oh boy...

To be completely honest with you I'm a ball of nerves right now. Frankly I don't have any clue what is going to happen while in Ghana. It's a humbling experience getting ready to hop on a plane tomorrow without any certainty as to what I will find. I think that's a part of the deal though.

So many last minute questions. Am I really ready for fieldwork in another country by myself? What if I make a fatal error and all of my "participants" decide that they don't want to work with me? What right do I have to study Ghanaian art music? Only a handful of people actually know that I'm coming to meet with them. My hope is that from the contacts that I have a "web" of sorts will open up and I will be able to meet with many more. What if the web does not open up? What if I find myself "dead in the water" so to speak? These are some of the last minute questions running though my head, but I think that this is exactly the way that it's supposed to be. There is so much up in the air right now, but from talking with others this is just the way it goes. I know that something will happen, and something tells me that it will be good. Guess we'll find out soon enough, eh? I think that I've kind of forced myself to have these doubts just to balance HOW INCREDIBLY EXCITED I AM!!!

Amidst all of this there is some amazing news: Tomorrow is my last day in Edmonton for 9 weeks. Please don't take it personally Edmonton, but you are not my favorite place in the world. Forecast for Edmonton on Sunday: high of 47 degrees F with a mix of rain and SNOW. High in Accra, Ghana on Sunday: 92 degrees F with a chance of thunderstorms. Yep, I'll take that. : )

Patrick