Fufu and fingers

Hello Everyone,

I am tired tonight! It has been a very busy week.

Michael brought my drums to the university today. I bought three beautifully carved mahogany Kpanlogo drums and 2 djembes. I have rarely seen drums of this quality in the US! My xylophones are supposed to be ready tomorrow…

There was a program today with the German music students from the University in Hanover. They have been here for two weeks studying drumming, dancing, and xylophone. They are music education students, and many are string players, so they have been playing with the university string ensemble along with the Ghanaian students. In addition to African drumming and dance, they performed a German pop song a cappella, and finished with a traditional Irish song.

The song was a setting of the Traditional Irish Blessing: “May the road rise up to meet you…and may God hold you in the palm of his hand until we meet again.” How is that for the power of music to unite cultures – a group of German students singing an Irish blessing in English in Ghana – on St. Patrick’s Day no less!

Today I tried a dish called fufu. We really have nothing like it in the US. It is made with ground cassava and plantains that are mashed together in to a large lump. It is a bit like mashed potatoes except with a much thicker consistency. It came in a big bowl with a very spicy peanut soup. They brought two small containers of water and a pitcher to the table for me to wash my hands in...I asked Aaron where the spoons were and he smiled and said…”No, no, you eat it with your hands –like this”…as he demonstrated the proper technique in the air. It was good – definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me!

My xylophone lesson today went very well. Yesterday it seemed as though my brain was not working, but today both of us enjoyed ourselves quite a lot. I have learned two songs and their variations so Aaron and I are able to play together. I am looking forward to having time to practice this instrument at home.

This afternoon after lunch Michael and worked on the master drumming part to Kpanlogo some more…My hands are sore tonight – so much drumming this week!

I will have a quiet evening tonight…I want to transcribe the video recording of my lessons before tomorrow.

Cheers,

Patrick