one month two weeks
10/29/06
since I last spoke to you things have been well…. Sulley took me to see another amateur dance group rehearse and it was very interesting…. Very helpful for my research… I also learned some other dances…gato (sp) and patcha (sp) I have also worked on listening for the breaks in other dances - hearing the drum language is extremely important in learning dances here… so I must focus a lot of attention on this…I also need to learn the drumming
I found out that I will not be able to accompany my teacher as he goes to some universities in the u.s. so I am scheduling a meeting with my contacts at the university of Ghana at legon and I will spend some time there while he is away. We are also planning to go to the north for a festival in which dancers from many other countries in Africa will attend…sometimes I feel like I need to do more but when I really look at things I am doing a lot not to mention the piece that I am setting on the dancers here and the piece that I am setting on the children at Adom’s school. They will perform it for their Christmas program. I have also chosen some other research topics that I would like to pursue personally. For example I am looking at gender – relations here concerning dress and I am also interested in the experience of other Americans who come here. So I have made my hands full and I have some long terms ideas as well. Still nothing is concrete
I have been eating a lot better. When I first got here I didn’t eat much because I was adjusting and afraid to get ill. I know that I am overprotective because of Adom. Last summer when I was here I was not as careful but this time I am taking things much slower, it’s good that I have more time. Adom on the other hand has been fearless…I have seen a different side of my child since I have been here. He is not concerned about the things that I thought he would have a hard time adjusting to. When we walk to catch the tro tro he runs sometimes chasing chickens and goats on the way. He does however have a problem speaking to people….i have to make him and then he is still shy about it…he also seems shy tryin out twi…..he is not confident with it…he has instead picked up an accent and I think he feels this is his way of adjusting to the language…but it kinda sounds weird.
Over the weekend I took Adom and the other boys here at the house to the playground and on the way people in town were asking where we were going (this is normal here) and when we told them I got requests from people to bring stuff back (which is also normal) I got 4 requests…. Two fro bread and one for a meat pie and fan milk (ice cream) and the other for…..an apple……I must say that I was irritated, I am just not used to people asking me for stuff and believe me this is not the first time….the misconception is that all Americans are rich….and true there are only a few of us that can make it abroad but those of us that are able to have a responsibility … which is an issue for a whole different blog…..at any rate b4 I came I had high dreams of giving sooo much but having people just ask for things is also a part of adjusting to the culture … its just a normal thing to do even for locals….and sometimes people really don’t want you to bring it they just may ask….well at any rate I ended up getting nothing because I guess I was still working things out in my mind…….i must say that since I have been here I have been doing a lot for people – some who asked and some who did not ask……but this day was diff…I guess bcus 4 people asked and I really just wanted to go to the park
Well today (Monday) one of the ladies asked for the bread and I told her I would bring it
After I dropped Adom I got her some sugar bread….a loaf slightly larger than our normal loafs and it was 5,000 cedis so when I got back she couldn’t see it bcus of the way I was carrying it and I went to her stand (she sells candy) I must admit I was kind of angry still at the fact that she even asked …I was all prepared to say okay so next time you will dash me something ( give me something) and instead I just handed her the bread … her whole demeanor changed…she kept saying God Bless you……she laughed and told her friends and even as I was walking off she said madame God Bless You…it made me feel good and I could tell that she kind of didn’t expect me to bring it and honestly I didn’t expect myself to bring it
Its been hard for me to find that middle ground …. I have some friends that feel that you have to be blunt with people here because of how blunt they are with you…and honestly I really don’t have money to be buying everything that people ask for … I have a family…and I have bills that I am still paying in the U.S. but when I came I came with the notion of finding a way to help … I feel it so strong within me….the hard part is I am realizing that my help is just not bug enough … at least in my eyes … so now my dilemma is finding a way to help that is lasting …. I now understand what Oprah meant when she said that she is doing HER part …
Ah well
On another note…today is Halloween and the people here don’t really celebrate…..at Adom’s school today and tomorrow are fun days and they play games all day .. he doesn’t have school on Thursday or Friday…. I am just chillin, I have a rehearsal later – there is a performance on the 9th and then there is a festival in the north later in nov. still tryin to decide if I will go since Adom will have to miss about two weeks of school
Take care until later
Angel
since I last spoke to you things have been well…. Sulley took me to see another amateur dance group rehearse and it was very interesting…. Very helpful for my research… I also learned some other dances…gato (sp) and patcha (sp) I have also worked on listening for the breaks in other dances - hearing the drum language is extremely important in learning dances here… so I must focus a lot of attention on this…I also need to learn the drumming
I found out that I will not be able to accompany my teacher as he goes to some universities in the u.s. so I am scheduling a meeting with my contacts at the university of Ghana at legon and I will spend some time there while he is away. We are also planning to go to the north for a festival in which dancers from many other countries in Africa will attend…sometimes I feel like I need to do more but when I really look at things I am doing a lot not to mention the piece that I am setting on the dancers here and the piece that I am setting on the children at Adom’s school. They will perform it for their Christmas program. I have also chosen some other research topics that I would like to pursue personally. For example I am looking at gender – relations here concerning dress and I am also interested in the experience of other Americans who come here. So I have made my hands full and I have some long terms ideas as well. Still nothing is concrete
I have been eating a lot better. When I first got here I didn’t eat much because I was adjusting and afraid to get ill. I know that I am overprotective because of Adom. Last summer when I was here I was not as careful but this time I am taking things much slower, it’s good that I have more time. Adom on the other hand has been fearless…I have seen a different side of my child since I have been here. He is not concerned about the things that I thought he would have a hard time adjusting to. When we walk to catch the tro tro he runs sometimes chasing chickens and goats on the way. He does however have a problem speaking to people….i have to make him and then he is still shy about it…he also seems shy tryin out twi…..he is not confident with it…he has instead picked up an accent and I think he feels this is his way of adjusting to the language…but it kinda sounds weird.
Over the weekend I took Adom and the other boys here at the house to the playground and on the way people in town were asking where we were going (this is normal here) and when we told them I got requests from people to bring stuff back (which is also normal) I got 4 requests…. Two fro bread and one for a meat pie and fan milk (ice cream) and the other for…..an apple……I must say that I was irritated, I am just not used to people asking me for stuff and believe me this is not the first time….the misconception is that all Americans are rich….and true there are only a few of us that can make it abroad but those of us that are able to have a responsibility … which is an issue for a whole different blog…..at any rate b4 I came I had high dreams of giving sooo much but having people just ask for things is also a part of adjusting to the culture … its just a normal thing to do even for locals….and sometimes people really don’t want you to bring it they just may ask….well at any rate I ended up getting nothing because I guess I was still working things out in my mind…….i must say that since I have been here I have been doing a lot for people – some who asked and some who did not ask……but this day was diff…I guess bcus 4 people asked and I really just wanted to go to the park
Well today (Monday) one of the ladies asked for the bread and I told her I would bring it
After I dropped Adom I got her some sugar bread….a loaf slightly larger than our normal loafs and it was 5,000 cedis so when I got back she couldn’t see it bcus of the way I was carrying it and I went to her stand (she sells candy) I must admit I was kind of angry still at the fact that she even asked …I was all prepared to say okay so next time you will dash me something ( give me something) and instead I just handed her the bread … her whole demeanor changed…she kept saying God Bless you……she laughed and told her friends and even as I was walking off she said madame God Bless You…it made me feel good and I could tell that she kind of didn’t expect me to bring it and honestly I didn’t expect myself to bring it
Its been hard for me to find that middle ground …. I have some friends that feel that you have to be blunt with people here because of how blunt they are with you…and honestly I really don’t have money to be buying everything that people ask for … I have a family…and I have bills that I am still paying in the U.S. but when I came I came with the notion of finding a way to help … I feel it so strong within me….the hard part is I am realizing that my help is just not bug enough … at least in my eyes … so now my dilemma is finding a way to help that is lasting …. I now understand what Oprah meant when she said that she is doing HER part …
Ah well
On another note…today is Halloween and the people here don’t really celebrate…..at Adom’s school today and tomorrow are fun days and they play games all day .. he doesn’t have school on Thursday or Friday…. I am just chillin, I have a rehearsal later – there is a performance on the 9th and then there is a festival in the north later in nov. still tryin to decide if I will go since Adom will have to miss about two weeks of school
Take care until later
Angel
posted by shani-in-ghana at 2:30 AM
1 Comments:
You are doing so many amazing things Shani. And your brain is working so hard to sort everything out and make sense of it and then to go with the flow and still think well about Adom. Kisses to your poor head and heart for stretching so hard. On the school thing, if he has adjusted, leave him be. It is one year in his school life and he is learning much more than what comes in books. He will thrive better in a school where he feels he has found his place. The education he is receiving this year is how to be a citizen of the world, same thing you are learning. Look at his brilliant methods of adaptation! He's a smart one. And so are you.
You are brave and true Shani. Going on an adventure that challenges your mothering as well as your art. It's complicated, but worth the challenge. Yours is a rich journey.
And as for helping, it is easy to drown in the feeling that nothing you do is enough and therefore do nothing. Instead, you got that woman a loaf of bread. A small thing which made a bridge between you, which is a big thing. You can set limits for yourself financially and then embrace these small opportunities and what they give to others and to yourself. It's all good. God is listening to you. Breathe.
all my love-currie
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