July 21

This morning was a private drum lesson with Oko and it was worth every penny. He is such and indepth teacher who really emphisises the importance of technique. He observed that I must play djembe, which was flattering that he recognized my skills, but he then said that Panlogo was a completely different set of techniques and that I was going to have to relearn everything.

                We had our “performance” with the Akrowa Ensemble today. Some of the group were nervous about the idea of performing something we had only practiced twice, but once we got going we realized that it was very different from a performance back home. Music is a community participation event where everyone does something and nobody just watches. They wanted us to participate, not just watch, so they gave us the tools to participate with.

                

Kokrobite is a flocking ground for visual and performing artists. They are all used to interacting with tourists and we have made many friends here. However, I have yet to be approached by and extremely friendly women. I guess they are all too busy. The fisherman community is still very active here. Each morning they haul themselves out past the surf on their hollowed out canoes using long ropes anchored somewhere out past the surf break. There is music for hauling and for paddling, but especially for hauling the boat back to the beach, which is likely the hardest job. This is where the panlogo song originated. The women sit on the beach when the catch comes in and sort and clean the fish. I would have liked to interview a fisherman or a fisherman’s wife, but I don’t feel right interrupting their work. All of the boats lining the beach have names painted on them in bright colors, but all of the names are in English. I am going to guess that the custom of christening a boat is a British innovation.

                The village itself is an interesting sight. There is a vast difference from the main stretch with its resort and a few restaurants, and the local residents. But across the board the streets are cleaner, the houses are larger and sturdier looking than the neighborhoods we saw in Accra. You can also see large buildings along the beach and up onto the hill, which would indicate that wealthy people at least own property here, of not reside here permanently. I wonder if the majority are owned by Ghanaians for foreigners?