Hello Everyone,
Sam and I are back in Georgia and I am back on campus, University of West Georgia that is.
I am so glad to be home, though the trip to Africa has been a life changing experience.
I will close this blog for now so that I can concentrate on my studies. I hope to add some final posts before too long.
Thank you all for following us as we experienced Ghana, Africa. You added to our adventures and we will always be very appreciative for your support.
One love.
Cynthia and Sam
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Friday, November 11, 2011
Hello everyone!
So glad to be able to post again. I have been trying since September.
It seems the internet service in Ghana was not powerful enough. ;-(
Sam and I arrived in Georgia yesterday to check on Mom. I will return to take
my finals in a few weeks and return home December 16th.
I will get more stuff on for you soon.
Many thanks for your support! Glad to see you back!
Sam and Cynthia
So glad to be able to post again. I have been trying since September.
It seems the internet service in Ghana was not powerful enough. ;-(
Sam and I arrived in Georgia yesterday to check on Mom. I will return to take
my finals in a few weeks and return home December 16th.
I will get more stuff on for you soon.
Many thanks for your support! Glad to see you back!
Sam and Cynthia
Friday, September 16, 2011
Sam and the Anthill
Hi,
Here are pictures of one of the anthills on campus with Sam so you can see just how big these things are! They are unbelieveable! And we think we have an ant problem in Georgia? I don't think so!
Will be working on more stuff for you soon. We are entertaining tomorrow and I spent the day cooking. Fish soup and okra soup. I will email pictures when it is served so you can see what a good cook I am. My son is not the only chef in the family. LOL
Love you guys!
C and S
Here are pictures of one of the anthills on campus with Sam so you can see just how big these things are! They are unbelieveable! And we think we have an ant problem in Georgia? I don't think so!
Will be working on more stuff for you soon. We are entertaining tomorrow and I spent the day cooking. Fish soup and okra soup. I will email pictures when it is served so you can see what a good cook I am. My son is not the only chef in the family. LOL
Love you guys!
C and S
Looks like it has eyes. :-(((
Now you can see just how big these jokers are!!!!
Up close and personal
More soon!
One love!
C and S
Thursday, September 15, 2011
The Ghana National Museum
I had to do this for my Ghana history class. Dr. Perbi requested us to visit the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade exhibit for an exam on the 28th. I had this on my list of things to do anyway so it was a good thing for us.
BTW...The trip to Komasi will be the 30th for two days. Komasi was the center or hub of the Sub Saharan and Slave trade routes. All points east/west/north/south passed through Komasi; therefore it was a very important city. I am so looking forward to this trip. Look for pictures after we return.
Also...We are trying to get thirty people to make a trip to Togo next month. Stay tuned for more on that if we are successful.
First I will post pictures of the Slave Trade exhibit of the two hundred and eleven pictures I took. If you would like to see them all post a comment with your email address or email me at: crosers@aol.com and I will send them to you individually. It will take too much time to put them all on the blog.
If you do not mind I will include a little history lesson also. Many of our followers are interested in this part of our adventure. Also it gives me a chance to refresh myself with what I am learning which will help me when exam time comes. Help a sista out, ok? :-)
This is a picture of a tree where captured Africans were chained to until enough were collected to make the trek to the coast profitable.
These are the chains used on the Africans as they were moved to the coast to be sold and shipped to the Caribbean and the Americas.
A representation of how they were shackled and chained.
Cape Coast Castle:
After the "Door of No Return."
This is Eric, one of my fellow Ghana History students.
Eric and his "angels." Look out Charlie. :-)
I will close here and continue with pictures from the rest of the museum exhibits later. I am getting sleepy. :-(((
Stay tune!
BTW...The trip to Komasi will be the 30th for two days. Komasi was the center or hub of the Sub Saharan and Slave trade routes. All points east/west/north/south passed through Komasi; therefore it was a very important city. I am so looking forward to this trip. Look for pictures after we return.
Also...We are trying to get thirty people to make a trip to Togo next month. Stay tuned for more on that if we are successful.
First I will post pictures of the Slave Trade exhibit of the two hundred and eleven pictures I took. If you would like to see them all post a comment with your email address or email me at: crosers@aol.com and I will send them to you individually. It will take too much time to put them all on the blog.
If you do not mind I will include a little history lesson also. Many of our followers are interested in this part of our adventure. Also it gives me a chance to refresh myself with what I am learning which will help me when exam time comes. Help a sista out, ok? :-)
The slave trade from the African perspective is very important to me and my historical education, because what I have learned so far is from the Western perspective and I believe it is important to look at it from this side of the Atlantic for comparison, to get a better understanding of it all, and to dispel some of the myths about slavery.
From Dr. Churchill and my Black Diaspora class I learned that 50% of the estimated 12 million Africans who were captured and taken away from their homeland came from west and central Africa.
From Dr. Perbi's Ghana History class I learned that sixty-four forts were built along Africa's west coast by the Portuguese, British, Dutch, and Danes. These forts were built for protection; however they also served as "castles" for the Europeans and dungeons for the captured Africans.
Ghana is in western Africa and the southern region of this country is on the coast.The majority of these forts were built in Ghana; therefore Ghana played a pivotal part in the slave trade. (We talked about our visit to Cape Coast Castle earlier.)
Of the estimated 12 million captured Africans only 10 million survived the Middle Passage, meaning approximately 2 million died of different causes: disease, killed on board, jumping overboard in desperation, or being deliberately pushed overboard. 6 million went to Brazil (Portuguese colonies), 3.2 million to British colonies ( to include Jamaica), 1.4 million to French colonies (to include Haiti), 1 million to Spanish colonies, (to include Cuba), 500,000 to Dutch colonies, 300,000 to US colonies and 100,000 to Danish colonies. (From Black Diaspora.)
Entrance to the Slave Trade exhibit
The slave trade route, or "triangle" as it was also called, was from Europe to Africa, to the Caribbean and the Americas, and back to Europe; thus the "triangle."
European products such as cloth, guns, gun powder, rum, mirrors and beads left Europe to Africa to trade for captured Africans who were transported to the Caribbean and the Americas. There they worked on the sugar cane, tobacco, and cotton plantations which produced sugar, rum, tobacco and cotton for cloth manufacturing which were then transported to Europe to complete the 'triangle.'
These products fueled the Industrial Revolution and made England the powerful nation it eventually became.
This is a map of the slave trade route.
A picture of how the captured Africans were "moved" across the interior of Africa to the coast.
There they were held in barracoons (slave sheds) or slave castle dungeons such as Cape Coast Castle, sometimes for months until they were transported to the Caribbean, or the Americas.
This is an ancient African version of a bullet proof vest.
It is called a warrior shirt. It protected against arrows and bullets.
(Who says history does not repeat itself?)
Versions of this is worn today. I am thinking of getting Sam one. :-)
This is a picture of my Ghana and Africa history lecturer, Professor Akosua Perbi.
She is an expert on Ghana slave history and has written a book "A History of Indigenous Slavery in Ghana." This book is sold here in Ghana for half the price on Amazon.com. If you would like a copy email me at: crosers@aol.com and I will bring it back with me.
She is an expert on Ghana slave history and has written a book "A History of Indigenous Slavery in Ghana." This book is sold here in Ghana for half the price on Amazon.com. If you would like a copy email me at: crosers@aol.com and I will bring it back with me.
This is a picture of a tree where captured Africans were chained to until enough were collected to make the trek to the coast profitable.
These are shackles for the captured Africans. Note the small ones for the children. :-(((
This is the slave river where the slaves were washed after their move across Africa before going to the slave markets.
These are the chains used on the Africans as they were moved to the coast to be sold and shipped to the Caribbean and the Americas.
A representation of how they were shackled and chained.
Cape Coast Castle:
After the "Door of No Return."
This is Eric, one of my fellow Ghana History students.
He is technically blind; but still getting his education through the university.
Kudos Eric!!!
Eric and his "angels." Look out Charlie. :-)
I will close here and continue with pictures from the rest of the museum exhibits later. I am getting sleepy. :-(((
One love
Cynthia and Sam
Hi everyone,
Sorry for my absence. I have been dealing with classes and the challenges of them.
Also back to Shoprite, or should I say "Banditrite." I keep looking for the masks and the AK47s. :-(((
I need a conference with a psychologist when I leave that store!! Another 205 cedis (about $136US) and this is what I came home with: Dddaaahhhhh!!!
Sam says we have to stay out of that store; but what are we going to do? I can't have my HD man eating this every night:
Sorry for my absence. I have been dealing with classes and the challenges of them.
Also back to Shoprite, or should I say "Banditrite." I keep looking for the masks and the AK47s. :-(((
I need a conference with a psychologist when I leave that store!! Another 205 cedis (about $136US) and this is what I came home with: Dddaaahhhhh!!!
Sam says we have to stay out of that store; but what are we going to do? I can't have my HD man eating this every night:
This is a Sam Special: Corn Flakes. bananas, and peanuts. YUK!!! LOL
So it as another "foreigner" told me: "You just have to close your eyes and pay and hope not to get a nose bleed." :-((((((
Don't forget we spent over 300 cedis ($200US) just two weeks ago.
Hey...if you get envious and decide to come join us, make sure your Bank of America debit card it overloaded or your gold AMEX card is clear. LOL
I am working on the museum pictures and I promise to have them by the morning. We have to go on campus tomorrow to have Sam take passport pictures and to pay another 120 cedis ($80) each to extend our visa to December. Did I say Bank of America and AMEX? No, I should have said Fort Knox and the US Treasury Department! UGH!!!
Well...as usual I do digress. Is it old age? I wonder. HHhmmmmm...
Oh...I am working on the Divine Order story again. I hope to add enough to have a little "book" published on campus while I am here. Send up some prayers for me,ok?
Speaking of which...send up one for my little friend Ainsley. She is going through some sure enough challenges. Pray that God will spare her little life.
More to come.
One love!
Cynthia and Sam
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Hi everyone,
I am working on the pictures from the museum. There are two hundred and eleven of them. :-((
I tried posting them all and it took too long and I figured you all would get impatient, so I will have
to do a few at a time. Not to mention putting captions so you know what you are looking at.
Hey..This blogging stuff is a lot of work for an ole lady. LOL
Today is Sunday and since I did not cook for Brother Sam yesterday I have kitchen duty today.
I already made some mac n cheese this morning. It didn't come out too badly, if I have to say so myself. Cheese is very expensive: a small amount: 8 oz of Gouda (similar to cheddar) is 7.69cedis or $5.12US and 11 oz of Mozzarella cheese is 10cedis or $6.70US. So you see a dish of mac and cheese costs about $15US, give or take a few cents, when you add in the rest of the ingredients. :-((((( So it better be good. LOL
I will add pictures of the finished meal later.
Here are pictures of the greens I showed earlier. They grow outside my door in the courtyard. Yes, they look just like the plants in your living room; but please, please do not rush in there and chop them up to put in the pot. They may not be the same "strain" of plant and I don't want any of you to poison yourself and blame it on me. LOL
We watched the History channel documentary on 9/11 and it was something. They did a great job and we are thankful for them doing it. We both can remember what we were doing and where we were at that time in our history. Sam was at work and I was in my shop. I called my son and we talked through the entire disaster. My how things have changed because of that day.
God bless you all and God bless America!!!!
I am working on the pictures from the museum. There are two hundred and eleven of them. :-((
I tried posting them all and it took too long and I figured you all would get impatient, so I will have
to do a few at a time. Not to mention putting captions so you know what you are looking at.
Hey..This blogging stuff is a lot of work for an ole lady. LOL
Today is Sunday and since I did not cook for Brother Sam yesterday I have kitchen duty today.
I already made some mac n cheese this morning. It didn't come out too badly, if I have to say so myself. Cheese is very expensive: a small amount: 8 oz of Gouda (similar to cheddar) is 7.69cedis or $5.12US and 11 oz of Mozzarella cheese is 10cedis or $6.70US. So you see a dish of mac and cheese costs about $15US, give or take a few cents, when you add in the rest of the ingredients. :-((((( So it better be good. LOL
I will add pictures of the finished meal later.
Here are pictures of the greens I showed earlier. They grow outside my door in the courtyard. Yes, they look just like the plants in your living room; but please, please do not rush in there and chop them up to put in the pot. They may not be the same "strain" of plant and I don't want any of you to poison yourself and blame it on me. LOL
We watched the History channel documentary on 9/11 and it was something. They did a great job and we are thankful for them doing it. We both can remember what we were doing and where we were at that time in our history. Sam was at work and I was in my shop. I called my son and we talked through the entire disaster. My how things have changed because of that day.
God bless you all and God bless America!!!!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Hey everyone!
Today we went to the Ghana National Museum. It was very, very interesting. It was a class assignment for my Ghana History course. We were to visit the museum and we will have an exam on the 28th on it. I am not sure what "exam" means and as usual in panic mode. LOL
In the states "exam" means an eighteen page paper. :-(((( Hey...hope that is not the case here!
Anyway..it was great and I will edit the pictures and get them to you shortly, at least by next weekend...hey...just kidding. Can't you take a joke, mon???? LOL
The water pressure today was awesome! I think some of my skin went down the shower drain. Hahahaha!
I got a chance to do laundry yesterday and not have to pour buckets of water through the soap dispenser. Ever try to do that and not spill half of it on the floor? IMPOSSIBLE!!! So I created more laundry: the towels, etc, to wash, still without adequate water pressure.
Now to be fair, let's not just beat up on Ghana: the challenge in Jamaica is current, or electricity, as we say in the US. At any given time GPS, the company supplying Jamaica's electrical power, may decide they want to shut down a particular "grid", for whatever and for whatever amount of time. Your frig is not working and you may have just spent a thousand US dollars stocking up on all those "foreign" meats you just had to have from Arosa, the place to get "stuck up" for foreign meat products. So what if they spoil? You should not have been so dumb as to buy them in the first place. What's wrong with buying the local meat? What you see along the road as you travel to town? So what if it is 89 degrees and you are going through menopause and having hot flashes? You just have to make the necessary adjustment.: run to the sea, real, real, fast. LOL
But let's be fair and not leave out Tanglewood Road, US. When we are without electricity on Tanglewood Road in the good old U S of A, we do not have access to water because we get our water from a well. We had the opportunity to connect to the county water system and decided not to. The cost did figure into it; but the taste of well water was really (and I do mean really) the deciding factor. I am not one who really likes water anyway; but our water is delicious! I do not drink tap water anywhere we travel.
OOOppppssss....let me get back to the issue at hand: water pressure. So, it was good yesterday and I was able to get the laundry done for Nana (the housekeeper) to hang out and when it was time to shower it was so forceful I had to check to make sure I still had skin on my butt! LOL
Okkk... I will close now and take a nap and get those pictures edited for you.
Sam is at Matrix Pub playing pool. He told me he had only 20cedis ($13US) and he had to make some money tonight. Uh, oh! I hope he comes home by tomorrow afternoon!
BTW...cedis has a historical connotation and I will tell you about it later. I found that out at the museum today. Keep in mind that all things are historical. That from a historian. :-)
Also a two million year old female fossil was found in south Africa and this may change the theory of evolution. Here is just one of the link with information about her check out Google for more of them: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/04/16/meet-your-great-grandma.html Just think: I, a historian, am in the continent this is found!! Astonishing!! God is so good!
One love!
Love y'all
Today we went to the Ghana National Museum. It was very, very interesting. It was a class assignment for my Ghana History course. We were to visit the museum and we will have an exam on the 28th on it. I am not sure what "exam" means and as usual in panic mode. LOL
In the states "exam" means an eighteen page paper. :-(((( Hey...hope that is not the case here!
Anyway..it was great and I will edit the pictures and get them to you shortly, at least by next weekend...hey...just kidding. Can't you take a joke, mon???? LOL
The water pressure today was awesome! I think some of my skin went down the shower drain. Hahahaha!
I got a chance to do laundry yesterday and not have to pour buckets of water through the soap dispenser. Ever try to do that and not spill half of it on the floor? IMPOSSIBLE!!! So I created more laundry: the towels, etc, to wash, still without adequate water pressure.
Now to be fair, let's not just beat up on Ghana: the challenge in Jamaica is current, or electricity, as we say in the US. At any given time GPS, the company supplying Jamaica's electrical power, may decide they want to shut down a particular "grid", for whatever and for whatever amount of time. Your frig is not working and you may have just spent a thousand US dollars stocking up on all those "foreign" meats you just had to have from Arosa, the place to get "stuck up" for foreign meat products. So what if they spoil? You should not have been so dumb as to buy them in the first place. What's wrong with buying the local meat? What you see along the road as you travel to town? So what if it is 89 degrees and you are going through menopause and having hot flashes? You just have to make the necessary adjustment.: run to the sea, real, real, fast. LOL
But let's be fair and not leave out Tanglewood Road, US. When we are without electricity on Tanglewood Road in the good old U S of A, we do not have access to water because we get our water from a well. We had the opportunity to connect to the county water system and decided not to. The cost did figure into it; but the taste of well water was really (and I do mean really) the deciding factor. I am not one who really likes water anyway; but our water is delicious! I do not drink tap water anywhere we travel.
OOOppppssss....let me get back to the issue at hand: water pressure. So, it was good yesterday and I was able to get the laundry done for Nana (the housekeeper) to hang out and when it was time to shower it was so forceful I had to check to make sure I still had skin on my butt! LOL
Okkk... I will close now and take a nap and get those pictures edited for you.
Sam is at Matrix Pub playing pool. He told me he had only 20cedis ($13US) and he had to make some money tonight. Uh, oh! I hope he comes home by tomorrow afternoon!
BTW...cedis has a historical connotation and I will tell you about it later. I found that out at the museum today. Keep in mind that all things are historical. That from a historian. :-)
Also a two million year old female fossil was found in south Africa and this may change the theory of evolution. Here is just one of the link with information about her check out Google for more of them: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/04/16/meet-your-great-grandma.html Just think: I, a historian, am in the continent this is found!! Astonishing!! God is so good!
One love!
Love y'all
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