Everything's Gonna Be All "Right"

(Aug 7)

The intensity of our training at the Dagbe Center hasn't wained as we find ourselves ensconced in the second week of our learning.  If anything, it has intensified.  The instructors work us hard in morning dance class, but we know it's gonna be alright when we see one of the staff with a machete and a pile of coconuts. :-)

Next Monday we will perform for the community.  We just started working out the detail of our performance. There are a number in our group who have taken on the task of learning the master drum part for one of the pieces, Gahu, and so the plan is have them rotate through the variations of master drummer's part. The rest of us are still determining our roles with the help of our instructors.

I can't speak for others, but I am apprehensive about performing.  The pieces have either an extended form, or proper execution of the form of the piece involves paying careful and vigilant attention to the master drummer, who shapes the piece according to his or her inclination.  In rehearsals, mistakes are commonplace, Almost no one in our group can play or dance a piece from start to finish without making at least a few mistakes.  Yet, we are proceeding on the assumption that everything will be alright. 

As you can guess, there is a social piece of the course's curriculum.  Most of us have never been able to observe and interact at such close quarters with a culture as divergent from our own.  Adults in Kopeyia casually treat us as if we are part of the community, and we are comfortably at home when we are in the village. In the evening, we often walk through the village to a hut that we have foundly come to call "The Empty Cup" where we can relax among the locals.  The other night, our "academically motivated" interest was peaked when we observed one of the surprisingly flavorful local favorites being decanted from a gas can! I am hoping to bring back a bottle; more research is needed in this area. Indeed, everything will be alright.

There are a number of local and regional customs that we were made aware of at the outset of our travels in Ghana.  Lack of attention to some of them can result in an awkward moment.  Luckily, because we can be quite easily identified as tourists so people cut us lot of slack.  Nonetheless, we try to be ever-vigilant and respect local customs.  One that is particularly difficult for me to comply with is the practice of using only the right hand for any transaction or personal interaction -- even waving.  Everything's gotta be ALL RIGHT.  The left hand is considered to be "dirty."  Unfortunately, I was afflicted with a case of terminal left-handedness as a small child -- yet I somehow learned to use scissors and write without smudging -- so I have been determined to meet this challenge. I have even developed a few tricks, like holding things in my left hand to prevent those dirty little outbursts, but the occasional faux pax still breaks through.  Fortunately, Jeremy has instructed me in the delicate art of how to appropriately apologize for the inadvertent transgression. Yes, even when I forget to use my right hand, even when we're struggling to learn our drum parts, and even when we get turned around in the dance, we know... EVERYTHING'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT!

-Mark