A Celebration of Life

(Aug 4)

Today we were fortunate enough to be invited to a funeral in Dzogbedzi, one of the the villages adjacent to Kopeyia.   Yes, I (Mark) know it sounds like an odd thing to say 'fortunate,' but a funeral in Ghana more resembles a wedding in the U.S.  It is truly a celebration of life, and the opportunity to go to one should not be passed up. 

This particular event lasted for almost two days, and the music was non-stop.  We heard drumming from the distance the entire night prior to our visit.  The music ranged from traditional Ewe (the regional name of the people, as well as the name of the music we are learning), to a more techno-African style of music.

To hold a proper funeral ceremony, it is common practice for a village to spend a large amount of community funds to rent things like a portable sound system and tents, and so it has become a custom that anyone who is not a member of the village is welcome to participate... after making a donation. 

We were fitted in appropriate garb and walked no more than 5 minutes to the next village.

Picture: The front entrance to our "dormatory."

As we arrived, there were hundreds of people were dancing.  The two bands that were simutaneously playing could not have been much more 50 yards apart, yet there's something about Ewe music that allows for this to not be a problem.  It may be because of the density of the rhythms, or perhaps it's the volume of the axhatche or the wooden clapping instruments that many of the women played, but I can assure you that as a dancer, it is only possible to focus on one band at a time.

We were forewarned that people would ask us to dance, and so our dance instructors taught us how to dance the Agbadza, a very necessary skill to have at a funeral or any Ghanaian social gathering.  At first sight, the dance seems simple and repetative, but it's a good thing we had been working on a number of elements of Ewe dance since we arrived in Kopeyia; executing the subtleties of the Agbadza elegantly and musically does not come easily. Our preparations paid off; it seems anything we do to demonstrate our interest and appreciation of Ghanaian culture is well received.

As we began to mingle with the crowd, I tried to position myself in an area that seemed good for observing (and safe from dancing), but to no avail.  A number of women approached me with the proscribed opening pre-dance moves -- so much for my strategy of avoidance. At one point, upon seeing that I knew the Agbadza (or could at least move in a way that resembled the dance), another woman coaxed her daughter who could not have been of more that 8 years to walk over and initiate a dance with me.

Photo by Robby Bowen

We stayed for almost two hours and everyone in our group danced. Once again, I found myself lost in the swirl of colors, smells and rhythms.  A picture -- or even a video could never do justice in describing its kaleidoscopic effect on the senses, nor the overall gestalt of the experience.

Weather Report: Since our arrival in Ghana the weather has been mostly overcast with a light breeze.  The Sun is always struggling to cut through the clouds.  Low and high daily temperatures seem to consistently fall between 75 and 80.  In short, the weather has been absolutely perfect considering the demands of our schedule and my ever-sensitive hairless head.

Last night, the sky became mostly clear for the first time.  The constellation Scorpius was much higher in the sky than I've ever seen, and I was able to enjoy the patch of sky named Aquarius in its entirety for the first time ever.

Tomorrow, we begin a full week of scheduled classes.  Must get sleep. Must get ... mmm...  zzzzzz..

-Mark