Hello Hello!
So another week has gone by, and more and more adventures! The highlight of the past while was definetly Jennifer and Hannah coming to visit over the weekend. It was so nice to see my group mates and introduce them to my life here in Cape Coast.
We ventured to Elmina Castle for the afternoon on Saturday, a UNESCO world heritage site. It was a very powerful afternoon to say the least. Elmina Castle is the oldest Slave Trade castle in the world and the largest. It was built 529 years ago by Portugal, then taken over by the Dutch, then traded with the Birtish and evenutally was given over to Ghana at the time of thier independence in 1957. It began as a trading post in African goods for European goods, until it inevitably began trading in humans. This trade in human lives continued until 1814.
It is pretty powerful to stand in the 'room of no return' where slaves were sent just prior to getting on the ships. Equally as powerful to stand in the jail cell (with skull and cross bones above it) that once someone entered, they never left. They were starved to death.
Over 1000 people were kept at a time in the Castle. Only 25% made it across the sea. And to think this only ended 200 years ago.
The rest of the weekend was great, hanging out with the girls and mingling with my new friends here.
So the increase in fuel prices' ripple effect has now begun to be seen (other than the obvious increase in taxi prices). Pure water satchets have doubled in price now from 5p to 10p. I have yet to see an increase in food, but i'm sure its not far off.
I think that's about it for now. I have just over 3 weeks left here in Cape Coast, which saddens me because I really love it here. Though it will be so nice to see my village family again and to see Uncle Andy and Obed as well as finally pick up my mail, and see the group!
I know that I'm home soon, but I don't wanna count the number of days! So I will see you soon!
Peace and Love!
Matty
PS Check out new photos of Football and Elmina Castle and Work Stuff!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Kickin' around...
Hey Everyone!
Happy Valentine's Day first of all! Hard to believe February is already half over! The last few weeks have been very great for me here in Cape Coast! I've settled into a nice routine and am getting to know the city very well. And I'm still meeting more and more people... from Ghana and all over the world! Germany, Britain, America and even Canada.
Work is going very well. This past weekend, we had our quarterly family event where 10 families from the deaf communtiy came out and we visted Kakum National Park. It was a very powerful day for me. It was so great to see all the families together and the beginningsof a new community. It was also hard to see all the problems and challenges that deaf children/young adults and families face. One thing that particularly struck me was that we ran into the father of one of the deaf girls at Kakum (completely accidentally, he didn't know she would be there - she came with us with her mom...) and he completed IGNORED her. Tough to see, I wanted to say something and do something, but didn't know what. It's pretty sad, and shows some of the stigma and socetal views here. Other than that though it was a great day.
On Sunday, I went to my first ever Football (Soccer for us Canadians) game! It was the local Cape Coast team (The Dwarfs) versus the Kumasi team (The Liberty). The game was exciting, and ended in a 1-1 Draw. It was a good Sunday Afternoon with Kwame, my boss' son (after an amazing meal at their house of ground nut soup and rice balls!).
I also went to Accra last weekend to visit some of the girls in my group. It was a great time, and it was so good to see them. We toured historic Jamestown (described as 'the bronx') of Accra. Friends of Jennifers took us there and gave us a really good overview of the histroy. We saw the lighthouse and the old English fort, converted to a Ghanaian prison, that was closed only 5 years ago. And I found out that Accra used to be divided in two: The British Accra and Danish Accra... and it is very evident in the architecture.
Also, while there, I picked up a copy of the Lord of the rings! (I've never read it before, but I have to say it is quite good!) Also a copy of George Orwell's Animal farm. I am really enjoying reading while I'm here; it is a very good escape. And a vast array of books, really anything I can get my hands on. From a self described book of 'Alien meets Jrassic Park' (which was good!), to Tom Robbins, to WWIII books and everything in between! I hope I can find the time to continue to read while I'm back home!
Last week, I went swimming for the first time here. The ocean is so warm... and the waves are so big (10-15ft!)!!!! It's so great to be tossed around in the surf!
I'm craving pizza like I never thought I would! And Doritos!
That seems to be all for now! I'll try to add some photos to facebook in the next couple days.
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much, Learn Always. (that's for you mom!)
Matty xo
Happy Valentine's Day first of all! Hard to believe February is already half over! The last few weeks have been very great for me here in Cape Coast! I've settled into a nice routine and am getting to know the city very well. And I'm still meeting more and more people... from Ghana and all over the world! Germany, Britain, America and even Canada.
Work is going very well. This past weekend, we had our quarterly family event where 10 families from the deaf communtiy came out and we visted Kakum National Park. It was a very powerful day for me. It was so great to see all the families together and the beginningsof a new community. It was also hard to see all the problems and challenges that deaf children/young adults and families face. One thing that particularly struck me was that we ran into the father of one of the deaf girls at Kakum (completely accidentally, he didn't know she would be there - she came with us with her mom...) and he completed IGNORED her. Tough to see, I wanted to say something and do something, but didn't know what. It's pretty sad, and shows some of the stigma and socetal views here. Other than that though it was a great day.
On Sunday, I went to my first ever Football (Soccer for us Canadians) game! It was the local Cape Coast team (The Dwarfs) versus the Kumasi team (The Liberty). The game was exciting, and ended in a 1-1 Draw. It was a good Sunday Afternoon with Kwame, my boss' son (after an amazing meal at their house of ground nut soup and rice balls!).
I also went to Accra last weekend to visit some of the girls in my group. It was a great time, and it was so good to see them. We toured historic Jamestown (described as 'the bronx') of Accra. Friends of Jennifers took us there and gave us a really good overview of the histroy. We saw the lighthouse and the old English fort, converted to a Ghanaian prison, that was closed only 5 years ago. And I found out that Accra used to be divided in two: The British Accra and Danish Accra... and it is very evident in the architecture.
Also, while there, I picked up a copy of the Lord of the rings! (I've never read it before, but I have to say it is quite good!) Also a copy of George Orwell's Animal farm. I am really enjoying reading while I'm here; it is a very good escape. And a vast array of books, really anything I can get my hands on. From a self described book of 'Alien meets Jrassic Park' (which was good!), to Tom Robbins, to WWIII books and everything in between! I hope I can find the time to continue to read while I'm back home!
Last week, I went swimming for the first time here. The ocean is so warm... and the waves are so big (10-15ft!)!!!! It's so great to be tossed around in the surf!
I'm craving pizza like I never thought I would! And Doritos!
That seems to be all for now! I'll try to add some photos to facebook in the next couple days.
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much, Learn Always. (that's for you mom!)
Matty xo
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Happy Grasscutter Day! If Gary the Grasscutter sees his (or her) Shadow, six more weeks of Harmattan.
I realize that only westerners who know what Groundhog Day is and that have been to Ghana will understand the title. So here goes:
The grasscutter is an animal here in Ghana, that people eat. I have yet to eat one, but would like to, just to try it. So thus today has been dubbed as Grasscutter Day, mainly becuase it's the only animal the even remotely resembles a groundhog (and it's a way to for me to implement part of my life back home [however insignificant] to here.) And the Harmattan is the dry winds that come from the Sahara and venture all the way to the Gulf of Guinea (right outside my bedroom) during the dry season. Thus if Gary sees his/her shadow, our dry season will last for another 6 weeks (though Harmattan usually lasts until mid-march I've been told anyway, so it may be redundant if he does see it.)
Well with that out of the way, I can get on with the blog.
This weekend I had the chance to visit Kakum National Park with Kwadwo and Kwame, which was very exciting! First of all, being a Parks and Protected Area Major, it was neat to see a glimpse of the National Park system in a foreign country. I must say that it is fairly similar to what occurs in Canada (and the US for that matter), with interpreters, canteens, the same sor tof mandate, museums, etc.
Anyway, Kakum's biggest attraction are 7 rope bridges that span across the canopy of the Rainforest. At a height of 40 metres (that's 120 feet!)... I tried not to look down. Being slightly anxious with heights, this was nerverwracking (those of you who went to eagle canyon with me may remember!). There were also 20 people on the bridges at a time, and although the guide assured me you could fit two fully grown elephants on them, it was still very shaky and sketchy. Though it was that good kind of scared, and SO MUCH FUN! And it was such a graet view of the rainforest! Everyone should do this. Unfortunately, no Elephants or other animals... though I did get to see a crocodile on Sunday (from a safe distance, though they claim you can pet them... I didn't wanna find out. In fact in the North, they have a crocodile you can ride like a horse... but that's another story).
Check out the pics from Kakum on facebook!
This weekend I'm off to Accra to visit with some members of the group and check out Jamestown and the Mikola Market (which is where all our used clothing gets sent aka 'dead white man's clothing', so I can see the implications of this.)
As for Simple Living, one of the mandates of the program, it's been an interesting idea to balance now that I'm back in the big city away from the village. If I look hard enough I can litteraly find everything and anything you could imagine. When I tell people I live off of 2 Cedis a day for food, they think I'm crazy. Then I tell them I usually have change leftover (because, it is in fact, very manageable to live of 2 Cedis a day on food - about 1.40$ Canadian). The hardest thing I'm finding is having any sort of a social life, it can be difficult to do this without spending money (which is terrible to think...)! Though not impossible... you just have to be creative! And have friends that understand this. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how I implement these ideals to my life back home.
As a side note, I can't believe it's February and I've been away from my village for over 5 weeks now... that's almost as long as I stayed in the village. I miss my village family alot and am looking forward to seeing them in March!
That's all for this week, I'll check in with ya soon. I hear Southern Ontario is getting its biggest storm since 2007 today. Ha!
Peace and Love,
Cheers!
Matty
The grasscutter is an animal here in Ghana, that people eat. I have yet to eat one, but would like to, just to try it. So thus today has been dubbed as Grasscutter Day, mainly becuase it's the only animal the even remotely resembles a groundhog (and it's a way to for me to implement part of my life back home [however insignificant] to here.) And the Harmattan is the dry winds that come from the Sahara and venture all the way to the Gulf of Guinea (right outside my bedroom) during the dry season. Thus if Gary sees his/her shadow, our dry season will last for another 6 weeks (though Harmattan usually lasts until mid-march I've been told anyway, so it may be redundant if he does see it.)
Well with that out of the way, I can get on with the blog.
This weekend I had the chance to visit Kakum National Park with Kwadwo and Kwame, which was very exciting! First of all, being a Parks and Protected Area Major, it was neat to see a glimpse of the National Park system in a foreign country. I must say that it is fairly similar to what occurs in Canada (and the US for that matter), with interpreters, canteens, the same sor tof mandate, museums, etc.
Anyway, Kakum's biggest attraction are 7 rope bridges that span across the canopy of the Rainforest. At a height of 40 metres (that's 120 feet!)... I tried not to look down. Being slightly anxious with heights, this was nerverwracking (those of you who went to eagle canyon with me may remember!). There were also 20 people on the bridges at a time, and although the guide assured me you could fit two fully grown elephants on them, it was still very shaky and sketchy. Though it was that good kind of scared, and SO MUCH FUN! And it was such a graet view of the rainforest! Everyone should do this. Unfortunately, no Elephants or other animals... though I did get to see a crocodile on Sunday (from a safe distance, though they claim you can pet them... I didn't wanna find out. In fact in the North, they have a crocodile you can ride like a horse... but that's another story).
Check out the pics from Kakum on facebook!
This weekend I'm off to Accra to visit with some members of the group and check out Jamestown and the Mikola Market (which is where all our used clothing gets sent aka 'dead white man's clothing', so I can see the implications of this.)
As for Simple Living, one of the mandates of the program, it's been an interesting idea to balance now that I'm back in the big city away from the village. If I look hard enough I can litteraly find everything and anything you could imagine. When I tell people I live off of 2 Cedis a day for food, they think I'm crazy. Then I tell them I usually have change leftover (because, it is in fact, very manageable to live of 2 Cedis a day on food - about 1.40$ Canadian). The hardest thing I'm finding is having any sort of a social life, it can be difficult to do this without spending money (which is terrible to think...)! Though not impossible... you just have to be creative! And have friends that understand this. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how I implement these ideals to my life back home.
As a side note, I can't believe it's February and I've been away from my village for over 5 weeks now... that's almost as long as I stayed in the village. I miss my village family alot and am looking forward to seeing them in March!
That's all for this week, I'll check in with ya soon. I hear Southern Ontario is getting its biggest storm since 2007 today. Ha!
Peace and Love,
Cheers!
Matty
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