Last night, we went to my friend's Aunt's wake with the Africana Dance Company to perform for a few hours. It was in a residential area of town, one that I have not been to before, and our friends greeted us at a nearby restaurant and walked us over. When we got there, there were chairs and tents set up and Africana set up their drums and bench and got ready to perform. While waiting, I met this young girl, Christine, who is a member of the group. From the way she shook her ass I thought she was at least 20, but came to learn that she was only 16. She laughed jokingly at my attempts to move like her and helped me to do some of the dances. She's such a sweetheart and I am eager to get to know her and keep in touch when I leave. The program was amazing because the obrunis were integrated as part of the group and we got to perform some of the traditional dances with them. Sure we got a few laughs but it was all in good fun. The best part of African dance is the eye contact that you make with the people that you're dancing with. Everyone has the biggest smiles and they look right into your eyes while singing and clapping and moving with you. It is so much fun! After the program, we rode back to campus in the back of a pure water truck with a driver that was absolutely nuts. He kept taking the truck down small alleys and stopped for food and to fill huge water jugs for his family. I thought I was going to fall out of the truck just sitting on the ground. Some of the dancers were standing, holding onto the sides and shaking their asses. I don't know how they managed to hold on... Anyways went to bed at 2 am for a 4:30 wake up...
Today, we went to this Deer Festival in Winneba where the people are put into 2 teams and sent out into the bush to catch a deer with their bare hands. Once one of the teams captures the first deer, they bring it back and parade it about, bringing it to the chief and doing all kinds of traditional dance. Tomorrow they will sacrifice it and have some sort of feast. I figured I could skip that...The festival was really busy and very interesting to watch. My favorite part by far was the people returning from the bush. People were covered with branches and leaves for camo, but then there were 2 guys with computers on their heads and another with a Rolling Stones flag, and a few crossdressers. I'm not sure how all of this fit into the festival but it was entertaining nonetheless. But it is now time to catch up on some sleep and prepare for a few days on the beaches in the West... :)
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