Cote d’Ivoire(Ivory Coast)

By Zak C. and Peter G. 3rd Social Studies 3-20-13

Cote

d’IvoireLand of the Rainforest

Dear Family, the Ivory Coast is amazing!When I stepped off the plane, the first thing I saw was vast and flat land.The temperature was SO HOT!!!! Good thing I packed sleeveless shirts. Anyway, as the Seasons change it can get either hot or cold.It can also get very warm! Like unbelievably Hot . It is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean It’s major body of water. The surrounding Countries are Ghana to the east, Mali to the north, Burkina Faso to the northwest, Senegal to the west, Guinea to the northwest, Liberia to the southwest and finally Sierra Leone to the west. I hope I can visit these places soon! Sincerely Peter

Cote d’Ivoire

Health Care Systems

Dear Family, I wanted to advise you about the health issues here in the Ivory Coast.I’m not sick or I haven’t caught any diseases yet but I have gone to extreme precautions to stay healthy and the people here are sick like very sick. From the window of the hotel my friend Zak and I are staying at for the remainder of the trip, I saw a big hospital in which was under construction to help people with AIDS. AIDS is a very strong disease that destroys your immune system and to be honest I think that half the city had been struck by diseases or at least a good quarter. For the last 4 days I had been hearing sirens all night from different injuries or diseases like infected mosquito bites, Malaria, AIDS and Plant Infections. I will try to keep myself healthy for the remainder of the trip. Sincerely, Peter

Cultural Aspects

Hi again, today my friend and I will observe all the cultural aspects of Ivory Coast. We started with the foods. One food I found very interesting was the peanut butter stew with smoked turkey, chicken yass and dried okra powdered stew with beef. There are lots more too, like spicy and mild food. Favorites in Ivory Coast are fish and chicken, but they are harder to get, considering the fact of their high costs and inaccessibility. Next we looked for griots so we could hear some stories, but there are no griots in Ivory Coast. While we were walking, we ran into a dance troop. They were dancing the mas dance, which tells stories of Ivory coast’s music. When we left the dance there were a bunch of sculptures and paintings for sale. I really liked the pottery and jewelry they had. Sincerely,

Zak.

Ivory Coast’s Magnificent Religions

Islam

Christianity

Dear family and friends, My trip has been great over the past couple of days. Today I am discovering all the cool things like religion here. There are over thousands of different languages here, but the two biggest religions here are Islam and Christianity. I even got to visit Our Lady Of Peace. Which is the largest Christian church in Ivory Coast. Another thing they have lots of here in Ivory Coast is that there are tons of different languages spoken here. To start with, the most spoken language here is French. Which is no surprise since France used to rule Ivory Coast. Two languages that I thought were cool are Tongue, Dioula and Nouchi. Nouchi is usually spoken by the younger generations. Lots of people here wear casual clothes, but still some people wear specially woven clothes. I also think that climate affects them since it’s always hot here. Sincerely,

Zak

Current

EventsIn Cote d’ Ivoire

Dear Family, I would like to tell you about what’s happening currently in Cote d’ Ivoire. From what I heard the Ivory Coast is a very young nation. 40% of the nation is 14 or older. I was in shock when I heard it. Also I should have told you before but the Coast is under some sort of plague and hospital visits have accelerated over the past couple of days and a vaccination hasn’t been available. Lastly the Ivory Coast has been shaken by a so-called “civil conflict” as heard. I’m walking around, listening to the kind villagers tell me. Until Tomorrow, Peter

Colonialism In the Ivory Coast

Dear Family and friends, I will soon be sending you lots of the natural resources I have found here. One of the largest resources are cocoa beans which are major exports. There are also resources like logging plantations, coffee and palm oil. Another thing that happened to me is how I found out who there first president was and when they gained independence. There first president was Felix Houphouet-Boigny in 1960 and in that same year they gained independence. But Felix died in 1993 because of prostate cancer. Ivory Coast was ruled directly by France. Before they gained independence, they would have strikes and stand up for there freedom. This was sometimes peaceful and sometimes could have been very dangerous. In the 2000s, there was a rigged election that led up to a 3 year civil war. This all happened because of France ruling them. Also voting in Ivory coast is just having elections. As it says in the constitution every person is equal and has equal rights.

sincerely,

Zak

Interesting Facts

Dear Family, my friend and I wanted to leave you off with some interesting facts. The largest Christian Church in the world is right here in the Ivory Coast, It’s called Our Lady Of Peace, it is magical and awesome. Finally Mostly boys are likely to go to school Farewell, Peter and Zak