Waiting for the office to put through my call to Jon. I don't understand this method - I give the number to the desk, which dials it, then connects it to my room. But it's been the case at the Crystal Palm and here, so I guess it's standard in Ghana. I do miss the 60 yuan deposit method in China, though.

So so tired, and a bunch of us are getting up early to watch/photograph the sunrise. The beach faces south, but it's at the back of a cove, so the land licks out at each side.

And oh, BTW - been in the Atlantic! Carolyn B and I waded in tonight. The current's too strong for swimming, but yay for sand and salt water of all denominations.

This hotel seems to be everyone's favorite so far (although the one in Ho sounds fairly sweet too) - it's, like, cabins with a few rooms each instead of an apartment building. There are huge, leaning palm trees everywhere, two pools, a beach, and an outdoor restaurant. Really just your typical low-end resort, but it's fun, and the rooms are nice.

In the end, there was too much weirdness in Kumasi for me to like it. I had issues every time I ordered food, there was my knee, the water, the marginal breakfast this morning, the ¢50,000/minute calls... blech. Not that it's not a nice place under other circumstances, but my own experience was pretty shitty.

Amazingly, I as yet have no outstanding beef with anyone in the group. Not even people I've previously disliked - guess I can separate my situational dislike from the general kind.

Really wish they'd connect me to Jon. So about to pass out regardless.

Well, let it be known that the digital camera hath entertainment powers unlimited. We visited a primary/junior secondary school between Elmina and Cape Coast. We talked with the kids one-on-one; mine were quiet and I was out of small talk to make. Then one of the kids asked to see my camera, and it was all over. Next thing I knew, I had this posse that was looking at pictures I'd taken, movies, just watching the screen. One guy asked me how it worked, and - I mean - how do you explain that? I showed them my discs and everything, but it didn't seem like they comprehended. Have grade-school kids from Volta, living in Elmina, even seen a computer?

And on the way out, we stopped to greet the chief. Apparently it's customary to ask permission to come and go. And it was just... I don't know what the word is. Not ironic, per se. I guess a bit depressing? I mean, here's the head of this migrant community, sitting on a lawn chair and wearing a blue knit fez. Maybe it's just a testament to a dedication, despite need, to culture and history that we've just never had.