I Made a Friend!

Sometime last week during my 15 minute walk to the taxi junction, I was walking passed the apartments (flats) where the hospital staff live for free. A girl walked out and she immediately offered to carry my thermos containing my lunch, but I politely declined. We were both going to the same place so we ended up walking the 15 minutes together and then got in the same shared taxi. She seemed really nice and asked me if I wanted to accompany her to go and buy the fresh fish she was planning on purchasing, but I explained I had to go to work at the school but would love to go another day.

In the end, she said that she'd show me the fresh fish market today (Saturday), when I didn't have anything to do. Together, with her 7-year-old little sister, Susie, we ventured off to the beach where the fisherman sell their freshly caught fish right from the net.

I would never have felt comfortable enough to dare enter the large and intimidating area set aside for the fisherman, but Esther was obviously a pro. After talking with some of the fishermen, Esther explained that in order to reach the water we had to take a certain route because the boats were packed so tightly.

For all of you non 'football' fans, the symbol on this boat is of a Spanish soccer team from Barcelona, Spain. Just goes to show you how deep their love for the sport is. As you can see, in order to get the boat on the beach, they roll the boat using the metal rod and the 2 pieces of wood. Tough work...


After walking to the end of the beach and chatting with various fisherman about what they've caught, I noticed a group of boys playing soccer. The ocean is in bounds and they use two sticks jammed into the sand for goal posts.

Susie. Such a cutie.

After enjoying the waves for a while and even venturing out on some rocks, I decided it'd be a good idea to take a rest and enjoy some of Ghana's amazing pineapple juice at a restaurant next to the castle.

Here, Susie kicks my butt in a bottle cap game.

As you can tell by how empty my bottle is, I really love Ghana's pineapple juice.

With the constant breeze from the ocean and the great food selection, this is definitely gonna be one of my new hangout spots.

After playing the bottle cap game and keeping them entertained with stories about my family, including Oakley the family dog, we eventually made it back to the downtown taxi junction and waited for about 30 minutes for it to fill up with other passengers. I've never had to wait that long for the shared taxi, but in the end I was happy because we purchased a fresh pineapple from a vendor who came to our window and devoured it within minutes.

Unfortunately, it started to drizzle while we sat in the taxi. It started to pick up but never became anything of a bother. After making our way out of town and to the junction closer to home, the rain started to pick up. We were still able to walk in it and it was quite refreshing. I was enjoying the moment when all of a sudden Esther yelled, "LISTEN!" In the distance I could hear the sound of the raindrops roaring. Susie took off but I stayed back with Esther. Within seconds it was an absolute downpour!

Look closely and you can actually see the raindrops!

We were soaked to the bone but because it remained about 80 degrees, I was happy.

And then, just like that, it was gone. The clothes I had out on the line were drenched but there wouldn't be another cloud in the sky all day. Just another day in Cape Coast...

It feels so great to finally have made a friend. I can tell the older brothers are becoming a bit tiresome of having to accompany me everywhere. I can't blame them because I finally realized that when I invite them to the market to help me find clothes hangers or a mirror, for them, it's just like me going shopping with my mom at home...HORRENDOUS!

Tomorrow I get to join up with the new ProGhana group from California and head to Kakum National Park, so stay tuned!