Crisis passed

The above photos are the chiefs being paraded through town on their palanquins, each carried by four very strong men - balancing the palanquin on their heads. Can't wait to show you video!

Hi all,
sorry if I freaked you out yesterday. It had been a long day at the end of a long week. I think it's time to take my first "vacation from travel," so I am hoping to be at a beach resort that caters exclusively to westerners by tomorrow afternoon. And Aunt Kim, you are absolutely right - an initiation to teaching via the class from Hell is definitely worse. I did the same thing and made it, so you can too. Go teach!
Anyway, today was the big festival day when all the different Asafo Companies (neighborhood groups with their own chiefs) parade through the town in celebration of the new year. It's a total crush of people, but it was pretty cool. I'm hoping I caught some cool pictures and video to put up here once I reach a computer that can handle my camera. My guide for the day, again, was Daniel, who manages to navigate the city more easily than I do even though he is legally blind. Joining us were his niece and nephew, who were really cute. We got to see the president of Ghana speak, although he spoke in Fanti so I only understood a little of it. He did mention compulsory primary education, which I am a fan of, but other than that I was just kind of there to be there.
The biggest thing I noticed was the parallels to Mardi Gras. Brass bands walked down the street sounding a lot like Rebirth from NOLA. Some of the Asafo Company dancers bore a striking resemblance to some of the high school bands that play the parades (only the dancers were older). Even the tradition of swinging a handkerchief while dancing in the second line popped up. All this was something I knew intellectually, but it's quite another to actually see it in both places and put the pieces together that way.
Well, it's going to get dark soon, and I want to make sure I get home before night falls. My laundry will hopefully be dry and waiting for me on the line when I get back, and clean clothes will do much to improve my mood.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll be gloating over my delicious lobster and exquisite view of the sea...

Ghana fatigue

Oh, peoples, I'm too tired to put the happy face on today. I'm becoming an "Ugly American" rapidly as I begin to long for the comforts of home - showers with hot water, streets that don't contain goats and sewage...I am really finding I'm not cut out for the third world thing. I am especially tired of being an object of curiosity. I haven't hung out with another westerner in five days and I'm exhausted.
Of course, it does't help that the historical stuff I came here wanting to see has been a bit of a bust. The sites are a bit over-done. They're such emotionally fraught places as it is, and the tour guides do their best to give you an emotionally manipulative monologue and then point you toward the gift shop and hustle you out before you've had a chance to really absorb anything. So now I'm stuck with the magical misery tour of third world poverty and I am really not handling it well. And I'm here for ten more days! Whine.
So in short, folks, send me comforting emails full of news from back home, because I'm homesick like crazy.

History and Ecology Lessons

Photos above are my scary looking lunch of moringa leaf juice and moringa pie, supposedly very nutritious, tour guide showing entrance to slave dungeon, and door of no return through which slaves passed on their way to the ships for the middle passage

Hello again from Cape Coast!
I've been keeping myself busy checking out the town and its surrounds. I think I'll be staying until Sunday morning to hear the president of Ghana speak. Yesterday I toured Cape Coast Castle, one of the capitals of the trans-atlantic slave trade, which was pretty heavy. Then I got to hear the whole story of the African back-story to all that from my host Uncle George, who was a history teacher before he lost his sight (he has gone back to university to become a special education teacher, and is now working and going to school in addition to running the guest house. What an amazing guy!). I've taken detailed notes that I'm sure I'll incorporate into something somewhere. Today I visited the Kakum national forest reserve, which is a bit north of here. It's a rainforest area that they have guided tours of. Alas no animals on account of it being midday and raining. Tonight I've got two friends from the guesthouse taking me to the festival dancing, and tomorrow I'll continue the festival and head off to Elmina castle for more history.
I made a "tragic" discovery yesterday when I realized my laptop doesn't fit into my power converter, so I am now out of batteries with no way to recharge it...here's hoping Johannesburg airport can hook me up with a ground/no ground plug adapter so I'm not just hauling dead weight around. Bummer.
I'd love to download a bunch of pictures to the site, but perhaps another time. I'm having a hard time figuring out how to do that at an internet cafe with all the firewalls and stuff, and with no laptop, I'm a bit stuck, but there's lots to show.
The only thing I can't show you is the poverty I see all around me, because the only thing more unjustifiable than that is the idea of my taking my expensive camera out to take a picture of it. I'm kind of struggling right now with what to make of it and what my response to it should be. I don't know what I can really do in two weeks here, or what I can do when I come back to the states to make a difference, but it certainly gives me something to be up nights thinking about....

Cape Coast, Ghana

Hi again,
I've arrived in Cape Coast, having semi-successfully navigated the public transit system with a little help from my friends the tro-tro (mini-bus) drivers. Everybody has been very indulgent here and people pop out of the woodwork any time I look confused.
I seem to have stumbled upon the new year festivities in town this week, so that's exciting. Cape Coast does a whole week of traditional partying. Tomorrow night there will be drumming and dancing to get a message from the traditional gods about how the harvests will be. Friday and Saturday are going to be crazy too, and the president of Ghana will be speaking on Sunday before I head on to Kokrobite for some beach + lobster.
This morning I caught a glimpse of Khofi Annan's house (I'm sorry Mr. Secretary General, I know I mis-spelled that). I am heading down to Cape Coast Castle now, and will try to hit Elmina Castle this afternoon. Then my gracious host (a former history teacher) will give me all the lowdown on the local history over dinner tonight. Sounds like a party to me.

Safe and sound in Ghana

Hi all!
I know you have all been anxiously awaiting this post, and I'm sorry it hasn't come sooner, but the hostel's internet seemed to be out for a while there. But better late than never. I am arrived, I am safe, all is well.
I was very surprised when I arrived last night how dark it had already gotten at 7PM! It looked like the middle of the night, but I guess that's life on the equator - no long summer days, true, but no long winter nights either, so a decent tradeoff I guess. The ride to the hostel was not very long but I could not see much since they don't do much in the way of street lighting here. I am about to head out into the market to grab some lunch, so I'll see more of what the city looks like when I get out there. A dorm-mate from California tells me to be prepared to be mobbed like a movie star because I'm an obruni (white girl), so I think the first thing I have to do is stop at the first store I see and pick up some sweets to pass out to the little kids.
I have to say, for all my bravado about going it alone, it's taken me several hours to work up the guts to step outside by myself...so best ride the wave of initiative and get going before I chicken out!
Lots of love to all back home!