A couple of photos in no particular order

Make sure and click on the links along the way...

The main boulevard at the University of Ghana

Funeral of a well known professor and composer, the late Professor Willie Anku, in Gbadzeme-Avatime, Volta Region.

Fishing village along the coast to the west of Takoradi

Butre beach... will definitely be back here at some point!

The longtime headquarters of the Ghana National Symphony Orchestra, one segment of the National Theatre of Ghana. I just discovered this short but interesting article written about the orchestra during my time in Ghana. We can only hope that the government begins to appreciate what this orchestra has contributed to Ghana (and Africa, as one of the only orchestras in Africa) over the past few decades. Without more funding an organization such as this does not stand a chance in Ghana. Educational programs, run by the orchestra, key to the next generation of instrumentalists, have been cut in recent years due to lack of funds. Of course this is a tremendously complicated issue in a developing country where seemingly more pressing issues demand attention. However, to the best of my knowledge other segments of the National Theatre have not had such tremendous financial difficulties in recent years. I hope that someday soon those in power in Ghana will realize what the GNSO can contribute in their country.

Music department at the University of Ghana, Legon.

The music department at the University of Ghana, Legon, just outside of Accra.

Eating dinner on the beach in Cape Coast not too far from the slave castle. Kind of an eery sight in such a beautiful place.

View from the slave castle down the beach.

Fufu!

Check out the video below too...

This is the E.P. Trinity Parish Church, Madina, where I spent a lot of time with the Good News Choir and attended worship on most Sundays.

Mills is the current president of Ghana. I don't care who you supported in the last US election... I think we can all laugh at the bizarre ways that people perceive politics in the world. It's almost comical driving down the highway and seeing all of the local Ghanaian political billboards with the word "change." However, maybe there's something to it?? Either way, sorry for this.

Only in Ghana will you find a sign pointing towards an evangelical church right next to a sign advertising grasscutter (lower right corner), a type of cane rat often eaten for lunch or dinner. I will try just about any food, but I will say without a doubt that I will never eat grasscutter again! It does not taste like chicken.

Ghana's cheap alternative to water bottles... "purified" water in plastic bags. An interesting article on these bags and the environment.

Madina, a suburb of Accra and a major Islamic centre in Southern Ghana. This was my home base during my trip. Often times I would be woken up in the middle of the night by the call to prayer. In many instances the power was out due to a thunderstorm from the previous evening leaving the entire town in complete silence aside from the amplified singing coming from the 4 or 5 mosques nearby.

"Papa"owns a large compound where he rents dirt cheap rooms to foreigners such as myself.

Fufu Preparations

Last fufu meal in Ghana just before heading to the airport... pounded cassava, cocoyam and plantain.

farewell Ghana!

My time in Ghana is coming to an end for a second time. Frankly, it is quite an odd experience leaving here this time. I am almost positive that I will find a decent excuse to come back here over the next two years. However, that is a very long time away and life has a funny way of being tremendously unpredictable. Travel and communication with people far away has become quite simple over the past few years. Who knew that a text message could travel CHEAPLY across the Atlantic in just a couple of seconds! It will be easy to stay in contact with friends and colleagues here, but at the same time Ghana is very far away. It's a strange experience to come to know and enjoy people that I will rarely be able to see. I'll be back ASAP though!!

I have made the decision to close the door on my project and to focus my energy on saying goodbye and exiting gracefully. I feel confident about the fieldwork that I have performed here and know that something good will come out of it. The funny thing is that the work has only just begun. I don't even want to think about the dozens of hours of interviews, numerous compositions and documents that I will go over during the next few months. It will be an incredible challenge and I am looking forward to it!

Just a quick update about the past week or so. I spent most of last week/weekend in Cape Coast and even headed to a new part of Ghana that I had never visited before. After wrapping up with a composition professor in Cape Coast I decided to hop on a tro-tro and see where I ended up for the night... the best way to travel! I ended up staying along the coast near a series of villages just to the west of Takoradi. $5 to anybody who can find the village of Asemkow or Butre on a map! I spent a night in a cheap little bungalow with the ocean literally at my door step. It was paradise without trying to be paradise if you know what I mean. You know that a place is remote when the best means of transport out is to walk 2 kilometers down the beach to the next village! This is definitely somewhere that I will visit again.

I've been back in Madina since Saturday wrapping up and conducting my final interviews. Now I'm in the process of photocopying all of the art music and articles on art music located in the library in the Legon music department. Tonight I say goodbye to the man who set me up with many of my contacts here, somebody I am eternally grateful to. After that I'll spend a little time with the Good News Choir at the E.P. Madina Trinity Parish Church. I fly out at 11 pm tomorrow evening and head straight to Washington D.C. From there I'll fly to Chicago (wish I could stay!), and finally Edmonton.

Last night was incredible! As many of you know Ghana was beaten 1-0 by Germany. However, thanks to a win by Australia in Group D Ghana is going to advance to the next round. The celebrations on the street in Madina were incredible. It's fun walking around with my Ghana football jersey and seeing people's confused looks and screams as they try to figure out if I'm Ghanaian. Thank God I'm not German. The funny part is that the next game on Saturday is against the US... definitely cheering for Ghana!

I know that the next couple of weeks will be quite interesting. Getting accustomed to North American culture again has always been a real challenge no matter how long I am away. I promise to share a few of my thoughts over the next few days. AND once I am around some better internet connections I'll post some photos so that you can actually see what I have been talking about. Check back over the next few days!!! Even though I'm bummed about leaving Ghana I know that there are many incredible times to come over the next few weeks. A couple of days after I arrive back in Edmonton I head down to see a good friend in Banff. One week later I'm off to Philadelphia to attend the wedding of two more close friends. Can't wait!! Closing doors here and getting ready to open new ones at home... ciao for now.

Patrick

coconuts

Okay, one thing (besides the people) that I'm definitely going to miss- fresh coconuts on the roadside. Every day I stop by a guy with a cart full of coconuts as I pass through the Legon bus station across from the University of Ghana. He spends all day there selling coconuts for 50 pesawas, asking people whether they want a soft or a hard one. I'm now a regular at his little stand and he has learned my order over the past couple of weeks (kind of like being a regular in a coffee shop)- I like the soft ones with a lot of water/juice. A couple of machete chops later I'm in complete heaven. It's just one of those things that you can't find in North America.

Just taking a break in a busy day of interviews... 1 down 2 to go. Good times... I'm having a great time. Tomorrow a friend and I are traveling off to Winneba to meet with a composer and then I will go on to Cape Coast to wrap up with a couple of people there. So much to do over this next week and a half! It is going to be hard to leave here, but part of me is excited to be home, to be around familiar food and to sleep in my own bed. Okay, more updates over the next couple of days. I hope that everybody is well!!

Patrick

CONGRATULATIONS GHANA!!!

World Cup Time! Congratulations on the first win Ghana! Football is serious business here... noisy celebrations in the street over the past couple of hours have been pretty cool. [written as cars honk on the street with massive flags hanging out of the windows]. Keep your finger crossed for their next match against Australia next weekend!

Wrapping Up

Over the past couple of weeks I have been humbled by the characters that I spend my days with. I am an incredibly fortunate person to be working on this project. Speaking with individuals here reminds me how lucky I am to be a musician and a student in ethnomusicology, especially to have the opportunity to make a living off of these fields. To be surrounded by such deeply passionate musicians on a daily basis is a true honor that I can only hope will be represented in the final products of this research.

It’s a funny thing that I am doing, coming to a place for such a short time and working to walk away with something meaningful for people at home, but most importantly for people here. This project can never be complete. Until we have super-computers that can instantly comprehend the internal processes of the minds around us we will be dealing with incompleteness. But is looking for the “complete” picture really all that worthwhile? For me, life is more interesting, more rich, when we realize that we can never completely engage with and appreciate the entirety of the individuals and communities around us. Struggling with the messiness and realizing that people are far too complex to ever appreciate completely is a much more worthwhile way to engage with the world. I would rather spend my life getting to know a bottomless well than simply conquering the small bucket hanging above it (my attempt at constructing a “traditional Ghanaian” proverb. Haha!).

My time here is wrapping up far too fast. Just over 2 weeks. Damn. There will come a time, likely when I walk in the door of my apartment, when I will begin to understand part of what is going on here. There are certain perspectives that can only be gained once leaving the field, when you are no longer living in it. I just wish that I had a little more time before this happened. The exciting part is that I have a number of open doors available for me next time I come. Next time I will be able to join the Ghana National Symphony Orchestra, and I have some tentative plans to teach with a music institute that is just starting up in Accra. Who knows what the next few years will hold, but I love having the option to come back and become more involved with the art music scene here. I really like what is happening here with art music and have realized that I could actually play a role in the communities here in the years to come. We’ll see : )

The past couple of weeks have been tremendously busy… so many people to speak with all over Accra and Cape Coast. Just a couple of high points to share. I had one of the funniest things happen to me last weekend when I attended a live filming of a popular TV show here called “Talented Kidz” on TV3. I was there with a friend and a group of kids from one of the churches that I am attending here for their performance on the show. Think of it as Ghana’s version of “America’s Got Talent.” The show itself was really fun and I got to sit right next to the announcer, so every time she said something my obruni face was broadcast all over the country. The funny part though occurred afterwards when an interviewer with a camera was walking around getting perspectives on the show and predictions for the grand finale the following week. Of course they walked up to me, and I did my best to pretend like I knew what I was talking about, saying that I really enjoyed the show and thought that all of the kids on the show were incredibly talented… probably not the most insightful thing to say on a show called “Talented Kidz.” I assumed that the editors would immediately toss my interview aside. But the next day people at church informed me that they had just seen my interview on the 7:00 news!!! Haha! Bummer, dude.

Fieldwork has been tremendously fruitful over the past couple of weeks. I spent most of last week in Cape Coast following up on some previous meetings and getting together with some new faces. People are being incredibly helpful. Over the next couple of weeks I am going to get to know people in the National Symphony better and also spend some more time around a couple of churches. My family will be excited to know that I have been getting involved with the Presbyterian community here. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Ghana has a vibrant musical scene in all of its churches that I am really enjoying getting to know. And yes, Presbyterians here are just as cool as Presbyterians at home!

Ok, busy day ahead. Off to Accra for most of the day to spend some time down at the National Symphony right by the ocean. In the evening a composer is taking me to a choir rehearsal at an E.P. church where one of his pieces will be rehearsed. On tap for the rest of my time here… not quite sure yet. I definitely need to head back to Cape Coast after I get some more work done around Accra this week. This will probably be my final trip out there. After that, I am feeling the need to do a little traveling. If things wrap up around here I am considering traveling to the Northern part of the Volta Region (north of Hohoe) and possibly crossing over to Tamale right before my flight home. I have heard that this is a really beautiful part of the country and it would give me a good opportunity to do a little hiking/enjoy a more rural part of Ghana. We’ll see how time works out. If not this time, definitely next time : )

Ok, that’s all for now. Happy graduation season to all of the DePaulites. Safe travels to those hitting the road. Back again soon…

Patrick