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