Elmina/Cape Coast

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There are so many things running through the caverns right now that I am at a loss as to where to start. Let's all sit back and relax, grab a cup of non-instant granular coffee with a splash of soy, and begin at the beginning.

The last time I wrote was mostly to gripe about my working situation. That day, I even went so far as to request a change. There were too many factors in place to support a negative experience and I am here for too short of a time. But then, Friday happened. On our walk to work, we noticed that about 30 students were behind us, heading the same direction. This was unusual, because there is no school down our secluded dusty road... only women pass by with giant baskets on their heads and babies on their backs. When we turned into the center, they turned with us. The director, Patrick, quickly gathered us up and told us that we would be splitting the students up into three groups to give them a lecture. Our chance had arrived! Lindsay took her group of ten to the summer hut outside, Roberta was in the library, and I was in the conference room with about 9-10 kids ranging in age from 13-22. I talked to them about self-esteem, setting goals, how to achieve those goals, peer pressure, and finally STDs and HIV/AIDS. Surprisingly, they knew quite a bit and were quite talkative once we got to know each other a little bit. At the end, we sat around in a circle and I opened the floor up for questions. The first one? "Do girls develop more quickly if they let sperm go into them?" (How many times can I allow my mouth to drop to the floor on this trip?) I tried to handle each question as calmly as I could, but some of them really threw me for a loop and boomeranged me back. It was the highlight of my trip thus far, which is insane considering what this weekend has brought.

Yesterday afternoon 18 fellow volunteers and I braved what will henceforth be known as: "The ride from the pit of despair of fiery hell Vol. 1." Eight and a half hours in an insanely cramped bus through hills and dales, potholes and schmotholes, with smog, dust, and every imaginable animal running in front of you with a death wish plus, get ready for this, one unfortunate passenger throwing up throughout the journey out of a window. As we all know there is always a pot of sandy tropical paradise at the end of the rainbow and for us that pot is called Cape Coast. It takes a close second to Canoa, Ecuador, on my list of favorite beach spots. After I woke up this morning, I moseyed on over to the beach side restaurant-hut to enjoy my continental breakfast. It just so happened that about 37 Elon students and my old college advisor had the same idea. I ended up having breakfast with Professor Digree, my mouth again open at what a small world it truly is.

After lunch we headed to Elmina Castle, the biggest slave fortress in West Africa. The building itself is breathtaking, which is a striking irony to what happened inside the whitewashed walls. We had an excellent and quite witty tour guide who led us through the cramped passageways and told us the entire history from start to finish. Walking in the dungeons, the feeling again struck me as it did in the concentration camps- the air gets a little thicker when you walk in and spirits creep in unwittingly. I can only believe that someone having no knowledge of what happened there would still understand what took place, just by stepping inside. It was a wonderful experience.

And that, dear friends, is where I will leave you. There is a super-size beverage waiting for me sand-side, and I tend to be punctual.

Miadogo!
Charlotte

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