Sunday, May 17, 2015

A quiet Sunday in Kopeiya

After a week of long plane flights, strenuous classes, sweaty nights with little sleep, a market visit and the other day to day excitement of being in Kopeiya, we decided that today would be a bit of a lazy Sunday. We planned nothing, besides maybe a nice little walk to the water shed to see some interesting birds. A couple hours later we were in the middle of a Brekete service, shaking hands with a diety.

Brekete is a religious synthesis of local Ewe traditions, indigenous religion from the Sahara desert and Islam, brought down to the region from the North.We walked into the village to a small pavillion where people sat and played Brekete music, or danced. One woman was taken by the spirit of a God in front of our eyes. The God, working through the woman, went around shaking our hands and welcoming us to the ceremony. We were then welcome inside the shrine itself, a very unusual honor. Wile in there, the church members wished us good luck in all of our endeavors, not just in Ghana but in our lives. Joss asked us all to take time to think about just what we were doing in our lives that we wanted to receive their good wishes for.

The people of the ceremony were extremely welcoming and inclusive, which has been the norm since we arrived. This has been a very pleasant surprise for me, because as a white American, I see little reason why anyone in this part of the world would want to welcome me anywhere. But the hospitality of the people here in Ghana never ceases to amaze me.

After the ceremony we got some much needed rest. After that we went to a local soccer game at the school, which showcased the absolutly stunning athletic ability of some of the local youths. After a tough back and forth first half, Kopeyai dominated the match, with a final score of 3-0.

The day was wrapped up with what was in my opinion the best meal we've had since we got here. Ground nut soup (think peanut soup but better) with ginea fowl (think chicken but better.) The whole time I ate it I felt the soup singing me to sleep. Sleep has been difficult here with the heat, but something tells me tonight it wont be so difficult. And I certainly hope it wont be, because we're picking back up with dance lessons tomorrow at 9 sharp!

What we planned on being a lazy Sunday ended up being very exciting, but at this point, I've gotten accustomed to expecting the unexpected.

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