU/rwh/health.html

Water, Food, Togo,

Togo Playing in Rain

Incredibly Rich West Africa

Incredibly Rich West Africa
Amlame, Togo West Africa
Monday, April 23, 2007

I have traveled too much, I have seen to many versions of poor. I ain’t buying it, West Africa is rich.

West Africa
The subsistence farming here in West Africa has an over-abundance of flat land and water and sparsely populated. It seems to me, to be the perma-culture, self staining, and no need for the outside world, insulated, separated like the USA. The land gives what the people needs and more.

If this area the planet could find a way to have solar electricity for less than 20 U.S. dollars per family, they would almost not need anyone. Sadly, the more they strive for cell phones, cars, televisons and fashion, I suspect the more problems they will have, not less. The danger lies in want of luxury jobs, that provide non-essential trades ike the tissage or tress, and even the moto taxi.

The cost of living here is nothing and life is easy.

However, what is killing me is how they grow food in West Africa; I would guess they farm less than 15-20 percent of the land. Then after they plant something, they just hope it grows.

This means in a way, they have the worlds easiest farming to do, they can just plant something and hope, they do not even need to weed, and they have enough food to get fat. I was thinking, I do not see tractors, or oxen pulling plows, I seen one in Kpalime, however for the part, they just walk out and hack up the ground, make into these special anti-rain mounds, plant and hope it grows, no special work, easy, anyone can do it, and most do in a way, but not much.

I was thinking, the beef here is somewhat difficult, I do not see many cows, or cattle, however there are groups they call the cattle people. They grow goats here, and goats take very small amounts of care, then there are few chickens.

There is nothing grown in surplus except these stupid little peppers called Pims and they are everywhere, I think they grow in surplus because they cannot stop them from growing.

There is no BACKUP.

If they had a water problem in the middle of this rainy area, it is not a rainforest, as best I can tell, and for sure not a cloud forest, but it is very wet, I believe. How can they have a water problem?

There is no extra food, the risk here is a bad crop, if they have a crop problem, then no food, they need to learn how to can foods.

There are no cash crops grown that makes any sense, no mass-produced cash crops or animal husbandry. The only raise what they need.

They have no money. They make the homes out of clay, wood, and materials close to their home. The water cost, but they have the money to buy it, and it is clean, I drink it every day.

What happens of my feeling is this, I think when a person needs money, they become somewhat ridiculously easy to negotiate with, and they will not lose the deal under any condition.

I think money is just an extra, good if they have it, but then who cares really. The life is easy, too easy, they can grow food too easy, there is no striving or working for the food. There is no motivation to strive to better yourself. There seems not desire to fight for a job.

There are some indicators of need.

1. Number of beggars.
2. The amount of theft.
3. How much land is farmed.
4. How dirty are people clothes.
5. How much they will negotiate and still sell you an item or services.
6. How hard is it to steal available food that is growing.

I had a friend try to tell me the price of a Bungalow in Indonesia, I thought he was going to say 300 US or something. I can rent good room in Bangkok for 40 US per month, with AC. I rent a room here in Lome, Togo for 20 US per month, no AC.

The cost of renting a room on the planet starts about always at one-fourth the monthly wages or less. The people of Togo earn abut 30 as base pay and this would mean a room should start at 10 or something like that, and I believe I can rent a room for that.

All six of these items above are at an incredible low.

I sort of feel like I am in the lower part of Brazil, or the upper part of Argentina and there is no cattle, and no farming.

This could be the next Brazil farming boom, and the trees are already cut down. Note, I think one of the number one businesses in Togo or West Africa is the making of Charcoal. Charcoal is a luxury, as best I can determine, not a need.

Malnutrition, and badly balanced diets, overweight, etc is probably everywhere, I do believe the introduction of large amounts of vegetable seeds would alter their diets. They do not have the grub-stake to just start luxury crops, and do not see the need, they are farming thes same they have since the days of colonization, the eat Baguettes.

Togo Food, Food, West Africa Food, Africa Burning, Togo Economics, West Africa Economic, Farming, Animals Domestic, Perma-Culture

Incredibly Rich West Africa

300 AD Bananas in Africa

300 AD Bananas in Africa
Kpalime, Togo West Africa
Monday, April 9, 2007

Nothing more interesting than to take a stereotype and discover it is couched in time, Bananas do not orinally come from Africa.

I was reading in my Encyclopedia and I discovered about the introduction of Bananas to Africa in about 300 AD.

Quote:
Austronesian mariners introduce bananas to Madagascar and sub-Saharan Africa, thus making additional food supplies available and setting the stage for population growth. (2)

Austronesian I guess means the area of Malaysia, Southeast Asia, and mariners means sailors. They are trying to say that people on boats came from the Southeast Asia area of the world and showed a part of Africa how to grow bananas. Which is now one of the cheap, common staple foods of Africa.

300 AD Bananas in Africa

Walmart

Walmart
Kpalime, Togo West Africa

Hello Dan

YOU WROTE

Name: Dan (Edited)
Country: USA

Hi Andy, thanks for the great website.

Can I ask you to NOT list WalMart on your website? It is a wretched, evil company that destroys communities, towns, small businesses, the environment, people and their families. I wish more people were aware of exactly how terrible the situation is with them. It sickens me.

Thanks!
Dan

ANSWER

I think, I am not sure, you are referring to my gear page here:
http://www.hobotraveler.com/gear.php
(Site has from 25,000 to 50,000 pages according to your perspective.)

Yes, Dan you can ask me to not list Walmart on the website. I try to understand people and to listen, I try to take into consideration all points of view and I think when a person disagrees with me, I try to listen harder. I suppose by me saying, yes you can disagree with me, I am saying I disagree with you.

It is possible you know many facts, data, reports, explanations and in your excitement just forgot to send, if so please send at least as much information as statements of opinions, I do not know you, I have no reason to feel impelled to trust you. Thanks for reading my site, and liking, however not a reason to believe you.

I would recommend a person read my blog for a couple of months, then decide, do you not like me, and disagree or do you think I tell lies.

Walmat is a company I recommend to people in other countries to go and visit when they visit the USA as a tourist.

Ok to the start, you made a statement, you told me an opinion about Walmart, and gave no specific reasons, validations, explanations or better yet a scientific study about this, and I am almost positive you could find one. Instead, as in a way normal in out new world there is this idea of opinions are of value without some explanation.
(The evil part was over the edge.)

I personally have adopted a new term, or set of words to explain this that somehow I came upon, it may have be from Michael Crichton as he explains a lot about the lack of good study and scientific methods in his book - State of Fear - An excellent book and many footnotes, reference and whatnots at the end of the book, and he is substantiating fiction, not a requirement for fiction.

Junk Science -

QUOTE FROM THE SITE
Junk science?
"Junk science" is faulty scientific data and analysis used to advance special and, often, hidden agendas. The junk science "mob" includes:
http://www.junkscience.com/define.html
http://www.junkscience.com/

Walmart?

Why do I recommend Walmart on my site, because this is where I a traveler, and it is my opinion recommend and buy a lot of gear for me to use and carry in my backpack? I do not think most people would call it gear, but 99 percent of the stuff in my backpack is not sold in Travel Gear shops, so I would call gear the 99 percent and not the 1 percent.

I see gear shops as needing to sell specialty gear, like the ropes to climb mountain, but this is not for travel, it is more or less sports gear.

I will try to give one very good reason I recommend Walmart, and it is right here in Kpalime, Togo.

Wal-Mart sells very cheap products and drives the small retailer out of business because they sell so cheap. This is free enterprise, competition to sell the cheapest to the public, and a very good system that has proven to be a success.

Now, who wants to be driven out of business, not me? However, it is a fact, I compete for search engine traffic, and this is my competition, other people using the same search words. Stop picking on a hobo…. Duh, that is pretty stupid.

I am in Kpalime, Togo; there are about 20 small food stores from the corner of my street to the Texaco station. I have been in every one of them trying to search for canned vegetables to buy and eat. I actually have gone in maybe 50-70 small mom and pop stores here in Kpalime, they rein as king here.

I have found 1 in about 50 stores that carry corn; I have found about 1 in 70 that has a can of string beans. About 45 out of 50 have Petit Pois or canned peas, and none has the Haricot Rough or Kidney beans I like and can buy easily in Lome.

West Africa and all of Africa may have a problem with Malnutrition, I am not positive, but sure in Niger they do, I suspect the do in Togo, but then again AIDS is the issue-per-jour here, not the true problems.

I am not worried about West Africa first, I am first worried about me, Andy, I think I got very badly malnutrition in India and it became worst in Tibet, took me years to bring my system back up to happy.

I am going to eat my vegetable and fruits, take my vitamins and stop eating so much bread and peanuts. (That translates to peanut butter sandwiches.)

Where is Walmat, I want selection, I want the big super Marche to come here and sell a variety of foods and drive them little business to the moon. All it would take in this city is one larger store with a selection to drive stop many of the smaller stores.

Strangely, the Africa people do not do this, the Lebanon people come from Lebanon, start grocery stores and start to feed West Africa. There is no Lebanese people or few here in Kpalime, therefore we have this 50 small and no variety, all selling the same products, NOBODY, making any real money and thriving.

Thriving, I want people to thrive, Wal-Mart thrives.

Walmart good, bad, or who cares does what a good business does; they sell a product cheap for a good value. Therefore, I go there, and they have this quirk of the world, they refund you money if you are not happy.

I tell the world this, learn the word REFUND, in the USA, you can get a refund. If I buy bad cheese here as I did, from one of these Mom and Pop stores, they will not give me back my money; they do not make enough money to even stand by their products. IF I opened the cheese in the store and checked, they would give me new cheese, or something, but to leave the store and come back, they would say, you bought that somewhere else and lie.

Mom and Pops stores, small shops, small hotels lie, big stores have trouble, they can be sued and the person can get rich, not here in Togo.

Ok, Junk Science, there is not proof to your allegations, but then again it is your opinion, and yes you can say your opinion. I am sure someone can send links, and explain how the big Wal-Mart is bad.

I will continue to buy in Walmart providing the give me a great price, and a good product for my money. That is the deal I make with Walmart, they lose me the instant I can buy anywhere better, and I do not buy all things from Walmart. I go to Walgreen’s and Target and shop around.

Mom and Pop stores here in Kpalime, sell Peas for about 1.50 US dollars in one of the poorest countries on the planet.

How much does a can of Peas cost in Walmart in one of the richest countries on the planet?

Something is wrong here, and there is a reason why people want to go to the USA, and it has nothing do with freedom, and liberty all that crap, they just want to have a good life, thanks to companies like Walmart that sell cheap and drive these high priced small stores out of business. There is a shortage of jobs here in Togo, and the USA has many, there is a different in how the economics works.

ALL that I have said above is opinion; I have only done the 50 to 70--store search for vegetables here in Kpalime, Togo. To do proper research, I would need to list, document and explain, then go back to the USA and find the prices of Peas, Carrots, and all the other foods sold in Walmart.

This is sort of anti-junk Science opinions nothing to do with collaborated evidence. I could be 100 percent wrong, I think I am 99 percent correct, but that is my opinion.

Walmart is one of the eighth wonders of the world, or you can come here and eat the food, buy the clothes, and hurt. I purchased a shirt in the market yesterday, I wore it without washing, my neck broke out in a rash, I had to take a taxi home, and take a shower, and I was very worried. They had ironed or pressed the shirt with some unknown starch or liquid, I could have ended up in the doctor trying to clean my body of some rash because there is no Wal-Mart here.

Cheap and easy to purchase foods would help to solve the malnutrition problems in West Africa, but nope, that is not what the NGO push or shove or promote. The say, lets give them money, food, and make them beggars, the World Bank does more in seconds and much better than any misguided save the world ONG-NGO.

Someone told you about Walmart, and you are gossiping and telling others. Do not trust BBC and CNN, or the big news companies, they have an agenda.

Going to McDonalds overseas is humorous sometimes, why am two dollars for a Hamburger in Thailand when I can buy Chicken Fried Rice for 50 cents, then in France, I went to McDonalds every day.

Please some one come and sell the Haricot Rouge or the Kidney Beans here in Kpalime, Togo, I could care less how, I want to buy, market of one person exist.

Walmart

Togo Banana Scavenger

Togo Banana Scavenger
Kpalime, Togo West Africa
Wednesday, April 4, 2007



I buy a good looking banana, when I see a good looking banana, I am not talking about the girl.

I do not like just any food, in my town, they call me Snoopy eater, this word is used only in the Northeast corner of Indiana as best I can tell and is a cultural variance of words of this area. I learned in University I needed to say, I am a picky or a choosy eater.

I say, I am not a Garbage Disposal Eater also, referring to travelers that just put anything in their mouths.

I am a scavenger eater, trying to always find the one day collection of foods I scavenger for, as a balanced day of small meals. My friend - A Man - with the name Michel in French, or Michael in English thinks I do not eat.

I explained my diet, a Gateau or Bread in the morning, a few peanuts here and there, a couple of eggs or can of tuna, when I can find chicken, I eat chicken and a lot of the Vache Qui Rit Cheese or the Laughing Cow cheese.

I walk by the market, I buy Carrots. I eat a can of Peas, in Lome, I ate more vegetable as they had more variety. I eat an apple here, and apple there, other fruits and vegetable when I can.

I do not see rice with spaghetti on top, and a chicken drumstick as being a great meal. This type of dish is an illusion of food to me, and common for the Togo people.

Michael has been laughing, IF I see a banana lady, with a what looks like good bananas. I stop her, buy 100 CFA or about 20 cents US of bananas. This is about 4-5 smaller type bananas. I am always on the lookout for the more yellow bananas because I will not eat a banana with black or brown spots. I am a snoopy, maybe a snob about the food I eat.

European food.. What is that? Here in Africa, it is good excuse for a person to pay 5 times the going rate for food, it is amazing and I just do not understand how the poorest of countries can have some the most expensive restaurants on the planet. For the most part, locals do not go to restaurants in the fashion of the pay-to-much and think they need this white folk.

I am an independent person, I cannot buy big quantities of food, therefore I eat larger than normal helpings of one food, then scavenger all day long for various types. After the day is done, I more or less have all the correct foods, then supplement with Vitamins.

I eat about 1000 CFA per day, or 2 U.S. Dollars, including the lemon juices and slice of oranges.

Togo Banana Scavenger

Organically Grown Palm Oil

Organically Grown Palm Oil
Kpalime, Togo West Africa
Thursday, March 29, 2007

I am being sarcastic, and a smart A…



The Palm Oil is not pure and clean looking it is real, real life, real oil and made in a natural and organic way.

This is a photo I took in the market of Kpalime; the woman is selling palm tree oil, squeezed from this small little nut like thing. It is not the coconut, it is something that hangs down, not clear myself and there is nobody here in the organic natural and authentic world that cares to explain in English. I think I could get a very good Mina language explanation.

They do need and want to use the oil though, they are practical and use what they need, not making all the political correct decisions.

I see yams or cassava mostly being cooked in oil, there is also the Gateau I eat in the morning. They deep-fry them over a wood flame while I wait.

I like the Gateau or the round, what I think is corn, with some sugar inside dough thing, deep fried, and sold like a round donut hole, but is not a donut hole. Hmmm.. I have a photo.



Yes, the cheap food, I eat in the morning, one of these costs 25 Franc and one dollar is 500 Francs. I like them, and I have a small chat Chantelle, not Chantilly Lace, but Chantelle is my new friend, I think her mother makes them. Chantelle is married, has a baby by the name of Rose, and is nice, speak no English, small French, however we do communicate.

I am doing this mostly to EAT in the world now, IF I can see them cooking it, I will eat it, if they are not cooking it in front of me, I do not eat it, my solution to eating healthy.

I see many a chicken here looking like it is being cooked, and I want to see how long it has been on the burner, or is it from yesterday. I truly believe restaurants of the planet, take foods that did not sell yesterday, or the day before and just keep putting them out to sell. Not so bad when you know they have a fridge, sense of what is safe, and has the basic idea understood. NOT!

I trust my mom for this, and after that, I do not trust anyone, the world is about making a buck and the world will sell me anything they can get away from and I do not care if a 5 star hotel or the street vender. I am getting vigilant, cook it in front of me, and I will eat it.

Organically grown, a great marketing plan, a semi-good idea that goes astray, turns into a way to sell food at very high prices and who can say, was it really organically grown. The foods I see grown naturally grown are very ugly, I eat them daily, and the bananas are difficult to buy.

Is the world really ready for the ugly truth, would they eat meat, if they had to kill the chicken. The normal world will kill the chicken, we are sanitized and three levels away from life, the real world is a little too real for most people anymore to understand and appreciate.

I would wretch the necks a couple of chickens, if I thought they had some meat on them bones. They got some of the skinniest chickens and range fed chickens, marathon-running chickens on the planet here. The meat is like eating leather, a great place to make a large chicken farm.

Organically Grown Palm Oil

Kpalime Fromage

Kpalime Fromage
Kpalime, Togo West Africa
Monday, March 19, 2007

I am weak, my legs feel like there are spiders in them, and only because I saw some bad cheese. Kpalime is new to me, there are tons of stores, and so far, I have seen no stores owned by Lebanese people. The stores are locals, and there are too many to buy from, hard to choose, none appear to do good business.

I want a small grocery that does a lota of business, where there is evidently a lot of turnover of the food on the shelves.

I purchased some COPY of the Vache qui Rit, Fromage, something Bridell, I think, and then I proceeded to make a cheese sandwich. The cheese seem a little harder, and it was about 7:00 PM and it was already dark. I kept opening the little packages, and putting into a roll or T-bread, and about the fifth one, it looked like there was ants or black crap in the pack.

I looked closer and it seemed like there was mold on the cheese.

This cheese is sold, and left on the shelves, not in the cooler, if there is a cooler, it is normally sold this way. I worry all the time about it, and now I am weak feeling. I know myself, I will have trouble eating for the next few days, until I find a proper feeling store. There are too many places, and none so far feel safe, the products on the shelves could have been there for way too long.

I thought I had Malaria last time in Africa, however, the more I think, study and dwell on it, I think I had food poisoning. I am looking at the cans of food, checking the expiration dates, and trying to choose a grocery or store that has a lot of business. It is still complicated as they every store has something they somewhat specialize in, and I have never seen any specializing in this cheese I like.

I will need to buy food and look at it in the daylight, or in the room under good lights. I need to inspect, I did not want to bring the cheese into the room for he exact reason, I trashed the cheese. I did not want ants, or rotten cheese in my room. I tend to not eat in my room very much anymore, I do cook may cans of Vegetable, but anything sweet, or sticky, or with lots of crumbs like bread, I eat outside. I am hungry, and do not know where to go an eat. I guess I eat tomorrow.

Now a big moth flew into the room, now I have to set up the mosquito net, this hotel does not have screens, unusual for West Africa, normal for most of the world. Getting weaker, not stronger with the bad cheese on my mind.

Mosquito nets are hot.

Kpalime Fromage

Vitamin Loading

Vitamin Loading
Lome, Togo West Africa
March 4, 2007, 5:29 AM

Vitamins

I have went to Niger two times, I have went to Penn State to talk a professor about Malnutrition. I have a web site now:
http://www.malnutritionsolutions.org

We are generating large amounts of data, ideas, movement, and effectively I have done nothing, a big zero to change or solve the problems of Malnutrition. However, I suspect I am right in line with all the other organizations and have a better than normal chance of doing something.

What has been changed, is I am now eating healthier and taking my vitamins as I see a direct correlation between good health, happiness and brain alertness and the vitamins and food that enter my body.

If I eat well, and take vitamins, I am healthier and have more energy, I am the overactive brain Andy as normal of the past. My brain was slowing down, it was starting to be obvious to me, I was lethargic and did not wish to do anything.

I have went from cooking in my room about once every 20 days to cooking in my room once every two days. I am sure in Southeast Asia, I will always cook less because it is cheap to eat in places like Thailand. Here in Africa, I may be cooking daily soon, as I become more organized and prepared.

Sadly, I think I ate and prepared an egg sandwich in Niger and got food poisoning by doing what I am recommending. Eating in restaurants is not safe, however it is also complex and confusing to buy fresh foods. Just the other day, I realized the difference between and old carrot and a fresher carrot, the one is harder or almost brittle.

There are many trade offs in life, I now spend more times searching for food, but I have stopped eating all the processed package goods daily. I have never ate in restaurants regularly, I instead walk around and buy crackers, breads, and carbohydrates. Not the way to eat, but healthy and easy, or safe to eat this way, just not the full supply of nutrients and vitamins. If I eat packaged crackers, I will not get sick normally. If I eat in a restaurant, I will get sick.

Somehow, somewhere, there is an idea, a - presse - that will guide me to knowing if the food is fresh. I am thinking, I must only eat street food where I see them prepare it in front of me, or in highly active restaurants and only the plate that everyone is eating. The more exotic the order, the more likely the food has been sitting in the back for weeks waiting for some nut to buy.

I drank a whole container of apple juice, it must have been a liter. It took me days to find a place that sold juice that has the 100 Percent on the box. It is all French, and there is such and allusive use of words, I think they are selling sugar water, convincing the public it is healthy, and putting juice flavoring in the sugar water, this is portrayed as juice. I now only purchase juice looking drinks that has the 100 percent on the box. When looking at what is represented as juices, I see that about one in 10 boxes is really juice, the rest are just sugar drinks with flavoring.

Hmm, what great fun, I can watch the veggies and see if they pick up on this, I seem that as 90 percent easily manipulated by illusions of healthy foods. I will see if they buy the 100 percent or the normal