Happy October! The semester here at the University of Ghana
is already half way over.
This week I felt rather productive! I finally turned in my
USU Honors Thesis Formal Proposal and I have done a lot of groundwork for my
upcoming thesis. I also turned in an application/proposal to be a presenter at
the spring conference for the Western Region of American Music Therapy
Association. I am hoping to be selected to present my research on African
drumming. And I am also beginning to make a selective list for possible
internship sites for after I graduate in May! Some of the internships require that
you apply/audition about 6 months prior to beginning your internship so I
thought I would start that selection process here. I have just been reading
through the descriptions of the different internship sites and trying to decide
what population(s) I want to work with. This is honestly going to be one of the
hardest decisions I have ever made. I think I also have a lot of anxiety about
going to an internship because it will be the “first” time in my life when I
have not been a full-time student (although as an intern, you really are a
student haha). The idea of entering the “grown-up world” terrifies me but I
know that it is something that I must do to move forward. I only hope and pray
that I choose the right internship. I have not really felt any strong pull
towards one particular population as of yet… But I know that an answer to my
prayer will come.
This weekend I was part of the “African Ensembles”
performance put on by the School of Performing Arts (SPA). There are
concerts/performances just about every weekend to celebrate the 50th
year anniversary of SPA. I was part of a drumming ensemble where we played
djembe rhythms. We all dressed in different African clothing and came out on to
the stage singing “We want peace, We want love, We want peace, AFRICA, We want
love.” Our ensemble leader, Johnson Kemeh (my drum teacher), was very energetic
and made the performance a lot of fun for us. I had fun improvising on the
djembe rhythms and I was even complimented by a few Ghanaian musicians on my
drumming skills!
There were many aspects about the performance that were
quite different from the typical American performance. For example… The show
started 30-40 minutes late (typical Ghana Man Time). We were not informed about
the order of the performances until about 10 minutes before we entered the
stage. Our ensemble director decided to change some elements of our performance
about 2 minutes before we entered the stage. Before the night of the event, we
had only run through the entire piece about 1-2 times (each time changing from
the previous one haha). After we concluded our piece, I sat down to listen to
the other performances and all I could hear were some audience members in the
back making fun of all of the participants of the piece. And it wasn’t just quiet
whisperings… it was LOUD laughter and talking. Needless to say, I am glad that
I participated in the program but I am also very glad that it is over.
That is about all for this last week. It rained a lot so I
spent some of my days just listening to some music wrapped up in my blanket and
drinking warm Milo, YUM! I hope everyone has a great week. Thank you for your
love and support as I continue on my African adventure!
You look so cute. And you are getting so tan. Where have you been?
ReplyDeleteAw thanks Mom! I have just been walking everywhere so I think that is why I am so tan haha. The sun here is not as "hot" because we are not as high in elevation but we are definitely close to the equator :)
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