Adventures in Africa - Part 2 ~Yoga in Cape Coast

I've wanted to take a Yoga class forever! Luckily I brought along my very own certified Yoga teacher and she gave classes on the beach while we were in Cape Coast.
Nothing better than getting a good stretch in paradise. Hugh and I were Karla's faithful students - we were there every morning...

and so were the waves.

Adventures in Africa - Part 1 ~ The Animals

I decided to start off my chronicle of African adventures with something fun and easy to talk about ... the animals. I had quite a few crazy experiences with different furry (and not so furry) creatures throughout my time away, and here are a few pictures to prove it.

This is a lady who has crocodiles as pets behind her restaurant.

This is me touching a crocodile.

This is me tickling a crocodile.

Sometimes just seeing these pictures makes my heart start to pound. It was one of the scariest (and probably dumbest) things i've ever done. After we left, we were thinking about how dangerous it was to be standing there surrounded by crocodiles trusting that some old lady and her stick were keeping us safe. By the way, crocodiles have tough scales but are actually a lot more tender than I though they would be when you poke them. Yes, I poked him, a few times - and I lived to tell! :)

Now on to monkeys...

Don't make fun of the face I'm making! When was the last time a monkey ate a banana right out of your hand? Ya, you would make that face too. I would like to also point out that the monkey is pretty much making the same face back at me. He was obviously having his first read head experience, so we were equally amazed at meeting each other.

The monkey starts by trying to

pull the banana out of your hand, and then when he can't get it he just peels it right there and pulls the fruit out. Pretty awesome.

While in Cape Cost, we were staying at a beautiful beach resort. We didn't get to spend too much time on the beach, but while there I was determined to catch a crab. Why? Because I had already touched all sorts of other gross things I would never have done anywhere else, so why not?

Mattias caught me this crab...well, half a crab. As you may notice, he's missing a few legs which was the only reason we were able to catch him. Crabs are so dang fast, and every time I tried to catch one they ran for water! It reminded me of a certain cow-tipping experience that never came to fruition....but that's not important now. ;)

This is a giant centipede ... we think.

My professor picked it up and said how cool it was and asked who wanted to hold it. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy, then I stuck out my arm and told him to put it on. I don't know who was more surprised at my response, him, my friends, or me.

Other animals experienced but not featured in this post:

Ostriches

Goats

Bats

Mosquitoes

Softball-sized snails

Lizard

Frogs

Gecko-type things

Cockroaches

Spiders

Vultures that live in palm trees

etc.

Note: I will touch a crocodile, but cockroaches make me scream and jump on beds...

Adventures in Africa - Why I was there

First off I would like to let those of you who are unaware know why I even found myself in good ol' Africa this summer. Each year a group of BYU MPA students go to work on a couple of projects for local non profits. This year we had a market research project for IDE and a project analysis assignment for the LDS church concerning the Perpetual Education Fund (PEF) in West Africa.A home in the Kente cloth weaving village.

As you are about to see, we ended up having quite a bit of fun mixed in with our studies, but project work was the number one reason we were there. The IDE group was researching vegetable trends in the local markets to help farmers understand what type of produce they should be growing when IDE helps them to irrigate their crops (allowing them 3 crops a year instead of 2). There will be more about the market experiences to come...

My group was the PEF team (though we all helped out on both projects). I was able to interview potential & current PEF recipients, vocational school representatives, and PEF representatives for Ghana. The problem that PEF is facing is that students want to get a university degree, but it requires a lot of debt and in the end, there isn't a job infrastructure to support very many 'white shirt & tie' jobs. It is a sad situation. The PEF representatives wanted help looking into the program and seeing if the church should be encouraging vocational degrees instead of university degrees. At the end of the day, this is pretty much the answer, but there will be more on this later as well...

If the next blog posts start to look like journal entries, well...they are. Among all the other things stolen about an hour after arriving in Africa, was my journal. Life goes on but, I sure would love to be able to look back on some of the experiences I documented in that book, so now i'll start documenting my life all over the place so it can't be stolen in a backpack. On that note - here we are at the Police Station. It took me about 1.2 seconds to know I would never ever see my stuff again.

Jenny, Shanelle, myself, Dr. Agle, Sam and Ben all lost stuff on the bus.

When we went in, there was just one big room with a desk and a chair and one officer. There were two jail cells behind the desk with pieces of paper above them that said Male and Female, written with a sharpie. The female one looked empty, but there were quite a few in the male cell and they were very excited to see us...

Visiting the police station made me so so so grateful for our local officers, our laws that keep us safe, the men and women that devote their life to justice, the judicial system, insurance, and air conditioners (little did I know that the last one would be something I was reminded of constantly).

Home from Africa - pictures to come

I'm home!!! Pictures and stories are coming - though my computer was stolen (along with a bunch of other stuff) so my life is a bit discombobulated right now.

I took the opportunity to finally finish moving back into my room at 4 this morning when I just couldn't sleep anymore (don't feel too bad for me - I went to bed around 9). So now I feel like i'm ready to get back to normal life. What is normal? I'm not sure right now. I've moved home for the summer, I start a job with the city manager at West Valley City next week, I have Miss Utah in a month, and to be honest - after my experiences in Africa i'm rethinking a lot of things.

My perspective is forever changed. I'm excited to share my adventures with you...soon. :)

Until then, I need advice on computers (do I buy used or go ahead and upgrade) and I also need some help trying to replenish my pictures...I hadn't backed up my computer in years, so lets just say I'm quite sad about the loss. Africa can have my computer, I just want the stuff on it back. If you happen to have some pictures that you think I probably used to have and no longer do(or never had, but would probably like), let me know - we'll have a picture party and i'll come get them from you! :)

Anyways, I'm now going to go drink tap water in my bare feet while sitting on my wonderfully soft bed in a room that is cockroach, lizard and frog free.

Africa, I miss you! America, I love you!