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otherworldlybooksgoddess · 4 years ago

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Five Exceptional Fantasy Books Based in Non-European Myth

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Don’t misunderstand me: I love reading well-written fantasy with roots in the familiar Celtic and English folklore of my childhood, but with the vast majority of High Fantasy being set in worlds closely akin to Medieval Europe, and a large amount of of Mythic Fiction drawing on legends of similar origin, sometimes the ground begins to feel too well trodden. There is, after all, an entire world of lore out there to draw from. That’s why I’m always thrilled to find excellent works of what I call “the Realistic Sub-Genres of Fantasy” based in or inspired by myths from other cultures. Such books not only support inclusiveness, but also expand readers’ experiences with lore and provide a wide range of new, exciting realities to explore. So, if you are looking for something different in the realm of Fantasy, the following novels will provide a breath of fresh air.

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wrecker

In this beautifully written novel, Wrecker draws on both Middle-Eastern and Jewish mythology to tell the stories of two unwilling immigrants in Edwardian New York and the unlikely friendship that springs up between them. Chava, an unusually lifelike golem created for peculiar purposes, has only days worth of memories and is practically childlike in her innocence. Ahmad the Jinni has lived for centuries, but is trying to reclaim his forgotten past. The former is as steady and calm as the earth she’s made from while the latter is as volatile and free-spirited as the fire within him. Both must learn to live in an unfamiliar new culture and find their places in a city too modern for myths even as they hide their true natures. It’s a wonderful metaphor for the experiences of immigrants everywhere, who often find themselves feeling like outsiders—isolated and even overwhelmed— as they struggle to adapt to life in an alien society.

Full of memorable characters, vivid descriptions, and interesting twists, The Golem and the Jinni takes readers on a journey that is driven as much by internal conflict as external action. The setting of 1900’s Manhattan is well-researched and spectacular in its detail. Wrecker blends two old-world mythologies into the relatively modern Edwardian world with a deft hand. The result is not only fascinating, but also serves to illustrate the common early-twentieth-century experience of an immigrant past colliding with an American future.

The Tail of the Blue Bird by Nii Ayikwei Parkes

One part Detective Mystery and one part Magical Realism, this novel invites readers to experience modern-day Ghana in a way that is both authentic and profound. When Kayo, a forensic pathologist just beginning his career, is pushed into investigating a suspected murder in the rural village of Sonokrom, the last thing he expects is to have a life-changing experience. Soon, however, he gets the acute sense that the villagers may know more than they’re letting on. When all of the latest scientific and investigative techniques fail him, even as odd occurrences keep dogging his steps, Kayo is finally forced to accept that there is something stranger than he thought about this case. Solving the crime will require more than intelligence and deduction; it will require setting his disbelief aside and taking the traditional tales and folklore of an old hunter seriously. Because whatever is happening in Sonokrom, it isn’t entirely natural.

This novel is brilliant not only because of its deep understanding of Ghanaian society and realistic setting, but also because of Parkes writing style. The narrative is gorgeously lyrical and everything within it is described with a keen, insightful eye. The dialogue is full of local color, and while some may find the pidgin English and native colloquialisms difficult to follow, I found that the context was usually enough to explain any unfamiliar terms. Sometimes the narrative feels a little dreamlike, but that is exactly the way great Magical Realism should be. The Tail of the Blue Bird insistently tugs readers to a place where reality intertwines with myth and magic, all while providing an authentic taste of Ghanaian culture.

The Deer and the Cauldron by Jin Yong

During the reign of Manchu Emperor Kang Xi, China is in a state of barely-controlled sociopolitical unrest. Many of the older generation remember the previous dynasty, and there still remain vestiges of a resistance movement hidden among the populace. As his forces continue to hunt down the malefactors, called the Triad Societies, the boy-emperor turns to his unlikely friend and ally: a young rascal known only as Trinket. This protagonist is a study in contrasts: lazy yet ambitious, cunning yet humorous, roguish yet likable, foul-mouthed yet persuasive. Born in a brothel, Trinket has made his way by his wits alone. At age twelve, he accidentally sneaked into the Forbidden City—a bizarre occurrence in itself—afterward befriending Kang Xi. Now, rising quickly through the ranks, he is on a mission to (ostensibly) find and weed out the Triad Societies, and he uses the opportunity to infiltrate various organizations, playing their leaders against one another for his own gain. With a dangerous conspiracy brewing in the Forbidden City itself, however, he is forced to choose sides and decide what is most important to him: friendship, fortune, or freedom. Supernatural occurrences, daring escapades, and moments of deep introspection abound as Trinket struggles to navigate the perilous maze his life has become.

This novel is like a gemstone: bright, alluring, and many faceted. At times it may seem somewhat simple on the surface, but looking closer reveals new depths and multiple layers. Full of intrigue, action, horror, and even laughs, The Deer and the Cauldron mirrors not only the complexities of its setting, but those of the China the author himself knew during the Communist revolution. By blending together history, fantasy, realism, humor, and subtle political commentary, Yong not only beautifully captures these social intricacies but also creates a narrative that is as thoroughly engaging as it is unapologetically unique.

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Magical realism related to food has almost become a movement in itself, with novels like Aimee Bender’s The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Joanne Harris’ Chocolat, and Sarah Addison Allen’s Garden Spells all finding their places in readers’ hearts. Originally published in 1992, Like Water for Chocolate helped create this fascinating trend, and it has become something of a modern classic in the fantasy genre.

The narrative centers around Tita de la Garza, a mid-twentieth century Mexican woman possessing deep sensitivity, a strong will, and a special talent for cooking. Born prematurely, Tita arrived in her family’s kitchen, tears already in her eyes. It is in that room where she spends most of her childhood, being nurtured and taught by the elderly cook, Nacha. The relationship that flourishes between Tita and her caregiver is a special gift, as it provides the girl not only with the compassion and support her own mother denies, but also with a passion and skill for creating incredible, mouth-watering dishes. At Nacha’s side, Tita learns the secrets of life and cookery, but she also learns one terrible fact: thanks to a family tradition, she is destined never to have love, marriage, or a child of her own. Her fate, rather, is to care for her tyrannical widowed mother, Mama Elena, until the day the older woman dies. With a vibrant, independent spirit, sixteen-year-old Tita flouts this rule, falling deeply in love with a man named Pedro who asks for, and is denied, her hand in marriage. Undaunted, the young man agrees to wed one of Tita’s older sisters, Rosaura, instead, as he believes this to be the only way he can be close to the woman he loves. Thus begins a life-long struggle between freedom and tradition, love and duty, which is peppered throughout with supernatural events and delicious cuisine. So great is her skill in cooking that the meals Tita prepares take on magical qualities all their own, reflecting and amplifying her emotions upon everyone who enjoys them. Controlled and confined for much of her existence, food becomes her outlet for all the things she cannot say or do. The narrative itself echoes this, by turns as spicy, sweet, and bitter as the flavors Tita combines. At its heart, this is as much a tale about how important the simple things, like a good meal, can be as it is a story about a woman determined to be her own person and choose her own fate.

Cuisine is fundamental to this novel, with recipes woven throughout the narrative, but that is only a part of its charm. In the English translation, the language is beautiful in its simplicity. The characters often reveal hidden depths, especially as Tita grows up and is able to better understand the people around her. Heartfelt in its joys and sorrows, Like Water for Chocolate glows with cultural flavor and a sense of wonder. It’s a feast for the spirit, and like an exquisite meal, it never fails to surprise those who enjoy it.

The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty

When I first read this novel, I found the early chapters enjoyable and engaging, but felt the story was no more than a typical, if especially well-written, work of mythic fiction. The deeper I got into the narrative, however, the more wrong I was proven. The City of Brass is anything but ordinary. While basing her work in Middle-Eastern lore and history, Chakraborty nonetheless manages to create a setting and story that are both wonderfully unique. Lush, detailed, and bursting with magic and intrigue, this book spans the lines between several sub-genres of fantasy without ever losing its balance.

Beginning in eighteenth-century Egypt, the narrative follows a quick-witted antiheroine. Nahri doesn’t live by the rules of her society. She doesn’t believe in magic or fate or even religion. Orphaned for most of her life, survival has required her to become a con artist and a thief. As a result, she is practical and pragmatic, a realist who has never even considered donning rose-colored glasses, and the last person who would ever expect anything supernatural to occur. Which, of course, means that it does, but the way in which it is handled is intricate and interesting enough not to feel trite. When Nahri’s latest con—a ceremony she is pretending to perform and doesn’t believe in even slightly—goes awry, and the cynical young woman finds herself face to face with a Daeva. Magical beings, it transpires, are real after all, and this one is furious. To both of their dismay, he’s also bound to Nahri, who soon realizes that he has an agenda of his own. In return for rescuing her (and refraining from killing her himself) Dara, the Daeva warrior Nahri accidentally summoned, wants her to pull of the biggest con of her life: pretending to be the half-human heir to the throne of his people. Worse still, she soon realizes that Dara, whose mentality sometimes seems a little less-than-stable, actually believes she may be exactly who he claims. He has something planned, and his intentions may not be in her best interest. Dragged unwillingly into a strange world of court intrigue, danger, social upheaval, and magic, Nahri quickly discovers that some things remain familiar. People are ruled by prejudices, the strong prey on the weak, and she can’t fully trust anyone. The stakes, however, are higher than ever, and Nahri will need all of her wits, cunning, and audacity if she wants to survive.

This novel was thoroughly enjoyable, and in fact prompted me to buy the following books in the trilogy as they became available. Chakraborty’s style is lyrical, her world building is superb, her plot is intricate, and her characters are well-developed. She not only frames unfamiliar words and ideas is easily-comprehensible contexts, but weaves those explanations smoothly into the narrative. The culture, mythology, and history surrounding her tale are all carefully researched, but the tale itself is nonetheless unique. What begins feeling like a fairly ordinary mythic fiction novel will pleasantly exceed readers’ expectations.

So, while we, as fantasy readers, love the works of authors like J. R. R. Tolkien, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Charles de Lint, there is also a plethora of other enchanting books to enjoy. Exploring magical realism and mythic fiction based in cultures and folklore from all around the globe ensures that our to-read lists will always hold something unexpected and exciting to surprise us. So, if you’re starting to feel like you’re in a bit of a reading rut, or if you’re simply looking to expand your horizons, open up new realms of imagination by opening up one of the novels above. Who knows see where it will lead you? You may just discover a new favorite to add to your bookshelf. Happy reading!

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elegantfashionstyles · 4 years ago

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Elegant Fashion Styles: Get styled elegantly and fashionable

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connectingthediaspora · 6 years ago

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Tonight we assemble here to pay tribute to one of the most remarkable men of our time.

Dr Du Bois was not only an intellectual giant exploring the frontiers of knowledge, he was in the first place a teacher. He would have wanted his life to teach us something about our tasks of emancipation.

One idea he insistently taught was that black people have been kept in oppression and deprivation by a poisonous fog of lies that depicted them as inferior, born deficient, and deservedly doomed to servitude to the grave. So assiduously has this poison been injected into the mind of America that its disease has infected not only whites but many Negroes. So long as the lie was believed the brutality and criminality of conduct toward the Negro was easy for the conscience to bear. The twisted logic ran: if the black man was inferior he was not oppressed — his place in society was appropriate to his meager talent and intellect.

Dr Du Bois recognized that the keystone in the arch of oppression was the myth of inferiority and he dedicated his brilliant talents to demolish it.

There could scarcely be a more suitable person for such a monumental task. First of all he was himself unsurpassed as an intellect and he was a Negro. But beyond this he was passionately proud to be black and finally he had not only genius and pride but he had the indomitable fighting spirit of the valiant.

To pursue his mission, Dr Du Bois gave up the substantial privileges a highly educated Negro enjoyed living in the North. Though he held degrees from Harvard and the University of Berlin, though he had more academic credentials than most Americans, black or white, he moved South where a majority of Negroes then lived. He deliberately chose to share their daily abuse and humiliation. He could have offered himself to the white rulers and exacted substantial tribute for selling his genius. There were few like him, Negro or white. He could have amassed riches and honors and lived in material splendor and applause from the powerful and important men of his time. Instead, he lived part of his creative life in the South — most of it in modest means and some of it in poverty and he died in exile, praised sparingly and in many circles ignored.

But he was an exile only to the land of his birth. He died at home in Africa among his cherished ancestors and he was ignored by a pathetically ignorant America but not by history.

History cannot ignore W. E. B. Du Bois. Because history has to reflect truth and Dr Du Bois was a tireless explorer and a gifted discoverer of social truths. His singular greatness lay in his quest for truth about his own people. There were very few scholars who concerned themselves with honest study of the black man and he sought to fill this immense void. The degree to which he succeeded discloses the great dimensions of the man.

Yet he had more than a void to fill. He had to deal with the army of white propagandists — the myth-makers of Negro history. Dr Du Bois took them all on in battle. It would be impossible to sketch the whole range of his intellectual contributions. Back in the nineteenth century he laid out a program of a hundred years of study of problems affecting American Negroes and worked tirelessly to implement it.

Long before sociology was a science he was pioneering in the field of social study of Negro life and completed works on health, education, employment, urban conditions, and religion. This was at a time when scientific inquiry of Negro life was so unbelievably neglected that only a single university in the entire nation had such a program and it was funded with $5,000 for a year’s work.

Against such odds Dr Du Bois produced two enduring classics before the twentieth century. His Suppression of the African Slave Trade written in 1896 is Volume I in the Harvard Historical Studies. His study, The Philadelphia Negro, completed in 1899, is still used today. Illustrating the painstaking quality of his scientific method, to do this work Dr Du Bois personally visited and interviewed five thousand people.

He soon realized that studies would never adequately be pursued nor changes realized without the mass involvement of Negroes. The scholar then became an organizer and with others founded the NAACP. At the same time he became aware that the expansion of imperialism was a threat to the emergence of Africa.

He recognized the importance of the bonds between American Negroes and the land of their ancestors and he extended his activities to African affairs. After World War I he called Pan-African Congresses in 1919, 1921, and 1923, alarming imperialists in all countries and disconcerting Negro moderates in America who were afraid of this restless, militant, black genius.

Returning to the United States from abroad he found his pioneering agitation for Negro studies was bearing fruit and a beginning was made to broaden Negro higher education. He threw himself into the task of raising the intellectual level of this work. Much later in 1940 he participated in the establishment of the first Negro scholarly publication, Phylon. At the same time he stimulated Negro colleges to collaborate through annual conferences to increase their effectiveness and elevate the quality of their academic studies.

But these activities, enough to be the life work for ten men, were far from the sum of his achievements. In the six years between 1935 and 1941 he produced the monumental seven-hundred-page volume on Black Reconstruction in America, and at the same time writing many articles and essays. Black Reconstruction was six years in writing but was thirty-three years in preparation. On its publication, one critic said: “It crowns the long, unselfish, and brilliant career of Dr. Du Bois. It is comparable in clarity, originality, and importance to the Beards’ Rise of American Civilization.” The New York Times said, “It is beyond question the most painstaking and thorough study ever made of the Negroes’ part in Reconstruction,” and the New York Herald Tribune proclaimed it “a solid history of the period, an economic treatise, a philosophical discussion, a poem, a work of art all rolled into one.”

To understand why his study of the Reconstruction was a monumental achievement it is necessary to see it in context. White historians had for a century crudely distorted the Negro’s role in the Reconstruction years. It was a conscious and deliberate manipulation of history and the stakes were high. The Reconstruction was a period in which black men had a small measure of freedom of action. If, as white historians tell it, Negroes wallowed in corruption, opportunism, displayed spectacular stupidity, were wanton, evil, and ignorant, their case was made. They would have proved that freedom was dangerous in the hands of inferior beings. One generation after another of Americans were assiduously taught these falsehoods and the collective mind of America became poisoned with racism and stunted with myths.

Dr Du Bois confronted this powerful structure of historical distortion and dismantled it. He virtually, before anyone else and more than anyone else, demolished the lies about Negroes in their most important and creative period of history. The truths he revealed are not yet the property of all Americans but they have been recorded and arm us for our contemporary battles.

In Black Reconstruction Dr Du Bois dealt with the almost universally accepted concept that civilization virtually collapsed in the South during Reconstruction because Negroes had a measure of political power. Dr Du Bois marshaled irrefutable evidence that far from collapsing, the Southern economy was recovering in these years. Within five years the cotton crop had been restored and in the succeeding five years had exceeded prewar levels. At the same time other economic activity had ascended so rapidly the rebirth of the South was almost completed.

Beyond this he restored to light the most luminous achievement of the Reconstruction — it brought free public education into existence not only for the benefit of the Negro but it opened school doors to the poor whites. He documented the substantial body of legislation that was socially so useful it was retained into the twentieth century even though the Negroes who helped to write it were brutally disenfranchised and driven from political life. He revealed that far from being the tragic era white historians described, it was the only period in which democracy existed in the South. This stunning fact was the reason the history books had to lie because to tell the truth would have acknowledged the Negroes’ capacity to govern and fitness to build a finer nation in a creative relationship with poor whites.

With the completion of his book Black Reconstruction, despite its towering contributions, despite his advanced age, Dr Du Bois was still not ready to accept a deserved rest in peaceful retirement. His dedication to freedom drove him on as relentlessly in his seventies as it did in his twenties. He had already encompassed three careers. Beginning as a pioneer sociologist he had become an activist to further mass organization. The activist had then transformed himself into a historian. By the middle of the twentieth century when imperialism and war arose once more to imperil humanity he became a peace leader. He served as chairman of the Peace Information Bureau and like the Rev. William Sloane Coffin and Dr Benjamin Spock of today he found himself indicted by the government and harried by reactionaries. Undaunted by obstacles and repression, with his characteristic fortitude he fought on. Finally in 1961, with Ghana’s independence established, an opportunity opened to begin the writing of an African Encyclopedia and in his ninety-third year he emigrated to Ghana to begin new intellectual labors. In 1963 death finally came to this most remarkable man.

It is axiomatic that he will be remembered for his scholarly contributions and organizational attainments. These monuments are imperishable. But there were human qualities less immediately visible that are no less imperishable.

Dr Du Bois was a man possessed of priceless dedication to his people. The vast accumulation of achievement and public recognition were not for him pathways to personal affluence and a diffusion of identity. Whatever else he was, with his multitude of careers and professional titles, he was first and always a black man. He used his richness of talent as a trust for his people. He saw that Negroes were robbed of so many things decisive to their existence that the theft of their history seemed only a small part of their losses. But Dr Du Bois knew that to lose one’s history is to lose one’s self-understanding and with it the roots for pride. This drove him to become a historian of Negro life and the combination of his unique zeal and intellect rescued for all of us a heritage whose loss would have profoundly impoverished us.

Dr Du Bois the man needs to be remembered today when despair is all too prevalent. In the years he lived and fought there was far more justification for frustration and hopelessness and yet his faith in his people never wavered. His love and faith in Negroes permeate every sentence of his writings and every act of his life. Without these deeply rooted emotions his work would have been arid and abstract. With them his deeds were a passionate storm that swept the filth of falsehood from the pages of established history.

He symbolized in his being his pride in the black man. He did not apologize for being black and because of it, handicapped. Instead he attacked the oppressor for the crime of stunting black men. He confronted the establishment as a model of militant manhood and integrity. He defied them and though they heaped venom and scorn on him his powerful voice was never stilled.

And yet, with all his pride and spirit he did not make a mystique out of blackness. He was proud of his people, not because their color endowed them with some vague greatness but because their concrete achievements in struggle had advanced humanity and he saw and loved progressive humanity in all its hues, black, white, yellow, red, and brown.

Above all he did not content himself with hurling invectives for emotional release and then to retire into smug passive satisfaction. History had taught him it is not enough for people to be angry — the supreme task is to organize and unite people so that their anger becomes a transforming force. It was never possible to know where the scholar Du Bois ended and the organizer Du Bois began. The two qualities in him were a single unified force.

This lifestyle of Dr Du Bois is the most important quality this generation of Negroes needs to emulate. The educated Negro who is not really part of us, and the angry militant who fails to organize us, have nothing in common with Dr Du Bois. He exemplified black power in achievement and he organized black power in action. It was no abstract slogan to him.

We cannot talk of Dr Du Bois without recognizing that he was a radical all of his life. Some people would like to ignore the fact that he was a communist in his later years. It is worth noting that Abraham Lincoln warmly welcomed the support of Karl Marx during the Civil War and corresponded with him freely. In contemporary life the English-speaking world has no difficulty with the fact that Seán O’Casey was a literary giant of the twentieth century and a communist or that Pablo Neruda is generally considered the greatest living poet though he also served in the Chilean Senate as a communist. It is time to cease muting the fact that Dr Du Bois was a genius and chose to be a communist. Our irrational obsessive anti-communism has led us into too many quagmires to be retained as if it were a mode of scientific thinking.

In closing it would be well to remind white America of its debt to Dr Du Bois. When they corrupted Negro history they distorted American history because Negroes are too big a part of the building of this nation to be written out of it without destroying scientific history. White America, drenched with lies about Negroes, has lived too long in a fog of ignorance. Dr Du Bois gave them a gift of truth for which they should eternally be indebted to him.

Negroes have heavy tasks today. We were partially liberated and then re-enslaved. We have to fight again on old battlefields but our confidence is greater, our vision is clearer, and our ultimate victory surer because of the contributions a militant, passionate black giant left behind him.

Dr Du Bois has left us but he has not died. The spirit of freedom is not buried in the grave of the valiant. He will be with us when we go to Washington in April to demand our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We have to go to Washington because they have declared an armistice in the war on poverty while squandering billions to expand a senseless, cruel, unjust war in Vietnam. We will go there, we will demand to be heard, and we will stay until the administration responds. If this means forcible repression of our movement, we will confront it, for we have done this before. If this means scorn or ridicule, we will embrace it for that is what America’s poor now receive. If it means jail we accept it willingly, for the millions of poor already are imprisoned by exploitation and discrimination.

Dr Du Bois would be in the front ranks of the peace movement today. He would readily see the parallel between American support of the corrupt and despised Thieu-Ky regime and Northern support to the Southern Slavemasters in 1876. The CIA scarcely exaggerates, indeed it is surprisingly honest, when it calculates for Congress that the war in Vietnam can persist for a hundred years. People deprived of their freedom do not give up — Negroes have been fighting more than a hundred years and even if the date of full emancipation is uncertain, what is explicitly certain is that the struggle for it will endure.

In conclusion let me say that Dr Du Bois’s greatest virtue was his committed empathy with all the oppressed and his divine dissatisfaction with all forms of injustice. Today we are still challenged to be dissatisfied. Let us be dissatisfied until every man can have food and material necessities for his body, culture and education for his mind, freedom and human dignity for his spirit. Let us be dissatisfied until rat-infested, vermin-filled slums will be a thing of a dark past and every family will have a decent sanitary house in which to live. Let us be dissatisfied until the empty stomachs of Mississippi are filled and the idle industries of Appalachia are revitalized. Let us be dissatisfied until brotherhood is no longer a meaningless word at the end of a prayer but the first order of business on every legislative agenda. Let us be dissatisfied until our brother of the Third World — Asia, Africa, and Latin America — will no longer be the victim of imperialist exploitation, but will be lifted from the long night of poverty, illiteracy, and disease. Let us be dissatisfied until this pending cosmic elegy will be transformed into a creative psalm of peace and “justice will roll down like waters from a mighty stream.”

#mlk #martin luther king #African Diaspora #w.e.b. du bois #radical king #jacobian

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bestwigscollection · 1 year ago

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The Beauty of Passion Twist Wigs: A Guide

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soccernetghana · 3 years ago

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FEATURE: We don't need an expatriate coach at this crucial time

[caption id="attachment_762459" align="alignnone" width="689"] Mohammed Amin Lamptey[/caption]1.The ongoing twists and turns is a clarion call for us to revisit the base of our football development and rectify the canker eating up the fibre of our football...Empower our local coaches and all stakeholders to believe in themselves and not bring in another expatriate coach to fix nothing.2.The FA must come out clearly.Is either the government continue to pay the salary of the Black Stars Coach and dictate who the Black Stars Coach should be or the FA takes up the responsibility to pay the Black Stars Coach and have a field day on their plans.3.No coach(Foreign or Local ) can succeed with the Black Stars on our current porous football development pedestal, regardless.4.Our challenges came about because of the lack of effective chemistry among key stakeholders on the forward match of our football,the passion of the nation.Our unity of purpose has been clouded by individualism and relegated collectivism to the background perhaps because of political expediency, selfishness,hatred,animosity, vindictiveness, vengeance....5.No body can better manage our current problems than ourselves. Time to rule our football destiny is now.6.We've had countless expatriate coaches in the past and the question is, what is the legacy they've left behind we can utilise today to correct our current situation?So we've turned foreign coaches as our automatic stopgap managers when we self inflicted ourselves with unnecessary distractions?.7.What impact the foreign coaches have injected in our Black Stars that we can use to better our game admistratively, technically, tactically and in terms of relationship and effective communication?8.All those who recommended Coach CK for the Black Stars job after just two games as an assistant coach to Kwasi Appiah have done him a serious harm.Coach CK should have been encouraged to be the assistant to the more qualified Ibrahim Tanko who assisted coach Kwasi Appiah for almost two (2)years or get him to start from the junior national teams to grow through the ranks.9.It is still not clear why Coach Appiah's contract was terminated and why his assistant Ibrahim Tanko was not appointed to take over the mantle?10.It is quite disheartening to think through our scheme of Black Stars coaching and management process.I believe pairing Kwasi Appiah with foreign coaches over the years was for him to under study them and in future take over the baton and also live to impact the knowledge acquired to our local coaches.Why must we dismantled that beautiful concept ? I don't know !!!!11.I believe the random changes in the Black Stars technical team and backroom staff may have contributed enormously to the current problems.The recent changes of goalkeepers trainer for the Black Stars was another confusion trigger.12.Lack of proper blue prints for the Black Stars could be attributed to our current problems with the Black Stars. Just take a look at the management team of the Black Stars. Be critical and analytical devoid of emotions on this one.13.The FA momentarily has forgotten that the Black Stars is the cash cow among their football products and that, all it takes to succeed is non-negotiable. And that, they need quality relationship and effective communication to triumph.14.It is important to state that the ongoing destructive debate on the Black Stars coach is seriously at the verge of rocking the boat of bring back the love campaign.The vibrant Black Stars brand, corporate personality and corporate integrity are gradually fading out. This is more important than a foreign coach. Tide up your environment before you invite a visitor.15.All must realize that we are contributing in killing our football brand and that will eventually affect our local and foreign based players when it comes to value, respectability, dignity and integrity.16.Our local coaches seem to be very keen in pulling down each other. I have observed this over the years regarding their posturing, commentaries and analysis of our football especially on the Black Stars. The earlier they close their ranks the better for all of them.17.Why must Ghana as a country enriched with tried and tected coaches such as Kwasi Appiah, Ibrahim Tanko, Maxwell Kunadu, Didi Dramani....... and still languishing in the quagmire of searching for a coach for the Black Stars? I can't think far!!!18.Let's use our just ended Ghana Premier league and juxtapose your taste for foreign coaches and see whether it's prudent and worthwhile the goose chase.What was their mode of entry and how did they exited?19.The way forward....Quickly revert back to engage a competent local coach to help clean our path. Let's consider the most qualified person and get him well motivated with clear cut and reasonable targets.20.The Ghana Football Association must review their preposition on the head coach of the Black Stars with the needed passion and determination and be ready to corporate and redefine their interpretation of intervention in their affairs of the Black Stars .The FA must work on their PR regarding the alleged interference, imposing of players on coaches, lack of relationship and effective communication.The Black Stars need a psychology and a qualified public speaking coach to help correct some the visible problems and other peripherals.Please, Ghana needs a local coach at this crucial time and not an expatriate....We cannot afford $80,000 and $120,000 a month for a foreign Coach under our current economic challenges.Sports journalist, citizen Journalists and other social media uses must take their time at this period to avoid sensationalism andsentimentalism in their posts, reportage, news writeups, commentaries and analysis to help minimise harm.In news effects, to minimize harm is one of the fundamental ethics of journalism.Let's be mindful of our professional and social responsibility at this crucial time.By Mohammed Amin Lamptey source: https://ghanasoccernet.com/

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virgohairbraidingsalon0214 · 1 year ago

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San Antonio Hair Braiding Timeless Artistry and Cultural Expression

The Significance of Hair Braiding:

Hair braiding has long held significance in various cultures as more than just a means of beautification. For many, it is a form of storytelling, communicating a person's age, marital status, social status, and even their community's traditions. In San Antonio, hair braiding carries a unique sense of pride, serving as a bridge between generations and preserving cultural legacies.

A Fusion of Cultures:

San Antonio's diverse population has fostered a melting pot of braiding techniques influenced by African, Native American, Hispanic, and European traditions. African braiding, in particular, has played a pivotal role in shaping San Antonio's hair braiding scene, as its intricate designs and complex patterns have inspired contemporary styles loved by many.

Techniques and Styles:

The artistry of San Antonio hair braiding goes beyond simple weaving; it involves a combination of methods and styles that reflect both individual creativity and cultural roots. Some popular techniques include.

Cornrows:

Cornrows are small, tight braids that lie close to the scalp. Often arranged in intricate patterns, they are a favorite choice for their durability and versatility.

Box Braids:

Box braids are thicker braids that create a distinctive squared-off look. These braids can be adorned with colorful accessories, offering an opportunity for self-expression.

Senegalese Twists:

This technique involves twisting extensions into the natural hair, resulting in elegant, long-lasting styles that require minimal maintenance.

Faux Locs:

Faux locs imitate the appearance of dreadlocks without the long-term commitment. They provide a stunning and protective style for those seeking a temporary change.

Ghana Braids:

Also known as feed-in braids, Ghana braids create a sleek and tight look, originating from West African traditions.

The Braiders: Artists of Hair:

In San Antonio, hair braiders are true artisans, honing their craft with dedication and passion. Many of them have learned from family members or mentors, inheriting age-old techniques and infusing their own creativity into each braid. They take pride in helping clients embrace their heritage, create unique looks, and maintain healthy hair.

Cultural Celebration through Braiding Salons:

Braiding salons in San Antonio are more than just places to get your hair done; they are cultural hubs that celebrate diversity and inclusivity. These spaces embrace people from all walks of life, offering a sense of belonging and fostering cross-cultural connections. Many braiders are multilingual, further bridging the gap between different communities and making clients feel at ease.

The Importance of Hair Braiding Education:

While hair braiding has deep cultural roots, it is essential to acknowledge the challenges that have arisen around its practice. In the past, braiders often faced unnecessary regulations and licensing requirements that did not align with the nature of their art. However, thanks to advocacy efforts and a growing understanding of the significance of hair braiding, there has been progress in promoting fair regulations and providing educational opportunities for braiders to enhance their skills and professionalism.

For More Info :-

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Virgo Hair Braiding San Antonio

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years ago

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The Jollof Wars

Jollof with beef from Hill’s Kitchen, a restaurant in Bushwick, Brooklyn

The rivalry between Nigerian and Ghanian styles of jollof is a (mostly lighthearted) debate among the West African diaspora

The memes that flood Instagram and Twitter usually feature two similarly themed pictures side by side, one significantly better-looking than the other: The contrasting image is often an exaggerated inferior version, and depending on who made and shared the meme, one side will be tagged “Nigerian jollof,” the other side “Ghanaian jollof.”

On YouTube, there are both amateur and professionally produced music videos and diss tracks containing hyperbole describing one as the best and the other inferior. There is even a Star Wars-themed video showing a lightsaber fight between Ghanaian and Nigerian jollof (the fight goes on for a while). The rivalry over jollof rice, a dish typical to Ghana, Nigeria, and other West African countries, is a feud of passion that often ends up being less of an argument and more a battle of wits and repetition — who can use the best hyperbole to describe the superiority of their jollof.

Jollof is a piquant seasoned rice dish that’s a medley of rice, tomatoes, and spices. It is eaten generally as a main dish in most West African countries and is also a staple at parties and family gatherings. At its base, it is stewed rice with tomatoes, onions, vegetable or olive oil, habanero (or scotch bonnet) pepper, tomato puree (or tin tomatoes), stock cubes, thyme, curry powder, ginger, and garlic. Spices, ingredients, and cooking methods slightly vary between households, but the basic elements of rice, tomatoes, and onions remain the same.

However, jollof is more than its ingredients. The cooking process is intricate, the order in which you add the ingredients matters, and the person making it matters the most. Just like a good New York City slice, jollof rice in Nigeria and Ghana is ubiquitous, yet highly sought after. It’s robust and hearty with a mellow texture and blend of spices that gives it a savory taste with a hint of sweetness. Each plate is as flavorful as the next, yet, like a snowflake, each jollof meal is a unique work of art. If you’re at a party in Nigeria or Ghana, you don’t have to search too long for jollof rice. It finds you. In some cases, you have to be proactive and go after it, because it’s usually the first dish to get maxed out.

The most common method of cooking jollof rice starts with seasoning the meat, which determines the quality and maturity of the meat stock and the ultimate flavor and taste of the rice. And just like the perfectly grilled medium-well steak, jollof does not need any garnish or condiments. However, if you must, you can garnish with fried plantains (dodo), coleslaw salad, chopped veggies, or fruits like banana.

Cooking methods vary between Nigerian and Ghanaian jollof, but the main difference is the type of rice used. In making jollof, Nigerians use long-grain rice, which is sturdier and provides good flavor absorption, while Ghanaians use the more-aromatic basmati rice, which itself adds an extra flavor to the dish. “There are very real differences between jollof cooked in both countries,” says acclaimed Nigerian food explorer Ozoz Sokoh, mostly “in the rice and in the seasoning, which ultimately define the flavors.” Among Nigerians, there’s a consensus that the rice should be burnt just a little to allow for crispiness at the bottom. As a kid, getting some of that crispy burnt part on your plate was how you knew your parents truly cared for you. And if it’s party jollof, which is cooked over firewood, that burn gives a distinct smoky flavor. (Ghanaian jollof, even at parties, tends to be less smoky.) Party jollof in particular “takes me back to the parties my parents hosted when I was young,” Sokoh says, “where cooking started before sun [was] up, and eating went on past sundown.”

Jollof’s origins can be traced to Senegal’s ancient Wolof empire and medieval state in the 1300s, where it first surfaced as a dish called thiéboudienne. As the Wolof empire grew and dispersed along the West African coast and region, so did the recipe, which was named after one of the biggest Wolof states, Jolof. The rising popularity of rice (introduced into the region from Asia but now grown locally) led to the spread and adaptation of the recipe. As new cultural enclaves emerged across the West African region, so did different jollof interpretations, with recipes that continued to evolve into what it is now.

Today, every West African country has some variation of the dish. The similarity between the Nigerian and Ghanaian recipes is a symptom of the fluidity of West African borders and overlapping cultures that can be traced back to the same origins. Dishes like fufu, palmnut (banga) soup, suya, and melon (egusi) soup are also shared by both countries with small variations in the recipes, which were often passed down orally and from observation. As a Nigerian, I have an in-depth knowledge of Nigerian recipes only from watching my mum and brothers cook. I don’t remember learning how to cook jollof, but I could never forget how.

Jollof with chicken from Buka in Clinton Hill

While the supposed feud rages on social media, for many chefs, the debate takes a backseat in their approach to the dish. Top Chef alum Kwame Onwuachi, who is Afro-Caribbean, is a little more lax about the presence of any real differences. “Jollof is to West Africa what gumbo is to Louisiana. There are very slight differences in how it’s made, and it varies from person to person,” he says. He believes that the jollof rivalry is a “playful” one, though notes that he prefers Nigerian jollof. Before he departed the Washington, D.C., restaurant Kith/Kin earlier this summer, he made the restaurant’s jollof how he learned to growing up, with general base ingredients like tomatoes, onions, scotch bonnet, and stock cubes — Maggi cubes specifically. But in a personal twist, Kith/Kin’s version used ingredients like crab meat along with jerk spices, and small changes to the recipe happen seasonally.

Chef Zoe Adjonyoh, a British cook with Ghanaian roots who is known for her contemporary Ghanaian food, has a similar opinion of the rivalry. “The banter is good. The banter is great, even. It can be fun, though I’ve heard stories of school kids in the United Kingdom getting into fights over it, which is ridiculous.” But she’s also wary of it, believing phrases like “jollof wars” can be reductive, simplifying African cuisine to just one dish. “It’s time for the conversation on jollof to be stepped up… using jollof as the only frame of reference for West African food is problematic and limiting for me, because West African cuisine is so much more than that.” And on the difference between both dishes, she says, “The differences are nuanced and small in the end, as many Ghanaians cook their jollof the Nigerian way and vice versa.”

Nigeria and Ghana have a lot in common. The British colonized Nigeria and Ghana up until 1960 and 1957, respectively, when the countries gained their independence. They are both English-speaking West African countries carefully separated by two slender French-speaking countries — Togo and Republic of Benin, which were colonized by the French. The similarity in language, traditions, and shared cultures, some of which are a combination of European practices, has led to Nigeria and Ghana becoming sister nations.

Yet the feud over who has the best jollof is continuous and prevalent between Nigerians and Ghanaians. Both online and offline, people get riled up over the comparison of two dishes that are quite the same. The jollof war appears to be more prevalent in the Nigerian and Ghanaian diaspora, a way for people to hold on to their national identities. Africa is a very diverse continent, with each of its 54 countries containing a plethora of cultures, languages, and ways of life. Yet outside the continent, Africans are usually grouped with little to no regard for their nationalities. In a world where sparse attention is paid to cultural identities that are specific in their beauty, robust in their history, and wildly colorful in their different facets, such a world is bound to give birth to hashtags like #JollofWars.

In that same world, both countries will come together to protect the dish. In 2014, British chef Jamie Oliver’s interpretation of jollof rice included ingredients like parsley and lemon, sparking a backlash from both Ghanaians and Nigerians that gave rise to a different hashtag: #Jollofgate. Many condemned his made-up recipe and warned against misrepresenting a rice dish with coriander and parsley as “jollof.”

The opinion about who has the better jollof rice changes from person to person, but one constant is that West African cuisine has continued to increase in popularity. Whole Foods’ annual prognosticating of the Top 10 Food Trends for 2020 listed West African foods as one of the fastest-growing food trends, highlighting indigenous superfoods like moringa, teff, tamarind, and fonio, which are gaining prominence. This increased popularity is more than a trend. It’s a favorable and long overdue proliferation into the global food scene that could serve to change how the world sees not just African cuisine, but Africa as a whole.

In many ways, the jollof war is a gift that keeps on giving. Am I too optimistic in my outlook? Perhaps. But this rivalry continues to catalyze to elevate the presence of West African cuisine to the global scene. As we argue about who has the best jollof, maybe the answer doesn’t matter, because a plate of any type of jollof rice will always be a treat.

Jiji Majiri Ugboma is a writer and creative director of Clever-ish Magazine. Clay Williams is a Brooklyn-based photographer. Fact-checked by Andrea López-Cruzado

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2Py1Atf https://ift.tt/3fx7w01

Jollof with beef from Hill’s Kitchen, a restaurant in Bushwick, Brooklyn

The rivalry between Nigerian and Ghanian styles of jollof is a (mostly lighthearted) debate among the West African diaspora

Jollof with chicken from Buka in Clinton Hill

Jiji Majiri Ugboma is a writer and creative director of Clever-ish Magazine. Clay Williams is a Brooklyn-based photographer. Fact-checked by Andrea López-Cruzado

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2Py1Atf via Blogger https://ift.tt/3gyTuMU

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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crackspinewornpages · 5 years ago

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Like Water for Chocolate 9/12 -Laura Esquivel

Recipe for Ox-Tail Stew (I remember reading a children’s book called Just Right Stew the secret ingredient is brown sugar) says you have to add more water without the soup getting watery. (I met a girl in high school from Ghana who said the watery stuff we have in the states isn’t soup and they eat it with bread) Tita and Chencha believed soup can cure any illness (yeah chicken soup is good for your soul) and Tita had to accept it after three months Chencha came and made her soup that returned her senses. She was watching Alex chase doves and heard John’s footsteps come up the stairs, his words were her link to the world. “If only she could go down to Alex and kiss him like the son she didn’t have, play with him until they were tired, if only she could remember to cook so much as a couple of eggs, enjoy any kind of food, if only she could…return to life.”p.136 He came with a foreign smell, a bowl of ox-tail soup, Chencha came in crying and hugged her, when Tita ate it, it was like Nacha was there and she remembered and when she smelled onion cried like the day she was born. Chencha and Tita laughed and relived moments, “At last Tita had been ale to remember a recipe, once she had remembered the first step, chopping the onion.” p.137 How to prepare the onions (as a person that doesn’t like onions with a burning passion I’m getting sick of all the onion talk) and add other ingredients in the fry.

John came in alarmed by the stream of tears down the stairs (wtf) but when he knew what caused them, he blessed Chencha and her soup for doing what he couldn’t. He turned to leave but Tita’s voice stopped him after months of silence. He stayed and heard gossip, Mama Elena forbade visits to Tita crazy or not she didn’t forgive her for blaming her for Roberto’s death, also forbade Tita’s name and in the De la Garza family there was no disobedience or question. There was also news from Gertrudis, she was working on a brothel and when given her clothes she gave Nicholas a letter. She was grateful to get them as the next day she would leave to find a place for herself and hopes to meet the man on horseback and worked in the brothel to quench the fire in her, (Bring On The Men~) maybe she’ll come back and explain it to her. (you were horny) Tita put the letter in her dress and Chencha didn’t ask because she already read it, they then dried the stairs.

When they said goodbye Tita told Chencha that she didn’t want to go back to the ranch and to tell Mama Elena. Chencha had to come up with a story so she wouldn’t get angry and came up with excuses for the visit and envied Tita for her courage, she heard stories of bad things happening to people who disobeyed their parents and left the house. Twisting her rebozo (it’s like a shawl) she came up with a lie, it was a survival skill she got on the ranch. (how horrible is that place where you have to learn to lie for self-preservation) “Anything could be true or false, depending on whether one believed it.” p.141 (which is why you need to check facts) example, the stories of Tita’s fate weren’t true. She had been worried for months over Tita being in an asylum and here she was at the doctor’s house and no matter what she ate it wasn’t like the ox-tail soup, why else would she cry like that? (are you really that dense) And now that she left Tita would cry again from the memories, Chencha was sure she suffered deeply. She couldn’t picture Tita as she currently was in a moier-inlaid (a shimmering geometric pattern) dress with John proposing marriage by a fire. Tita had accompanied him to the neighbors the dress like a dove’s plumage didn’t remind her of the dovecote as she felt recovered to start a new life. It wasn’t like Pedro’s kiss, “but she hoped that her spirit, which had been dampened for so long, would eventually be kindled by the presence of this wonderful man.” p.143

After three hours Chencha had an answer, that she had fund Tita as a beggarwoman on the streets after escaping the asylum and roamed to pay for insulting Mama Elena. When offered to come home Tita refused and felt she didn’t deserve to live with a good mother and told Chencha to tell her that she loved her and will return when she becomes an honest woman to give her love and respect. (as much as a narcissist she is bitch will definitely believe this) Chencha would tell it but that night the ranch was attacked by bandits, Chencha was raped and Mama Elena suffered an injury to her spine that left her a paraplegic (well you wanted to be waited on hand and foot how’s it feel now not being able to take care of yourself) so Chencha didn’t tell her the story. Tita returned after hearing about it and Chencha’s lies would have been ruined by how well she looked and when she saw Mama Elena lowered her eyes. She had disowned her, and they had severed the tie of blood and obedience and Tita knew she felt humiliated to allow her back to take care of her. (I would have just left her to suffer and wallow in her own misery) Tita knew that and wanted to giver her the best care and made her ox-tail soup to recover, how to cook broth and simmer it.

When served Mama Elena spit it out complaining that it was bitter and to take it away. (is this soup bitter *slurping sound* no… must be you) Tita didn’t let her mother see her frustration never understanding her attitude how a person in any relationship with the other could reject such a kind gesture like that. (there’s a whole subreddit on this) Tita was sure the soup was good, she tasted it and was careful in preparing it. She felt like a fool to return, it would have been better to stay with John and leave Mama Elena to her fate but her conscience wouldn’t let her, her freedom would be Mama Elena’s death and she wouldn’t die yet.(she was never your mother she already disowned you and kicked you out just leave there is nothing here for you but misery) She felt the urge to run and shield the flame John made she felt the smoke rising to choke her. She ran out the door right when John arrived and crashed into him and he saved her from falling and the touch rekindled her. “Tita was beginning to wonder if the feeling of peace and security John gave her wasn’t true love, and not the agitation and anxiety she felt when she was with Pedro.”p.147 She left the room with Mama Elena ordering her to take the soup with John telling her not to move and asking her what she wants to eat, she had him lock the door and told him about the bitter food.

Mama Elena refused to believe it was the medicine and is certain they are putting something in her food and has John taste it, all he tastes are the ingredients. He doesn’t taste anything bitter but if she wants it tested, he’ll send it but until he gets results, she has to eat, she demands a cook, but he says the best is Tita and he’ll ask for her hand someday. Mama Elena tells him he knows why she can’t marry, and John keeps quiet so she wouldn’t get angry. (what can she do the bitch can hardly move) There was no point as he resolved to marry Tita without her permission as Tita didn’t care about her absurd destiny when she turned eighteen, (whoa whoa whoa she’s how old how old are you John) they would marry. They ended the visit and said he’d send a new cook tomorrow, but Mama Elena was occupied with his remark to marry Tita. She suspected Tita wanted her to vanish so she could marry, now she didn’t doubt Tita was poisoning her to be with Doctor Brown and refused to eat anything Tita cooked and put Chencha in charge of food and would have her taste it in front of her.

It didn’t bother Tita that Chencha had to take care of Mama Elena now she could embroider bedsheets and decided to marry John as soon as her mother was better. (or kicked the bucket) Chencha really suffered after the attack, you would think she would benefit from only having to serve Mama Elena, but it wasn’t so and soon was criticized by her. When she went to have the stiches (dear god) removed Tita had to cook in her place and they didn’t fool Mama Elena who said it tasted bitter threw the food and ordered Chencha to leave her house. (at this point I would have either dumped the pot of hot food on her lap or told her to eat it or starve) Chencha spent a few days in town needing to forget it all and Tita tried to tell her not to mind her mother, Chencha told her she didn’t want to add more bitterness and to let her go. Tita comforted her without a way to get Chencha out of her depression that no one would marry her after her attack, (because this factors into a woman’s value) Tita let her go because with Mama Elena she couldn’t be saved.

Tita had to hire a cook that quit after three days driven off by Mama Elena and the ones after that until no one in the village wanted to. There was a deaf mute that lasted fifteen days and then left after Mama Elena insulted her in sign. (at least she bothered to learn another language) After that she only had Tita to cook but took every precaution, having Tita taste the food in front of her and drink a glass of warm milk to counter act the poison that she insisted was in it. Sometimes it worked but she would feel a pain in her stomach and so took ipecac (look up the Family Guy vomit scene you really think they would have noticed this) and onion squill (onion extract remember all extracts are concentrates but not all concentrates are extracts) and after a month would have violent convulsions. Tita and John didn’t know what was wrong until they found ipecac and John said it could cause death and that’s what they figured Mama Elena died from. (a thorough autopsy also if you’re interested there’s a documentary and book called The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum)

Only at her wake did Tita understand her, people would have mistaken the look for sorrow but Tita felt the expression fresh as a head of lettuce, it would feel the pain of separation from something it never had communication with only knowing one layer of leaves not all the others under it. (…kay) She couldn’t see her in the throws of love but did discover it too late after dressing her and removing the keyring that never left her belt, Tita recognized all the keys but the heart shaped locket she wore caught her attention with a tiny key inside. She found in childhood, a box in her mother’s wardrobe that was locked, Mama Elena found her in there and punished her by making her take kernels off of corn and felt the punishment didn’t fit the crime for hiding in clean sheets with shoes. Now she read the letters in the box and knew she was punished for trying to get into it. The letters were from Jose Travino, her mother’s love she couldn’t marry because he was mixed blood. A colony had fled to the village during that state’s civil war and Jose was a product of the love affair of the older Jose. When Mama Elena’s parents found out they rushed her into marriage with Juan De la Garza.

That didn’t stop the affair and she and Jose continued after he marriage and Gertrudis was the product of it. (I just want to say women who do this to their husbands and kids are shit) When she found out she planned to run away with him and while waiting in the darkness watched as Jose was attacked and killed for no reason, so she resigned herself to her life. (you want me to feel sympathy for her but no not after all the shit she pulled) Juan was unaware until Tita was born he celebrated at a bar with friends, “there a venomous tongue had let out the information. The terrible news brought on a heart attack. That was all there was.” p.156 Tita felt guilty for finding out she thought about burning the letters but then put them back. At the funeral she cried for her mother, “Not for the castrating mother who had repressed Tita her entire life, but for the person who had lived a frustrated love.”p.157 (you could say she had many layers like parfait) Tita swore at the tomb she wouldn’t renounce love and was convinced John, who supported her, was her true love, then she saw a group of people coming, Pedro and Rosaura, now she wasn’t sure of her feelings. (goddammit so close)

Rosaura was heavily pregnant, she hugged Tita and cried and when Pedro held her, she quivered, Tita blessed the occasion for allowing it but pulled away, Pedro didn’t deserve her. (you’re right you deserve someone much better and not an entitled child) “He had shown weakness by going away and leaving her; she could not forgive him.” p.158 John took Tita back to the ranch and Tita emphasized there was something between them. She wanted to cause Pedro the pain she felt seeing him with Rosaura. Pedro didn’t care for how familiar they are with each other and wondered what was going on. (she moved on jackass) Tita belonged to him and no one would take her away especially now that the obstacle of Mama Elena was gone. (…get a fucking restraining order against this guy)

Recipe on Champandongo (it’s like a casserole) how to prepare it and Tita cried while chopping the onion and her eyes were so clouded she cut her finger and went on like nothing happened (a wild Gordan Ramsey appears) she didn’t have time because John was coming to ask for her hand and dinner had to be ready. She didn’t like rushing her cooking, time to organize and have peacefulness to prepare, now she rushed her haste caused the accident. Her lateness was caused by her niece being born three months ago, prematurely like her aunt, Rosaura was so affected by Mama Elena’s death it caused the birth and inability to nurse. After Roberto was taken from her Tita refused her niece and made gruels and teas instead. “Now she knew better than to establish such an intense relationship with a child who wasn’t her own.” p.162 Pedro wanted to name Esperanza after Tita, but she wouldn’t allow it, it was enough that while giving birth Rosaura needed a hysterectomy. (I know it’s not how it happened but all I can imagine is that scene from the Witcher) John explained the placenta sometimes doesn’t just implant in the uterus wouldn’t detach and there was no other way, but worst of all Esperanza was the youngest daughter and would share Tita’s fate, “Perhaps Esperanza sank roots in her mother’s womb because she knew beforehand what to expect in this world.”p.163 Tita wouldn’t allow the idea and pressured them till they agreed on the name. (it means hope)

But several things happened that hinted that her fate would be like Tita’s, out of necessity she spent a lot of time in the kitchen since her aunt took care of her there. Rosaura didn’t like this and felt Tita was keeping her from her and after she recovered wanted her to sleep next to her in bed, (uh this is extremely dangerous it can cause SIDS you could roll over on your baby baby could fall or wedge itself and suffocate do not do it) but it was too late as Esperanza was used to the kitchen. She cried loudly and Tita had to bring the stew up to the bedroom for her to sleep, but perhaps she knew of her aunt’s plan to marry and one day she didn’t stop crying. Tita tried bringing different food and the eight time she dropped the champandongo down the stairs throwing away all the time on it. Tita broke down on the steps she’d been up since five all for nothing now she would have to do it over. Pedro then chose the worst time to talk to Tita about not marrying John that’s it’s a mistake and not to agree to it. (I would have thrown the dish at his head)

Tita tells him he’s hardly one to tell her what to do. “When you were going to get married, I didn’t ask you not to do it, even though your wedding destroyed me. You have your life, now leave me in peace to have mine?”p.165 He says he repents that decision she knows why he did it but it didn’t work, now he thinks he should have run away with her. (you selfish inconsiderate prick) Tita tells him it’s too late and to never bother her again in case Rosaura would hear it, she excuses herself. “Ah, and let me suggest, the next time you fall in love, don’t be such a coward?” p.165 (he is a spineless coward and a man child that thinks he’s entitled to things that aren’t his and Tita deserves better) Tita went back to the kitchen to finish the mole for the champandongo, how to cook the meat. The angry heat rose in her, “it spilled over to the outside, escaping in the form of steam through her ears, nose, and all her pores.” p.166

A part of her anger was at Pedro, another from the accident in the kitchen and the other was when John brought his son the see Esperanza, Alex said he would marry her, they laughed but Rosaura said she couldn’t because she had to take care of her until the day she died, only Rosaura would think to continue an inhumane tradition. If only Rosaura didn’t let those words out or buried them down, “If only she would live long enough to prevent her sister from carrying out such a dire intention.”p.167 This was supposed to be a happy time why did she have to feel terrible maybe Pedro infected her since he found out her plans. You couldn’t talk to him he’d ride all day return for dinner and shut himself in his room, nobody had an explanation (he’s being a pouty pissbaby over not getting what he wants like a toddler) but maybe not being able to have more children and his mood affected everyone. Tita was irritable even the dove cooing was annoying, and she felt like she was about to burst and punch someone who knocked. It was Chencha she was happy again and it made Tita become happy too.

Chencha had recovered and there was no sign of what happened and even had a man at her side. Chencha took over the conversation with what happened to her, Jesus was her sweetheart and her family disapproved and he wouldn’t have found her again if Chencha hadn’t returned to the village and with Mama Elena dead they came back with plans to start a life. (see how much happier people are with her dead) Chencha stopped for a breath and Tita told her that she is happy that she’s back and they talked of Jesus’s employment and John was going to ask for her hand. Chencha took over the cooking so Tita could breathe and look presentable, how to prepare the tortillas. Chencha gave Tita peace of mind now she could worry about herself since she only had ten minutes to get ready and in such a rush she didn’t see Pedro at the other end of the patio.

Tita felt relief in the shower, erotic description of water running down her body, (was that really necessary) the water started to warm and burn her skin. This wasn’t possible this time of year and time of day and she saw Pedro was watching her, (he is a pervert) the carpenter had rebuilt it the same way with slits in the wood. When he approached Tita grabbed her clothes and ran for her room and shut the door and was barely dressed when Chencha told her John was there and waiting. She had to prepare the table, how to set out tableware, Tita tried not to make noise while doing it she could hear their voices in the living room and she hurried setting out candles and wine, how to get wine the right temperature. Now she needed fresh flowers but left that for Chencha and went to the living room and saw Pedro and John arguing about the country’s political situation. They forgot good manners of not bringing up religion or politics (still is good manners but my family discusses this stuff all the time) and Tita’s appearance made them change the subject.

It was tense and John advanced for Tita’s hand and Pedro begrudgingly allowed it as the man of the house, (hah) and they started on the details and John wanted to delay the date so he could go to the states to get his last living relative. This was a problem as Tita wanted to leave the ranch as soon as possible. (go with him) John gave Tita a diamond ring and the gleam reminded her of Pedro’s eyes watching her in the shower and a poem Nacha told her as a child, “You are the light of my eyes, my eyes. I’m brought to life by you…” p.176 (I guess it rhymes in Spanish) He thought the tears in Tita’s eyes were of happiness and felt guilt lift off and called for a toast and Pedro broke his glass splashing champagne on everyone. (fucking seriously Pedro) Chencha saved the moment by saying dinner is ready turning the attention to food and dinner went smoothly, maybe Tita’s bad temper made it less delicious but it wasn’t unpleasant. When they finished Tita kissed John goodbye at the door and John thought a leaving the next day so he’d come back sooner.

In the kitchen Tita thanked Chencha for the help and gave her a room and made sure there weren’t bedbugs the last servants left, how to get rid of bedbugs. (burn the whole ranch down) Tita started to clean the kitchen, better than to spend it than in bed with her conflicting emotions it also ordered her thoughts. She took the large pot to the darkroom where Mama Elena used to bathe, now a storeroom for kitchenware. She carried the pot and lamp and tried not to trip over everything, the light wasn’t enough, and someone slipped inside and shut the door and Tita sensing someone turned to see Pedro. She asked him what he’s doing he didn’t answer and blew out the lamp threw her on the bed threw himself on top of for her to learn of true love. (he raped her really he snuck in behind her threw her on the bed and got on top of her and lets be honest she is naive and sheltered she calls this true love but this is rape)

In her room Rosaura was trying to get Esperanza to sleep and walking around wasn’t working. (she probably has colic give her gas drops) When she passed by the window she saw a glow from the darkroom, colors going to the sky and she called for Pedro and Tita to see but only Chencha came. Chencha was silent for the first time and Esperanza stopped crying and Chencha said a prayer. She tells Rosaura that they’re ghosts with unfinished business and she won’t go near it and Rosaura says she won’t either. If Mama Elena knew after her death she would still be feared, and this is what gave Tita and Pedro to roll around in Gertrudis’s old bed she would have died hundreds of times.

Recipe for Chocolate and Three King’s Day Bread and how to prepare it, Tita used the cocoa bean oil foe lip ointment because her lips chapped every winter and they would crack and bleed when she laughed but until now she didn’t have any reason to. Guests were coming so she needed the oil to make bread and wanted her lips to look nice for the party. She was also concerned she could be pregnant she didn’t think about it when it happened, she planned to tell Pedro that night but didn’t know what his reaction would be, what would be a solution to the problem. She turned back to the chocolate where she didn’t have problems when Mogi didn’t bring what she wanted but what Mama Elena thought best. (couldn’t even let your daughter have this) Only years later did she learn Nacha saved to get her the zoetrope (like a spinning wheel that shows a looping animation like a gif) she wanted and she and her sisters spent afternoons watching it. She remembered Nacha, her food and remedies, the way she braided her hair and took care of her, if she could prepare the bread with that joy and eat it with her sisters before everything broke them apart, if she found the doll in the bread she believed it would come true.

“Life had taught her that it was not that easy; there are few prepared to fulfill their desires whatever the cost, and the right to determine the course of one’s own life would take more effort than she imagined.”p.186 She had to fight alone if only she could have Gertrudis, but it was more likely a corpse would come home than her, no one had gone for her since Nicholas went with her clothes. Ingredients for the bread and how to prepare the dough, when Tita finished it Rosaura came into the kitchen asking for help with the diet John prescribed. She’d been having digestive problems for weeks, gas, and bad breath and she was so embarrassed she and Pedro slept in different rooms. Avoid root and leafy greens and exercise that was the difficultly with her bulk that was unexplained sine her return, she ate the same as them. (can someone figure out what’s wrong with her) It took effort to move her body and her weight caused health problems and Pedro moved further away from her each day and she couldn’t blame him even she hated her smell. (sweetheart there were problems with your marriage since the wedding day)

She built up courage and talked to Tita because of her jealousy over the apparent relationship but John loved her now and realized how absurd she was and hoped for a better relationship now. “To tell the truth, until now the Rosaura-Tita relationship had been like water and boiling oil.” p. 189 (yeah and Mama bitch was the fire) She begged Tita not to have bad feelings over her marriage and asked her how to save it since Pedro hasn’t touched her in months (like I said it’s been like that since the beginning) and avoided her in attitude of rejection. It was the night Mama Elena’s ghost appeared she waited for Pedro to return, when he did he didn’t pay attention to her story and ignored her advances the she pretended not to hear him cry later. (I’ll give him something to cry about) She felt her problems were driving them apart and didn’t know how to fix it asking Tita she had no one else and people would talk if Pedro left her, her only consolation was that Esperanza would stay with her forever. (I had sympathy for you till now) It first went well but when Tita heard that she had to stop from shouting because it would stop the impulse to forgive her and said she would make a special diet, instructions on how to stop bad breath.

Rosaura was grateful and went to pick mint leaves leaving Tita distraught over what she’d done to her and Pedro and John and Rosaura how could she face John after his trip. John who she was thankful for bringing her back to her senses and giving her freedom he didn’t deserve this, all Tita could do currently was to make the bread, how to prepare the dough and bake it. As Tita worked the wind blew the door open to reveal Mama Elena demanding to know why she went near Pedro calling Tita worthless with no respect or morality and cursed the baby she carries. (she’s a bitch and a ghost) Tita begged her not to just as Chencha walks in causing Mama Elena to leave, Chencha tells her to close the door because it’s cold and asks what’s bothering her. Nothing but the possibility of being pregnant and having to tell John, leave the ranch and give up Pedro but she couldn’t tell Chencha that or the village would know so she diverted Chencha’s attention to the bread she had to finish.

How to prepare the dough and bake it, Tita looked at the doll for a long time, on January sixth the bread is sliced an who finds it will have a celebration on February second, (to quote the leader of my high school French club “Don’t eat the baby Jesus,”) Candlemas day when baby Jesus is taken from the nativity scene. Since they were young the tradition became a competition and the one to find it was lucky and made a wish for what they wanted. It was easy to wish as a child when nothing seemed impossible, “Growing up, one realizes how many things one cannot wish for, thoughts that are forbidden, sinful.”p.196 was to deny what you want descent, she wished she’d never known Pedro, her mother to stop tormenting her, Esperanza could marry so she wouldn’t know this pain and to give her Gertrudis’s strength to run and for Gertrudis to come home, she put the doll in the bread.

How to decorate the bread, Tita asked Pedro to carry it to the table so she could speak to him. He says the can talk in the darkroom and has been waiting for days (do I need to castrate you like a tom cat) and that’s what she needs to talk about. Chencha interrupted them to say the Lobos have arrived and everyone is waiting on the bread, Tita and Pedro put the conversation aside and carried the bread to the dining room. The ranch dog barked at Mama Elena and Tita was petrified when she approached her, and the dog was so spooked it knocked over the spittoon. That drew the guest’s attention and Pedro explained the dog got worked up sometimes but Paquita noticed Tita looked faint and told someone else to help Pedro. She took Tita to the living room and asked if she was alright and mentioned if she weren’t such a descent girl, she’d think Tita was pregnant explaining you could tell from the eyes. (ha ha yeah about that…)

Tita was thankful the ranch dog started another commotion and she could hear horses galloping and wondered who it was. Tita saw someone riding ahead of the revolutionary soldiers it was Gertrudis with the man that carried her off she was now a general. Gertrudis said she came to cut the bread and have hot chocolate, Tita hugged her and took her to the table, how to make good chocolate they make it with water. (milk is chocolate water is cocoa end of discussion) Gertrudis sipped it, “Life would be much nicer if one could carry the smells and tastes of the maternal home wherever one pleased.” p.201 but her mother died without her knowing. She grieved because she wanted to show her how well she did, a general in the army, she fought in battle and earned it and came back married to Juan. (really rub it in her face how well you did without her) They met again after a year and it was like the day they met, what else could she ask for but her mother to see and to tell her to wipe her mouth. (considering who you’re talking about you could have come back as the new world leader and it still wouldn’t be good enough for her)

Gertrudis prayed Tita had years to prepare family recipes, she and Rosaura didn’t know how and when Tita died so would they. They danced in the living room and Juan impressed everyone with his music and people asked about the revolution and Gertrudis regaled them with tales of battle. People were scandalized when at a salon Juan touched her leg and Rosaura told Tita she didn’t know where Gertrudis got her rhythm since their parents didn’t dance. (there’s a stereotype I’m not going to say it) Tita knew and would take the secret to her grave if Gertrudis hadn’t given birth to a baby with dark skin and Juan threatened to leave her and Tita told the truth with the letters as evidence. (yeah you can throw out your Punnett squares sometimes the genetic lottery is a crapshoot) It was a blow, but they lived happily. Tita also knew the reason for the failure of Rosaura’s marriage and her pregnancy, how she wanted to know a solution and someone to confide in, maybe Gertrudis. Meanwhile, Chencha was furious with all the work to wait on the troop.

#like water for chocolate #laura esquivel #books #book summaries #romance #tragedy #magical realism

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