The people I am traveling with

WORK IN PROGRESS

I went on a trip to Africa to study Ghanaian drumming. On this trip I have endured a drastically different climate with torrential rain, blackouts, and water shortages, limited food choices, and a facility that was unforgiving. However, each day when Fifi wakes me up I feel like I have enough energy to get through the rigorous schedule of drumming, dancing, long conversations about schedules and each others interests. I am fortunate to be traveling with amazing people who seemed to give generously making up for what I was lacking. This type of group is hard to find. Imagine being 6,500 miles away from home in an exotic place, learning in a new style (no notes on a page), no expectations of a finish line (no exam), you become interested in and dependent on each other. The make-up of my community for this trip is the local staff at the Video City Hotel which consists of incredible people taking care of our needs day and night, 4 patient, skilled teachers and 11 students. Together we created a community interested in each others progress, welfare and friendship.

The people I am traveling with:

royal hartigan, a full professor of music at UMass, Dartmouth, and visiting faculty at University of the Philippines, in Quezon City, Manila. Writing books, cd’s and DVD’s about world music with a focus on African and African American tradition. Recorded 3 double CD’s on Innova records. He heads the African Music and Dance program at UMass Dartmouth previously at San Jose State University (CA), and the New School in New York City. Each year he brings students and community members to Ghana. He tap dances, plays piano, drumset and composes. He leads his own group “blood drum and spirit”.









Aziz Botchway – Master drummer and dancer born in Accra, Ghana, advanced studies in drumming at University of Ghana School of Performing Arts graduated 1977. For 7 years he was guest lecturer at University of Wesleyan, Middletown, Connecticut, USA. Recorded and performed with the band Talking Drums.




Kwabena Boateng, actor, dancer, musician, historian, teacher, born in Mampong, Asanti, Ghana. Graduate of Ghana, College of Performing Arts, Institute of African Studies, Accra, Ghana, graduate 1972. He is currently a guest lecturer of Ghanaian dance and music at University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth, Ma, USA. He has held this position for the past 10 years. He lives in Springfield, Ma. USA and summers in Mampong, Ghana.



Yaw Dan Okyere is our incredible drumming and dance teacher. He was born in Mampong, Asanti, Ghana. He is presently a lead drummer with the “Drummers of the King’s Palace.” He was trained in drumming and dancing while in elementary and middle school. He is now a teacher at the local elementary, middle and high schools in the Mampong region.








THE STUDENTS
Toni Bernardo is the leading percussionist and historian for samba music in the Philippines. She plays samba and jazz in a band that tours the Philippines and other countries. She is the founder and diretora da bateria of the Escola De Samba De Manila. Her main instruments are repique, surdo, agogo, caixa, timbao, tamborin, congas, timbales, drumset. She was born and resides in Manila. Toni told me, “I don’t learn through notes. Learning is by heart.” She practices music with her band in parks, she is an incredible samba dancer, and she is a vegetarian and studies Buddhist Meditation.




Tusa Montesis was born on August 20th, in 1980 in the year of the monkey. She is a percussionist with a bachelor of music degree in musicology from the University of the Philippines College of Music, 2003. She is finishing her masters with a thesis on comparative study of indigenous music of Ghana and the Kalinga music of the Philippines. She performs Latin and ethnic percussion with various ensembles. She teaches world music at UP college of music, and the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music.




Abbie Chambers Abbie Chambers was born on June 1, 1976, in South Porcupine, Ontario, Canada. She presently resides in Westport, Ma. She graduated from UMass Dartmouth in 2002 with a BFA in Textiles. Abbie went to a Ghanaian music and dance concert in 2002 and has been dancing and drumming in the program at UMass ever since. This is her fifth trip to Ghana. She makes clothing and sells them through her business called “Moon Tide Dyers” located in New Bedford. All the clothes are original designs produced by hand in our studio in New Bedford. The studio is located in an old textile mill in New Bedford. The studio is a working factory not a store; however a few times a year they have a studio sale. She does Aerial Silks, a circus art in the Ropeworks in New Bedford.







Lauren Falabella received her BFA in sculpture from UMass Dartmouth, 2007. She resides in New Bedford, Ma and works for a local company called “Ahead Headgear.” They do embroidery and direct to garment printing on golf apparel, shirts and hats of all sorts. She started Ghanaian dancing in 2006. She studied ballet, modern, and jazz from kindergarten through high school, but has found the Ghanaian dancing to be the most expressive. She recently started a new class called Aerial Silks, a circus art in the Ropeworks in New Bedford. This is her third trip to Ghana.





Adam Willoughby received his BA in Music education and percussion performance in 2010. He has studied Ghanaian music with royal and Kwabena for 4 years. He participated in the Spartans drum and bugle corps for 2 years 2007 and 2008. Presently Adam is the director of percussion at Fitchburg high School. He lives in Fitchburg, MA.






Kevin Koteles was born in 1987. He received a bachelor of music UMass Dartmouth 2010. Percussionist whose main instrument is the drum set. He has been involved in Ghanaian music and studies for 5 years. This is his 4th trip to Ghana. Kevin teaches marching band and concert percussion for the All City Whalers School Band in New Bedford, MA. This is Kevin’s fourth trip to Ghana. He has taught drumming to children and adults with Down’s syndrome. Kevin was born and resides in Westwood, Ma.









Jennelle Marechand was born in 1987. She graduated, with a BFA, in painting from Massachusetts College of Art, 2009. She studied Ballet since she was three years old. She has been studying and performing Ghanaian dancing for one year and this is her first trip to Ghana. She has been teaching art privately. She resides in Westwood, MA.


Amelia Godzor was born in 1982 in Kopeyia Village, in the Volta Region which is located in the southeastern part of Ghana. She finished middle school and attended a hairdressing school for 2 years. She worked as a hairdresser for many years. Amelia got interested in traditional dance in middle school while studying in their cultural program and continued her studies in the local cultural center. She met Abbie Chambers while teaching traditional dance at Kopeyia’s Dagbe Cultural Centre. They have been friends ever since. She has a 5 year old boy named, Samson Agbeli. She would like to manage her own salon in Accra, and continue teaching and dancing. In her free time she enjoys singing and dancing in the Assemblies of God Church in Accra.





HOTEL STAFF



Joseph Gyimah is the General manager and owner of the Video City Hotel in Mampong, Asanti, Ghana. He was born in Accra schooled and at the Achimota Boarding School in Accra. It is a famous school considered the ‘Harvard’ boarding school of Ghana. The present and many past presidents of Ghana are alumni of that school. He moved to London to attend Middlesex University. He graduated college in 2002 with a bachelor in Business Management. He manages many properties throughout Ghana including farms, rental properties and hotels. Joe is married and has 4 children. His favorite activities include watching television but more importantly he loves to direct independent films. Twice a year Jo visits Virginia to see his family.







Afia Acheampomaa (achiumpuma) is the receptionist and all around ‘get it done person’ at the Video City Hotel since November 2009. Afia was born, June 29, 1989 and lived in Mampong until March 2009 when she moved to Accra. She is a graduate of the Amaniampong Sr. High School in 2008. She would like to go to teachers college and train to be a middle school math teacher. Her favorite thing to do is to sing in church. She also likes football (soccer).

Josephine Ackomah was born in 1976 in Takordi, Ghana. She graduated Nsein High and vocational training school Home Economics, she graduated in 1994. She worked as a cook for many lumber companies, B.R.M in Cape Coast, Samartex in Assarkragua area, Ghana Prime wood in Takordi, Ghana. She travelled to Lebanon for employment cooking for her boss for 2 months. There she learned about Middle Eastern cuisine. Then she cooked for the American company called Wyoming, a gold mining company in the Eastern Region. In July of 2010 Josephine started working at the Video City Hotel and lives in Mampong. Her favorite thing to do is read cookbooks, cook and eat. Some of the local recipes she made for us are , Foofoo, Redred, Kotomire (Swisschard with beans), nketsinkwan (ground nut soup), Banku (okra stew), circle bread with Zaatar, cowpea (bean balls), steamed Yam, fried Yam, Yam Shepard Pie, Plantain, Samosa, spring rolls, corn soup, cauliflower soup and great rice. And lots of delicious food from the kitchen staff was made with love.









Florence Adwoa Serwaa is the assistant chef at the Video City Hotel. She was born in the Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and Africa. She was an apprentice cook in Accra and makes batik material. She is a mom to her 15 year old daughter Akua. Her favorite thing to do is Sing.

Mercy Arthur is an assistant chef at the Video City Hotel in Mampong. She was born in 1981 and raised in Takoradi, Ghana. She graduated Jr. High School 1993 and then attended vocational school to study Home Economics and graduated in 1999. She presently lives in Mampong. She would like to travel to Germany. She loves watching action films and playing tennis.

Appiah Paul was born 1992 in Mampong, Asanti, Ghana. He graduated middle school in 2008. In February 2010 Appiah started working as an all around hotel staff at the Video City Hotel in Mampong. He works 7 days a week. He has no time to visit his family. Appiah is saving money for the fees for high school however he sends his family money every week. Appiah would like to study computer sciences when he continues his education. If he had the day off tomorrow he said, “I would see my mom and then go play drums”. He likes music. He likes working at the hotel.

Fifi
Bio forthcoming


Adjei James was born May 6th 1983 in the town of Mampong, Asanti, Ghana. Graduated Junior high (1999) and completed two years of senior high (2001, 18 years of age). He started working as a cobbler for one and a half years. At 19 1/2 he traveled to Accra to work at a filing station that did auto repairs. At 20 years old he returned to Mampong and started his job as bartender, chamber maid for the mornings, mow lawns and general maintenance. He has been here for 8 months. On his free time he plays football (soccer). He has a daughter in Mampong; unfortunately his relationship with the mom did not work out. But he spends time with her whenever he can. He would like to sell clothing and start a business in Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana.

Amaniampong Sr. High School, Mampong, Asanti, Ghana

The Ninth photo is of the Assistant Head Master Mr. Baba.

The eighth photo is of the building for the science classrooms

The seventh picture is an 11th grade English class

The Sixth picture is the boys dormitory for boarding student

The fifth picture is the cafeteria.

The fourth picture is of the new dormitory.

The Third picture is of Daniel Quarshie. He is the head of ICT the equivalent of our Derek Stevens. He desperately needs updated computers and INTERNET.

The second picture is of Charles Baidoo assistant head of ICT department

The first picture is of Raymond Oppong Teaching Assistant.(ICT dept)

I miss you all so much
love from Ms. Brown

Tuesday June 8th 2010

The photos below were taken from the roof of the Video City Hotel, Mampong, Asanti, Ghana, Africa.


"Up On The Roof" a hit song by the Drifters
(written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King)

"When this old world starts getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face
I climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space
On the roof, it's peaceful as can be
And there the world below can't bother me
Let me tell you now
When I come home feelin' tired and beat
I go up where the air is fresh and sweet (up on the roof)
I get away from the hustling crowd
And all that rat-race noise down in the street (up on the roof)
On the roof, the only place I know
Where you just have to wish to make it so
Let's go up on the roof (up on the roof)
















For many days we have had no access to internet.

Sunday was a down day. I finished my book, organized the photos and videos that are saved in this computer, washed clothes and went for walks.

The hotel we are staying at is called Video City Hotel. It was built in the 70's by the present owners father. There is a movie house adjacent to the hotel. It is a cavernous room with large paintings that look like posters of old movies and movie stars. Nowadays, the movie house is used to watch sports events like the upcoming World Cup. Ghana's team, The Black Stars, have a very good chance of wining. Sunday evening we sat in this indoor movie stadium and watched a Chris Rock movie about reincarnation(sorry I forgot the name). It was hysterical.

The hotel is on 5 or 6 acres. The owner and manager are thinking of ways to update the facility, create food and flower gardens, and attract more clients. It is situated in a lovely section of the town that is very green and near all the hustle and bustle of the market place.
I had a brainstorming session with them. We thought of visual art courses, music, culinary, marketing, ecology classes that could come to study the environment and suggest green solutions for their problems.

I met with the assistant head master, Mr. Baba, of the Amaniapong high school. I am visiting the school tomorrow. "The students are excited to meet you as you are to meet them", said Mr. Baba. More about that tomorrow.

I miss you all so much. I have learned some great dance steps. There is an opportunity for a GLCPS group to join other dancers studying Ghanaian dancing and drumming in our home town to learn Gahu and Kete.

Asomdwie (peace)
XO
Ms. Brown
P.S. Ms. Gamboa you will love the amazing cloth I am bringing home for our future quilts.

Kete drumming at Funeral in Kwaman, Ghana

Wednesday
Market day, early morning lessons, shopping, and Aziz’s birthday.



There were lessons in the morning.

Wednesday was very hot, walking through the market you felt as if the sun was everywhere. Market day takes over the streets of Mampong. It is vey colorful and noisy.

In the late afternoon I was preparing to go to the internet café but because of the rain it was closed. The merchants along the streets folded their wares into large plastic sheets and plastic tubs and put them on top of their heads and headed for shelter. Everyone here carries their shopping or merchandise on their heads. Often you see women carrying babies on their backs and huge boxes or pails on their heads.



By evening there had already been two blackouts. Not a good night to be wandering around Mampong, even with a flashlight. I am concerned that there will be another blackout or worse a torrential down pour.

I stayed at the hotel and read. I am reading a fabulous book called “Comfort me with Apples” by Ruth Reichl. She is a food critic and journalist and she writes great books that are autobiographical that include recipes. The first book in the series is called “Tender at the Bone”. It was excellent. In that book she writes about her youth and how she became a foodie. The second book, which I am reading now, describes her marriage, loves, interesting food assignments she researched, her travel to china, how she became a famous journalist, and more about her family.


I have great pictures of market day but I am having difficulty uploading them. I will try the glcps website.



I miss everyone.

Tuesday

Tuesday
June 1, 2010

A Jew and a Philipino are walking down the dirt road to the market in Mampong, Ghana and a local calls out “Obrani, et te say?” I should answer, Me hoy ye, but inevitably I answer in English. “I’m fine and you?” ….no this is not the beginning of a bad joke. The translation of ‘obrani’ is white. In this usage it’s like calling out ‘whitey’ or white one, how are you? My friend Toni (from Manilla, Philippines) and I were discussing how in most other cultures we would be perceived independently, an Asian and a white person. This was not derogatory at all. Clearly, we stood out in the throng of students, shoppers and merchants as a curiosity and surprise. People wanted to say hi and welcome us to the village.





We had a drumming lesson until 12. Yaw, our teacher, had to take the afternoon off. After lunch I went to find a special treat for Abbie for her birthday. I found a liquor shop in town and bought 3 bottles of Spanish white wine. I asked the kitchen staff to chill them. We had a great dinner complete with a home made birthday cake and wine. We all made Abbie feel that her 38th birthday was a special day even though she was far from her family and friends at home.


Drumming and dancing is part of the genetic structure of Ghana. In the area we are staying in, the families and merchants often pass by and stop to watch, listen or dance while we practice. Sometimes a local will smile at one of us, it’s a smile of approval Sometimes they will stare at you and motion to watch their arms as they show you where your rhythm should line up, helping you to get back into the right groove. If a local raises their right hand and shakes two fingers towards you that means they like your playing and send you a blessing.

The people of Mampong are very proud of the fact that we are here studying their culture. In the afternoon royal sets up the Kete drums for Tusa and I to review Gahu rhythms. In the different regions of Ghana there are different sets of drums associated with their rhythms. It is almost sacrilegious and pretty odd, to play one region’s rhythms on another region’s drums. If a local stopped to listen for a moment we would stop playing to explain that we didn’t have Ewe drums here and were substituting the Ashanti drums for the purposes of study only. It is moments like these that having English as a common language is helpful.

In Mampong, the weather has many personalities. Saying its hot today is not descriptive enough. The heat can feel warm with a light breeze that seems to cancel the heat. It’s like that New Bedford, 3PM breeze that cools off a summer day. Tuesday morning, during one of our 3 hour dance lessons, I finished 1.5 litres of water before noon, the heat that morning was felt inside my body. By mid afternoon the air in Mampong became heavy and humid. My clothes were stuck to my body and I needed to sit down. A few of us sat under a tin roofed area and shared cold beverages. We cannot put ice in our drinks. Ice is made with tap water that is not boiled. This water is forbidden to a traveler it would be deleterious to our health.

The sky looked angry and began to slowly take over above us. The rain started beating down on the roof in a biblical way. Nearby roof gutters were gushing with water That smacked the ground as it splashed onto the ground. The percussive rhythms of this storm seemed to tell a story. The flowing water over the red earth street made small rivers that meandered around existing pot holes. Pot holes in desperate need of earth filled with water creating red mud baths.

This lasted most of the afternoon. The internet and electricity were down for the evening. Generators were switched on at the hotel but the city was black.

Kete at Funeral in Kwaman

dancing in the middle of the street for the entire town.


Saturday May 29 Today we were invited to play at a local funeral in KWAMAN ASHANTI.
"Summer here's and the time is right for dancin' in the streets." If the image that have I just uploaded ever uploads you will see me dancing in the street of Kwaman with beautiful women dresses in red and black for the funeral that we were invited to play and dance at. All funerals in Ghana are an opportunity for the townspeople to come into the streets play music dance and eat together. It was a blast.

I am studying with some hard core musicians a dancers. We're up by 6:30.We eat breakfast at 7 and start studying by 9. we work until 12. Lunch at 12:30, back to the studies at 1:30/2 we work until 5. Dinner is around 6/6:30. I spend evenings writing, hand washing some clothes, or chatting with friends here. I have been to a local restaurant called The simple store. They have some cold drinks and snacks.

Sunday the 30th was a down day. I was awakened by the yelling of hallelujah outside my window. A church rents the yard of the hotel for Sunday morning inspirational meetings. I never knew how loud these tent events were; microphones, electric piano, and singing. So instead of 6:30 wake-up I tried to sleep until 8 instead. I was not successful.

We went to market. The town was mostly shut down for the sabbath but enough stores were open for us to by the things we left behind, soap, flip flops, towels, comb, I even found a baker and bought some muffins for tea. The walk around town was interesting. I will try to upload some photos. There are no sidewalks and the roads are a red clay mixed with occasional paving. There are many pot holes everywhere. Ghanaian money is called Ceedees and are valued at 1.41 CD to the American dollar. that a great rate of exchange almost half again. Things are very inexpensive here too.




Monday may 31,

Early lesson mostly drumming Kete today. I played Dawuro (bells)and Apentemma (middle sized drum played with your hands not sticks) . the Dawuro plays a rhythmic pattern that almost never varies. one has to listen to the Big master drum for any changes. When you dance it is the same. The movements are prescribed but hyou do not know whne to do them. You dance a certain step together in a circle or line until the master drum calls out the rhythm that goes with the change of step. it's very improvisational even though you know the changes you don't know when there coming. You have to really listen. there are cues that come just before the changes are called out from the master drum.
Fitting the rhythm of the Apentemma drum(voice) over the Dawuro was hard aty first,. you have to wait until you really feel the rhythm of the dawuro and know where your voice fits inside that rhythm. Then you play it so many times you begin to feel very inside your own rhythm comfortably and then you can begin to hear all the voices(drums rhythms) around you together and not get confused. It's very powerful (emotional).




Kwabena, a dancer, worked with me on just arm movements today.
It is important to learn where the hands should be in realtionship to each other and that they move with your feet. you have to listen very carefully to know when to start the pattern. More to come about dancing.

Da yie
Goodnight 9:45 Ghana time

Ms. Brown

The music: Prior to this trip royal hartigan (insists that the spelling of his name be in lower case) started teaching me Gahu Rhythms of the Ewe people of Ghana. A quote from royal’s book on West African Rhythms for Drumset, chapter 3, “Gahu is recreational dance music of the Ewe people of West Africa. It is played at social occasions as a way for people to get acquainted with each other. Drum, bells, and rattle s make up the Gahu ensemble, each with its own voice, like different people.” He started teaching me the rhythm for metal double bell called GANKOGUI. It is made up of a large bell attached to a small bell. Like a mother and child. All the dancers and drummers rely on this steady beat. It is the main rhythm of the ensemble much like a time signature and metronome would be for an instrumentalist reading a score or a clave rhythm in a Latin band. However, Ewe music is traditionally taught by listening and imitating. The master drummer plays it and might demonstrate how the drum rhythm fits into the bell rhythm. It is only written down on staff paper, we call this transcribing, by musicians and ethnomusicologists trained at universities and conservatories.

The Bell rhythm (for all the good music theory students at GLCPS) is called Large bell “TIN” and the small sound “GO” You can think of this in 4/4 time. (Play the syllables only on the notes NOT the rests.
"Tin" "Go"
dotted eighthnote sixteenthnote
(Beat One)


"GO"
eighth rest eightnote
(Beat Two)
"Go"
eighthrest eighthnote
(Beat three)


"Go"
eighth rest eighth note.
(BEAT FOUR)


this one measure repeats a lot.

Try writing the rhythm on manuscript paper. The paper is located in a box under my phone in the music room. Mr. Steele can help you get started. It is only one measure of music in 4/4 time. Use a bottom space #1 for the lower pitch bell “tin” and the top space #4 for the higher pitch “go”.

Practice the rhythm.

Akwaaba- Welcome (to Ghana)

7:40 Am Accra time, 3:40 AM in New Bedford Thursday May 27, we arrived after 10 hours and 55 minutes, as scheduled, in Accra. The door at the rear of the plane opened, lucky me, I was the first passenger outside. I took my sweatshirt (the plane was cold) off immediately. The air was so warm. The airport was small, luggage came quickly and customs was painless. We met Kwabena and our driver and quickly packed the van. Oh, we used the bathroom in the terminal. We were warned that the drive to Mampong was very long and that there were very few official places to stop. My bladder is small. I visualized my four rolls of toilet paper in my luggage. Thanks to the creator of all things, my luggage was on the top of the pile in the trunk space.

I will insert pictures of the trip north. (so far having trouble with this function) Our first stop was the New Haven Hotel in Accra for breakfast. I ate Abbie’s avocado. I tried the local egg and compared it to the two we had left from the states. I’ll show you the picture.(sorry can't upload image) The yolks here are white.
The 6 hour drive. There were towns, markets, merchants, some chubby women in local garb, merchants men and women selling foods and wares balanced on their heads, huge pot holes, the paved roads that turned into dirt and rocky roads then paved again.
The mountains in the distance got larger until finally we ascended into them. The palette started grey, dusty, filled with billboards, urban browns turning into lush green as we went north. The shanty towns morphed into communities with painted pink and blue entrances, mosques that make the landscape look Middle Eastern with minarets and Arabic writing. Christian communities with inviting billboards; “The Doorway to Heaven”, “El Shaddai”, this one freaked me out, it’s a Hebrew name for God, and many others with the words, hope, love, Beth El, etc. Chubbiness is a sign of wealth in Africa, even if it is just an appearance. Get this; to be called “fat” is a compliment. I can dig this.

We had the windows open the entire trip; 6 hours. Try it sometime. We survived the bumpy noisy trip. My hair didn’t. Amazingly the four tires and brakes did too. The town of Mampong looked larger and more coherent as a town than many of the little roadside communities we passed on the journey. There are no sidewalks, the perimeter of the dusty roads in the center of town have huge water aqueducts that are big enough to fall through as well as deep and they have no covers or grates. There are 3 hotels in this town. I guess these are for the traveling guests to a local wedding or celebration. Why else? Also, the Video City Hotel, the one I am staying at, is attached to a cinema. It is not used much these days. The property is run by a man named Joe whose Ghanaian wife lives and works in Virginia. He is in his 30’s , handsome and very smart. He is often frustrated with the Ghanaian Government. His complaints about the government here sound very similar to the complaints that many people in the states have about our government. It could be worse. Here corruption has denied people clean water systems, electricity (it doesn’t always stay on because it’s parts are old and not updated), and health care for serious illness. So where do there tax dollars go? Hmmmmmm I will try to keep politics out of the blog. But it’s complicated. It is tangled up in the life and music of Ghana.

day 1 continued

We had a five hour layover in NY. Sitting in or near an airport was not the ideal place to spend 5 hours. I convinced two young ladies to take the Airbus, the A train and the S train to Far Rockaway Beach, B116 to be exact. We arrived 1 hour later on a very crowded S train; it seemed like all the high schools emptied out onto our S train. We found a deli, bought some sandwiches, chips and cold drinks and proceeded to the beach area. We found a table shaded by an umbrella advertising some local goodies by one of those great smelling everything fried beach stands. I resisted the soft serve even though I knew I wouldn’t see ice cream where I was going, definitely not soft serve.

We enjoyed getting to know each other, Lauren, Abbie, and me. We noticed it was 3PM. We were taking an international flight, this means you need to arrive 2 hours earlier than departure. Do the math, it was 3, it took an hour to get to Far Rockaway and our flight was scheduled to leave at 4:45PM back at JFK. Hmmmmmmm. We had definitely lost track of time. Airports run on time. Subways do not. There was a little anxiety building as we waited, seated on the train, 15 minutes for the S train to move out of the track. Another 15 minute wait, this time on the hot platform at Broad Channel for the A to Howard Beach, and another wait for the Airbus to terminal 3. The city subway system had let me down so many times in my previous life in New York, depending on it as my mode of transportation as a commuter was crazy. But now I was a tourist, showing off NYC, this shouldn’t be happening. Abbie used her phone internet to find the gate number and we raced through the corridors to the security check point. Oh My Goodness. There were about 100 people waiting to go through security. It was now 4PM; I had a boarding pass without an assigned seat. We found an official looking Delta airlines person and ended up on the special line. We were certainly special.
As I ran to the gate my mind was flooded with spiritual questions. How does one explain the fact that we can get a JFK terminal map, in seconds, displayed on our phones while sitting on a subway and the New York City subway system has never run on a schedule? Was this an omen from Africa? What did it mean? Was I experiencing a premonition from the world I was about to visit? I have to pee, where’s the nearest bathroom? Gate 4, we made it. I waited at the ticketing desk and a gentle soft spoken Ghanaian man told me not to worry, go to the bathroom. He couldn’t give me a seat yet. Should I be concerned? I took a deep breath. I went to pee?

Professor hartigan told me that earlier, when he was in the men’s room, he heard my name paged and ran out to the desk to tell them I was in the terminal. I can hardly comprehend the names coming out of the speakers in an airport. Amazing to be traveling with musicians, they hear all sorts of things. The flight didn’t finish boarding until after 5PM. We sat, closed in in the plane, at the gate for an hour before we taxied to the runway. Everything was late; I soon learned that this was Ghana time.

The cool seats in a jet are the seats in the exit door rows. They are more spacious. Those are the first to get reserved. I had the last seat in the rear of the jet. I think it was 54F, against the bathroom wall, on the aisle. I was able to take cat naps but didn’t ever feel rested. I watched a bittersweet romance called Dear John. I had nothing but time to waste, don’t waste yours. I won for having the most interesting neighbor on the plane, a Ghanaian woman, my age with a similar personal story. She raised 4 boys. She moved to No. Carolina part time 4 years ago and now makes her home there. She imports clothing and has traveled all over the map. We had so much to share. Honestly, her stories are incredible anyone of them would make a good book, especially the one that takes place at the start of the revolution, fleeing Liberia with two young boys, besieged by gunshots. I will call her while I am in Ghana and possibly we’ll see each other again in Accra before I return to the states. I will definitely invite her to visit New Bedford. I would love for her to meet our students.

Too bad I am having trouble uploading great photos.
Next entry immediately follows.
All the best, Ms. Brown

The trip begins

5/25 Wednesday

We left Boston for the first leg of out trip missing one member of our group. He had not paid for his visa to be expedited. This is a choice option on the check off. According to his friends, he also procrastinated and mailed the application very late. The day of the trip NO PASSPORT! After many phone calls to the embassy and post offices he found out that his visa was already in the mail but traveling by camel. Oh, also the camel was headed for Shrewsbury MA. The earliest he could pick up his visa was at 9 or 10 AM. He was not going to make the first flight Boston to NY with the group, check in was 9:15 for a 10:15 flight. What an incredible ‘supermom to the rescue moment’, she put on her cape and schlepped to Shrewsbury and then to New York for a 4:45PM boarding of the second flight to Accra. By the way the accent is on the ‘cra’ the second syllable of Accra. Oh, she then had to drive back home to Fitchburg, MA. What a mom. That was my first encounter with Adam.

Logan Airport

Good Morning GLCPS,

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lDNFnfSkH7E

Check out the Gahu dancing, singing and drumming. This is the study I am taking with royal hartigan the professor of world music at Umass Dartmouth. Hey I found my hips!
This video is in place of the Music in the Morning for today.
I miss you all.

Mrs. Brown

got the sun in the mornin' and the moon at night, got my visa.

Monday my visa returned to the post office after 5PM. They called me on my cell phone and told me to come to the downtown station and that they would open the window for me. Hooray, finally got my visa.

It is midnight, I am packed but too excited to sleep yet. I am leaving at 5:15AM to pick up Professor Hartigan. My son Meyer is driving us to Logan airport. Right now it is 4:13 AM in Accra, Ghana and 12:13 AM here. What is the time difference?

Visa in sight

Today I stopped at my house for a quick errand and check for the Visa's arrival. The mailperson had already delivered the mail. I found a slip of paper they left that requested my signature and the possibility that my package (visa) will arrive at my house in the next two days. OH NO!

I made it to the Post Office to gievthem my story, I'll be traveling to airport 5am yada yada...
They will open the office for me after hours, when the mail people have returned with the indelivered mail. PHEW! Yhey will open the post office for me, oh my.

Update this afternoon.
Wish me luck.

Where in the world is my Visa?

This is scarey. I am leaving for Ghana in 5 days. I do not have my visa yet. In the package with my application was my passport too.

The members of this trip are meeting for dinner Saturday evening. My son Meyer will be driving Royal and I to the airport Wednesday morning at 6:30 AM.

Here is the wiki website for Ghana. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghana
This is how you say hello in Ghana. I haven't learned yet which of the 3 Ghanaian dialects below is the one used in mampong-ashanti.
There 3 languages are spoken in Ghana, Twi ( pronounced ch-wee), Ghanaian and a little bit of English.

Ghana
Twi: ete-sen
Ga: meeng-gah-bou (spoken in the capital Accra)
Hausa: sannu (spoken in northern Ghana)
English: Hello

Common Twi phrases. http://wikitravel.org/en/Twi

Da Yie,
Mrs. Brown

Today I heard about drums for sale from my newest friend from Ghana, Koblavi.
I met him last week at the Zeiterion theatre in New Bedford, MA, USA. He was performing authentic dance and percussion with the UMASS Dartmouth African Drumming and Dance Group led by Kwebana and Royal Hartigan.
He is presently a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, USA. Since I will be travleing to Ghana on May 26 with a group to study dance and drumming and purchase drums for my classroom he recommended http://universaldrums.com/. I have contacted them to make an appointment to see the drums.
I will be staying at the Video City Hotel in Mampong town, Ashante Region, Ghana, West Africa. One of the members of the trip is from Ghana. He is an amazing dancer and teacher. His name is Kwabena. The hotal number - 011 233 561 22676 - was given to me but it was mentioned that that was the number they used last year. I don't know if that is still correct. I tried researching the hotel in the Ghana Yellow pages and couldn't find the listing. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/telephone_directory/drilldownlistings.php?tlink=home&nxTen=7&Page=80&Catname=17&ec1=2&lc=345&name=

These are ewe drums. I am planning on purchsing a set or two in Ghana.

Trouble with Visas

It seems that the Ghana Embassy raised its rates for an expedited visa on May 1, 2010. According to the website the students, from UMASSD, and I used the fee had not been updated and was listed at $80.00. All of our applications were returned to us with a week or less to the departure date. Professor Royal Hartigan called me today very concerned. I remailed the application (in quadruplicate) with a new money order Saturday May 14. The students/other attendees have hopefully responded quickly as well. I am thinking positively.

What I had to do to get ready

I will be traveling to Mampong-Ashanti, Ghana, Africa, for a three week intensive music program studying drumming and Dance. I will be traveling with music students from Umass Dartmouth, professor Royal Hartigan and the African Dance instructor Kwabena Boateng.
To prepare for this trip I went to a medical center to get the recommended vaccinations for a trip to Ghana. Hepatitus A, Hepatitus B, Polio, Typhoid, Tdap(Tetanus, Dpitheria, Whooping Cough(pertussis), Yellow Fever was mandatory. To visit Ghana one needs a visa. This is application is like asking the government for permission to visit. I corresponded with The Embassy of Ghana, 3512 International Dr. , Washington, D.C. 20008. The website for the embassy has interesting information http://www.ghana-embassy.org/. I am flying on Delta airlines,Wednesday May 26, from Boston departing, 10:15 arrive NY 11:33 Am for a connecting flight to Accra, Ghana departing 4:45 PM then arriving Accra Thursday at 7:40 AM. in preparation for the trip I am shopping for lightweight clothes and special medicines that I will need.

Map of Africa