Runny Tummy

WARNING: the following content is fairly graphic. Read at your own risk.

Lauren and I took a bus to Cape Coast this weekend, which was about 3.5 hours. The trip was going quite well until I felt a rumble in my tummy and suddenly had a problem. After my "problem", I sat on the non-bathroom bus for an hour and a half longer until we FINALLY reached our destination which was a gas station in Cape Coast. This is when I discovered the meaning of runny tummy. Lauren has all sorts of names for this problem, my favorite is "effortless". The very unfortunate thing was that there was no toilet paper, no soap, and the bathroom was disgusting by anyone's standards.

We somehow made it to our little beach resort (which was amazing!). I had heard all about the amazing fresh fish meals they had but I was instructed to only eat plain rice. After the 4th trip to the bathroom in our room from the restaurant, we decided to order room service so I would only be about 5 ft from the bathroom at all times.

I will skip to the part that Lauren decided to walk to the pharmacy (thank you Lauren for taking care of me!) and she picked up an antibiotic, Imodium, and oral rehydration salts. It was a rough night but I think that little cocktail did the trick. I was pretty weak all day and stuck to plain rice and bread. My stomach is still cramping like crazy but I feel sooooo much better already.

We spent the morning lounging on the beach watching fishermen to our right, and a ton of guys playing soccer on our left. The Cape Coast slave castle was right down the beach from our hotel and I mustered up the energy to visit the castle museum and take the tour.

It was a haunting experience to be in the dungeons of the castles where so many Africans were kept in unimaginable conditions and many of whom died. It was even more weird to see the layout of the castle and learn that the church was literally on top of the male dungeons. We have all learned about the middle passage and the history of slavery for so many years. Nothing I learned really surprised me so I feel like my education on the topic was pretty accurate. But being there in the dark, cramped, and humid rooms really gave me a greater appreciation for this history lesson.

Sorry for the lack of pictures...I have plenty to share so hopefully I will get the chance to put them up at some point.

Happy 4th everyone! Hope it clears up for fireworks. Stay safe.