Cape Coast Slave Castle and Cape Deaf

June 22, 2009
Yesterday we visited the Cape Coast Castle. It was so much more interesting and well-kept than Elmina. We decided to take the tour. A man got in an argument with our guide because the guide was saying that some Africans contributed to the slave trade and the man got upset because he said that we can't place any blame on Africans. Both the guide and the man were Africans themselves. I was a little confused with the rest of the fight, but the man left our tour group. The dungeons we went down were unbelievably horrifying. People had to eat, sleep, and breathe in their own and everyone else's feces. They say the slave ships were like floating coffins. I looked at a map in the museum that had a listing of all the slave castles along the coast of Ghana. There were probably around 15. Most of the slaves came from Western Africa. I have great pictures from the tour.
After, we went to the little shops in the castle courtyard. This is where I did the majority of my shopping. I got wooden figurines of different animals: one for each member of my family. (Guys- I have other GREAT gifts for you:). I also got a mask for my Grandma Tommy and some beads. All my little African treasures are amazing.
Today we went to Cape Deaf. I was put in a classroom with 25 7 and 8 year-olds. I sat with them in class for about an hour before I began teaching (if that's what you'd call it). I learned how to sign my name and several animals: lion, rat, cow, hen, fly, and dog. The kids are adorable. But since they are at a boarding school at such a young age, they beg for attention. And they will literally beat each other for it. Since they can't yell at each other, they shove to make their point. And the teacher is physically rough on them too. Anyway, I made paper cranes with them which took about 2.5 hours. It was tiring, but worth it. After we played "Duck Duck Goose" (of course), I tought them a new game: Lions and Rats (which I subsituted for Sharks and Minoes). I can sign Lions and Rats... Tomorrow we will hopefully do an art project. They don't really have their own supplies, but we brought some!