jeahart

So early last week, when we were at the La Drivers’ Union offices, we were told that their PorPor Group would be playing on Wednesday and that I would be welcome to attend.  What is a PorPor Group, one might ask?  Well, it’s not just “a” PorPor group, it’s the PorPor Group—the only one in the world.  Why so unique?  “PorPor” is an onomatopoeic word that refers to the old car horns that were used during the colonial and early postcolonial period.  The sound they make is somewhat like “porpor” (you have to hear it for it to make complete sense, I think).  This group—a musical group—mixes car horns with traditional drums and singing to perform a unique type of music.  It is associated with the La Drivers’ Union and originated from practices of drivers who would bang tire rims, tire pumps, and blow car horns to keep away animals when they busted a tire or their car broke down in rural areas.  Today, of course, the car horns are no longer in use, since cars now come with their own horns built-in (the old ones were detachable); however, the porpor horn continues to be closely associated with drivers and driving culture.  Older drivers chose to be buried with their horns, and in La they continue to represent the union at drivers’ funerals and at various social and cultural events throughout Ghana (and particularly Accra—you can find more information about the particular ritual characteristics of La driving culture and the La Drivers’ Union in an earlier post).  In recent years, the La Drivers’ Union PorPor Group has also received increased international attention as Prof. Steven Feld has produced CDs and DVDs of their music through the Smithsonian Folkways collection (for more information see here: http://www.folkways.si.edu/AlbumDetails.aspx?itemID=3159 and http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9115707). 

So, needless to say, I was pretty psyched when they told me I could go along.  Despite my efforts to find out ahead of time, I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I boarded a trotro with Apetsi, my research assistant, and the entire PorPor Group and headed to Kwame Nkrumah Circle.  They honked and sang most of the way, and when we arrived I found out that they would be playing as part of the Ga Homowo Festival, a harvest festival sometimes equated with Christmas.  So we all gathered at Circle and different groups played in turns. 

The La Drivers' Union PorPor Group at Kwame Nkrumah Circle (in the background you can see an old Bedford lorry)

Getting into the singing!  You can see the two different types of horns used...the brass one and the blue one.  I was told that they no longer had the old ones (they had been buried with drivers, they had broken, etc.).  These are new ones that had to be imported from a place in India that still made the old type of car horns.

A horn and different types of drums that they play.

some of the women from another group dancing while the porpor group is playing

The man in the center was dressed in a slightly ridiculous and mocking costume, complete with make-up and a goofy hat.  The object of his mockery is uncertain, though there is a long history of this, dating back at least to Gome dances in the colonial period which mocked colonial officers.  It's not clear whether he's mocking Westerners or Ghanaian businessmen/politicians/etc.

more dancing!  the woman's backside is not that large physically.  they put padding in the back of their skirts and use it for effect in the dance.



honking to the padded behind of one of the women dancing


Then we abandoned our trotro and got in an old, wooden-sided Bedford lorry.  I was really excited about this since I had never ridden on one and what to see for myself what it was like.  We drove through Accra, with the PorPor Group in the lead, singing, honking, and drumming (with occasional dancing…difficult in a moving truck and drinking because you have to drink at festivals, especially if you are playing music).  People stopped and stared and often yelled or pointed at me as the obvious odd one out.  The lorry finally stopped and we all got out.  I was given a t-shirt to put on that was the same as the PorPor Group, so that people would know that I was with them.  It turned out to be a good thing.  People left me alone, in general, and I was allowed unprecedented access. 



"Our" Bedford lorry before we occupied it.


the second Bedford lorry.  This one is smaller, as you can see, and was filled with some of the market women, which is fitting since it is the type of car they used (and sometimes still use) to take goods to and from the village.

an old market woman in the front seat of the smaller Bedford lorry with the driver


Me and some of the members of the PorPor Group en route to Accra in our lorry

attempts at dancing while we were moving were made, but were not very successful...  Everybody playing something or clapping.  My research assistant Apetsi even picked up a drum, even though he swore he wouldn't


Apetsi in disgust as the akpeteshie (local gin) is passed around.  He told me later he was afraid they would get it on him and then people in the trotro on his way home would think he was a drunkard and talk about him.

We walked into a compound and were greeted by lines of women (especially market women) from all over Accra who stood with baskets of various foodstuffs and cooking implements on their heads. 


some of the lovely ladies waiting for the procession.  I was told that they were market women, but I'm not absolutely sure whether all of them were or not.

We moved toward the back and assembled everything but when things got moving I was quickly pulled along, and the next thing I knew we were at the front leading the whole thing!  Immediately in front of us were the asafoatse, a paramilitary company that is probably largely symbolic now.  They wore clothes and cultural symbols imported from the northern regions (the Dagomba people in particular, I have been told), and carried ancient guns, which they shot off (without bullets…) periodically.  The whole lot of us—asafoatse, PorPor Group, other musicians, market women, etc.—processed throughout the traditional areas of Accra.  You can see from the pictures the old colonial buildings and all of the people lining the streets.   This is one of the oldest areas of Accra, as well as one of the poorest. It is also an area in which I would probably never dare take pictures in another context, so it was nice to have the opportunity. 

leaders of the pack...

One of the Asafoatse.  The top, pants, and hat are of northern origin.  You can see his rifle a little.



The Asafoatse walking ahead, clearing the way for the procession and shooting off guns to scare the crap out of everyone in the vicinity (even Ghanaians jumped so it wasn't just me...)

people watching the procession out of the windows of an old colonial building


more of the same

little boy dancing as we walked by

a look ahead down the street.  You can see people gathered on the sides as well as some of the buildings in the neighborhood.


close-up of the horns while the Vice Chairman of the union tells the group to wait a bit while the road is cleared


and on the road again!

We walked for what seemed like ages (but turned out to be 2.5 miles) until we came to Bukom Square, the center of the center of old Accra.  There we processed around the square and I got to greet all of the chiefs (except for the paramount chief, the Ga Manche…you can’t speak to him directly, but I greeted his linguists).  We were followed by all of the market women who presented their gifts of food to the Ga Manche and who then released them to the people. 


wearing my shirt and greeting the chiefs

more of the same


this last chief laughed when he saw my shirt and asked me what kind of car I drove.  I told him Ford.  He laughed.

We had to leave then as I was expected at someone’s house, but needless to say it was a fun time.  And it wasn’t the last…  Stay tuned for another Homowo adventure!

On Thursday I embarked on a trip to the area east of Accra. Our goal was to see the Dipo Festival, a puberty rite for girls among the Krobo people of Ghana, and the festival this weekend was being held in the small town of Odumase, which is the capital of the Krobo state. But, we figured, why not kill two birds with one stone? The festival started early on Friday morning, so instead of wasting a trotro ride on Thursday night just to sit in a hotel, we set off early on Thursday morning to go to Kpetoe, a kente weaving village near Ho in the Volta Region of Ghana. Kente, as I have described before, is a woven cloth that is widely recognized as a symbol of Ghanaian culture (and African culture, more generally). The most famous and widely circulated examples of kente are that of the Asante people; however, the Ewe people also produce kente. In fact, the Ewes claim that they were the original kente weavers and that the Asante learned the art of kente weaving when they conquered the Ewes and forced their chief weavers to move to Asante and begin weaving special cloth for the Asantehene. The Asante dispute this interpretation of kente’s history and claim that they are the original kente weavers and that the woven cloth produced by the Ewes is a different material altogether. Whichever story is true, some form of woven cloth known as kente or kete is found in both Asante and Ewe territories, and Kpetoe is known as a center for the weaving of Ewe kente. I have never really felt a strong desire to purchase Asante kente and have never ventured to the kente weaving village of Bonwire in the Asante region. Kente costs entirely too much to buy if you don’t like it and won’t use it… But Ewe kente with its muted colors and intricate designs has always been striking to me. So we climbed aboard a trotro to Ho, leaving from Tudu lorry park around 8AM. After nearly 2 hours, we arrived at Ho and promptly boarded another trotro that took us to Kpetoe. 

Ghanaian villages and small towns often specialize in a particular product—food such as kenkey or fish, domestic items such as mortars, pestles, or pottery, and arts and crafts, such as kente, decorative pottery, drums and musical instruments, brass, beads, etc. As you drive through the Ghanaian countryside, you encounter a series of products and it is common for Ghanaians to stop along the road and collect everything you need. It is said, for example, that by the time you drive from Kumasi to Accra you will have gathered all of the things you could possibly need for your home. The specialization in arts and crafts, in particular, has been encouraged by Peace Corps and other development projects, which have attempted to create a niche in the market for particular towns and villages that would place them on the tourist route and employ the town’s young men and women. Kpetoe is one such village. Peace Corps workers organized the town’s kente weavers into a cooperative of sorts and managed to get the word out about their good products. Today, as you walk down the town’s central street, you see kente weavers on all sides in addition to a large barn-like building which houses a number of weavers.

 

long thread strung across the room for kente looms


a kente weaver working on an Asante kente pattern


some Ewe kente patterns


strips of Asante kente.  these strips are sewn together to make a larger cloth


a small girl pulling the heavy stone the keeps the loom and string tight


one of my young friends outside of the kente weaver's shop
 

After hiking back and forth between Kpetoe’s various kente stalls and having a bit of lunch, we headed back to Ho to catch a car to Odumase or the nearby town of Somanya. I was travelling with a fellow Fulbrighter, Andrea, who had lived in Odumase in order to study bead production. After a hellish high speed bus ride, we finally arrived at our very nice guest house in Agomenya. Andrea’s friends welcomed us to Krobo and led us through the Dipo festival, graciously explaining the ceremony and negotiating our access to the participants and the priest. We were welcomed by elders when we arrived at 6AM on Friday at the house of the traditional priest. The elders explained to the girls that we were in Krobo to witness Dipo for the purpose of education. We attempted to stay true to this truthful and stated intent of our visit and to respect the importance of Dipo to the Krobo people throughout our stay. We went only where we were told to go, took pictures only of what and who we were allowed to take (some things are sacred and shouldn’t be captured in a picture), and compensated the people and the priest for their time and help in the process. By the end of the trip, everyone knew us and helped us as we chased after the girls. Throughout we were following a particular family of girls who were relatives of our friend Juliana; however, as we spent time with the girls and their families, we increasingly became friends with many of them and they aided us in our attempts at documentation and education. I took LOTS of pictures and only some of them made it here.


Krobo Mountain


very beautiful display of rice sacks outside of the trotro station in Krobo

As a puberty rite, Dipo is a festival or ceremony that prepares girls for adulthood, teaching them the skills necessarily to be a successful Krobo woman and preparing her for marriage. It is essential that girls undergoing Dipo be virgins. To become pregnant or to get married without having undergone Dipo is a serious issue among the Krobo people which used to result in people being thrown out of the village. Today, Dipo is contested among Krobo people, since the church condemns it as a practice. While many Christians say they will not undergo Dipo, they often go to a neighboring village to have their daughters undergo the rite, since most Krobo men won’t marry a woman unless she has undergone Dipo. The Dipo of today is different from the Dipo of earlier times in another important way too: the age of the girls. Before, Dipo used to be performed for girls when they were around 12-14 years of age. However, the great expense of Dipo and the increasing risk of teenage pregnancy has motivated families to perform the rite earlier and earlier. Today many families bring very young girls to Dipo, and many other have all of their girls undergo the rite at the same time since this cuts down on the cost. As a result, you have girls of all ages and stages of development (approximately from 8-21) undergoing a puberty rite at the same time.

On Friday morning all of the girls, their mothers and friends gathered at the priest’s house to have their hair shaved in a particular pattern and to be “dressed” in waist beads and a red loin cloth as well as a traditional Ghanaian cloth. Then the girls proceeded to take turns grinding maize on a sacred stone in the priest’s house. The maize they ground was mixed with water and then spread on their chest and face.


Dipo girls waiting to be dressed and shaved.


very young girls...these were my favorite!


all lined up according to size, waiting to go grind maize...


two of my other favorites.  they were always so striking and for some reason got to keep their hair.  my friend said it was because they went to an international school and their parents paid extra money so that their hair wasn't shaved


they dressed me up in beads, etc. and had my picture taken.


beautiful tassles that the girls wore when completely dressed on monday

Since we met at 7AM, we were done with the festival portion of the day quite early (9AM), so we headed back to rest in our room before heading off to Akosombo some 30 minute away. Akosombo is a relatively sleepy town, but it is extremely well taken care of for its size, with well-maintained roads, immaculately clean streets and manicured lawns. Why, you might ask? Despite its size, Akosombo is the home of two major Ghanaian industries: Akosombo Textiles Limited (one of Ghana’s two premier textile producers, which exports throughout West Africa), and the Akosombo Dam. The second is the reason for all of the government attention to its upkeep. The product of Kwame Nkrumah’s attempts to modernize Ghana in the 1960s, the Akosombo Dam successfully dammed the Volta River and created Lake Volta, which is claimed to be the largest man-made lake in the world. Much like the TVA projects familiar to people from my hometown, the building of the Dam resulted in forced relocations for thousands of people whose homes were located in the middle of what would be the new lake. Perhaps more importantly for contemporary Ghana as a whole, however, Akosombo Dam also provided electricity for the country’s homes and industries and enabled Ghana to export electricity to neighboring countries. Because of these industries as well as Akosombo’s beautiful landscape, it has become something of a tourist attraction, complete with a very nice hotel. So Andrea and I went to the aptly-named Volta View Hotel to enjoy a nice lunch and the wonderful view as well as a swim. And when storm clouds rolled in, we headed off on a hike down the road to the trotro station, and headed back to Krobo to collapse in the comfort of our air conditioned room.


Akosombo Dam


The Volta View :)

Saturday morning brought another early day, as we headed back to the priest’s house. The girls prepared themselves with calabashes and soap for their trek to the river to fill their calabash and wash themselves and their cloth as part of the next stage of the training. While I saw them prepare and greeted them as they came back, I did not go with them to the river. Instead, I stayed with another friend at the priest’s house and played with the little kids that were around. 


Dipo girls with their calabashes and soap waiting to go to the river


"Our" girls--i.e. the girls that we were following


all lined up, calabashes on the head

We were again finished quite early, so we looked for something else to do. However, we didn’t have to look far, since Saturday is also a market day in the nearby town of Agomenya. Agomenya, like Kpetoe, is famous for arts and crafts production. The Krobo region in general is renowned for the production of glass beads. Using moulds and traditional furnaces, bead makers melt down the glass found in items such as bottles and imported glass beads to produce new creations. They pound down the glass into powder and pieces, which are then separated and used to make both opaque and translucent beads of various colors, sizes, shapes, and designs. While bead producers are found along roadsides throughout Krobo, the Agomenya market on Wednesdays and Saturdays is THE place to get beads in Krobo. So we headed off to see what was on offer. I finally purchased some beautiful chevron beads. Chevrons are imported glass beads, originally from Venice, which are noted for their particular design resulting from pulling and cutting tubes of layered glass. They are also some of the most expensive glass beads for sale in Ghana (particularly if they are old). 


bead moulds


traditional kiln with beads going in at Emmanuel's bead "factory"

After the market we went to a “Thank You” lunch with our friend Juliana. Juliana welcomed us into her home, fed us some of the best jollof rice we ever had, and guided us through the Dipo Festival and secured permission for our presence. I’m looking forward to going back to Krobo in September and October to see her again (get ready, Nicole!). After lunch we decided to look for the traditional shrines that we had seen signs for along the road (waking up at 6AM leaves lots of time in the day for doing things…who knew!?). In particular, we had seen a number of signs advertising Mami Wata shrines. Mami Wata apparently originated in Liberia and is found throughout West Africa; however, I had never really seen it in Ghana. But since Krobo is located along the Volta River, it is only logical that a shrine devoted to a deity located in water would be popular. So we backtracked along the road looking for the most prominent shrine. After terrifying some children by our presence we left disappointed that the priest was not in and the attendants there could not explain the shrine. So we backtracked even more to another sign we had noticed. This shrine advertised a number of things including Mami Wata, so we got off the trotro and tried to follow the sign. Eventually we recruited a local Ghanaian man to take us to the shrine since it wasn’t clear where it was located. After walking for what seems like forever in the searing afternoon sun, we finally arrived, were told to put on cloth and remove our shoes, and ushered into the shrine room. The priest kept wanting to perform rites and wanted us to pay $3000 each. We laughed and said no. The price went down to $300 each. Then $30 each. Eventually we ended up volunteering 10 cedis, which was placed in a book and “magically” disappeared after some words were said by the priest. I am more than slightly skeptical about the power of the priest, but I don’t like to get too involved in the shrines. So, needless to say, I was glad when we got to leave. But it was definitely an interesting experience.


sign for the Mami Wata shrine (our first attempt at a visit)

Sunday was the last day of Dipo for us, and the festivities did not start until the afternoon, so in the morning we went back to Akosombo for Matt to see the Dam and the view. Then we went to Juliana’s house to learn how to cook her famous jollof rice and to play with the kids in her compound. They were amazing and lots of fun! 


Saano, Bernard, Akuffo, Bridget, et al at Juliana's house.  crazy kids!  :)


Juliana's house while her new house is being built!

Then at 1PM, we went back to the priest’s house. The girls got their heads shaved even more, this time leaving only a tiny patch of hair on the back of their head.


Gifty shaving one of the girls


the tuft of hair

After everyone was shaved, they brought out animal skins, stood the girls on the skins three times and then proceeded to decorate them with all of their family’s beads. Beads are an important source of wealth in much of Ghana and especially in Krobo. When girls are going through Dipo, their families gather beads from every possible member of their family for the girls to wear. On this day, the girls wore only a small white cloth in addition to hundreds of beads. Their face was also splattered with a white clay, leaves were put in their mouth to hold, and a piece of white cloth was put on their head. Then all of the girls marched in a line down various roads and paths and into the bush in order to go to the shrine where they were to sit on a sacred stone three times. 


LOTS of waist beads...


small girls walking on the road to the shrine


waiting to leave for the shrine

Sitting on the stone without falling off was supposed to prove that they were virgins. If a girl got her menses while sitting on the stone (which apparently happened to two of the girls) or during any of the festival in general, it was a special sign of her virginity and highly valued. We could not go to the stone itself, but we walked most of the way and then waited on the bush path for the girls to come back out. Because women are supposed to wear a traditional cloth and bear their shoulders when they go near the shrine, we brought out pieces of cloth that we wore over our clothes. And after some waiting the girls began to come. On the way back, they did not walk but rather were carried. For the young girls this was not too difficult; however, some of the older girls were quite large and the large number of beads that they had on only added to the weight. Not to mention, the return trip took a different path through the bush, including forging a stream, and it was carried out at a near sprint. We volunteered our friend Matt to carry one of the smaller girls in the family we were following, to the delight of everyone. And, though initially I did not plan on running with the girls, I quickly got pulled in and found myself sprinting down a bush path and through a stream. When we got to the paths and backstreets of Odumase, the waiting crowd grew larger and larger, and they cheered for us as we passed, apparently impressed that we had run and that we were wearing cloth. Not a runner myself, I was pretty exhausted by the time we finally got back to the priest’s house and collapsed at the nearest bench. The girls themselves sat, holding leaves in their mouths and pieces of white cloth on their heads while they were sprinkled by the priest with talcum powder, the remaining tuft of hair on their head was shaved off and a new wicker hat was placed on their head.


running through the bush on the way back from the shrine.  Notice SO many beads!!!


Matt carrying our friend from the shrine


Dipo girls sitting down after arriving back at the priest's house from the shrine


Dipo girls with their hats

Throughout we had seen various girls doing the Dipo dance, and after getting their hat, the girls danced some more. Unfortunately, we could not stay until Monday when the girls would be dressed even more elaborately in beads and cloth. Though, I was told, this picture below is what they would look like.


Dipo girls dancing


The final product, apparently...

So, after two weekends of travelling, I’m looking forward to getting back to my routine again. More interviews to come this week after recuperating from my travels! Back to work!

As many of you know: today is my birthday!!! Happy Birthday to me! This week also brought Easter, which--in very Christian Ghana--means a very long holiday. Good Friday and Easter Monday are national holidays here, so we got a 4-day weekend! Thanks to an Easter weekend special package, I checked myself into the Fiesta Royal Hotel, a very nice “luxury” hotel (which here basically means American standard…the Holiday Inn here is considered a luxury hotel…), and spent two glorious days and nights moving between the bed (watching movies on TV lying on a comfortable bed in air conditioning), the shower (taking hot showers), the pool (swimming), and the restaurant (eating t the buffet). I had the best sleep I’ve had so far in Ghana. On Easter itself I checked out of the hotel and made my way to my friend’s bosses’ house. There is a lot of house-sitting that goes on here, and my friend was staying in his bosses’ house while he was away, so he invited us over for an Easter brunch and a swim in the pool. So we all gathered to celebrate Easter. And on Easter Monday we all cooked a huge meal together of coco vin (look it up…it’s ridiculously good), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and spinach and lentils, as well as an apple crumble. It was really good and we spent the whole day cooking, which ended up being a good idea since it rained all afternoon. I hadn’t really thought about which direction the rain would go, but when someone went in the bathroom and found mud splattered everywhere from rain coming through the dirty screen of the window, I ran to my room only to find that—having not closed my windows and having conveniently placed my bed right under the window in order to get the best breeze—my bed was totally soaked! I pulled my sheets off and turned on my fan, hoping that it would dry off (which it did…). I’ve been keeping my windows closed just in case, because we are apparently facing the direction that the window always blows when it rains. This morning it rained again…apparently the rainy season is here… I’m a little glad. It was ridiculously hot and humid Tuesday and Wednesday, which was horrible. 

On Friday, one of my friends knew someone who was performing in an Easter concert for a charismatic church that would be held at the National Theater. Looking for some company, she asked me to go, too. It was definitely an experience. It was, as I expected, a lot like the televangelists that you see on TV. They sang the same sort of music and said the same sorts of things. There were a few delights, though. The choir was quite good (when you could hear them over the blaring band), and one group in particular called “Soul Winners” played some really excellent highlife music that even got me to dance. I even considered buying their CD, but couldn’t find it. You can see some pictures below.


My friend Jo and I at the National Theater.  I looked retarded in the first picture so this is what we get...  Sorry Jo!


soldiers beating Jesus in a "drama" that they performed of the crucifixion


The audience dancing to the gospel highlife of Soul Winners

Earlier in the week I had also made my way to Legon, where I heard the PhD Thesis Proposal of one of the Department’s graduate students. Advising is still a new thing here, and she hadn’t had much help. Plus, her status in Ghanaian society (as a Queenmother) was difficult for some of the professors to get past, and they constantly deferred to her and refused to push her in her work (she said…). But within her presentation, I heard a nugget of what I thought was a really excellent project, and I encouraged her to follow it. Apparently my comments impressed some people as I was quickly begged to meet with both of the PhD students to help them with their proposals (which were apparently due on Tuesday they just found out…). It’s always amazing how much well-placed and encouraging/constructive comments make a difference in encouraging people and helping them with their work! So I spent an entire day meeting with them. But the up-side is that I now have very good friends in the PhD students. I have also scored a special ticket to the 10^th anniversary of the Asantehene’s enstoolment (the King of the Asante people’s 10^th anniversary as King), which is great! I’m really looking forward to seeing Kumasi and the Asante Kingdom at its finest. Monday brought one more meeting, some archives, and some errands—too much in one day, really. 

Yesterday I went to Legon again to attend another seminar presentation of one of my friends and fellow historians from the US, but this time I went early in order to attend the keynote speech of the Annual Colloquium of the Faculty of Arts at the University. Kwasi Wiredu, a fairly well-known Ghanaian philosopher was speaking, and the topic of the Colloquium in general was the Humanities and the Creation of National Identity, so I was very excited to go. Prof. Wiredu’s speech was indeed very interesting, and there are a number of presentations that are interesting for Paul, so I am going back to hear those and record them for him (plus, those were the most interesting ones to me). Unfortunately there was not too much of relevance to my own work, most especially because History is not represented. I don’t know if it is because History is not part of the Faculty of Arts (which would seem strange…) or whether they just chose (or were not invited) to participate. I will try to find out since it was strange to me. Perhaps most interesting was a performance by the Ghana Dance Ensemble and the Dance Department at the University. They performed a dance-drama, choreographed by Prof. Nii Yartey, which showed individual dances and identities and costumes all being performed separately and mixing confusingly. Then a man in a black t-shirt ran out with a Ghanaian flag and ran around everywhere doing gymnastics. One by one the different ethnic groups pulled off their ethnic clothing to show black t-shirts, and joined the flag-bearer in the center, winding around like a serpent and eventually building up a small hill of people in the center and hoisting the flag bearer to the top. It was an extremely symbolic depiction of Ghanaian national history—different ethnic groups who fought and competed being united under a single flag to work for a common purpose. Now, whether this reflects actual historical experience or whether it is just nationalist propaganda/ideology is another question. But people are always very impressed by this, and people are very proud to be Ghanaian at the same time that they hold on to their ethnic identities. 


The drummers, some dancers, and the audience at the Great Hall of the University of Ghana, Legon


All of the different dancers representing different ethnic groups, rallying around the Ghanaian flag

Today I am going back to Legon to hear more speeches, and then I am meeting my friends for a birthday dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. I am very excited!

I also got my birthday present from Paul yesterday as well as my new camera! It was a really good day… Off to start another one!