Day 20

After a successful teacher training session on Tuesday, I was also looking forward to today's. I got up extra early and made oatmeal with the oats and soymilk I splurged on yesterday. I sat out on the balcony and worked, enjoying the cool breeze that has been with us all week. I am currently working on a handbook, which will basically be a reference for the teachers if they have any questions about the program when I leave. Also, in the likely event that positions switch hands at the school, new teachers will be able to teach themselves how to lead music lessons with the students.

By now I have figured out that it is nearly impossible to have an uneventful taxi ride in Ghana. This morning was no exception. Trying to get a cab after the "rush hour" when people are going to work can be difficult. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't need to be at the school until 10:30. Prepared for a long wait, I headed out to the highway to wave one down. It's become habit to point behind me toward the ocean (the signal that you are heading to Cape) as soon as I see the yellow 'Taxi" sign coming towards me. As soon as the taxi, which was now slowing down to pick me up, came close enough, I wished I hadn't found one so quickly. Out of the trunk stuck at least 3 feet of wooden poles - there had to be 8 or 9. The Ghanaian in the passenger's seat was holding another one out the window. Surprisingly, once inside the taxi, I kind of forgot they were even there... until they nearly clotheslined (definition #1) a poor kid on a bicycle that we were passing. The thing that got me the most, though, was the fact that when the passenger in the front seat got out, he only took the pole that he had been carrying. It wasn't for another five minutes that the rest of the poles left the trunk along with the guy sitting next to me in the back. I honestly don't think the two "woods-men" knew each other. Just a regular taxi ride in Ghana.

I got to the school (unscathed) only to find that Mary was in Accra for the day. I was willing to go ahead with the teacher trainings, but the other teachers said they would prefer for Mary to be present at all meetings, which I can understand. So, almost as soon as I'd put down my bookbag, I put it back on again, heading out into Cape. I decided to make the most of my ride into town and went hunting for fabric, which is not hard to find. The hard part is choosing which fabric to buy! I picked out a yellow and black pattern, bought two yards for $4 (6 cedi), and headed over to the seamstress shop where my dress was made. I took a picture with me from our October 2010 edition of Cosmo to help them get a sense for the A-line skirt that I wanted. She asked me to come back Wednesday to pick it up and bring a little over $5 (8C) with me for the labor. Gotta love handmade clothes.

I picked up some lunch and headed back to Elmina. Although this taxi ride was not quite as interesting as the first outwardly, the dynamics inside the taxi reminded me of the 14-days my family spent inside our Ford Windstar minivan road-tripping it to across country to Colorado in 1999. The driver was on his cell phone, yacking away. The guy in the passenger's seat kept making a snorting noise, like a pig, in the attempts to clear his throat - I think? Occasionally he would spit out the window, and even went as far as to use the bottom of his yellow cut-off to blow his nose. As Tom Dunlap would say - hello nasty. Meanwhile, I was kickin' it in the back seat with the peanut man, who, in the midst of going to town on his peanuts, managed to hit me in the face with a handful of shells that he was trying to throw over his shoulder into the gutted trunk area. I'm not sure if I've ever been more grateful to see the sign for the Elmina Beach Resort looming in the distance - my visual cue to pay the driver and tell him to stop.

This weekend, or July 1st to be exact, Ghana celebrates Republic Day. The fact that this holiday coincides with the Fouth of July hardly makes me feel like I'm missing the 4th at all, which is nice. Since tomorrow is a national holiday, the girls don't have to go into work, and we plan to take off for a weekend trip to the Volta Region, which is the region that borders Togo. Our friends went two weekends ago, and said that we are in store for a full day of traveling (10 hours) each way. I'm not sure exactly what is on the agenda, but I know we will be stopping at Wli Falls, located just outside the village of, yes, Hohoe. I would also love to stop at Mount Afadjato, but we'll have to see if we have time. I am not taking my laptop, which will make for a blogless weekend. But I daresay there will be enough going on in the U.S. this weekend to make up for it. Happy 4th!

The Faces of Aboom

As promised, here are some pictures of students. I took a picture of each individual yesterday to help me remember their names. I think these turned out the best. Aren't they so sweet?

Cape Coast Dogs Speak Fante

After another 6am run, I had some time to relax this morning. Usually I head in to the school around 10 on Tuesdays and Thurdsays. Yesterday before I left, Mary told me that they would be holding a PTA meeting at school tomorrow.

“The meeting starts at 9 am,” said Mary.

“Okay. So do you think we will have to push back our meeting with the teachers?” I asked.

“Yes. Sometimes, even though I say 9am, the parents will not show up until 10:30. But, this time, I said we will start right at 9, so I am hopeful that by 11:30, it will be finished.”

“Wow. Okay. So I will come in around 11:30, then. That should give us plenty of time for the meeting.”

I was a little late getting there – 11:45. I should know by now not to worry about being late here, because the meeting lasted until quarter after one. I used the time to get pictures of all the students so that I can practice learning their names at home. I will attach some of my favorites tomorrow when I have a better internet connection.

The students are really starting to take to me now that I have done music with them three times. When I walk in the school at least four or five students run up to me to hug, nuzzle, shake hands, and poke me. I sat in the preschool class for a while today waiting for the PTA meeting to end, and was really able to start to see all of their personalities shining. The student who famously sang, “My fat lady,” two weeks ago is my little buddy these days. He is very smart and likes to talk, but has a bad habit of just tapping you until you look at him. So, I’ve been teaching him to say, “excuse me,” first. When he would tap me, I’d say, “Emman, say excuse me.” He would oblige, “Excuse me,” and I would say, “Yes, Emman! What do you want to say to me,” etc., etc. Today for the first time, he said, “excuse me,” without being asked. A few minutes later, though, he was back to tapping me, and when I said, “Emman, what should you say first?” he says, “I don’t want to say ‘excuse me!’” I couldn’t help but laugh, and when I did, some stray hair fell across my face, sticking to my sticky forehead. Never missing a beat, he reached up and brushed it out of my face.

The meeting went pretty well once it got started, though. All of the teachers (3) and the aides (3) were there. We talked about the schedule for the rest of the summer. They told me that it is likely the school will go on vacation one week earlier than what they originally thought. Apparently, the schedule is not set in stone until the school board sends out a letter informing the schools of just when vacation will start. But the ladies say word is spreading that it will start one week early, July 22. Even though I have every day planned for already, I am glad they told me today, so that I can be flexible. That’s definitely one of the most important tools my education in music therapy has given me – be flexible. I cannot think of a day at the school where I have not had to think on my feet and adapt to fit the situation. Kinda comes in handy in real life, too.

During today’s meeting, I was taught the teachers two simple songs One was the hello song. The other is called something like, “Let’s Go Down to the Farm.” The lyrics are simply: Let’s go down to the farm/To see the animals/What sound does a dog make?/ Woof woof woof woof. As the song goes along, the leader mixes in different animals. The kids get to “moo” and “meow” and all sorts of fun stuff, and they love it. I taught it to the teachers using “dog” as the animal of choice. However, as soon as they heard it, they started laughing out loud. One aide was even dabbing her eyes with a tissue she was laughing so hard. I was wracking my brain trying to think of what I could have said that did not translate well into Ghanaian English. Finally, Mary said, “Amy. The issue is, Ghanaian dogs say “raow raow raow,” not “wuf wuf,” or whatever you just did.” We all burst into laughter this time.

The rest of the day was pretty standard. Read, yoga, computer, dinner, blog. I did think of a few things that I no longer think twice about, but might be interesting to hear about. There is no trash collection in small cities like Elmina (I’m not sure about the big cities). Therefore, our night watchman burns our trash in the front yard every day. This kind of makes me cringe, because even though our garbage mostly consists of tissue and food scraps, I know for a fact that some plastic and other foreign materials are making their way into the inferno. And on a windy day like today, the smoke blows right into the house. I’m glad I don’t have to breathe that in for more than two months.

Also, when one Ghanaian wants to get another person’s attention, it is customary to make a hissing sound, almost like saying “tsk,” but more drawn out. At first, I thought I was being jeered at, but then I realized it is just a good way of getting someone’s attention. Believe me, that “tsssss” really sticks out in a large mix of sounds. Gets the job done every time. But to tell the truth, I think we Obrunis are still a little taken aback when we hear people hissing at us, since in the U.S., this would definitely not be a positive, or even a neutral way to communicate.

Finally, it is not uncommon to share the shoulder of the road with a number of animals. I have many times been trying to dodge a taxi only to find that a rooster or a goat is in my path. Today I managed to snap a few photos of a particularly large herd of goats who were crossing the street right outside of the beach resort. Kind of ironic considering the Elmina Beach Resort is one of the nicest resorts in Ghana. When I am swiping their relatively fast Wifi tomorrow, I will add a picture of them, too. Enjoy!

P.S. If you are on Facebook, search the Aboom School for Special Needs Children. Some of the other volunteers have been doing a great job of updating the school's Facebook site, so check it out and "like" it! They even put up a few pictures of me doing music with the vocational class yesterday.

Musings

This morning’s run ended in pouring rain, which was actually quite welcome. I never mind running in rain. By the time Emma and I returned home, though, we could wring water out of our t-shirts. My shoes squelched as I walked up stairs to get ready for the third week of school. Hard to believe, considering I will only be at the school for seven weeks total.

One of the other volunteers warned me when I got to the school, “You will have your good days and bad days.” So far, this has definitely been true. Thankfully, today was a good day. The preschool class had 19 students today, and even though that’s a pretty big group, they were pretty easy to handle. The group sang along to songs we only learned on Wednesday, nobody tried to pick a fight with his neighbor, and all of the students stayed in their seats, looking right at me for pretty much the whole time. It’s kinda funny how music can do that, huh? I was especially excited when I brought out the resonator bells. One girl, without speech and some aggression, played the resonator bell like I asked, and then, she sang, “ahhh,” matching the pitch of the bell she had just played.

Since Mary was out of town for the last two music days, I was glad that she finally got to see it in action today. She sat in on the vocational class’ lesson, and although though she was supposed to be helping make purses on the other side of the room, I caught her singing along, and at one point, she was even doing the hand motions for the movement activity. One of the other volunteers took a break from making purses to take some pictures, and I am hoping to have copies of those soon.

After a particularly good lunch (leftovers from Eli’s), I made a significant dent in the book I started on Saturday. Later, I finally motivated myself enough to get out of bed and walk across the street to the beach resort and do yoga in the gym. I am sad to say that I have not done yoga since early April, and I have a feeling my muscles won’t let me forget it tomorrow. It felt wonderful to get back into it, though, so I think I might have to make that an afternoon ritual. Plus, I had the exercise facility to myself and it had air conditioning and full length mirrors. Two things that are hard to come by in Ghana.

Dinner at Eli’s tonight was Amouk, a coconut vegetable curry. Of course, it was amazing. She also served it with fish, which was pretty entertaining to watch. The fish was whole, including eyes and tail, with a little bit of crust where Eli had fried it. The girls just kind of stared at it for a few, and then Mel dug in, cutting it in half and scraping out the meat. Emma (also vegan) and I abstained, but everyone else seemed to really enjoy it.

Apart from upcoming weekend trips, my day-to-day doings during the week have pretty much plateaued. I also realize that dedicated readers you may be, my mother is probably the only one who realllly cares what I am eating, drinking, saying, and thinking every minute of every day (love you, Mom). Then, I thought of all the crazy things that I see every day, and how they are becoming less and less crazy to me as I settle in. So, in order to spice up the blog a bit, and to help me appreciate the Ghanaian life happening around me, I think I’ll start including a few strange sights from each day.

For today:

I rode most of the way into Cape with a cab driver who had what looked like a stick of chap stick stuck up his nose. He was sniffing and blowing his nose before this, so my only guess is that this stick is some sort of remedy for that. Sure did look goofy.

While walking in Cape, I saw a hand painted sign advertising “Peaceman Hair Cuts.”

When walking around Elmina, a young, 20-something woman walked past me. Although people do carry things on their heads frequently, this broke the record for size. Balanced in a big silver bowl was a 3’ x 2’ burlap sack, like a flour or potato sack. She did cheat a little and steady it with her hands, but still, she was walking in a straight line with something the size of a large child sitting on her head! Other interesting items I have seen balanced on heads include a sewing machine and a post-slaughter pig.

Realizations:

Ghana is a country lathered in irony. I’ll give an example. Numerous times before, I have mentioned how chaotic driving is here. I have never worn a seat belt in Ghana. I no longer think anything of it when a taxi driver passes another car on double yellow (or what would be double yellow if there were any paint on the roads) and the oncoming car swiftly swerves to make room, never missing a beat. However, at least once or twice a week, police blocks pull over my taxi to check for proper identification, licensure, and registration. So although a taxi might have seven passengers, a cracked windshield, and belongings overflowing from the trunk, if the driver is a legal one, the car can keep on driving as is.

I might have mentioned that three Global Mamas volunteers from Accra came to visit for the weekend. Yesterday, I woke up to the smell of bacon, and thought, “Oh geeze, you must miss home if you are smelling American things.” I asked around later and found out that the girls had actually brought some bacon at the request of one of the Cape Coast volunteers. Today, another girl was cutting up a hunk of cheddar cheese to put on a salad; also an import from Accra. Yet, yesterday the three Accra girls couldn’t wait to get into Cape Coast to get their usual goods at a lesser price. We couldn’t wait for them to bring us things from Accra, and they couldn’t wait to take back things from Cape Coast – ironic, no?

It is just a few minutes shy of 9pm, and Erin is already asleep. In a few minutes, I’ll join her in dreamland. Funny to think that while we are calling it a day, our friends and family in the US are probably still cooking or just sitting down to dinner. The heat takes a lot out of you, especially the humidity. Today was cool and breezy, but starting in July, the rain stops and the humidity shoots up. Should be fun!

Happy in Ghana

My alarm went off at 6 to go running with Kara and Emma. Naturally, I hit snooze, and on my way back to sleep noticed a text message from Bridget, saying that her mom had to go out of town this weekend for work, so we will have to reschedule my trip to Takoradi. I understood completely, and immediately my brain went into “Plan B” mode. I decided to go to Accra on Saturday by way of Winneba. Another friend from school sent gifts to be delivered to her host family in Winneba, which is about halfway between Cape Coast and Accra. From Winneba, we could continue on to Accra, where I could buy a new charger and stay at the Global Mamas house there.

The run was nice, as today’s weather seems to be continuing the cloudy and cool trend. Since I wasn’t able to drag myself out of bed until 7:30 at the earliest last week, being up, exercised, showered, and eating breakfast by 7:30 makes me feel so accomplished. When chatting with another volunteer, Kirsten, over breakfast, she told me a story of how her charger got overheated one day and stopped working. She continued, saying that the next day, she plugged it in and it worked just fine. Excited at the possibility of not having to travel to Accra and spend $100+, I scampered into our room and pulled my previously discarded charger out of my military sea duffle bag. I plugged it in to the adapter, then the power strip, and then to my laptop, fingers inwardly crossed. *Bing* A green light appeared, and then turned orange, indicating that my laptop was charging. I did a little celebration dance, okay, maybe it was a big celebration dance, and returned to breakfast, feeling relieved, and feeling my brain kick into “Plan C” mode, which consists of staying home and relaxing in Elmina with the other Global Mamas.

Since I don’t do music or teacher trainings on Fridays, I headed into the office with Erin et. al. Global Mamas provides tours of Cape Coast to their new volunteers, and for some reason, we managed to live here for two weeks without making the time for one. Our tour guide/Global Mamas employee, Erin, and I set out to explore the city. He took us down to the beach, where we were able to watch the fishermen mending their nets, getting ready to cast them out. We stopped at a batik shop where some Global Mamas products are made, and one of the ladies, Emma, showed us some of the batik stamps and the hot wax. Erin has been to a Global Mamas batiking workshop, but I have not. After watching Emma work, I think that might be on my list of things to do in the next week or so.

We continued to explore around the Cape Coast castle area, and then made our way up town to Kotokuraba market, which is very familiar to me. At least, I thought it was familiar to me, since I have purchased things there many times. But, as it turns out, I was only experiencing the outermost circle of the market. George led us between two small, nondescript shops, and all of a sudden, a whole new world opened up. Stall after stall of goods lined the dirt path, which was only about as wide as a person and a half. On top of that, people carrying huge bags of flour or big bowls of unknown goods on their heads rushed up and down the aisles, making me feel quite in the way. I am positive I looked like the biggest deer headlights have ever seen. We passed stand after stand of bananas, plantains, avocados, cabbage, overflowing bowls of rice and beans, chili peppers, tomato paste, smoked fish, crabs, and yes, even muscles that were still alive and moving. I found myself making mental notes by the dozen:

“Those are the biggest mangos I’ve seen yet. Remember that lady.”

“Rosemary and thyme? I have got to come back here.”

“Yes! Green onions and bell peppers. Next time I’ll make a left at the palm oil stand to avoid walking past the decapitated fish again."

And so on.

I couldn’t help but be reminded of East Liverpool as we were leaving the market and I ran into one of the teachers from the school. We chatted for a few seconds, I said, “See ya Monday,” and we continued the tour. I chuckled to myself and was in no way surprised that this seemingly foreign and exotic place is starting to have a small town feel.

We wrapped up our tour and headed back to the office, picked up the rest of the Global Mamas, and headed out for a goodbye lunch for Sara, one of the volunteers, who is heading out today. For the third time this week, I got lunch from Baobab. Today I tried the tofu salad and another smoothie. Both of which were quite good. After lunch I headed up to the seamstress to pick up the dress I ordered last week. It was ready, and they let me try it on. It fit pretty well, and I love the pattern of the fabric. Tomorrow we are going to a Ghanaian wedding, and I can’t wait to try it out there!

Tonight we are going to Eli’s (surprise, surprise) to celebrate Emma’s birthday. We are having gari, which sounds like the Ghanaian equivalent of couscous. Some of the volunteers are here visiting from Accra, so I think we are planning to have a girl’s night in the house. Not sure what else is in store for the weekend, but I'm sure it will be a good time.

A neat bird I saw perched on our power lines. Anyone have a clue what kind it might be? I searched it on Google to no avail.

A neat picture of my new get up.

A foggy morning on the Gulf of Guinea.

Runnin' on Empty

I must admit, it was strange for me to go to bed without putting up a new blog post last night. But, with three girls trying to run their computers off of one charger, beggars can’t be choosers. I was able to charge my battery over night, and had enough to make it through most of the day until I had the chance to refuel again tonight. This might be a long one, so.. you have been warned!

Yesterday was my second day of doing music with the students. Although it didn’t quite go as well as Monday, I still think the students will benefit greatly from it once we really get the ball rolling. Mary was out of town again, and the preschool teacher, Gladys, was at home taking care of her sick children. One of the aides was busy cooking lunch, and the other was taking care of a student who needs almost constant care. Not only were we feeling pretty understaffed, but there were also 19 students in the preschool class. That is a lot to handle. But, with the help of Tessa, another volunteer from the US, I managed to make it through the first classroom in one piece. The vocational students are never as rowdy as the younger ones, and their teacher, Auntie Maggie, sat in on the lesson. I was pleased to see that they remembered “Kye Kye Kule” from the other day, and also made great progress on learning a new song, “Obwisana.” With the help of some of the students, I packed up my instruments and headed out in search of lunch.

After a few fruitless attempts to find a place to eat, I decided to get a taxi down to the vegetarian restaurant that I have been hearing so much about. It’s called “Baobab,” and it’s a German owned vegetarian café and craft shop. I have not eaten there yet because it’s pretty far from school, and I am trying not to spend any more money than I have to. But, after yesterday’s lunch, I think I might have to make Baobab a regular lunch spot. Only after ordering a pineapple, mango, and banana smoothie, I realized that I didn’t have as much money on me as I thought, and if I wanted to get a ride back to Elmina, I could only spend 3 more cedi at lunch. I scoured the menu to try to make the most of those 2 US dollars, and surprisingly, ended up having a pretty substantial lunch. For 50 pesewas (17 cents), I got a tofu kebob, which consisted of three pieces of tofu (which actually more closely resembled seitan, I thought), separated by a piece of onion and green pepper. The tofu was marinated and covered with a smoky, salty rub, which really hit the spot. I was also thrilled to see a vegan chocolate cake on the menu, which I also ordered. It was more like a muffin shape than a piece of cake, but it was delicious. So amazing. Completely satisfied with my haphazard lunch, paid my 6 cedi ($4) and caught a cab back to Elmina.

Yesterday was a scorcher. The sun was bright and the air was thick. Since my computer was dead, I told myself that I couldn’t possibly get any work done (not necessarily true..), and headed over to the pool. I ran into some volunteers from the school, chatted with them, and took a nap in the sun. One of the other Global Mamas, Courtney, came over, and we lounged, enjoying the clouds that were gradually taking over the sky. I actually just said goodbye to Courtney, who is heading back to the states today. Yesterday, I asked her what her first meal back would be. She said that her boyfriend will pick up McDonald’s for her on his way to the airport, and when she gets home, she told her dad to have meat and chocolate ready for her. Although I don’t think I’ll be requesting meat, I do know that I will be requesting that chocolate be on hand when I get back! For the world’s second largest producer of cocoa, Ghana sure doesn’t have a lot of that chocolate readily available.

After a nap and some journaling, it was time to head to Eli’s for another delicious dinner. We feasted on plantain chips, guacamole, salad, and black-eyed pea burgers to celebrate Courtney’s departure. When we’d worn out our welcome at Eli’s, we headed over to Sea Top for some drinks and laughs. Erin and I both laughed to think that by staying out until 10pm, we were really stretching our bedtime! I stayed up for a bit, but she conked out pretty soon after getting back.

Determined to go running today, I set my alarm for 6, and kept waking up every 30 minutes from 4 o’clock on, afraid I’d missed it like I did yesterday. When 6 finally did come, I got ready and headed downstairs. The other two girls were ready, and we headed out. Although the storms we had last night had subsided by this point, there was still a drizzle in the air, which turned to a steady rain as we ran. The loop that they run is a really nice one, and ends up being exactly 2 miles, which is a good distance for me, considering I am very much out of practice. Although I should not have been, I was surprised by how alive Elmina was at 6 in the morning. If not for the still rising sun, it could have been 2 in the afternoon, and I would not have known the difference. We got some strange looks, a few “Obruni” calls, and a number of waves from the people we passed on the street. The run felt good, and I like to think that it will become a regular way to start my morning.

I spent most of the taxi ride to school convincing my driver Prince that I was not going to marry him. It went a little something like this:

Prince: “Where are you going?”

Amy: “To work.”

Prince: “Where do you work?”

Amy: “In Aquarium. I’m a teacher.”

Prince: “What do you teach?”

Amy: “Music.”

Prince: “What kind of music?”

Amy: “All sorts."

Prince: “Singing?”

Amy: “Yes.”

Prince: “Then you should sing me a song. Since I am giving you a ride, you will sing me a song.”

Amy: “Really?”

Prince: “Yes. Unless you don’t know any.”

Amy: “Oh, all right. *sings a familiar Ghanaian folk song* Are you happy now?”

Prince: “(Laughs) You have a nice voice. I’d like you to be my music teacher.”

Amy: “You don’t need me to teach you. You already know all of this.”

Prince: “But I did not have it in school. When will you come visit me and teach me music?”

Amy: “Not today. I’m pretty busy teaching.”

Prince: “Tomorrow?”

Amy: “Probably not.”

Prince: “It has always been my dream to marry a white girl.”

Amy: “(Laughs)”

Prince: “I am being serious. Is today my lucky day?”

Amy: “Nope. I’m already married.”

Prince: “Really? You’re already married?”

Amy: “Uh.. yeah. Yep. Already married. Sorry.”

Prince: “And is he white?”

Amy: “Yes.”

Prince: “Well then you can have a black husband, too.”

Amy: “No, thanks. One is enough.”

Prince: “Then I will steal you away from your husband.”

Amy: “Oh, okay. (Laughs)”

Prince: “Yes. I will steal you away and take you to your hometown and meet your parents and marry you.”

Amy: “Thank you, but no. I guess your luck ran out today.”

Prince: “Will you call me?”

Amy: “No, sorry. Here’s my stop.”

Prince: “I hope that you will call me. Have a good day.”

Once at school, things were pretty hectic and a few staff were out, so we decided to postpone the meeting until Tuesday. Tessa invited me over to her host family’s house for dinner tonight, so I got the directions from her, and headed out for some lunch. I went back to Baobab and got the mixed vegetables with tofu and a side of rice. It wasn’t quite as wonderful as Eli’s food, but it was pretty good.

Back in Elmina, life is slow. The drive from Cape to Elmina is about 10 minutes long. The road is lined with tall, swaying palm trees and it follows the ocean. Everyday as I drive home, I feel the hustle and bustle of “city” life melting away. I gaze out at the waves, feel the breeze on my face, and by the time I reach our house, I am at peace. The weather was cool and breezy today, and even though the power was out for the better part of the day, I still managed to enjoy being at home. Since I couldn’t work on the computer, I took a nap and had a long phone conversation with my mom. (Hi, Mom!) By 5, it was time to leave for Tessa’s.

While waiting for a taxi at the end of our road, I ran into the lifeguard from the Elmina Beach Resort, who was ironically going to the same neighborhood as I. Once in Abura, he showed me in the right direction before darting in the cell phone store to avoid the fast approaching rain. I found Tessa, and rushed into her house, which was really more like a compound than a house. She lives with two other volunteers from the organization ProWorld, and we enjoyed a home cooked meal together. Their host mom, Christina, made rice balls with groundnut stew (peanut stew). Tessa warned me that there might be goat meat in the stew, but I said I had no problem just picking it out. I was a little shocked, though, when I dipped the ladle in and pulled out nearly half of a goat with some broth dripping off. These pieces were huge! Luckily, they were easy to pick around, and I was able to get a nice broth soaking into my rice ball. Dinner was wonderful, and afterward, we went up on the roof of the house, which overlooked the busy market street of downtown Abura. Life in Abura is definitely not slow, and although there are definite perks of living so close to fruit stands and small grocery stores, I am grateful for the slow paced life that we live back in Elmina. Still, it was so nice to get out of town for a night and see another part of the greater Cape Coast area.

Even though the main street in Abura was bumper to bumper with cars, the girls thought I might have a hard time getting a shared taxi back to Elmina at night, so I called one of the taxi drivers I had yesterday: Big John. I told him I’d be ready around 7:30, and sure enough, just as I was saying goodbye and thanking Christina, he gave me a call and said he was outside. We had a nice ride back to Elmina, and even though I paid about 6 times what it cost to share a taxi to dinner, I felt that it was worth it. Thankfully, the power is back on now, and I hope it will stay that way at least until I charge my computer.

Tomorrow I will take an “official” tour of Cape Coast with Erin compliments of Global Mamas. I also need to check in with the seamstress to see if my dress is ready to try on. I’m so excited to see it! And tomorrow afternoon, I will head to Takoradi to visit my Twi professor’s family. Takoradi is only about an hour’s drive from Elmina, which makes it the perfect place to visit for a night or two. With the current computer situation, it is doubtful that I will have another blog up until Sunday. However, I hear we are planning to make a trip east toward Accra next weekend, because it’s a long weekend. I am both looking forward to a long weekend of exploring Ghana with friends and stopping in Accra to pick up a new charger.

Hard to believe that another week has come and gone here in Ghana. On Saturday, we will be a fourth of the way through our trip. Crazy! But I are still trying our best to make the most of every moment, trying not to take things too seriously, and choosing to laugh when life doesn't go my way. It's been a great time so far, and I can't wait to see what else is in store for us here!

She Gonna Blow

Today was a bit of a slow day for everyone. The Global Mamas volunteers have meetings at the house on Tuesday mornings, and many of them opted to work from home afterward. My only obligation on Tuesdays and Thursdays is a 30-minute meeting with the teachers, and so I was back home by 12. It was a hot, muggy day. The kind perfect for lounging. And that’s pretty much what I did.

The meeting with the teachers went relatively well. One of the teachers’ sons was not feeling well, so he had to come to school with her today rather than go to his school. He made the meeting interesting, as he was crying and climbing on her as I was trying to ask her to demonstrate a song that she began to teach me yesterday. Although it was not the most productive meeting, I did get to learn a little bit more about each teacher, and was surprised and impressed to find that each of them earned their first college degree only AFTER having kids and getting married. Even now, Mary is working on another degree and has to travel to Winneba (over an hour from Cape Coast) occasionally to meet with her advisor.

One of the other volunteers at the school is leaving this week, and so she invited me over to dinner at her host family’s house. Unfortunately, she forgot that she was actually supposed to go to dinner with her NGO tonight, and it was too late for me to sign up for Eli’s tonight, so after leaving the school, I picked up some groceries for dinner. Although I really love cooking, and am used to making every meal from scratch, it is difficult to cook here. The main reason is because the water is not quite safe to drink. We use it to brush our teeth and shower, but that’s about the extent of it. Also, I’m never really sure what might be climbing all over the fruits and vegetables that I do buy. As a result, we have to be pretty careful when preparing ingredients. In addition, I have had a hard time finding many of the staples that I’m used to cooking with – tofu, green leafy vegetables, and vegetable broth to name a few. I did manage to throw together a pretty decent dinner: spaghetti with tomato paste sauce and black-eyed peas. I wouldn’t make it in the states, but it got the job done. I will be glad to return to Eli’s culinary arms tomorrow evening, though.

Unfortunately, my electronic luck ran out today. My faithful laptop charger bit the dust. I was afraid she might blow, and today, she did. Before leaving the US, we looked at the charger, and saw that it could handle the voltage here, but not much higher than that. Evidenced by the recent power outages we’ve been experiencing, electricity here is not quite as regulated as in the US. There have been instances where our fan will slow down nearly to the point of turning off, only to go back to full speed in a matter of seconds. I did bring a power converter with me, but my three-pronged charger would not fit into the two-pronged receiver. So, moral of the story, RIP laptop charger. We had four good years together. For the time being, I am borrowing the charger of another Mac user in the house, but will be on the lookout for computer stores in Cape Coast tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. I’m not entirely convinced I’ll have any luck, but it’s worth a shot.

It’s back to music tomorrow at the Aboom School, so I will spend the evening planning for that. Thursday is another training session, and I am still trying to map out just what those will look like. I’m not sure if it’s the hot weather or bread centered diet that’s making me so sleepy, but I might join some of the other girls on their morning run tomorrow to see if I can remedy that.

Usually not a fan of country music, I hate to admit how much I am loving a certain Kenny Chesney song these days. Okay, so it’s not reeeallly country, because he sings it with Dave Matthews. Anyway, the song is called, “I’m Alive,” and if you have iTunes, or even YouTube, it’s worth a listen. I have found that listening to it here in Ghana has really kept me grounded in the moment. There are so many new things going on – the chaos of Cape Coast, good days and bad days at the school, breathtaking ocean views and walking on canopy bridges at 6 in the morning. Although a slow, deep breath always does the trick, I can’t help but hear the chorus ringing in my head, “Now I’m alive and well/And today you know that’s good enough for me/Breathing in and out’s a blessing can’t you see/Today’s the first day of the rest of my life/And I’m alive and well.”

Let the Games Begin

I see two kind of bicyclers here: young men on bikes way too small for them, weebling everywhere with knees flying out to the side, and young boys on bikes way too big for them, weebling everywhere with feet barely touching the pedals. Both are interesting sites to observe from our balcony here in Elmina.

Well, today was the big day. Okay, one of many “big” days. But, today, after a week of getting settled in, I led each classroom in 30-minutes of music activities. Note: I am not calling what I’m doing here music therapy for a few reasons. First, I’m not a music therapist! Yet. Only after I finish my last year of school, complete a 6-month internship, and then pass my board certification exam, will I be able to do music therapy. At school, we do music therapy during practicum each quarter, but we are closely supervised by our professors, and work with them to determine goals, objectives, plans, etc. Here, I’m flying solo. Second, this isn’t music therapy because I do not have those treatment goals and a plan for how to reach them, like we do in the clinical setting. Although I do have things in mind that the music can help reinforce (like communication, socialization, decision making, self confidence, plus any academics to name a few), I am not taking data on certain responses or tracking progress toward a goal. However, the format of each session and the activities we will do, do have some overlap with music therapy sessions. But in the end, the end goal and process are different.

After going to bed last night with butterflies in my stomach, I was able to start the day off on a good foot. I received an email from my mom saying that a letter had arrived for me from the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). In April, I submitted a proposal to present this project at our national conference, held every year in November. I was so happy as I read that my proposal has been accepted, and I will indeed be presenting this information in Atlanta. If that isn’t incentive to get out the door and get to work, I don’t know what is.

Scheduled to work with the preschool class from 9:50 – 10:20, I got there a bit early and got the instruments out, reviewed my plan, and asked one of the teachers to translate my the classroom expressions I know from Twi into Fante, so that the students would understand. The Aboom School seemed particularly full of life today, and we ended up having a group of 14 kiddos in the preschool class. As soon as they saw the instruments coming in, they all gathered around, touching them and hugging me. With the help of the classroom teacher, we got the students to move the tables out of the way and arrange the seats in a semicircle. They did just as the teacher asked, and were sitting quietly with hands in their laps, staring up at me by the time I could even blink. It was time to get started.

Before leaving OU, one of my music therapy professors, Ms. Steele, and I came up with a format that I will follow during each lesson. I used that and some Ghanaian folksongs I learned from another professor, Paschal Younge, and came up with the following plan:

a. Introduction – I used “Hello Everybody” from the Music Together curriculum. This enabled me to let the students know we were starting music, and I also got to go around and greet each student individually (and continue to learn names!)

b. In seat activity with upper body movement – drawing from the repertoire Dr. Younge gave me, I used the song “Sansa Kroma,” which is a popular Akan stone passing game. Basically, Ghanaian children sing this song while sitting in a circle and passing stones in rhythm with the music. I adapted it for our needs, using egg shakers instead of rocks, and using only one egg shaker to start with, rather than giving each student one.

c. Interactive singing activity - I borrowed an OU music therapy favorite for this one, and I’m not even sure of its name. The words are, “Let’s go down to the farm and see the animals. What sound does a ___ make?” and the kids get to meow or bark or moo to their little hearts content. It’s just so cute.

d. Movement activity – Again, I drew from Ghana for this, using a song that the kids already knew, “Kye Kye Kule.” I actually learned this song spring quarter in Dr. Younge’s class, so had plenty of experience doing it. This call and response song consists of five, four-beat phrases. The leader sings each phrase accompanied with made up motions, and the group repeats immediately.

e. Interactive instrument activity – I used the resonator bells I brought for this activity. Since these are unfamiliar to the students, I let them just explore, giving each student a chance to play the one I was holding. I then passed out five and used numbers and counted in order to indicate whose turn it was. The number 1 goes with C, 2 goes with D, 3 with E, etc.

f. Closing – I did what we call “piggybacking,” and used the melody from a Ghanaian song the students did not know, and inserted my own lyrics, letting the students know that music was finished, but I would be back on Wednesday.

Our time together went fast, and the teachers were supportive, translating if my directions were unclear. The students really enjoyed the music. I was surprised how attentive they were – no one left his seat the entire time. Even the girl who tries to hit and kick me forgot our troubled past; she clapped along and played the instruments. She even snuck into the vocational class and danced along to our drumming.

I jotted down a few quick notes, and then headed into the vocational classroom for our lesson together. Again, the class was full, and we had 11 in our group. Just like the preschool, they moved the desks out of the way and arranged the chairs eagerly. I did make some changes, but for the most part, I followed the same plan for both classrooms. I used my own judgment, adapting and challenging them as seemed appropriate. Rather than sing the farm animal song with teenagers, I substituted it for a drumming experience that gave each of them the opportunity to improvise on the drum with me, which they all seemed to enjoy. Again, the lesson went fast, and I left school today feeling satisfied.

On my way to the taxi station, I picked up a loaf of bread, some tomatoes, an avocado and a pineapple for a total of 4.5 cedi ($3). Once home, I made myself a tomato and avocado sandwich for lunch. The bread was still warm when I cut it. I enjoyed some quiet time on the balcony and finally figured out that the reason the house was so dark was because the power was out. Some of the girls who worked from home today said it went off around 9, and when I left for the pool at 2, it was still not on.

We are fortunate enough to live just across the street from the Elmina Beach Resort. Even by American standards, the building is pretty nice. The best part is about it is the pool – Global Mamas volunteers can buy passes to the pool for about $15 for a month. The employees can be kind of difficult to deal with, though, so I finally was able to get mine today. I enjoyed a quiet afternoon by the deserted pool, which just so happens to sit right on the ocean. I finally started to feel like I am actually on vacation! Erin joined me soon, and we read by the poolside, just like the good old days at the East Liverpool Country Club. Except they don’t serve turkey clubs and curly fries in Elmina.

I did a bit of work for tomorrow, and enjoyed another wonderful meal at Eli’s: groundnut soup and grilled cheese. She was kind enough to make me a sandwich just like the other girls save the cheese, and it was so good. I never would have known that there was supposed to be cheese on the sandwich. And the soup was incredible. Groundnuts are basically peanuts, which serve as the base for this popular Ghanaian soup. Eli throws in a bunch of vegetables (cabbage, squash, tomatoes, green beans, etc.) and just the right amount of spice. I wish I could bring her home with me.

Thankfully, the power is back on tonight. I still have much planning to do for the first teacher training session tomorrow, but I am also feeling that 4:30am wake up call from yesterday, so it will be interesting to see what I end up choosing. Time is going so fast.. it’s hard to believe that tomorrow we will have been in Ghana for 10 days. In a way, it seems like nothing has changed. But on the other hand, I have learned so much in just a little over a week. Each day I wake up with an eagerness to see what the day will bring. So far, I have not been disappointed.

I Got Ants in My Pants...

..and I need to dance.

Life is quiet in Elmina today. We returned from a night at Kakum National Park at 8:30 this morning, showered, and quickly dropped like flies. Although the sun is not shining, there are no clouds either. A nice breeze blows through my hair as I sit on the balcony, overlooking our front yard. I can see my laundry drying on the line. It’s a good day to be in Ghana.

My first weekend trip here in Ghana was a success. We planned to leave at 12:30 yesterday afternoon, and ended up being only 10 minutes behind schedule. Not bad for a group of eight girls venturing into the rainforest for the night. Ironically, when Erin and I were on our way to get snacks and water from the nearby Shell station, we ran into one of my professors from OU, Paschal Younge. He and his wife Zelma come to Ghana every year to lead a study abroad, and their group just so happened to be touring the Elmina Castle yesterday. Just as we were making the five-minute walk to Shell, a small bus rounded the corner, and I could see a face looking out the window and waving at me. So even in Ghana, it is a small world.

Two taxis took us up to Kakum, and we arrived around 1:30pm. One of the girls called earlier in the week to reserve our spot in the tree house, so we checked to make sure that was still a go. It was. We met our tour guide, Samuel, and were given instructions to meet him in the park restaurant at 6pm. We got another cab, and made the short trip over to the monkey sanctuary, owned by a Dutch couple. Some of the animals we saw include a variety of monkeys, snakes, an antelope, some tortoises, alligators, tree dassies (more on those later), and some other cat type things that were all pretty cute. The animals were cool, but the most amazing part was the couple. Seven years ago, they quit their jobs in Holland and moved to Ghana to start a bar and guesthouse. The bar and guesthouse are still unfinished, but in the meantime, they have built a mini zoo where Ghanaian animals can find sanctuary. Some of the animals were given to them by people who could not take care of them, others were found, and some were purchased because they are endangered. The sanctuary has no electricity or running water, and they have not returned to Europe since arriving seven years ago. Afterward, I think we talked more about how strange their lives must be than the animals themselves. Still, it was a neat experience.

We made out way back to Kakum to eat and wait for our guide. It was only 3:30, so we enjoyed our food and played a long game of Bananagrams. We actually play this game at home, and I found it funny that other people have actually heard of it! When we had had just about enough bananas, Samuel showed up, and we headed off to the tree house. We picked up three European volunteers on the way, who turned out to be an interesting trio of girls. Earlier, Samuel gave us the option of a two-hour night hike through the rainforest, starting at 8pm, or a morning walk, starting at 4:30am, and followed by a walk on the canopy bridges. After the 30-minute hike to the tree house in the fast approaching darkness, we opted for the morning walk. By the time we reached the tree house, we were all drenched in sweat, swatting at mosquitos, and a bit jumpy after hearing stories at the monkey sanctuary of poisonous snakes and biting ants.

The tree house consisted of a huge tree, a wooden platform built around it about 40 feet up, mosquito nets for walls, and a tin roof. In the pitch black, we climbed the crooked zig zag steps to the top, and wished there was a railing on more than just one side. When we reached the top, we found a number of thin mats for us to sleep on, two large mosquito nets, and a tent. We put our things down, and, glad for an excuse to avoid the stuffy air, joined Samuel back at the bottom for a brief history of Kakum. Although his English was hard to understand at times, and he had the tendency to season his stories with phrases that don’t make sense, Samuel was a pretty good companion for the night.

We met the guard, who was carrying a shotgun and didn’t speak a word. Samuel showed us the bathroom, which was little more than a hole in the ground with a seat attached, and then we headed back up the house to get settled in for the night. Oh yeah, it was only 7:30.

Trying to forget what time it was, we got settled in in the tree house. Three girls went into the tent right away and did some reading. Five of us sat out in the open and chatted a bit. The European girls went on the other side and giggled about who knows what. Just as we were feeling comfortable in our new “home,” the girl next to me let out a gasp and jumped up quickly. We looked at the water jug she had previously been sitting next to, and saw some sort of grasshopper/lobster mix that had to have been about four inches in length. We all got a lot less comfortable, and after realizing that taking the flashlight off of it caused it to run/jump very quickly, sat there with three lights shining on it, weighing our options. At first, we thought it was just a grasshopper, because it did have the legs that come up next to the body, and we couldn’t really see any pinchers/stingers. However, it had two inch long antennae sticking out of its head, and the longer we watched it, realized that its legs were resting almost flat against the jug. The 90-degree angle I’ve come to associate with grasshopper legs was gone. It really did look like a lobster. After a few minutes, we decided to yell for Samuel. He was eating, but said he’d be up soon. Getting anywhere near it did not seem like a good idea, so we called over to the Three Gigglet-eers, asking if they like bugs. Intrigued, they came over, and were taken by the bug, which we again decided was a grasshopper. They gently guided it out of the house, with a stick, and we started to relax again.

Soon, Samuel came up as promised, except we didn’t need his assistance anymore. He stayed anyway, telling us more about the canopy walk and the park. I discovered that he spoke Twi, not Fante, and we were able to chat a bit. He learned our names, and, by the light of his flashlight, told us some stories. With the five of us gathered at his feet, he seemed in his glory, telling stories of Ghanaian spirits, mysterious deaths in his family, the history of the Akan people, and he even threw in a few Ananse stories for good measure. Each time we heard a new sound echoing through the trees, he would point it out and tell us just what animal was making it. The loudest and most frequent noise came from the tree dassie, which you might remember from the monkey sanctuary. A vegetarian, nocturnal mammal, Samuel told us that the dassie makes a loud, awful screeching sound to scare off other animals down below before making his decent to scrounge for food. Apart from the occasional dassie screech, the night was cool and peaceful. Perfect for sleeping in a tree.

Just as we were dozing off into a story-induced sleep, we were thrown out of it by the sudden onset of loud, poorly recorded singing that sounded more like “The Circle of Life” than anything. “Hello?” Samuel answered. Deep in the rainforest, on our quiet and peaceful getaway, Samuel was receiving a call on his cell phone.

Samuel bid us adieu and promised to wake us at 4am. It was only 10pm, but we climbed under the mosquito nets and tried to get comfortable. I ended up taking the last spot in the tent since only four could fit under the mosquito net. The mats were pretty comfortable, but a little damp, so I wrapped myself like a hot dog in the sheet I brought from Elmina, and inflated my blow-up travel pillow (yeah, one of those donut things). I originally planned to listen to my iPod to help me fall asleep, but the quiet of the night was more inviting. I listened to the orchestra of sounds coming from the forest, and could pick out a number of different ones. I thought about the trip so far and chuckled to myself, grateful for the opportunity to find myself in such a situation. After about an hour, I turned on the iPod and rolled over to try to get some sleep.

Although it wasn’t my best night of sleep ever, I don’t think it was my worst, either. Either way, when we heard Samuel’s boots trudging up the stairs at 4:15, we slowly pulled ourselves together and got ready to leave the tree for another hike. Still dark, we set off with Samuel in the lead, who pointed out a number of plants and trees, indicating their medicinal and practical uses. He kept saying, “The forest is like a pharmacy and a supermarket all in one. Everything need, we find here.” He had a point, and I was pretty impressed with the creative ways the Ghanaians have used their natural resources over the years.

I admit it - the hike was a little rough at first. Still dark, only half of us had flashlights (something I forgot in the mad dash to get packed in time). I wasn’t able to see the ground for the first 30 minutes, and ended up tripping a lot, or getting caught on vines. Thankfully, I didn’t bite the dust. We soon came to a stop and Samuel informed us that the path was blocked with a large mess of trees and vines, and so we would have to turn back. We reached a bench at one point, and I saw one of the European girls (from England) sitting on it, saying, “Ouch! Oh my god, it hurts.” Apparently, she had stepped in some soldier ants, and they were inside her pants and socks biting her. Samuel did his best to pick them off of her, and she continued to say, “Ouch, that hurts.” I couldn’t help but turn to the closest Global Mama and whisper, “And it’s still hurting.” She managed to get the majority before they bit her, and we continued on, the rest of us on the lookout for the ants. A few minutes later, I heard her comment that one was in her pants, climbing up her leg. Again, I couldn’t help but to start singing James Brown’s famous tune, “Some big fine mama come and give me a chance."

Soon, we made it to the canopy walk, which was the real reason I wanted to go to Kakum in the first place. The walk consists of seven different bridges are connected by tree platforms. They basically go around in a large circle, enabling you to walk above the canopy. The bridges vary, but range from being suspended 30-120 feet above ground. They are very narrow, and sway a lot while you walk. Usually a major tourist attraction, it was completely empty at 6 o’clock in the morning. We piled on the bridges, squealing as they moved and creaked beneath our weight. Samuel reassured us that, “No one has died yet,” so we soon got used to our “bridge legs” and enjoyed ourselves. The morning was beautiful, with a slight breeze and light mist hanging over the canopy. Not normally one for big reactions, I found myself saying things like, “This is amazing, “ or “Wow, this is so awesome!” I was definitely not ready to go when we finished, but took my share of pictures to remember it fondly.

We parted ways with Samuel, and got two taxis back to Elmina, arriving home at 8:30am. Although the house is alive again with the other girls awake up from their naps, it’s still a pretty laid back Sunday for us. I was able to Skype my parents to wish my dad a happy Father’s Day, and plan to sit down with the guidebook to plan the next weekend adventure when I finish here. Tomorrow it’s business as usual as we all head back to our respective work places. I plan to start music with the kids tomorrow, and have some work to do to get ready for that. We are also out of bread and peanut butter (never a good thing here), so I daresay we will make a grocery run later on. But for now, naptime.

Beautiful canopy in the early morning.

Our treehouse in Kakum National Park

Represeting the Team Mojo Foundation on the canopy walk

Erin on one of the bridges

Friday Friday Friday

After a restless night of sleep, I woke up much later than I had planned, and quickly headed out the door for school. I took one more set of resonator bells with me today. Other than the two large Q Chords, all of the instruments I brought are now at the school. I am still on the look out for small drums and maracas, which are proving themselves surprisingly difficult to find.

I think I have solved my taxi problems. One of the other volunteers at the school told me to tell the shared taxi driver that I am heading toward Aquarium Junction. And so today, when I said Aquarium, he took me about 50 yards away from the school, and for only 1 cedi - a big success in my book.

When planning for today, I realized that most of the work I have to do to get ready for next week is taking the information I have collected this week and turning it into music activities. The only thing I had to do at the school was to drop off the bells and talk with the Preschool teacher to find out which academic and behavioral goals I can support with music. When I got to the school, Mary told me she will be out of town on Monday, and asked if we could have our first teacher meeting this morning, in about five minutes. Even though I was also planning to take a few hours this weekend to plan the meeting, I realized this was maybe the only opportunity I was going to get in the near future, and said, “Sure! That will be great.” Chuckling nervously to myself, I briefly looked through the notes and ideas I have collecting all week for the meeting, and jotted down a brief agenda. I got some of the instruments out of the locked bin and had them ready to show the teachers. I set up a few chairs in Mary’s empty classroom and rehearsed what I was going to say while I waited for Mary to return with the teachers.

Although they are all very nice, the staff intimidates me a good bit! I am still not sure just what they think of me, or just what they think about the music program. I felt some of my anxiety melting away as we exchanged greetings in Akan, and they were both smiling. It was a pretty productive meeting all things considered, and when it was over, I felt good. We established a schedule for both the music sessions and the teacher training meetings; both of which will take place twice a week. I also heard the wonderful news that they actually already have an electric keyboard, but nobody knows how to play it, so it just sits! So, it looks like in addition to working with the students, I will be putting my teaching experience to use and teaching Mary to play piano. At the end of the meeting, I passed out some of the instruments so the teachers could see just what we will be working with. Even the sternest (and oldest) teacher started going to town when I gave her a tambourine. I left school around 10:30 with a smile on my face.

Since we did not order dinner at Eli's for the weekend, I headed to Kotokuraba Market to pick up some groceries. I was in no hurry, and enjoyed meandering the busy streets, waving (with my right hand!) to everyone who stared at me, which was nearly everyone. On my way to the "supermarket" Melcom, I ran across a dress making shop. As I have already in my first week nearly run out of clothes to wear, I have been on the lookout for a dressmaker. The shop was small, lined with cloth and fashion posters, and filled with cute, young, seamstresses and sewing machines. I greeted them in Akan, which they loved. One of the girls spoke Twi, so she was able to translate from Fante to me, which I still don't hear nearly as well as I hear Twi. I picked out a bolt of material that I like (6 cedis total, or $2 per yard), and the girls set to work taking my measurements. I was turned this way and that by the girls measuring me and asked question after question by the others. In the end, I think they really enjoyed getting to talk with an American girl of their own age. I paid for the material, and will pay the 10 cedis ($6.70) for the homemade dress when I go try it on next Friday.

Melcom's was just down the street from the sewing girls, so I went in to get some tupperware containers. What a welcome sight a store with toiletries, electronics, AND even permanent markers was. Now I know that if I really need something I didn't bring from home, I can get it there for a (sort of) reasonable price.

Since I knew I would be doing a lot of walking, I wore the small knee brace that makes a band just below my knee cap, keeping it more securely in place (since I hurt my knee running last year, it has never quite been the same). At least four people must have asked me why I was wearing a black band around my knee, and many more stared at it. In all, I walked around Cape Coast for about three hours today, and my nose and neck are a little red to prove it.

I left Melcom's and got "lost," but didn't really care. I ended up walking down by the castle and on some market streets I hadn't been to before. Once of the Global Mamas girls told me that I could find a lot of food stands by the GM office, so I made my way over there. I didn't see too many food sellers, so I headed back up toward the dense market, where I was able to buy the rest of my groceries with no problem. In the end, I came home with some rice, black eyed peas, four limes, one huge avocado, a head of garlic, two small onions, some plantain chips, and an orange. I also picked up a power converter with two outlets so that Erin and I can have two things plugged in at once in our room! I am pleased to announce that I am writing from my bed with both my computer and our fan plugged in - another small victory.

After another beautiful drive home to Elmina, I boiled some rice and cut up the pineapple I didn't have time for this morning. I had another piece of toast, and started soaking some beans for dinner. While they were cooking, I took a much needed bucket shower. I really do enjoy each one more than the previous one. I'm sure my family won't be surprised that it still takes me forever (Tom once nicknamed me Pippi Longshower), but there's just something so relaxing about it.

Dinner ended up being plain rice and beans with onions. The spices I found in the kitchen turned out to be fuzzy with mold, so I was left with salt and a bit of sage. It wasn't terrible, but I had to snicker and think, "How American," when I couldn't help but put some ketchup on the side to add a bit of taste. I also made some guacamole to go with the plantain chips I bought, which was a nice way to round off the meal. I hope to take a picture of the avocados here soon. One avocado made as much guac as two or three avocados back home.

Tomorrow, a group of 7 or 8 Global Mamas volunteers and are going to Kakum National Park, which is about a 30 minute drive from Cape. We plan to spend the night in a tree house, and get up around 6am on Sunday to take a hike and do the canopy walk, a very popular tourist attraction. I hear we are also stopping at a monkey sanctuary, which should be interesting, too. I plan to take the SLR camera that I brought, so I hope to have some good pictures of our adventure. That being said, I wouldn't count on a post tomorrow. I'm pretty sure my laptop will not be one of the items that I stuff in my backpack for a night in a tree house.

I have been getting a lot of Facebook messages and comments on here from people reading the blog at home. I want to say a big thank you for the support that so many of you have given me throughout all of this. It makes me so happy to know that people actually like reading this almost as much as I like writing it! Medaase paa! (Thank you so much!)

A Rainy Day in Ghanatown - plus some pictures!

After dinner last night, we spotted a lizard roaming about our ceiling. When my alarm went off this morning, I was pleased to have made it through the night without feeling its little feet scampering across my face. I have a hard time waking up here, and hope to get the motivation to go running at 6 am with two other girls sometime soon. This morning was not “sometime soon,” partly because I wanted to keep sleeping, and partly because it was raining out. I rolled out of bed, cut up my pineapple, gathered some more instruments, put my new rain jacket to use, and headed off to grab a taxi.

After paying 4 cedis to get into town both yesterday and Tuesday, I was determined to get there for only 1 cedi today. There are two kinds of taxi rides here – shared and dropped. If you tell the driver you would like a shared ride, that means he can pick up others as he goes along, as long as they are headed the same direction. When the taxi gets near your destination, just tell them to let you out. The price for a shared taxi between Elmina and Cape Coast is 1 cedi. If you say you would like a drop taxi, that means the driver will take you exactly where you want to go, without picking up other people. The best I’ve managed to get between Elmina and Cape Coast is 4 cedi. I did remember to say shared today, and told him I was heading toward Kotokuraba Market. Mary told me this would get me on the right road, and when I saw the Aboom School sign, I could hop out. Unfortunately, this did not get me on the right road, and I ended up having to walk about 15 minutes in the rain with some instruments. I didn’t mind, though, even though by the time I arrived at the school, my face was a wet mixture of rain and sweat. I got better advice from another volunteer, and I will try that tomorrow.

Things at the school were a little crazy today. As I saw a bit of in Jamaica last year, other approaches to teaching are not the same as in the U.S. While at home, teachers tend to deal with inappropriate behaviors with “discipline,” here it’s more like “punishment.” In addition, since many of the kids have a very short attention span, the teachers give them frequent breaks, which gives the kids have a lot of free time to play, sometimes unsupervised. I don’t know if it was the weather, or what, but today, the kids were extra wound up, which can be difficult to deal with. Starting on Monday, it is my plan to do music with the kids during these “breaks,” which are often pretty long. I think this will help curb some of the chaos that results.

I spent a lot of time in the Pre-School class today, mostly just getting to know the students’ names and helping with reading and math. I also did some planning for next week. I meet with the teachers for the first time on Monday afternoon, and plan to get a real feel for what they want from me, as well as sharing with them some of my ideas. I hope to make this as much of a team effort as possible, because in the end, my only goal is to leave the teachers with something that they will actually continue when I leave.

Since Mary was running errands, I ate with the students today – jollof rice with beans. It was good, and if I had to compare it to anything, it would be Mexican rice, but with a little more spice. Despite the students’ disabilities, they are very capable of caring for themselves. Before lunch, the students move the chairs and tables out to the lunch room. With the exception of one student, they all feed themselves, and pretty well. After lunch, they stack their plates and the older girls wash them. Some other students sweep the floors and put the chairs and tables back.

When I returned home, I spent some time answering emails from home, and uploading more pictures onto Facebook. I hope to get some on the blog soon, but for some reason, Facebook is the only page that loads fast enough for pictures. I have a good signal today, so I will try again.

Tonight is the coolest night we have had here by far – about 70 degrees with a slight breeze. I would like to take a shower, but I’m afraid the cold water would just be too cold tonight. I am still on the lookout for the right drums for the school, and hope to have that settled tomorrow. This weekend, a few of the Global Mamas volunteers and I are heading to Kakum National Park, which is just about an hour from Cape Coast. We plan to spend the night in a tree house on Saturday night, and go into the park on Sunday. Since we did not put in an order at Eli’s for dinner tomorrow night, I may be making my first meal from scratch. Although this is something I do all the time at home, this kitchen is a little different (no counter space!), as are the ingredients. It should be interesting to see what I come up with.

It looks like I will be able to upload some pictures, so enjoy. If you’ve already seen these on Facebook, sorry, nothing new here!

Cape Coast, Ghana

Erin and I moving into our room

The headmistress Mary and I

Home sweet home for the next two months - our house in Elmina.

The Real Deal

On my way to work today, I saw a large, baseball-capped “Obruni” (what Ghanaians call white people) walking toward me. I knew without a doubt there was only one person it could be – Uncle Cliff. Although we said our goodbyes last night, he was heading to the nearby Sea Top bar to return a bottle from yesterday. I waited for him, and we shared a taxi into Cape Coast. We said goodbye for real this time, and he headed toward the fast van station so he could share an air-conditioned van back to Accra. He will spend his last few days with Dave and Renae before heading back to the US on Saturday.

Still getting used to the taxi system, and also still unsure of exactly where my school is in relation to other landmarks, I ended up paying 4 cedis again and being dropped right outside the school. I took a few tambourines and egg shakers with me today, and the big wooden chest we cleaned out yesterday sat in the sun all day to dry out. I will bring more instruments tomorrow and start to fill it up.

I spent the first hour or so looking through some of the textbooks I brought with me, brushing up on what to expect behaviorally, developmentally, musically, etc., from children with intellectual disabilities. I am starting to map out what next week will look like, when I actually start doing music. I also thought of a few descriptions that might more appropriately describe what I am doing here, including “music assisted education” and “music supported education.” Combine those terms with “adapted music education” and that’s basically what I’ll be doing for the next six weeks.

Just before lunch, Mary, the headmistress, and I went out into town in search of drums. I had in mind something along the lines of a frame drum, with a head about the size of a dinner plate, which proved harder to find than I expected. We went to two music shops, which more closely resembled Guitar Center than the drum maker I was expecting to see. Although we did not buy any drums there, if I do decide to purchase a guitar here, I can do so there. I don’t know how much they cost, but I had to chuckle when I saw the brand on one of the guitars: Givson. No, that is not a type-o.

When we came back, Mary and I had lunch. On today’s menu was kenkey with pepe sauce and two small pieces of fish. Although I have had kenkey at OU, I asked Mary what goes into it, because it is a yellowish ball with a texture similar to Playdough. She said it is made out of ground maize (which she also said was the same as corn) and flour. The ground maize soaks for a few days to get soft, combines with the flour, and cooks for a long time. After watching the kids using their fingers to dip small pieces into the sauce, I was able to follow suit without much difficulty or mess. We cleaned our hands in a bowl of water before and after. I offered Mary my pieces of fish so that they didn’t go to waste.

Before heading home, I learned some of the songs that I will be using with the kids. They are fun and pretty easy, so I picked them up quickly. When only two kids were left waiting for a ride home, I packed up my things and said goodbye. I cut through the other schools and down another path towards Kotokuruba market. The taxi station where I can get a shared taxi for only 1 cedi back to Elmina is right on the edge of the market. Since I ate yesterday’s pineapple for breakfast today, I stopped for another one, which I bought speaking only Akan! I have been speaking mostly English, partly because the Ghanaians automatically speak English to me, and partly because my skills are still pretty shaky. I have been slowly building up courage and speaking more since arriving in Cape Coast.

I managed to find a taxi heading toward Elmina and jumped in. The ride from Cape to Elmina is beautiful, as the road follows the coast. The sun is shining bright today, and I could see groups of fishermen with their colorful boats all along the beach. The road is lined with tall, swaying palm trees. Although I have only been in Cape Coast three days, I can see a schedule emerging, and can feel myself settling in to life here. Even though I did manage to get myself yelled at by my taxi driver for handing him my fare with my left hand, I still feel surprisingly comfortable here. And that is a nice feeling.

This evening, I plan to visit the Elmina Beach Resort (just across the street) and buy a one month pool pass - something I think will come in very handy after a long, sweaty day at work. Tonight it's back to Eli's for dinner, and I hear we are having okra stew. I will spend this evening preparing even more for tomorrow so that I can feel good going into Friday, and the weekend. I keep telling myself this is the hardest part of what I will be doing at the school - not only getting adjusted and meeting everyone, but also making plans for precisely what the next six weeks will look like. Suffice it to say I have plenty of things to keep me busy!

My Fat Lady

Soon after we turned off the lights last night, the room got stiflingly hot. In my sleep induced state, I realized that not only was the room boiling, it was also oddly quiet. “What’s going on?” I asked my sleepy self. Finally, I realized that the power was out. They warned us that this could happen, but I really didn’t think we’d encounter it 30 minutes after turning off the lights on the first night! Thankfully, the power kicked back on in about ten minutes, and didn’t go off again until about 7:30 this morning, when again, the silence woke me up, but this time, just in time to get ready to go to school.

Too busy running around trying not to forget anything, I forgot maybe the most important thing – breakfast. Who me? Yes! Me! I always eat breakfast. ALWAYS. But not today. (Well, I should say that I was planning on eating breakfast, but the loaf of bread I brought from Accra met its demise last night – mold). Anyway, I made it out the door with guidebook, cedis, money belt, laptop, purse, bookbag, notebooks, pens, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, tissues, Clif bars, and useless cell phone in hand by 8:30. I walked the short way to the highway leading to Cape Coast. As on of the Global Mamas staff (Mel) told me, I pointed toward the coast (behind me) as a taxi pulled up. This let him know I was heading toward Cape Coast. I asked him if he knew where the Aboom School was, bargained a little over the price, forgot to say I wanted a shared taxi, not a private one, and we were on our way.

We made it to the area with surprisingly few problems, and soon I spotted a sign saying, “Aboom School for Special Needs” with an arrow pointing right, up the hill. I jumped out scampered over to the red dirt path that twisted up a hill between two houses. Soon, I came to a school. The door was open. “Hello, is this the Aboom School for Special Needs?” I asked. “No, this is the Aboom Primary School. Go to the next one.” I came to a second school, “Hello, Mary? Is this the Aboom School for Special Needs?” “No, this is the Aboom Such-and-Such School. Follow the path up the hill to the right and you will find it.” So I set off again, trudging my now sweaty self and all my belongings past a woman and some goats, passing two or three more schools until finally I found it: The Aboom School for Special Needs.

The door was open, and I walked inside. School had already started, and on time, which surprised me. I had heard stories of school actually starting an hour or so after the appointed time because “no one wants to be the first one to school.” However, the school was already bustling with students and teachers at 9:01 am. I found myself walking into a classroom with two sewing machines. A young woman was sitting at one and pointed me in the direction of Mary’s (the headmistress’ office, just beyond that room. I knocked a little to get her attention. Immediately, she knew who I was, and jumped up to hug me and get me a seat. She must have said, “You are welcome” about 15 times. She gave me a quick tour of the school, and I met all the teachers (two plus Mary) and some of the aides (about five). With each introduction she would say, “This is Amy, the music therapist that I have been telling you about.” I had to keep reminding her that I am only a student, not officially an “MT-BC” yet, but I was relieved to hear that everyone else was as excited as I am to start working together.

The school technically has five rooms, but only three are used as classrooms now. One classroom was converted into a kitchen a few months ago, and the other serves as the cafeteria and entryway. There is no bathroom, but I didn’t even realize until after school was over – I sweat too much to even need it. The remaining three rooms housed groups of students today. In one classroom, an American volunteer from Tufts was teaching two classes that have been combined into one – the preschool and speech and language classrooms. In total, about 14 students were in the class, with ages ranging from 6-12. The general classification given to many of the students is intellectual disability, although some do have Down’s syndrome. In the classroom with the sewing machines, I found the two vocational classes, with ages ranging from 12-20. I did not know this before, but the Aboom school had teamed up with another NGO called ProWorld to produce handmade bags, much like the one Global Mamas gave me upon arrival in Elmina. They sell the bags for 15 cedis around Cape Coast. Mary told me that the money will go toward helping some students purchase new uniforms and/or lunch. Apart from learning skills such as washing dishes, sweeping, etc., these two classrooms spend much of their time working on the bags. Finally, the last classroom, which doubles as Mary’s office, is the cerebral palsy classroom. Although there are nearly 14 students with CP, only one was at school today. Although he does not speak or walk, he has the biggest smile, and does so every chance he gets.

I spent most of the day observing the different classrooms, looking for behaviors that would indicate how I might expect the different classes to respond and participate when I do start doing music next week. I showed a few teachers the Ghanaian folk songs that I brought along, and they were able to tell me which ones would be familiar, etc. The school even has some copies of other music (mostly hymns and gospel songs) that the students have learned. One of the very personable students kept singing “London Bridges,” but he only knew the words to the last line. You can imagine my delight when I realized that every time he sang, “My fair lady,” turned to me, and put his hand on my shoulder, he was actually singing, “My fat lady.” Whether this was a genuine mistake, or some sort of 10-year-old humor, I do not know, but either way, I thought it was hilarious every time.

I got on the Internet and sent Uncle Cliff an email, telling him to stop by anytime after 1:30 if he wanted to see the school. After lunch, Mary, one of the older boys and I took old toys and some extra books out of a big wooden chest in the kitchen and moved it into her office. The instruments will be kept in there. I will slowly start bringing them to the school starting tomorrow, just a few at a time, so that by Monday, they will all be there and ready to go. Mary summoned me to join her in the kitchen and we chatted about our hopes for the next few weeks over lunch – rice and beans with some sort of red sauce and fish ladled over the top. Thankfully, I was able to pick around the pieces of fish, and eat mostly only rice and beans. Since I had a Clif bar mid-morning (once I realized I forgot breakfast), I wasn’t too terribly hungry in the first place. The rice and beans were good, though, and right when I was about to log back onto Gmail to see if Uncle Cliff had responded, one of the teachers came in to say that I had a visitor.

To my delight, I found that a very sweaty Uncle Cliff had made it to the Aboom School. From the sounds (and looks) of it, he didn’t have as easy a time as I did making it there. Mary gave him a short tour, and we headed off in the direction of Kotokuruba Market, where she said we could find an MTN store. MTN is one of the mobile networks here, and if you remember from yesterday in Accra, the MTN office was unable to get my phone on the network. Anyway, we set off, making our way into the market area, which was hectic at first, but ended up being a really good time. I bought some bread to replace my moldy loaf, and was thrilled to find some whole wheat bread. When I asked, “Is this whole wheat?” the seller replied, “No, it’s brown.” We finally made our way to the MTN office, only to be sent down the road to Mobile X phone store. The owner Alfred promised to “decode” the phone, allowing it to work on the MTN network for only 24 cedis. He asked us to come back in 30 minutes, so we took off exploring more of the market. Cape Coast was built by the British, and the streets are very narrow, hardly wide enough for two cars, let alone people and market stands. We soon adapted to the hustle and bustle, and had no problem walking nearly toe-to-toe along the gutter and street, dodging toddlers, goats, chickens, and other shoppers. We purchased a pineapple for one cedi, and the seller cut it fresh for us right there. It ended up in little wedges in a plastic bag, and we snacked on it as we explored Cape Coast. Some other items of interest include yams the size of a small dog and avocados as big as a quart jar – for only one cedi (about $.66).

Back at Mobile X, Alfred told us it would be just a few minutes more (something you hear a lot), so we waited there. Soon, we heard a loud brass band coming down the street. We ran out to see people flocking out into the road, dancing to the music. A band with two trombones, one trumpet, and some snare drums came marching toward us, and Alfred said this was the prelude to a funeral. Apparently, the family and friends of a well-known person go around with instruments and collect money for the funeral. This weekend, the funeral will take place on Friday or Saturday afternoon, and when it is finished, the guests will begin a party that will last all night, consisting of music, dancing, food and drinks. I read a New York Times article about Ghanaian funerals, and it seems that what they said is true. While they known how to mourn death, it seems Ghanaians also know how to celebrate life.

Alfred finally returned with my phone, which actually works now! We made a few calls just to be sure, and then said goodbye. Cliff and I tried to make our way to the Global Mamas office, and after getting a little turned around, made it there, only to find that none of the volunteers had come into the office today. Often on Tuesdays, the volunteers work from the Elmina house. So, we headed back up to the taxi station and shared a taxi back to Elmina. We had another great dinner at Eli’s – black-eyed pea burgers, salad, guacamole, and plantain chips. I think I could get used to her cooking every night! We said goodbye to Cliff, who is heading back to Accra in the morning, and returned to the house. I took a much needed bucket shower (which I am actually starting to enjoy) and got things ready for tomorrow. After all that walking around town today, I have a feeling that my fourth night in Ghana might be the best night of sleep yet.