Paradise on the Coast of Africa

So I mentioned to some of you that we went down to Cape Coast this weekend to do a health fair at the stake center there. It took about 4 ½ hours to get there (although it took SEVEN and a half to get back…ugh), but it was totally worth it. When we first pulled in to Cape Coast, we went straight to the slave castles right on the coast. When we got out of the van, it was still hot and humid but it was like BEACH hot and humid! That’s the kind of humidity that has a purpose, plus you get the sea breeze, which is marvelous. We took a tour of the Cape Coast slave castle, which is a large mansion that held the African slaves for 3 months before they were shipped to the Americas. It kind of made me want to cry. The things that these people went through… I don’t really have any problems that can compare to it...definitely an awesome eye opening experience. Besides the subject of the castle, it was really a beautiful place and I really liked it.
We all did.

From the slave castles, I went to paradise. No, literally. I thought I was in heaven. We stayed in a place called Alberta’s Palace. It was a little beach resort right on the water (hence the word “beach” ha) and it really reminded me of Chankanaab Mexico, in Cozumel, although the water wasn’t quite as turquoise. But here is where heaven came in. I got into a really comfortable bed next to my best friend, after taking a long cool shower, in an AIR CONDITIONED room, with my belly full of a gourmet cheeseburger, fries, and a pineapple Fanta, and having just sat on the beach while some of my good friends swimming in the warm Atlantic Ocean. Heaven. Did I mention the air conditioning!? It was definitely hard to come back to Abomosu. Hehe.

Early Saturday morning, we got up and went to the stake center to set up for the health fair for the RS sisters. They seemed to REALLY enjoy my presentation, and a lot of people claimed in was their favorite class. I can’t really take credit for it though. The ladies just liked the topic. Who knew that once they started talking about menopause, it would never, ever, EVER stop!! Haha. That’s probably enough on the subject for those who are weak-hearted :)

After the health fair, we drove to the rainforest and went on what was called the canopy walkway. Basically it was a one hour hike in the rainforest, which included walking over SEVEN swinging bridges!! These were bridges that were about a foot and a half wide that were way up,
looking over parts of the rainforest and were not exactly the most stable of bridges, hence the term “swinging bridges”. Don’t worry, it was heavily roped on both sides, and while I doubted it at some points, I survived :) Plus now I can say that I have hiked through the rainforest of Africa. No big deal. Haha.

Okay, I was going to stay up and write more about church today and a couple other things, but it’s past midnight now and I’m completely exhausted. It’s ridiculous how at home I can stay up til 2 no problem but come 7:15, It takes some serious effort to keep my eyes open! (sounds like a certain brother I have...cough cough Scott) Clearly it’s the same for everyone here, since I’ve been the only one awake for about 45 minutes now. Haha. So I'm off to bed.

Love you all!
Mel