Week One and Weekend in Cape Coast

Well Week One has been terribly interesting. Started Placement, went to the Wli Waterfalls (amazing) although I'm convinced I have a parasite in my brain thanks to my grandmother. I had my first Ewe lessons, African Dancing and drumming and I petted a goat.

I started out at St. Francis working with three children named Freeman, Zackaria and Anita. I was working with the reading program and one on one tutoring. They are out 10 years old and have varying degrees of knowledge and ability to speak English. My Ewe is lacking so it really is comical. But free time is a blast. The kids here do this dance and chant that goes "Bom Bom Bomba Leeka..." and then they "Shakey Shakey Shake Your Body". It's a must see. So cute.

As much as I love St. Francis and especially Anita, I am starting to go to the Christian Orphanage tomorrow. I will get there around 6:15am to help bathe 25 children and then feed them breakfast and off to their lessons. I have a lot of research I have to do for my intern program and I won't be able to do it at St. Francis.

SIDE NOTE: Goats and chickens run wild here, like squirrels and birds back at home. One goat just stood at the door and thought about coming into the internet cafe.


Well I have been officially welcomes in Africa. I think I could not have make up a better story if I tried---

17 of us started out renting 2 vans to bring us on an 8 hour journey to Cape Coast. Then we met three Spaniards at the internet cafe (Alex, Ramon and Pablo) who all work at the Christian Orphanage with Momma B and invited them along on our weekend adventure. Before we left, my friend Rachel came down with Malaria and could not come and ended up leaving home to Canada. Thursday afternoon, I am talking to my mother and my cell phone breaks. Won't work- No alarm, no buttons. Dead. Gret Start.

So Friday comes along, 20 of us eat a quick lunch and we leave our home base at 1pm. The Bank here in town was closed early because they had a system failure and I was completely out of cash (along with 10 other people). The two security guards who flanked the door with AK47's told up there was another Barclay's bank about 3 1/2 hours away in another little town but they closed at 4pm. We tried to make a mad dash in our vans down there in town but didn't make it. However their ATM worked but for the Brit (David) and the three Spaniards- they couldn't exchange their money.

12 hours later 14 of us arrive outside of Cape Coast. Two people ended up passing out while in the vans and came down with Malaria and or Typhoid Fever- a 4 hour detour to the hospital and then the Holiday Inn that Obama stayed at while he was here, then the Spaniards took a trip to the black market to exchange money.

One Africa- amazing huts with thatched roofs on the rocky cost of Southern Ghana. It's run by a guy who is originally from New York- very Rastafarian. Each of the huts were themed- mine was the Harriet Tubman room. Jody, David and I shared that hut. We had all bought sangria and beer and planned on staying up and enjoying each other company and the scenery however buy the time we got there all we wanted to do was pass out. 8am Breakfast was toast and pineapple and instant coffee.

We left that morning thinking we were going to do the canopy walk, the slave fort the crocodile farm and the bead factory. Off we left for Kakum and the Canopy walk. Hundreds of people swarming everywhere. a 45 min hike with 7 stops along the way brought us up 12 stories up into the Canopy of the Kakum Rain forest. Oh and I got my first official injury- stubbed my toe god awful. I had to wrap it in a tissue- took a picture of it. The canopy walk scared the pants off of me. The Spaniards were rocking this skinny rope bridge- 12 stories up in the air!!! I survived it (will show you amazing pictures) and decided to eat lunch there at the park. 3 hours later only 10 of the 14 ended up getting our lunches. My burger was maybe 2oz and topped with laughing cow cheese spread and placed in between two sliced of white bread. We left then for St. Georges at Elmina Castle which is one of the oldest slave forts. Thousands of people crowding the streets and hundreds of boats in the ocean fishing and the people bombarding the vans with necklaces and food to buy. A little girl with a baby on her back and fabric on her head and carrying a tray of jewelery dodging in and out of traffic. I've never seen anything like it. (Again insert pictures here).

We literally could not get out of our vans because the people were crowding our vans with things to sell. I got about 5 pictures of the outside of the fort before my full battery camera mysteriously died. We toured the fort and even into the dungeons where the slaves where held, beaten, sold and rapped. Very strange feelings in there.

I was glad I went there. There was one point went an African man said to us - "Don't you feel sorry for what your forefathers did to my forefathers?" I didn't know how to react to it. Very awkward. Momma B just looked at him and said "I'm Native American!"

By that point another girl was passing out (you guessed it Malaria and or Typhoid Fever). So we never ended up going to anything else because by that point it was dinner time and we decided to go to the hotel to hot showers and a good meal.

Needless to say when we got to Coconut Grove they had a "system failure" and lost all our reservations. 2 rooms was all they had left at $179 each so Katey, Dani and I decided to steal a van and go back to One Africa. So the three of us ate dinner of pizza and plantanes on the rocky shores by candle light.

The next morning we all met up, on van went to the hospital and the other back to Hohoe. I left on the one to Hohoe. In the van were 4 Americans, 3 Spaniards, a Brit and a Ghanian driver. 3 hour left in our ride our driver pulls over and says he wants to buy something. The next thing you know a boy runs over holding a chicken with its feet tied together. The driver and the boy exchange harsh words and the boy walks away. He tells us the chicken is too expensive. The Spaniards pitch in some money and the driver calls the boy and chicken back over. All of a sudden the live chicken comes through the window and lands in between Ramon and Alex. Katey yells "We've turned our van into a Freakin Tro Tro!!" Hence the chickens name was Tro Tro. So for three hours on the way back to Hohoe, Ramon and Alex babysat Tro Tro as he went to the bathroom and clucked and flapped. Hysterical.


I'm doing batiking lessons later tomorrow and more Ewe lessons. I am also getting some shirts made because I had bought the most amazing fabric. Pictures Later.


Miss you all.