Drumming, Dancing, Dungeons and Dinosaurs

Hello.

So I havent written since friday so there is a bit to catch up on as its monday afternoon now. I will try to remember. Friday night I think I went to bed pretty early because I was so wrecked from my day at Kakum. Played some games with the kids though and we did all the hand clapping stuff which was fun (apple on a stick etc) Mama T is such a bossy bitch and whenever sofia tries to join in with me she likes slaps her and growls stuff in fanti! Its so mean. She just likes to be the centre of attention and is definitely her mothers daughter.

Saturday woke up and went to Assasipa (where the asanti guys rehearse) and practiced there. The rest of the day was spent wandering around with Abe. I told the guys at ashanti that kookua was a bit of a control freak and I was feeling quite suffocated so when abe came home with me they ended up having a conversation about my safety etc but how they had to give me my space as well. She has toned it down a lot since then. Kookua made fufu that afternoon and I had a go at making it (involves pounding with a massive stick) and everyone stood around rather amused at my style. The fufu was awesome though and we had it with chunks of meat, big whole crabs and fish. Oh Ya Day (Tastes good) I am learning a lot more of the local language now and its really nice when you walk along the street and the people realise you speak a bit of fanti..They are always really smiley and happy about it, suprised that an ubruni has bothered i guess. It's nice. I sometimes get over being a novelty though its like with many of the people here Im always a bit of a joke. However its usually all in good humour really, Im just over sensitive. its definitely good to have abe and koffi around because those guys are just normal and I can be myself and not feel like they are looking at me i like I am some amusing foreign creature. Anyway Saturday night came home and ended up finally having an in depth religion discussion (I knew it was coming considering how hardcore christian the bigger towns in ghana are) The conversation was quite uncomfortable at times because I just didnt even want to tell him some stuff and just leave him to be ignorant. I have always thought that this concept of 'truth' is one of the most important things ever and everyone deserves to be informed and live honestly. But what is honesty and truth at the end of the day? Everyone twists and turns it to suit their owns lives and everyone lives in some form of dilusion. If it isnt hurting anybody then just let it go. These people really dont have much here and who am I to take away their faith if thats something which makes them happy. Its very easy to be philosphical and righteous when you are sitting on your leather couch at home eating a beautiful meal before popping off to your queen size bed and fluffy pillows. I wouldnt want to be told I have complete individual control over my life if all I could allow myself to think about every day was that I made enough money to feed the kids. Existentialism doesn't come cheap. Anyway I was still going to answer truthfully about what I thought about the bible and religion in general, credit to him, the pastor did listen to what I had to say and the discussion was perfectly mature. When he was saying that gay people were wrong and stuff though I started to get quite shitty, he thinks Im a lezbian now Im sure of it. haha cherry on the cake was when I asked him about where he thinks dinosaurs came from if adam and eve were the first people on earth...he hadnt even heard of dinosaurs! Ahh...even in a lot of the bookshops here 60 percent of the store is full of books on god and christianity, so what do you expect? Anyway I now have the local pastors intent on 'saving me' and keeps giving me little pamphlets and stuff about the path to righteousness etc. Im the ubrunni devil child. Anyway that night Kookua takes me down to this little bar tucked away behind some trees near our place. As soon as we got there she saw some friends and I was stuck with some really old sweaty ghanian man who kept hugging me and talking/slurring extremely loudly. I left very soon after that and went home. Abe came over later and we went out. Went to his house first and watched some more ghanian tv which was like some dating reality show (my speciality) which I really didnt understand. They definitely need to look into a ghanian Date My Mom. Later we ended up going to this place called Oasis which is like a big bar/hotel where lots of ubrunnis stay. Had a few drinks at the bar and ended up meeting this little rasta (farian) xylephone player who was some of Abes friends, we smoked a joint with him on the beach and then had a bit of a dance upstairs under a blue light to some regaae music. One of the asanti guys had a motorcycle so me and abe hoped on the back of that and got a lift home after (sorry mum!) Abe is basically my ghana boyfriend at the moment and we hold hands and stuff..aww cute! haha hes a great guy though.

Sunday morning I got up and had to go to church with Kookua and mama t. I thought it might be a bit exciting like black gospel people singing and shit so agreed to go along. Kookua made me wear this really ugly bright orange long sleeve thing, full decked out in african gear with matching headband, I looked like such a douche. It was so hot, I hadnt had much sleep and they kept buring incense throughout most of the service. I nearly chucked. I came home after it and went to sleep for a few hours then felt much better. Never again though. That afternoon I got up and decided to go check out Cape Coast Castle. It was converted into a castle by the dutch and british in the 1600's or something when they realised that the coast was full of gold and had vast trading opportunities. Anyway they did heaps of shit there but later on it was a significant port for the capture and trade of african slaves. Had a guided tour which was very intense and we went down into the male and female dungeons as well as the confinement cell. It was really disturbing seeing how small and dark these areas were and to hear the stories, the size of an average living room filled with like 200 people who had to sleep chained together amongst their faeces. The confinement cell was the scariest. That was where if one of the slaves who was slightly rebelious would be taken. No air, water, food or light, and left to rott. It was so extreme to just stand in that dark room and feel the walls and the pain of hundreds of people so many years ago. The way these people were treated was disgusting and disturbing. Anyway on a lighter note the tour guide was a pervert ha. Came home that night and watched Nesta climb a massive tree and get a paw paw from the top! It was kool as. He talks much more now and is quite outgoing. I realised the other day why he doesnt talk much though - he is shit as at english and half the time I dont think he knows what Im saying! But anyway I started feeling really homesick though, as I said felt over being a novelty and felt lonely and sad. Missed everyone especially my family and yeah just ended up having a big cry. Kookua was nice about it and conforted me. Its only been a week as well haha! I think I will definitely have more moments like that over the rest of my trip but majority of the time I am very happy. its only natural especially being alone. The place is so foreign and sometimes your just like fuck I want to be home watching mtv and eating potato salad and charcoal chicken chips. Anyway Abe came over again last night and we went to see that little rasta man alex from saturday perform in his drumming and dance troup. They are just like asanti and were doing a performance at this open bar area. It was very good. They have these friken awesome bugs here which I saw when we were walking home. They are like tiny fire flies but they hang out in long grass. So when you look out they all flash on and off moving around in the grass like fairy lights!! I was excited as seeing them and it was really pretty. I want to go check them out again tonight.

Today is Monday and was supposed to be my last day here in Cape Coast. Couldnt concentrate today at practice and I decided i wanted to stay another day so I could perfect both the dance and the drumming of the Cuckoo (?) before I leave. Have to do a performance for the troup tommorow as my graduation day! ahh. Anyway that's really all I can think of to say so I will sign off for now. Love you all please send more emails or leave a comment! xxx