Nov 17-19ish
Thursday all of my plans changed. I was originally supposed to have a two-hour xylophone (gyil) lesson with Zie in the morning and go to the Wesley Girls School band practice in the afternoon. But both of those things got canceled. So instead, John-Doe came to my house for a visit for a little while. We always have a really interesting conversations when we talk. We talked a lot about real estate and all of the construction he’s building, and his vision for a music school in the future as well as several other things. We also talked about just music education again. It was a really fun conversation that lasted for several hours. After that, Delali came over for a visit as well. Our plan for the afternoon was to get her a Wi-Fi modem for her house. So, as has been happening, we did that, and basically spent the rest of the day running errands together. We went and ate lunch after finally finding a router and doing some other things. Delali took me to one of her favorite restaurants in town, called Ahema Locals which is definitely a local place. She wanted fufu and I had some soup with rice. It was actually surprisingly very good. So we sat there for quite a while because food takes longer here. We also talked to her friend who happens to be a construction contractor who built her shop. It was a lovely lunch, then I went back to her house to get her Wifi set up and just to hang out with her family for a bit. It’s so sad to me that I’ve finally made such a good friend, and now I’m leaving so soon! I’m soaking up every moment with my new Ghanaian friends as much as I possibly can.
Friday was a full day also. I went to Madina in Maxwell’s home to have lunch with them! It was the first time I’ve been invited in which was so nice. Madina made groundnut soup with rice balls. It was so good! She made it with meat and fish. We also had red wine and some homemade liquor that Eric had apparently made that tasted sort of like fireball. It was also quite good. We sat out on their covered back porch. It was really nice but it was super hot! I have sweated so much since the last couple of weeks because it’s gotten hotter. But it was really lovely to be at their home and sit and enjoy their garden in the back. We had a lovely conversation, and I appreciated getting to spend a little more time with them before I leave – another final dinner type of thing.
Also, Madina’s sister is a seamstress and made this awesome dress for me! They gave it to me as a parting gift. I love the dress, and how it goes with my hair! I think this look is pretty fantastic!
After lunch, Madina’s driver drove me to my last lesson with Antoinette. I told Antoinette that I haven’t practiced since last time because I hadn’t had time, so can we please just have a good time for a couple of hours? So she indulged and we played a bit of some djembe drum soli together and learned a few more parts to that on the djembe. It was fun and stress-free. I also gave her a few things that I’m giving away for when I leave. It was a really fun last lesson, and a good note to end on, so to speak. Gosh, I’m really going to miss my lessons with her!!
I don't know why the video loaded like this, but this is the two of us playing together.
After my drum lesson I went directly to DrumGhana practice. Today’s practice was really fun! We got there at like 4:15 and there were actually lots of people around. This is the first time I’ve been at all when practice started on time. The lead drummer today happened to be Francis‘s father. I was glad there was a lead drummer there at four because that’s usually what holds us up. If we don’t have a lead drummer we can’t do anything. So, today we had a really productive practice for the whole two hours! It was just a great energy. I think that they all were there because they know there are Westerners coming next week and they are getting serious about getting ready for that. At the end of practice, I told them that they will be several people here on Tuesday so they should come Monday and practice so they’re ready to perform on Tuesday. I’m also going to give them each some money and we’re gonna have a little bit of a party as well as a goodbye. I’m excited about this but I’m also nervous about how emotional it’s going to be.
This is a video of us practicing a song called Damata Kai - it's a super cool dance. (I'm not sure I spelled that correctly)
After DrumGhana of course Mele was about 20 minutes late (gotta love Mele...I've actually grown quite fond of him since he's been my driver the whole time I've been here. He's a great guy, just sometimes quite late, lol). But Divine and Ellen and Van Dyke waited with me again. I got to chat with them a bit more I asked Ellen and VanDyke did they graduate from high school and they both said no. They both said it was because they got pregnant and had to drop out. I figured that was why but I wanted to ask them so I just thought I would. They both are also interested in learning how to sew but they haven’t started that yet. Because it sounds like you have to have a bit of save money in order to buy a machine and some fabric. So I don’t guess they have that yet. But my hope for them is that they will be able to get that going because it seems like it would be a good living for both of them.
After DG, I went to meet John-Doe and his wife and his daughter for dinner and drinks at Kokodo restaurant. John-Doe and I had a lovely conversation and it was nice. But I had been so hot all day, for so long, that we didn’t stay for too long. We had a good conversation, then after that, John-Doe took me home. I got home in about 8:15 or so. I have been so hot all day! And my hair is a big part of that. I didn’t realize how hot it would be! It still is taking a lot of getting used to, but at least it’s less itchy than it was before. So I got home, took a shower, and pretty much went straight to bed. It was a long hot day, but a good one, full of rich interactions with lots of people.
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