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.