What an incredible week! So much has happened that it is
hard to remember what I did each day this last week. To start… I received an
email that I have been selected to present my thesis research on African
Drumming at the WRAMTA (Western Region of the American Music Therapy
Association ) Conference in Tempe Arizona in April! I will be doing an
interactive presentation for music therapy students, interns, and new music
therapy professionals! This is something that I have wanted to do for a long
time. I think this will be a great opportunity for me to get my foot in the
door of the professional world of music therapy. Now comes the hard part…
Actually finishing my thesis haha.
On Wednesday I spent the day with my friend Ernest. We went
to Madina market early in the morning to shop for food and then we went to the
temple site and found a kitchen to cook. He taught me how to make bean stew,
cabbage stew, and fried plantains. It was not hard to do and the good turned
out to be so delicious! I can’t wait to make it for family and friends at home!
Thursday was the African Ensemble Performance. My group
performed mostly singing pieces and I was given the opportunity to sing 3 songs
in Twi as a solo! I was really nervous but it all went well. I got to wear a
neat outfit and the Ghanaian crowd was pretty impressed that I could sing some
of their local songs. I even had one of the master drummers come up and stick
some money on my forehead as I was in the middle of the song hahaha!
And then Friday and Saturday I travelled to the Volta Region
with my friend Kristen! Our first stop was at Cedi Beads in Kpong. We were able
to see how the local beads and jewelry were made. It was such an amazing
process to see how much work goes into making every individual bead. Then we
travelled to the village of Wli where we hiked up to the lower waterfall! The
force coming from the waterfall was so overwhelming that I couldn’t get as
close to where the water was falling. It was an incredible feeling to be
swimming in a waterfall in the middle of Africa!!! It is an experience that I
cannot put in to adequate words. We stayed at the Waterfall Lodge that night
and enjoyed delicious food, stargazing, and sitting in a hammock!
On Saturday
we woke up early and travelled to the Tafi Atome monkey sanctuary. We walked
into a forested area and saw so many small monkeys hanging from the trees! We
held bananas in our hands and they would jump from the trees onto our arms and
shoulders. How cool is that?!?! Then the last thing that we did on Saturday is
hike Mount Afadjato, the tallest mountain in Ghana. The hike was VERY difficult
because the path was almost a straight vertical, instead of switch-backs. As we
hiked to the top we had an amazing view of the valley area and we were very
close to the mountains that were on the Togo border. After all of those
adventures, we finally travelled back to campus. It was a really fun but
exhausting weekend and I am glad that I got to spend it with my best friend
Kristen :)
Sunday was my 24th birthday! I celebrated the day
by wearing a new beautiful African dress to church, played the organ for
sacrament meeting, bore my testimony, taught my CTR primary class about how to
show our love for animals, and taught new Christmas songs during singing time!
As I was getting ready to leave church I ran into a friend from the USU music
therapy program! Kelsie Smalley is here with her husband doing some work with
the USU Huntsman School of Business Seed Program. I knew she was in Ghana but I
didn’t know when we would meet up. They randomly chose to come to the Madina
church building and I got to see her and give her a big hug! It was fun to see
someone from back home and catch up. After church I came home, took a nap, and
prepared for the big PARTY! You all know, there is always a party with Marti
hahaha! I invited all of the ISEP students and the LDSSA students over for some
jollof, wache, cake, ice cream, and juice. It was fun to have everyone together
and spend the wonderful day with my close friends. Then the best ending to the
day was skyping with Dad, Mom, Sandi, Dan, Kelli, Casey, and Grandpa and
Grandma Marchand! I am glad that my birthday was on a Sunday so that I had the
chance to talk to all of them like I usually do. I felt so much love from everyone
that day and I am truly grateful for all of the family and friends that I am
blessed to have in my life.
Last week was so busy but it was also so great! I am down to
my last two weeks and I am trying to make the most of my time with the people
who I have become close with here. I love you all and miss you! I can’t wait to
see you in a few weeks!
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