Day 15-Elmina Castle
Today, Jen wants to experience tro tro riding. Alright my Friend, you got it.
We are moving out early today to take Jen to Elmina Castle. As we are approaching the junction, the taxi Driver starts in with me asking me where we are going. He finally gets it out of me and starts offering up his services. I replied with “15 cedis to the Elmina?! You must mean 1 cedi 50 peswas!” After some back and forth dialogue between us he gives us a final offer of 8 cedis for all of us. I stepped out and said, “My friend here wants to ride a tro tro, no thanks.” We go across the street to wait for the next tro tro and another taxi driver comes over to us and offers us a ride to the Elmina Castle for 80 peswas each (Like 75 cents). What?! I yelled across the street at the Driver and said, “You need to get with my Man over here! 80 peswas!” Jen said, “Do you ever stop messing with people?!” I said, “They started and I love for things to be exciting for Kofi after I leave.” LOL!
So we arrive at the Castle and the Cashier hooks us up a good rate after talking to her a bit and one of the men sends us in to the female dungeon area alone. I kept asking them, “We are getting a new Tour Guide, right? Not joining a tour, right?” We get back there and there is a tour already in progress. We set to the side and wait for OUR Tour Guide. The Tour Guide that is conducting his tour asks us if we are joining in. I told him that we were waiting for a new one. He seemed a little annoyed, and I don’t know why. So he finished a few more sites and then tells Kofi in Fante to go ask if we are to join his tour or not. Kofi returns and apparently whatever he told him, the Guide tells me that there will be no other Tour Guide coming so you all join with us. I am going to join in and we already missed the introduction, history and the first part of the tour?! HERE WE GO! I’m going back and forth with the guy that sent us back there and I told him that we want a new Tour FROM THE BEGINNING, FINISHED. We got it and in fact I saw the exact Brother that I wanted. He tells the story just as we have Salaga information laid out. He is thorough and doesn’t hold back the bitter truths. But is able to still be light somehow. He and I exchanged numbers and he told me to call him a day before I bring people so that he can be prepared for us. “Cool, my Man.”
The tour was great as usual. It amazes me to stillness that after all of these years these dungeons still affect me the way that they did back then. It’s hard for me to do the chit chatting and to deal with insensitivity around me. Like the Asian man that is running around laughing and shouting while he is posing for all of these different photo shots. Ghanaians laughing and joking; answering their cell phones while the tour is going on. TOTAL DISCONNECT. Remember this for later, Family.
I ran into another one of my contacts there while we were finishing up the tour. Ato Ashun. He is the Deputy Director of the Castle now. So, we talked about some of the plans for the Castle and exchanged numbers as well. He was the one that shut the tours down one day so that I could drum for our Ancestors there. Just me, Kofi and Theo playing for the Ancestors in each of the dungeons and cells. The Family at that time wanted to join in but bailed out on us last minute. I have it on video. You all will have to check that some time. When I brought that footage back that year, My Mother had to have me turn it off because it was too heavy and deep for her. I watched it about 2 years ago and was mesmerized by the energy. I was IN IT, so I just moved through it when we did the taping. But to revisit the energy after so many years had me frozen and hypnotized. Ato brought that all back to me. I tell you family, I am racking up some contacts this trip.
After I finished with Ato it was time to hit the prisoner cells. This area seemed to mess with Jen. The European cell started to mess with her energy. But as she entered the African cell she told me that she didn’t think that she could do this one. I encouraged her in and the Brother started in with the story. For some reason, that space got her and she started her purging there until we left and went upstairs to the Governor’s and soldier’s quarters. There was another part of the tour that touched Jen very much. As we walked up the stairs to the Governor’s quarters, she seemed to make the connection between the Female dungeons, the courtyard, the secret passage up to the Governor’s balcony and then up the stairs that she was struggling to get up. She is a traveler and loves to explore historic sites, so she was very moved by the Castle and was very pleased with the tour.
We then moved on to meet up with our Board Member, Mr. Kwofi, so that we could meet up with Doc at the University so that Doc could drive us to meet our newest OYC Physician. As we were waiting roadside outside the University Of Cape Coast for Doc to pick us up, Aggie from Brenu seen us and stopped. I introduced her to Jen and we talked about the recent power outage that we were still experiencing from last night in Brenu. She said that her Husband wants to run wire underground to their home and they are out shopping for the wires. They are talking about 150 meters of wire for $6,000. He is an Electrical Engineer so he will hire some laborers and do the work himself. NICE. I told her to keep me updated with that project. She is also finishing up her Third cottage on the beach and a water tower. DAMN, I need me a German Husband with money! LOL! It was good to speak with her. She has been a lot of help to me during my years of dealing with Brenu. I am fond of Auntie Aggie.
So Doc picks us up and we go to Dr. Holdbrook’s private clinic. He is 70 something and is in that clinic from 7am to 7pm for 6 days a week treating a waiting room filled with people all on his own. Well he has a staff, but is the only Physician. He takes us in right away and we had great conversation about him being on board with us. We leave him and go to the Lab that he uses for all lab work, screenings, x-rays, etc. That Elder that runs the lab was on point and on board as well. So, we are IN THERE. We head back to the roadside and get ready to give Jen her tro tro experience back to Brenu. Oh we forgot, we have to go into town to get some cases of water and plantains. You know how busy it is in Cape Coast, so Jen is getting her true feel of ‘running errands’ with Kojo and Kofi. We finish shopping and now it is time for your tro tro ride, Jen. We get to the tro tro station and that scene is crazier than the taxi station. Kofi asked Jen if she wanted to get in the tro tro so that she gets a good seat and she told him that she knew it would be too hot in there just waiting. Jen was clearly annoyed at this time and I felt her energy. I sang out, “You wanted to ride on the tro tro.” She looked at me and said, “Oh, so this is my lesson here? That’s why you got me out here running around with you knowing I haven’t eaten in 8 hours after running 3 miles this morning?” I actually DID forget that she said that she eats every 3 hours to keep her energy up since she works out all of the time. So I said, “Don’t people that have to eat all of the time carry food with them? And don’t go telling your people that I had you out here starving you in Africa and got you riding with goats…” She laughed and added, “And because of him, I even had to go to a clinic to see this Doctor and then to the Laboratory…” I said, “That’s exactly how you will play it up, huh? Have your Mother thinking I have you on some Survivor type of tour. Go get in that tro tro that you have us riding on today.” We laughed hard about that one, because she knows from her travels how people only hear what they want to hear when they believe what they believe. Funny woman.
I was mentally preparing myself for “Lights Out” at OB. I am behind in my journaling and once you get behind sometimes it’s hard to catch up and then you just let it go all together. AS SOON AS we drove up onto the land, Esi comes out and said “Lights JUST came on!” Thank you Divine.
We chilled the rest of the evening. I had two of our older OYC youth, Stella and Noel, come in to meet with me about a project I want them to work on. I want to Farm our land at OB until we start building again. I want them to research what it will take to start a pineapple garden on the yard. They were excited and took their assignment home to discuss with their Father’s, the true Pineapple farmers.
I showed Jen a few family photos, but could not find all of the ones that I wanted to. For some reason I could not locate them on my computer. I noticed though that she wasn’t too enthusiastic for me to find them. It was if what I showed her was fine. She hadn’t even seen half of all of the family members before she was giving the energy like it was time for her to go. I pulled out the full family photo that has us all except for Shola. I could see that she is probably not comfortable when people start breaking out their family photos. She is 39, never been married and no children. She commented on how pretty Niaimani is and said “WOW” and that was it. Her energy was OUT. So, I told her that I would find the most recent photos and share another time. She left and I thought about the many people that are not blessed to have family and children. It is perhaps their destiny to NOT have children, but it appears that Jen’s uncomfortable energy when I was sharing photos may be a sign that she is not so at peace with NOT having youth.
Alright, rest time. Off to Kakum tomorrow…CANOPY WALK!!!
“I’m awake, I have worked, and I’ve been blessed. It’s Time to Take Me Home!”
Love Family.
