Hey everyone! Here is a post about Ghana!
We arrived in Takoradi, Ghana on the morning of April 7. We spent our first two days in Ghana there, and the ship traveled overnight to Accra for the last three days. This post will be about my two days in Takoradi, and I'll do another one about Accra!
On the first morning in Takoradi, I had a field lab with my Music Cultures course. We traveled about five minutes by bus to the beach where we attended an outdoor, traditional drumming and dance workshop led by local instructor Fred Tay. This field lab was actually one of the main reasons that I signed up for the course. To say that I was excited is an understatement! The drums we used were handmade by Fred himself. They were intricately, beautifully designed. We were told beforehand that we would have an opportunity to purchase a drum if we wanted to. I knew going into the day that I wanted to get one to bring home for my brother. :) I felt better about supporting Fred and getting a traditional one-of-a-kind drum instead of buying a mass-produced tourist drum from a souvenir shop.
We started off by first learning how to play the gankogui, which is the bell that sets the basic rhythm for percussion music. The drums we learned how to play were called Kpanlogo drums. Kpanlogo music is frequently used during times of recreation and celebration, such as weddings. There are many different techniques of playing the drum, such as the "slap," "bass" and "mute" hits. It was actually pretty difficult to play them correctly and make all of the different hits sound the way the should. Soon, we started to learn different rhythms and then played along with Fred and his assistants. My favorite part of the day came when they started adding vocal components to the music. I love both instruments and vocals and enjoy listening to them both separately, but I feel like music truly comes alive and gets taken to a whole different level when the two are put together.
On our second day in Takoradi, I went on the field program "Castles and Slave Dungeons" where we got to tour, learn about and visit two of the castles and slave dungeons on the east coast of Ghana used during the Atlantic slave trade. The first was Elmina Castle, also known as St. George's Castle, and it was built in 1482 by the Portuguese. The second was Cape Coast Castle. Built in 1653 by the Swedish, it was later taken over by the British.
It is hard to describe the eerie, solemn atmosphere inside the slave dungeons. Although the slave trade occurred hundreds of years ago, what happened there is still very much present. It is hard to believe that something this horrible happened in a such a beautiful place. The view of the ocean and the city from the top of the castles was an absolutely breathtaking.
We were first taken to the "Room of No Return." This is a small, stone room with no windows for light and no ventilation. Slaves taken into that room were taken there to die. They were not given any food or water, and most died within a few days of being forced in there. We were also shown the men's and women's dungeons. Groups of up to 150 women and 200 men were kept chained together in underground, stone rooms that honestly could have not possibly have fit that many people inside. I cannot even imagine. The dungeons had a sour smell unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. I don't think I truly started to understand the horror of what happened during the slave trade until seeing all of this for myself. Here are some pictures from the day.
It was still early evening after taking the two hour bus ride back to the ship, but "on-ship time" for those that signed up to travel on the ship (and not overland) between the two ports in Ghana was in about two hours. So I just decided to stay on board. I worked out, wrote in my journal and had dinner with some friends. It was a nice, relaxing evening.
I've been looking back at my journal to help me write this blog post, and one thing that I wrote really stuck out to me:
"I feel like I should be slightly more in awe of the fact that I am in Ghana right now. It's like I have just gotten used to waking up and getting off of the ship in a new country. It's become normal. And this is definitely NOT normal. Why am I not appreciating it more than I am? I have talked to some of my friends about this and they have started to feel the same way too, so I'm glad to know that it's not just me. I feel like it's not really going to hit me until I get home and start to process everything. I'm not really sure what my emotional state is going to be when I get home. I guess we'll see."
Wow. If only I knew what I was going to actually feel like when I got home. I have so many thoughts and emotions, some that I don't even understand. But, that's for a different post. :) I'll end with this for now, and I'll have my second Ghana post up soon.
Thank you!!
We arrived in Takoradi, Ghana on the morning of April 7. We spent our first two days in Ghana there, and the ship traveled overnight to Accra for the last three days. This post will be about my two days in Takoradi, and I'll do another one about Accra!
On the first morning in Takoradi, I had a field lab with my Music Cultures course. We traveled about five minutes by bus to the beach where we attended an outdoor, traditional drumming and dance workshop led by local instructor Fred Tay. This field lab was actually one of the main reasons that I signed up for the course. To say that I was excited is an understatement! The drums we used were handmade by Fred himself. They were intricately, beautifully designed. We were told beforehand that we would have an opportunity to purchase a drum if we wanted to. I knew going into the day that I wanted to get one to bring home for my brother. :) I felt better about supporting Fred and getting a traditional one-of-a-kind drum instead of buying a mass-produced tourist drum from a souvenir shop.
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| My lovely friends Ethan and Megan. :) |
We started off by first learning how to play the gankogui, which is the bell that sets the basic rhythm for percussion music. The drums we learned how to play were called Kpanlogo drums. Kpanlogo music is frequently used during times of recreation and celebration, such as weddings. There are many different techniques of playing the drum, such as the "slap," "bass" and "mute" hits. It was actually pretty difficult to play them correctly and make all of the different hits sound the way the should. Soon, we started to learn different rhythms and then played along with Fred and his assistants. My favorite part of the day came when they started adding vocal components to the music. I love both instruments and vocals and enjoy listening to them both separately, but I feel like music truly comes alive and gets taken to a whole different level when the two are put together.
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| A close-up of Fred's handmade drums. |
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| We had such a beautiful, scenic view throughout the day. |
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| Fred Tay! |
After taking a break for lunch at great local restaurant, we got right back to it. This time, they introduced the dancing components. Everyone had such an incredible time! We did a little more of sitting in a circle and playing the drums before we had a chance to walk around the beach and choose a drum to purchase if we were interested. I think I did a pretty good job of picking one for my brother. After that, we headed back to the ship! I had such a great day and feel blessed to have had the opportunity to learn about and participate in such an important aspect of Ghanaian culture. It was one of the highlights of the semester for me!
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| Me and Fred! He was such a nice guy. :) |
Since it was still early evening after returning to the ship, me and my friends Ethan and Megan decided to go out and find an ATM so that we could get some Ghanaian cedi. Our ship was docked in a very large port, and it was quite a walk into the town from where we were. As soon as we stepped out of the port gate, we were swarmed by vendors and taxi drivers. I had this problem in previous countries on the voyage, but it was nothing like this.
We had originally planned on taking a taxi into town, but then we decided we would just walk to get away from everyone. However, a group of about five men decided to follow us the entire way. They wouldn't leave us alone and actually started to get very aggressive. One of them forced some of the bracelets he was attempting to sell on my arms and wouldn't take them back. They started to make very rude and even violent comments towards us. It was just a very uncomfortable and slightly frightening situation. We eventually had to pay them off to leave us alone. Ghana is an amazing country filled with incredible and beautiful people, but was hard to not let these experiences slightly influence my opinions. It didn't sit well with me, and I was glad when we finally found an ATM and went back to the ship for the night.
We had originally planned on taking a taxi into town, but then we decided we would just walk to get away from everyone. However, a group of about five men decided to follow us the entire way. They wouldn't leave us alone and actually started to get very aggressive. One of them forced some of the bracelets he was attempting to sell on my arms and wouldn't take them back. They started to make very rude and even violent comments towards us. It was just a very uncomfortable and slightly frightening situation. We eventually had to pay them off to leave us alone. Ghana is an amazing country filled with incredible and beautiful people, but was hard to not let these experiences slightly influence my opinions. It didn't sit well with me, and I was glad when we finally found an ATM and went back to the ship for the night.
It is hard to describe the eerie, solemn atmosphere inside the slave dungeons. Although the slave trade occurred hundreds of years ago, what happened there is still very much present. It is hard to believe that something this horrible happened in a such a beautiful place. The view of the ocean and the city from the top of the castles was an absolutely breathtaking.
We were first taken to the "Room of No Return." This is a small, stone room with no windows for light and no ventilation. Slaves taken into that room were taken there to die. They were not given any food or water, and most died within a few days of being forced in there. We were also shown the men's and women's dungeons. Groups of up to 150 women and 200 men were kept chained together in underground, stone rooms that honestly could have not possibly have fit that many people inside. I cannot even imagine. The dungeons had a sour smell unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. I don't think I truly started to understand the horror of what happened during the slave trade until seeing all of this for myself. Here are some pictures from the day.
It was still early evening after taking the two hour bus ride back to the ship, but "on-ship time" for those that signed up to travel on the ship (and not overland) between the two ports in Ghana was in about two hours. So I just decided to stay on board. I worked out, wrote in my journal and had dinner with some friends. It was a nice, relaxing evening.
I've been looking back at my journal to help me write this blog post, and one thing that I wrote really stuck out to me:
"I feel like I should be slightly more in awe of the fact that I am in Ghana right now. It's like I have just gotten used to waking up and getting off of the ship in a new country. It's become normal. And this is definitely NOT normal. Why am I not appreciating it more than I am? I have talked to some of my friends about this and they have started to feel the same way too, so I'm glad to know that it's not just me. I feel like it's not really going to hit me until I get home and start to process everything. I'm not really sure what my emotional state is going to be when I get home. I guess we'll see."
Wow. If only I knew what I was going to actually feel like when I got home. I have so many thoughts and emotions, some that I don't even understand. But, that's for a different post. :) I'll end with this for now, and I'll have my second Ghana post up soon.
Thank you!!
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