We arrived in Ghana and I was on one of the first trips to leave the ship. We went to a spa near the shoreline where some Ghanaian drummers and dancers were waiting to perform for us and teach us some of their dance. For those not familiar with African music (I’m no expert but am learning most of what I’m telling you from my music class), it is polyrhythmic and uses call and response. What polyrhythm means is that there are simple rhythm played by individuals that leaves spaces for the others in the group to be heard, so that together it makes the whole song. It is actually quite hard (we tried some in class) because it’s so easy to lose your rhythm if you aren’t very focused. Call and response occurs when one person says or plays something and then the rest of the group responds. So, the performers were playing drums with a bell and maraca-ish things (which keeps the beat because they cut through the drumming) and singing that featured some call and response. After the first performance, one of the men there was a dance teacher and taught us a traditional dance. Kind of hard to explain but it was very fast paced and had some jumping. The cool part was that after, we all circled up and went out in groups to the middle to do some improv dancing. I think this is the best experience so far to understand the mindset of collectivist cultures. If you think about a performance in the states, you would have a lead and/or soloist, sometimes featuring some of the instruments in the band through very small solos, and maybe involving the audience (depending on the type of music). Here, although they may be hard to distinguish from each other, you are certainly hearing what each individual is playing, they tend to give everyone a solo, and they expect all the audience members to participate (i.e. singing, dancing, playing music). I wouldn’t say this is necessarily a better format, but it was very fun to participate rather than just spectate.
We had a Ghanaian lunch – I can’t really tell you what the parts were called but it was pretty good. There were two different kinds of rice (I avoided the spicey one) with what one friend pretty accurately described as burrito filling (the sliced peppers and onions), and some sort of smoked chicken. It was pretty good but almost everything they eat here is spicey so that will definitely be a problem for me. The weather was not as bad as I thought, meaning it wasn’t as muggy but still hot. Fortunately, it turns out that the mosquitoes (don’t forget they carry malaria, dengue, yellow fever, etc) aren’t really out during the day, and also aren’t in full swing yet because the dry season is ending, so I haven’t been swarmed yet. Haha, of course I wasn’t taking chances so I was wearing long pants and a long-sleeved shirt while I’m bouncing around in the hot sun, but it is worth not contracting any undesirable diseases. The Ghanaian people are very friendly for the most part and the traffic is not as crazy as in Morocco. No, they still kind of weave in and out of traffic, but they aren’t in a hurry like the Moroccans, honk their horns more and also manage to get traffic jams (which didn’t seem to happen in Morocco). There are women who walk around with platters on their heads (they have a scarf thing that sits atop their head to make a flat surface so that they can balance their items better) with what looks like up to 40lbs of food or sales items! And they walk around as if there was nothing on their heads! I think my neck would be in a lot of pain if I had to do that. Their venders are more aggressive that the Moroccans (who do a better job of making you feel like they aren’t pressuring you). Some Ghanaians are so friendly they want to marry you (so they can get to the US) before you’ve even said anything. I didn’t get a marriage proposal but I did try to talk to one of the drummers and the first thing he told me was that he loved me. That was awkward.
Much of their culture is encapsulated in their music; for example, there are several “talking drums” which make sounds reminiscent of some of their languages, one of which the pitch is altered by squeezing the strings on the outside of the drum while holding it under your arm. Pretty cool! Contrary to popular belief, they only have these kinds of large musical gatherings when something special (i.e. weddings, initiations, funerals – yes, they celebrate the life of the one who died by partying, kind of like the Irish I guess) happens and on a frequent basis, such as the impression I had before coming here. So all in all it was a good day and great way to be introduced to the culture.
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