Monday, March 19, 2007
Back from Africa.
As I sit here at UCLA procrastinating yet another term paper I cannot help reminense about my experiences which ended months ago. I miss so many things, but my memories seem so surreal. It's as if i've experienced a dream that I know is real.
This marks the end of the Will in Africa travel blog.
I hope you have learned something.
As I sit here at UCLA procrastinating yet another term paper I cannot help reminense about my experiences which ended months ago. I miss so many things, but my memories seem so surreal. It's as if i've experienced a dream that I know is real.
This marks the end of the Will in Africa travel blog.
I hope you have learned something.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Americans want to be the best, not just in the US, but in the world.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Monkeys!
(this was in Togo at a touristy restraunt)
Since the last post...
-Went to Togo where we visited a voodoo shrine, ate some delicious food, and rode on moto bikes..
-Went to a Christmas celebration at a church named Zeta Hill. Zeta hill is a religion which fuses elements of Christianity and Islam together. They celebrate Christmas on November 14th, which they believe is Jesus's true birthday.
In Ghana, children are not considered alive until a week after their birth which is when they have a naming ceremony. On November 22, Zeta Hill will celebrate Jesus's naming ceremony.
I'm quite excited that my mom is coming to Ghana. She arrives on Wednesday. There is so much for her to see/smell/taste/experience here. Asante Kente Cloth Making, national parks, cultural troupes, etc... I love my mom's adventurous spirit.
I've finally posted up some pictures online, you can check them out by going to:
http://ucla.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2104127&l=b3c36&id=2506959
I'm currently buckling down and working on the Independent project about the life of Ghanaian musician/composer Jerry Hansen. If I'm fortunate enough, I hope to get in one more interview with him in today.
Alrighty, I'm off to write this paper.
Hope all is well
-Will
Friday, October 27, 2006
A jazz club has been found in Ghana! My life is complete. Okay, not quite. I still need a girl...but we're getting there. This last weekend I went to Kumasi, the cultural capital of Ghana, visited a friend and then went to this awesome lake formed out of a crater. I sat by the water and did not move for close to four hours. It was fantastic. Recently the challenge has been balancing between the ideologies of African and American culture. Both are entirley different, and it severly messes with my head the more I think about it. For instance, in the states it's all about personal gain. Here, the individual is supressed. Anyways, I will write again shortly.
Best,
WIll
Best,
WIll
A jazz club has been found in Ghana! My life is complete. Okay, not quite. I still need a girl...but we're getting there. This last weekend I went to Kumasi, the cultural capital of Ghana, visited a friend and then went to this awesome lake formed out of a crater. I sat by the water and did not move for close to four hours. It was fantastic. Recently the challenge has been balancing between the ideologies of African and American culture. Both are entirley different, and it severly messes with my head the more I think about it. For instance, in the states it's all about personal gain. Here, the individual is supressed. Anyways, I will write again shortly.
Best,
WIll
Best,
WIll
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Independence.
I first must say how nice it has been recieving emails and phone calls from friends and family back home. I'm not sure if I'd be able to handle this voyage in Ghana if it was not for such correspondence. Yesterday I recorded on a Gospel album. While the music is quite frankly pretty bad, I am very excited about the music video they are filming. It will be good comic relief for all of my friends watch such as an embaressing sight as myself in a African Gospel music video. I began my interviews with Jerry Hanson on monday. He is such a wondeful human being although I don't believe I have discussed him in this blog yet. In the early days of Ghana's independence from colonial england Jerry Hanson formed a band named "the Ramblers" which traveled around the world and became a source of pride for Ghana (the first west african country to gain independence). While being featured on numerous television and magizine productions, his life story (as far as I know) has never been documented in a centralized text.
After we discussed his life for a little over an hour, he suggested we share a beer and relax. We drank Star, one of Ghana's the most popular beers.
My friend Duncan who is an Astrophyics/Religious studies major at UC Berkeley is going to have his father bring a Camera for me to Ghana when he travels here next week. This means I WILL HAVE PICTURES SOON! I'm leaving for class now, then to rehearsal. Afterwords I will probably clean my room and get some reading done. (Something which is long overdue)
I learned two new negotiation terms in Twi today!
Tosoi (meaning give me more of that)
Teso (meaning give me that for less money)
Ciao!
I first must say how nice it has been recieving emails and phone calls from friends and family back home. I'm not sure if I'd be able to handle this voyage in Ghana if it was not for such correspondence. Yesterday I recorded on a Gospel album. While the music is quite frankly pretty bad, I am very excited about the music video they are filming. It will be good comic relief for all of my friends watch such as an embaressing sight as myself in a African Gospel music video. I began my interviews with Jerry Hanson on monday. He is such a wondeful human being although I don't believe I have discussed him in this blog yet. In the early days of Ghana's independence from colonial england Jerry Hanson formed a band named "the Ramblers" which traveled around the world and became a source of pride for Ghana (the first west african country to gain independence). While being featured on numerous television and magizine productions, his life story (as far as I know) has never been documented in a centralized text.
After we discussed his life for a little over an hour, he suggested we share a beer and relax. We drank Star, one of Ghana's the most popular beers.
My friend Duncan who is an Astrophyics/Religious studies major at UC Berkeley is going to have his father bring a Camera for me to Ghana when he travels here next week. This means I WILL HAVE PICTURES SOON! I'm leaving for class now, then to rehearsal. Afterwords I will probably clean my room and get some reading done. (Something which is long overdue)
I learned two new negotiation terms in Twi today!
Tosoi (meaning give me more of that)
Teso (meaning give me that for less money)
Ciao!
Friday, October 06, 2006
Ghana Beat Japan in Football! After the game all the gaining living in my building were singing triumphantly.
Life right now is good but complex. My natural tendencies have been getting me into trouble here. I've been playing a lot of music but with musicians I am not extremely interested in. I need to learn how to Say no. Somehow I got myself into directing sound/doing some graphic design for a hip hop concert. Woop. The show is on Thursday. I'm also playing trumpet with a rapper there. Check back on Friday for a posting about the event.
Right now my biggest challenge is just not to get completely disillusioned with the ways things are done here. One needs to really be assertive yet appear to be relaxed to get there way. I'm not particularly graceful at this art.
On a brighter note, I just recieved a post card and a letter from my mom and dad. This made me happy. Thanks you. It's really nice to hear what people are up to back home.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Much Love,
Will
Life right now is good but complex. My natural tendencies have been getting me into trouble here. I've been playing a lot of music but with musicians I am not extremely interested in. I need to learn how to Say no. Somehow I got myself into directing sound/doing some graphic design for a hip hop concert. Woop. The show is on Thursday. I'm also playing trumpet with a rapper there. Check back on Friday for a posting about the event.
Right now my biggest challenge is just not to get completely disillusioned with the ways things are done here. One needs to really be assertive yet appear to be relaxed to get there way. I'm not particularly graceful at this art.
On a brighter note, I just recieved a post card and a letter from my mom and dad. This made me happy. Thanks you. It's really nice to hear what people are up to back home.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Much Love,
Will
Saturday, September 30, 2006
I woke up feeling awful the other day, but I got tested and I don't have Malaria!
On another note- I have been hanging out with a few african traditionalists recently. They claim direct contact with spirits. They are a band that goes by the name Agasor. I'm sure you will here more about them later as I have been jamming and kicking it with them. My biggest problem recently has been time managment. I am not accomplishing as much as I would like but still find myself exhausted at the end of everyday. Perhaps eating strictly rice, not having running water, and being called white man 50 times a day is exhausting in it's own right.
Here is what I have been accomplishing:
-helping put together a grass roots hip hop concert,
-learning how to build drums
-Playing a bit of trumpet with a neo-traditional african group. (trumpet +bell+Gome drum + kpalogo drum+ Flutes+Xylophone)
Anyways, I'm getting kicked off cyber space.
Ciao.
On another note- I have been hanging out with a few african traditionalists recently. They claim direct contact with spirits. They are a band that goes by the name Agasor. I'm sure you will here more about them later as I have been jamming and kicking it with them. My biggest problem recently has been time managment. I am not accomplishing as much as I would like but still find myself exhausted at the end of everyday. Perhaps eating strictly rice, not having running water, and being called white man 50 times a day is exhausting in it's own right.
Here is what I have been accomplishing:
-helping put together a grass roots hip hop concert,
-learning how to build drums
-Playing a bit of trumpet with a neo-traditional african group. (trumpet +bell+Gome drum + kpalogo drum+ Flutes+Xylophone)
Anyways, I'm getting kicked off cyber space.
Ciao.
