Monday, December 21, 2009

It's HOT in Ghana!!!

OK. 89-90 degrees is a great break from the extreme cold that has hit the northeast; however, the group has found out just how exciting it is to eat, sleep, drum, dance, and everything else while sweating profusely.

We arrived safe after a mildly chaotic flight; a direct flight is wonderful, from JFK direct to Accra, but the chaos of loading everyone on the plane was really amazing to watch. We actually left 1 1/2 hours late, but since we had a strong tail wind we arrived in Accra on time, 7:30 the next morning. The Dagbe center had 2 cars waiting for us, and they took us direct to the center, about a 3.5 hour drive. The road was really great till the town of Achimota (you can find it on Google Maps) and then it was red dust and potholes the whole way. (Katie managed to fall asleep while bouncing in the back seat; I have to learn how to do that!)

Since arriving that night, we've played drums with the folks of Kopeyia, gone across the street to watch a huge Pentacostal Christmas "convention" (a service with drumming and song that lasts all day/into the night), gone to the beach, toured Emmanuel Agbeli's farm to see how our sprinklers will work, had both dance and drum lessons, went to the local market, and much more. Hopefully I'll be able to post some photos at some point, but for now we're lucky to find a good internet spot that has a reasonable connection very close to the village.

Speaking of which, the village and Dagbe center are amazing, and much has changed since I last visited years ago. They have electricity; they ALL have cell phones (so those of you worrying about whether or not we can contact you if need be - oh, we could, and so easily!) So we are absolutely comfortable.

Tomorrow we continue our lessons; Wednesday we visit the town of Ho to watch a performance of a very beloved music called borborbor. We are happy, healthy, and having a great time. Except for some certain students who are trying to dash our hosts and convince them to write their blog entires for them.... STOP THAT!!

See you all again soon. From now on one student will post per day....

J

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for this update, Joss-- many family and friends are reading along! You are amazing... thanks so much for all the details. (I'll be sharing them all in Founders Hall tomorrow!)

    Best,

    Joan

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