I was not going to post before this weekend and my first of three big dance shows for the semester, but I found myself sitting in the computer lab with nothing to do and feeling like I needed to talk to people from home. So here I go- continuing my one way conversation with all of you!
As I sit here one of Ghana's favorite American hip hop songs has come on the radio, it is called "All The Above." I never heard this song before arriving here, and now I cannot go a day without hearing it about five times. I wonder, is it as popular in the U.S. as it is here? There are a few other American songs that get played on repeat everywhere I go, including "Forever Young" as well as maybe 5 Nigerian songs that dominate everyone's playlists, radios, and pen drives ( the favorite way of storing, playing and sharing music here.) I promise to bring those songs home!
I also am working on bringing some Nigerian movies home. People take them very seriously here, including my host sisters, but they are probably the funniest genre of movie I have ever seen. Their budget is slightly higher than that of Breakfast Club and always include, a king, a betrayal, a fight, a conflicted man (always played by the same man no matter the movie,) witchcraft or a ghost or a curse (some include: cartoon snakes in peoples mouths, glowing green people, and lightening bolts that look like they have been drawn on the screen,) and fantastically horrible sound effects. Don't believe me just Youtube it, or wait for the real deal! They are all the same, despite the title and are all very cheesy and loved. What are better, or worse, than Nigerian movies are Ghanaian movies. These films have titles like, "She is Not My Wife 1 and 2," and if Nigerian films had a baby with dubbed Tella Novella, which is also very popular here, that would be a Ghanaian film.
Also, as most of you know I have a summer skirt and dress collection that is completely illogical for the amount of sun that I usually see at home, sorry that collection is growing. This is due to two factors here in Ghana. Firstly, the fabrics here, whether Batik (spelling) or printed, are some of the brightest, most fun that I have ever seen. You have to be careful to buy the ones made in Ghana; do not buy the Chinese imitations that are cheaper and thus appealing, because they are horrible quality. The Ghanaian ones are all beautiful, some are very funny with bowling pins, high heels, telephones, and bird cages printed on them and some very skillfully dyed. (I am working on learning how to do this type of dying so that i can do it at Bard.) And most fabrics are only 4 cedis a yard which is 2 dollars and 70 cents a yard!! Secondly, there are seamstresses everywhere you look. On the walk to my house from school there are 6 shops with multiple people working away on anything from mens shirts with paisley to woman's church outfits covered in sparkles (Ghanaians love to sparkle: men and women.) My house also has about six seamstresses working at the shop so there is that. Not every seamstress is good, but most are fair (they are working on very very old machines.) However, something that all of them are awesome at is looking at a picture and making the outfit in the picture. They can look at the most complex outfit, and without a pattern they can make it!
With these two things at your finger tips wouldn't you come back with a suitcase of brand new clothes?
So the important things are the things that I will bring back to the states to show all of you. I think I will also bring some musical instuments (am contemplating how to make a drum my carry-on.) If you want anything, at all, please let me know. Bootleg videos are pretty good, as are beads, cloth, hand fans etc.
miss and love you all, thanks for tuning in!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
three shows, two choreography projects and finals
So school ends April 16 and then I have a month of I don't know what sprinkled with finals, which is actually more I don't know what. Until then, I have a performance called The Future of Dance to be presented the 1,2 and 3 of April. It is a very bold statement to say that this performance is the complete future of dance, but it is possibly part of it. I am in a dance called Tribute to a Legend that is for a professor who died recently. Originally this dance came from my composition class and was very much our work, by this i mean that you could clearly see each of us and our personalities in the work. At the first rehearsal the director of the show scrapped all our movements and started to re-choreograph our dance taking up everyone's time for many rehearsals. Finally in class we solidified a dance to his liking, which will get videoed and shown to all of you! I am pretty happy with it, and it opens the show. We are rehearsing for this show three hours a day everyday for three weeks, it should be good!
I am also doing two choreography projects of my own this semester that I will be graded on. My first question is, how will I have the time to create these dances-among the other rehearsals and classes I have- and my second question is how in the world do you grade art? The dances will be a group piece on my experience (a broad overview of my experience) in Ghana, and I am unsure about the solo, so if you have any ideas!
I have a final in Philosophy which could be on technology and development, or how to make Kenkey. A final in Human Rights where we have learned the same thing every time we go to class: Africa is the poorest and the richest continent, it is the most diverse with the shortest and the tallest people, human rights is a western concept projected onto Africans, and the only reason that the leaders post independence didn't lead with human rights in mind is because their colonial teachers and predecessors didn't teach them about HR. Questionable teaching... I think so!
On another note I am going to a wedding tomorrow which should be fun.
I would love to talk more and more but we are being served chilled chocolate milk and I really must get some.
will write for real on monday!
I am also doing two choreography projects of my own this semester that I will be graded on. My first question is, how will I have the time to create these dances-among the other rehearsals and classes I have- and my second question is how in the world do you grade art? The dances will be a group piece on my experience (a broad overview of my experience) in Ghana, and I am unsure about the solo, so if you have any ideas!
I have a final in Philosophy which could be on technology and development, or how to make Kenkey. A final in Human Rights where we have learned the same thing every time we go to class: Africa is the poorest and the richest continent, it is the most diverse with the shortest and the tallest people, human rights is a western concept projected onto Africans, and the only reason that the leaders post independence didn't lead with human rights in mind is because their colonial teachers and predecessors didn't teach them about HR. Questionable teaching... I think so!
On another note I am going to a wedding tomorrow which should be fun.
I would love to talk more and more but we are being served chilled chocolate milk and I really must get some.
will write for real on monday!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Mountains, waterfalls, monkeys, oh my!
This weekend was one of the most beautiful weekends of my time here. With little sleep the home stay group boarded the bus at seven am on Saturday and headed to the Volta Region. After a four hour bus ride, during which we bought bread and other snacks from people at the side of the road and headed deeper and deeper into what can truly be called a jungle, we arrived at the Monkey sanctuary. There we got out stretched our legs and FED MONKEYS! They were very little monkeys with long tails called Mona monkeys and very entertaining (pictures will come.) After the monkeys we went to the hotel for lunch and then headed to this amazing waterfall. We had to cross 9 bridges that crossed a twisty rainforesty river. Upon arrival at the waterfall pictures were taken and swimming soon after. Don't worry I have photos. The next day we went for a hike, yes a real honest to God hike. We hiked up the tallest mountain in Ghana. The mountain is called Afadjato (pronouced like it is spelled) located in the northern portion of the Volta Region near a town called Hohoe (pronounced Hohoi.) It takes 45 minutes to climb/hike this mountain, whose peak reaches 2,900 ft. (Let's compare that to Mount Saint Helens, whose new peak reaches 8,365 ft.)
Mom, you thought that the hike that we did with Breezy where he decided not to go any further was strait up and down, just wait for the pictures of this place-we were climbing stairs with hands and feet.
It was a beautiful weekend of nature, villages, distilled palm wine, and cute cute animals.
well now I am back in the city and in too many dance productions! More updates soon!
Mom, you thought that the hike that we did with Breezy where he decided not to go any further was strait up and down, just wait for the pictures of this place-we were climbing stairs with hands and feet.
It was a beautiful weekend of nature, villages, distilled palm wine, and cute cute animals.
well now I am back in the city and in too many dance productions! More updates soon!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Sushi With Larry
I will start with who Larry is... because I know you all are wondering. Larry if I am correct is either a friend of Grandma Sandy or the son of one of Grandma Sandy's friends in Florida. He grew up in Schenectady and went to the JCC with Stephen Jacobson I think (don't quote me on that.) He is a retired Banker and has worked most of his life in banks in Africa. He has three grown kids and lives in San Francisco.
The point of all this is that when I decided on coming to Ghana, my grandma- and the rest of my family- started the search for people they knew or sort of knew that had been to Ghana, lived in Ghana or are currently in Ghana. My family wanted me to have people to talk to, to prepare me for my trip ahead, and to have contacts while I am here. VERY SWEET I THINK. One of the people that came up on this list, other than Carol Brown, Uncle Ed's friend, Kaylee from Dance West, and plenty of others was this man named Larry.
Larry as I learned comes to Ghana for a week every three months for a meeting with the bank and doesn't mind taking poor college students out for a nice meal. In our email correspondence before his arrival, which my mother initiated(thanks mom,) he asked me if there was anything that he could bring me from the States or from Heathrow Airport. I responded that the only two things I really missed and wanted from the States were sushi and my mom and that I knew that both were not possibilities.
To my great surprise Sushi is a possibility in Ghana at one place, Monsoon. Not knowing what to expect in conversation or food I invited my friend Kierstin along, to which she said, "you owe me" and then later said, "nevermind" in regards to her previous remark. Larry picked us up outside the Canadian Embassy (near my work) in an air conditioned car with a driver. I felt truly conflicted... inside this car we were transplanted back to America where you wear seat belts, but we were still in Ghana where I haven't worn a seat belt yet and I am pretty sure that they don't exist in most cars, so the dilemma was do we wear seat belts OR NOT! Going to Monsoon was like going to a restaurant in the states and the sushi was to die for. We had a rainbow roll, spicey tuna, and tempura (Thank you Larry!) We had academic meaning full conversations about Human Rights, Uganda, presidencies in Africa and corruption... and other things we as people don't like to admit exist. On the way home Kiersten and I impressed Larry by directing the driver to our houses in Twi: fa bankum (take left) fa nifa (take right) ko anim (go strait) ha (here) ho (there) gyia (stop.)
overall A+ evening, despite the fact that I missed Kenkey Monday.
The point of all this is that when I decided on coming to Ghana, my grandma- and the rest of my family- started the search for people they knew or sort of knew that had been to Ghana, lived in Ghana or are currently in Ghana. My family wanted me to have people to talk to, to prepare me for my trip ahead, and to have contacts while I am here. VERY SWEET I THINK. One of the people that came up on this list, other than Carol Brown, Uncle Ed's friend, Kaylee from Dance West, and plenty of others was this man named Larry.
Larry as I learned comes to Ghana for a week every three months for a meeting with the bank and doesn't mind taking poor college students out for a nice meal. In our email correspondence before his arrival, which my mother initiated(thanks mom,) he asked me if there was anything that he could bring me from the States or from Heathrow Airport. I responded that the only two things I really missed and wanted from the States were sushi and my mom and that I knew that both were not possibilities.
To my great surprise Sushi is a possibility in Ghana at one place, Monsoon. Not knowing what to expect in conversation or food I invited my friend Kierstin along, to which she said, "you owe me" and then later said, "nevermind" in regards to her previous remark. Larry picked us up outside the Canadian Embassy (near my work) in an air conditioned car with a driver. I felt truly conflicted... inside this car we were transplanted back to America where you wear seat belts, but we were still in Ghana where I haven't worn a seat belt yet and I am pretty sure that they don't exist in most cars, so the dilemma was do we wear seat belts OR NOT! Going to Monsoon was like going to a restaurant in the states and the sushi was to die for. We had a rainbow roll, spicey tuna, and tempura (Thank you Larry!) We had academic meaning full conversations about Human Rights, Uganda, presidencies in Africa and corruption... and other things we as people don't like to admit exist. On the way home Kiersten and I impressed Larry by directing the driver to our houses in Twi: fa bankum (take left) fa nifa (take right) ko anim (go strait) ha (here) ho (there) gyia (stop.)
overall A+ evening, despite the fact that I missed Kenkey Monday.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
GHANAIAN GUYS.... since I know you all are curious
Let it be known that in order to write this blog I had to consult my dear friend Kierstin and others on the matter, because this breed of man is not easily defined.
So we could compare Ghanaian men to those in America, we could merely list their characteristics, or we could give you a few common scenarios were Ghanaian men are involved, or we could do a bit of each, which I think is probably the best option in order for all of you to understand exactly what we mean when we say "Ghanaian Guy."
Some basic characteristics are:
(let it be known that these stories are based on true life experiences and the names of these men have been changed to protect their egos.)
1. After one rehearsal with this group of dancers this boy, we shall call him Kwame, grew particularly interested in this one girl, a friend of mine, to be called Liz. After complimenting her on her dance skills, which were not that great, he continued to shower her with praise of her amazing I.Q., which he has no knowledge of her intelligence and her fabulous singing voice, while he has never heard her sing. Once on break Kwame was glued to Liz's side. He was quick to ask her about her contact information in Ghana and the U.S. and began to plan how he would contact her months later when she had arrived home.
2. This story is called "the speed walking story." I would like to mention that the names of the people involved in this story don't actually matter as this story could be applied to many different situations and people. In this particular story there was no exchange of names. It goes like this. The white girl was walking home at 9:30 pm from her tro tro stop along a very lit street. Because it was late she was walking the normal American pace rather than a slower Ghanaian pace. Part way along the street she was met by a Ghanaian man who was incredibly out of breath. As she continues to walk towards her home the man said to her, "I saw you from afar when you got off the tro tro and I was amazed by how fast you were walking. I thought to myself that if a woman can walk that fast I, a man, should be able to walk that fast too!" Let us keep in mind that he was dying and that the girl was perfectly fine. at the end of the street as they split ways he asked how he would see her again, and asked for her number. She skillfully replied "I walk this walk every day" he was shocked "how about you meet me, or happen to see me and we will walk it together." She never saw him again.
unfortunately we are out of time for today, but this will be continued tomorrow for your and our amusement.
So we could compare Ghanaian men to those in America, we could merely list their characteristics, or we could give you a few common scenarios were Ghanaian men are involved, or we could do a bit of each, which I think is probably the best option in order for all of you to understand exactly what we mean when we say "Ghanaian Guy."
Some basic characteristics are:
- Bold/ forward to the max (some not all)
- Confident in their wooing skills, and their ability to be your husband, at a moments notice.
- Muscles, muscles, muscles.... need i say more
- generally sincere and sweet, but watch out for the Oburni hunters (will define later)!
- touchy, feely in the sense that they are always holding your hand, putting their arms around you, holding your waist etc. -let it be known that this is often happening in a friendly manner, between friends
- Very eager to know all about you- this pertains mostly to girls
- they are your friend, you have no choice! If you have met and made eye contact there is no way out!
- they all know how to dance, even if they say they can't, and can all dance very well.
- in their minds there is no reason why they should not: ask where you live, ask for your number, ask for your email address, ask for your facebook name, ask for your hand in marriage even if you are married, pregnant, or 12.
- they are horrible at judging ages
- they are respectful
(let it be known that these stories are based on true life experiences and the names of these men have been changed to protect their egos.)
1. After one rehearsal with this group of dancers this boy, we shall call him Kwame, grew particularly interested in this one girl, a friend of mine, to be called Liz. After complimenting her on her dance skills, which were not that great, he continued to shower her with praise of her amazing I.Q., which he has no knowledge of her intelligence and her fabulous singing voice, while he has never heard her sing. Once on break Kwame was glued to Liz's side. He was quick to ask her about her contact information in Ghana and the U.S. and began to plan how he would contact her months later when she had arrived home.
2. This story is called "the speed walking story." I would like to mention that the names of the people involved in this story don't actually matter as this story could be applied to many different situations and people. In this particular story there was no exchange of names. It goes like this. The white girl was walking home at 9:30 pm from her tro tro stop along a very lit street. Because it was late she was walking the normal American pace rather than a slower Ghanaian pace. Part way along the street she was met by a Ghanaian man who was incredibly out of breath. As she continues to walk towards her home the man said to her, "I saw you from afar when you got off the tro tro and I was amazed by how fast you were walking. I thought to myself that if a woman can walk that fast I, a man, should be able to walk that fast too!" Let us keep in mind that he was dying and that the girl was perfectly fine. at the end of the street as they split ways he asked how he would see her again, and asked for her number. She skillfully replied "I walk this walk every day" he was shocked "how about you meet me, or happen to see me and we will walk it together." She never saw him again.
unfortunately we are out of time for today, but this will be continued tomorrow for your and our amusement.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Birthdays
So it is 12:40 pm here and it is Meg Leonard's birthday. However, to call her right now would be the most unwelcome birthday surprise ever considering that it is 4:40 am in Oregon. Also it must be said that while that is a completely horrible thing to do to some one in the States: call someone at 4 am on their birthday, here in Ghana that is totally acceptable because people get up at 4 anyway!
So I wont call her now: I will wait till a more resonable hour, say 7 am! until then I will tell you what they do for birthdays here in Ghana.
YOU DO NOT WANT TO HAVE A BIRTHDAY IN GHANA!!!!!! because....
Many people including your closest friends: throw water on you, throw dirt on you, throw dirty handwashing water on you, throw yogurt down your pants and down your shirt, throw unopened water saches (a plastic bag of water) at you, they tackle you if you run away, and put a bucket on your head.
it is humiliating, disgusting, and the only good thing about it is that it happens to everyone.
So Meg be happy you are not in Ghana today so that you can avoid the torture called Ponding and happy birthday.
So I wont call her now: I will wait till a more resonable hour, say 7 am! until then I will tell you what they do for birthdays here in Ghana.
YOU DO NOT WANT TO HAVE A BIRTHDAY IN GHANA!!!!!! because....
Many people including your closest friends: throw water on you, throw dirt on you, throw dirty handwashing water on you, throw yogurt down your pants and down your shirt, throw unopened water saches (a plastic bag of water) at you, they tackle you if you run away, and put a bucket on your head.
it is humiliating, disgusting, and the only good thing about it is that it happens to everyone.
So Meg be happy you are not in Ghana today so that you can avoid the torture called Ponding and happy birthday.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Where is my head???
Recently, no, my whole time in Ghana has been rather unacademic. Recently I was told that I have to write a paper, literally 2 pages long, on whiether I think that ethnicity is a human construct or not. I wanted to laugh, I thought it was a joke. I have done no homework since being abroad (not even homework that I have for Bard or that I know I will have for Bard, senior project and the like, next year,) and I can't imagine starting now. Whoops!
The adventures continue to be very interesting, and some rather odd, but there is nothing better than letting your brain rot in the 90 degree heat of equitorial Ghana.
On another topic of brain rot I feel that my boldness and stuborn attitude towards life is on a slippery slope heading towards the exit, never to return. What I mean by this is that never before I got here would I allow another person to make my evening, day or weekly plans, but here I seem to be the tag-a-long for many activities, though not all. Also at home I have never been guilted into doing things I do not want to do, but i feel like my moral strength is slipping away. I have agreed to be a dance teacher, where a person said to me, when discussing schedules, " you can only come from 12-2 what do you want to do? clean my floors?" and instead of standing strong I found myself bending to help and accomidate this person who had insulted me and is not paying me.
WHERE IS MY MORAL FIBER????
Also if you ever want to be challenged religiously, come to Ghana. If you are not religious you better have a really good reason why you aren't.
On a different note while speaking Twi, the local language, makes others completely thrilled, be careful how much you say they will think you are fluent and then will continue talking to you at hyperspeed, and you will be stuck- smiling and nodding. And then hopefully you at least know the word for wife, so that while you are smiling and nodding away you don't happen to agree to marriage, yes sportsfans it still happens all the time. Last night a road patrol officer asked me if i was married. I said yes! and he laughed.
I am off to spend time with cute kids who don't mind that my brain is gone. I will let you know tomorrow if it is back, and if it is not, any suggestions on how to keep it in my head would be more than welcome.
sometimes you just have to put things in words: ta ta for now.
yebehyia bio
The adventures continue to be very interesting, and some rather odd, but there is nothing better than letting your brain rot in the 90 degree heat of equitorial Ghana.
On another topic of brain rot I feel that my boldness and stuborn attitude towards life is on a slippery slope heading towards the exit, never to return. What I mean by this is that never before I got here would I allow another person to make my evening, day or weekly plans, but here I seem to be the tag-a-long for many activities, though not all. Also at home I have never been guilted into doing things I do not want to do, but i feel like my moral strength is slipping away. I have agreed to be a dance teacher, where a person said to me, when discussing schedules, " you can only come from 12-2 what do you want to do? clean my floors?" and instead of standing strong I found myself bending to help and accomidate this person who had insulted me and is not paying me.
WHERE IS MY MORAL FIBER????
Also if you ever want to be challenged religiously, come to Ghana. If you are not religious you better have a really good reason why you aren't.
On a different note while speaking Twi, the local language, makes others completely thrilled, be careful how much you say they will think you are fluent and then will continue talking to you at hyperspeed, and you will be stuck- smiling and nodding. And then hopefully you at least know the word for wife, so that while you are smiling and nodding away you don't happen to agree to marriage, yes sportsfans it still happens all the time. Last night a road patrol officer asked me if i was married. I said yes! and he laughed.
I am off to spend time with cute kids who don't mind that my brain is gone. I will let you know tomorrow if it is back, and if it is not, any suggestions on how to keep it in my head would be more than welcome.
sometimes you just have to put things in words: ta ta for now.
yebehyia bio
Monday, March 1, 2010
and all that...
This is a favorite phrase of my Human Rights in Africa professor and a perfect title for this blog.
Yesterday my fellow ciee students and I (thats more than 50 white students in one place) went to the beautiful and magical Bojo Beach. There we relaxed, drank soda, swam, built sand castles and played in the CIEE Games. These games included soccer, which I played (can you imagine,) lime and spoon, sack race, relay run and maybe a three legged race. My team was the green team and frankly I have no idea if we got second, third or fourth because as soon as I was done with my event i jumped into the ocean. The water was beautiful and clear and incredibly salty and the sand was so nice. The beach set up was glorious. when you arrive you have to cross a bridge to this in between island and then from there you take a 2 second boat ride to the beach itself. My friend Max actually walked across the portion we boated but either way it was lovely, if not a bit silly. Apon arrival we walked into this canopy area that had a bar and a farely extensive kitchen. People ordered food and I got a pinapple soda, which is a magical thing in its own right and we set about preparing to relax not to be pushed into these games. The games ended up being fun but as I said the water was the highlight. The waves here are huge!!! I also did some body surfing and got the best ride.
On a completely different note i think i will be doing a gospel music video while i am here in Ghana. It sounds rediculous I know, but my friend is doing the choreography and needs (white) dancers.
I am also teaching dance classes here. I dont know if i have said this yet. but its been really cool so far. the kids are so willing to learn and energized. I am thinking to teaching them the "brain dance" people from leah's class please tell me what you think! I am doing a ballet class and a hip hop/ modern class. Its pretty fun, and i have a class today!
Also this is funny but after so much Banku and kenkey and palm nut soup and Okra soup it was time to find other places to eat. My favorite place, i think, is a place near work called Melting Moments. They serve real mac and cheese!!!!
Yesterday my fellow ciee students and I (thats more than 50 white students in one place) went to the beautiful and magical Bojo Beach. There we relaxed, drank soda, swam, built sand castles and played in the CIEE Games. These games included soccer, which I played (can you imagine,) lime and spoon, sack race, relay run and maybe a three legged race. My team was the green team and frankly I have no idea if we got second, third or fourth because as soon as I was done with my event i jumped into the ocean. The water was beautiful and clear and incredibly salty and the sand was so nice. The beach set up was glorious. when you arrive you have to cross a bridge to this in between island and then from there you take a 2 second boat ride to the beach itself. My friend Max actually walked across the portion we boated but either way it was lovely, if not a bit silly. Apon arrival we walked into this canopy area that had a bar and a farely extensive kitchen. People ordered food and I got a pinapple soda, which is a magical thing in its own right and we set about preparing to relax not to be pushed into these games. The games ended up being fun but as I said the water was the highlight. The waves here are huge!!! I also did some body surfing and got the best ride.
On a completely different note i think i will be doing a gospel music video while i am here in Ghana. It sounds rediculous I know, but my friend is doing the choreography and needs (white) dancers.
I am also teaching dance classes here. I dont know if i have said this yet. but its been really cool so far. the kids are so willing to learn and energized. I am thinking to teaching them the "brain dance" people from leah's class please tell me what you think! I am doing a ballet class and a hip hop/ modern class. Its pretty fun, and i have a class today!
Also this is funny but after so much Banku and kenkey and palm nut soup and Okra soup it was time to find other places to eat. My favorite place, i think, is a place near work called Melting Moments. They serve real mac and cheese!!!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
