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