Aug 8

Today I spoke to a teenaged girl named Precious about the experience of going to school in Ghana. I’ll go back tomorrow and ask her a few more questions to fill out the interview.

Another funeral today. Or rather, the second funeral for the same death. I tried to sit with Tashi, Kwasi’s wife. She didn’t speak enough English to give a proper interview, but she did answer basic questions. She sat amoung the women and sang along with the songs she knew. Once in a while a friend would get her up to dance, and she would, pulling me up with her. She explained some of the proceedings to me, especially the initiating of new memebers. Tomorrow is her daughter’s wedding, and she seems so calm and settled here singing and dancing

Today we also went to Jogage, which is Kwasi’s mather’s village. We joined the procession of dancers which were lead by our teacher aids, Kofi and Oliver. I walked with Kwasi and he pointed to a trail of water marks where liabation had been poured. We arrived at a palm branch awning with several elders sitting under it. Kwasi took my hand and told me to follow him exactly. He lead us around the circle and shook hands with each of the elders. Greetings and formalities are very important here and I have shaken hands with more people in the last few days then I can keep track of. There was a long formal litany of introductions and pouring of liabation.

Then the dance began. Kofi and Oliver were in the center of the performance, Oliver as lead dancer and Kofi as lead drummer. There were 4 young boys in the dance troop, and I could tell by the look on Oliver’s face when they danced that they were his students. I know that look very well. Kofi was in his element. Part way through the performance, his hand split open and he didn’t notice.