Retreat

For our retreat Rebecka, Katie and I traveled to Accra to stay with a friend we met upon our arrival in Ghana. Her name is Mikayla. She and her husband James and 2 year old son Corbin are living in an expatriate community in Accra because James works for the U.S. Embassy. Our stay with them was very comfortable and Mikayla was an angel to drive us around to fun sites in Accra and to cook us delicious, nutritious, and a whole variety of American food. It was so nice to sleep in an air conditioned room; this really helped reduce my intolerable and constant heat rash. I was grateful for the opportunities we had to relax over retreat, call family, watch general conference, attend the temple and do some shopping but at the end of 3 or 4 days I was really ready to come “home,” back to Asamang.

I didn’t realize I was going to miss Mamma Doris and my life in Asamang so much. I found that showering with a real shower spout left me feeling less satisfied when I finished then I do when I take a bucket shower. I found I missed Ghanaian food! (Not the starch or lack of variety but just the fact that everything we eat at the house in Asamang is easily gluten free and no stress for me! Though I felt very loved at the efforts Mikayla made to make gluten free foods for me, it felt like a hassle and a burden for me still.) I missed Ghanaian people. I really loved talking with Mikayla and James, I received invaluable advice from Mikayla especially, and we had a great opportunity to play card games with some of their American neighbors and that was interesting and fun as well. But I found that I ached to be a part of the lives that were outside their neighborhoods’ gates, where people were living real Ghanaian lives.

I gained great appreciation for my cultural experience performing a field study here in Ghana. Living within the authentic culture and really applying myself to learning holistically about all aspects of Ghanaian culture (i.e. cooking, schooling, religion, dancing, drumming, etc.) has really affected my life and enriched my college experience. Living the culture alongside the people has taught me to love them. I found that the expats here are not here to live the Ghanaian culture. They are here to perform their jobs at the embassy while trying to maintain a lifestyle as similar to the ones they enjoyed back in the states. They are great people and I was happy to meet and grateful for their hospitality and generosity but their comments and frustrations about the culture saddened me at times and I felt sorry that they hadn’t been able to see the culture from the perspective I have, or at least that they weren’t at the moment. I realize their situation is very different. A two year working commitment in another country is loads different from a semester abroad studying as a university student. But I began to wonder if their lives would have been more comfortable and easier if they had adapted some healthy perspectives the culture has to offer. You know you can always wish someone or something would change but really the trick to feeling different towards something is to change yourself. And maybe they have adapted the culture in ways I can’t see in a weekend visit. I know I can’t judge, but I can say I am grateful for the experience I am having working on a field study project and living in Asamang.

The madness in my methods

This week I want comment on the methodological aspect of my research. I am running into some difficulties and advantages I didn’t expect. I have to say before I get into the logistics of what I wish to discuss that I love that I am an amateur researcher. I didn’t come to Ghana with a real concrete idea of how to conduct research or what research should look like. In the prep class I did study research theory and techniques and read a lot of research that has already been done but I am now finding what a limited perspective I have had on the possibilities found within research. I like that! I love that I have so much to learn everyday here and though it is overwhelming I have so much to discuss everyday in my field notes, much more than I anticipated to.

Methodological Difficulties:

I have organized my research and learning here into two venues (1) Interviewing about and observing/participating in spiritual dance (2) Acquiring dance skill in Traditional and Popular African Dance. In the first aspect on spiritual dance I am finding great difficulty in asking questions during interviews about the topic of spirituality. It seems many people are confused by the term “spirituality.” I believe I can create new questions to probe responses of some substance out of my informants that would facilitate answers of significance for my research but the term is so common, personable and understandable to me that it is hard for me to rephrase or explain my questions in another way. My plan as of now is to try out the word “religious”, but I wonder if the organizational connotation of this word will affect the answers I receive. I am so confused about the word “spiritual” because when I ask them questions about spirituality informants, often priests, say they don’t understand it yet their answers are full of terms like “spiritual illness” or “spiritual power.”

In the second venue where I am taking dance lessons and improving my dancing ability I am struggling because my body loves to follow the patterns it is familiar with, that is ballet and modern dance (not necessarily prevalent in Africa). I get frustrated during my dance lessons with King (he teaches me Azonto dance, popular among the younger generation and performed to Ghanaian hip-life music) and especially with Sister Akua (teaches me Adowa lessons in town behind her little shop) because I know I look like a WHITE GIRL! I don’t have the African rhythms instinctual harbored in my body and so I struggle to make my Azonto not look like a step-ball-change or my Adowa to not look like I’m a nervous server carrying a platter of glasses filled to the brim. Another difficulty is that the movement is easy and habitual for my teachers and that makes it hard to break it down to teach me. Especially with Sister Akua who doesn’t speak any English. It is hard to get instruction or feedback from her at all and even if she does talk it’s hard for a translator to hear because of the volume of the music and the distractions of children running around or men watching.

One other methods difficulty I have that occurs with both venues is my electronics and video recordings. But I don’t think I need to bore you with those details, I’m sure we’ve all experience technical difficulties even in countries where electricity is usually always reliable and compatible with your devices.

Methodological Advantages:

I have one main advantage I would like to mention. I was not expecting to have King as a translator, guide, teacher, cinematographer, informant or brother and I am truly grateful for his service and knowledge. He has helped me secure so many great opportunities to observe and participate in dance experiences. He is a great translator and he understands my project very well so my interviews though confusing at times are always fruitful thanks to his explanations and help. This last Thursday he accompanied me to a festival in Effiduase with Nana (the Priestess from the Obene Ne Bene Shrine here in Konya who invited us to come). He spent the whole time translating for me, and videoing much of the dancing that occurred. He was very competent with my electronics and captured exactly what I needed. And the best part was I didn’t have to worry about what I was recording and could just participate and observe with one less thing to worry about. I could not get so much information for my project if it wasn’t for his service.

Our Azonto dance lessons are fantastic too! He is very good at breaking down the difficult steps and he encourages me but also challenges and pushes me in my ability. And because we live in the same house, setting up times and making dance lessons happen is much easier than it is with lessons outside the house. Additionally, he is a great friend and if I didn’t have him around to tell me to relax when I needed to I don’t think I’d be having as great of a time as I am having here.

Pleasantly Surprised

It’s hard to remember what exactly I thought about Africa or what I expected a field study to look like before I traveled here. But since I’ve arrived I have felt pleasantly surprised. There have been moments I’ve felt or seen what I expected too, but I have had many surprises! And maybe that’s why I am so pleasantly surprised, because the surprises make this adventure so exciting and rewarding.

I remember telling myself before I came that I shouldn’t have expectations. A good friend told me one of the most common reasons for sadness is unmet expectations: so I decided I wasn’t going to have any expectations. Also, I wanted to remind myself I could always be honest with my feelings and I would go to Africa and I could like it if I wanted to, or I could not like the experience. I just had to go, I had to have the experience and then I could know whether I liked it or not, but in any case I was going to be honest with myself.

Well if you haven’t caught on yet, I love it!!! I like to think it’s because I didn’t set too many expectations for my experience here. I just expected myself to live, be real with myself and others, and work as hard as I could to perform my research and course work and have a cultural experience as well. This attitude has really helped me thus far.

I’d now like to share some of my pleasant African surprises:

• · I got an A + on my Twi assignment last night! I really struggle with Twi and so I’ve been taking lessons from my new brother King and the other day he said something about how I was learning slowly. I was offended because as my teacher he really expects a lot of me and we do not miss lessons often and if we do, o does he take the time to make them up! SO last night I made 11 Twi sentences on my own. I surprised him with it. He looked over it. Then laughed and said someone helped me with the sentences because they were fantastic! I had done much better then he thought I should. I had performed at a higher level then he thought I could. HUZZAH! Success! Let that be a lesson to anyone who wants to call me slow, it makes me work harder. I am grateful for Kings high expectations.
• · I can feel productive and calm even just sitting down and chatting with my new Ghanaian friends and family. I don’t feel a need to “go-go-go” all the time. I can actually relax. Who knew?
• · Ghanaians don’t lie when they call you sister, everyone really is a big family! I find it so easy and normal to call Momma Doris “Ma” and “Momma” she really is my mother here.
• · I have little dance lessons all the time. But not the kind I would have expected in America. I planned to learn Adwa or Kete traditional dances but here I learn a lot of hip-life (popular) dancing. I love it! And I look like a crazy white girl who’s trying too hard, that was something I expected though.
• · I didn’t expect to have so many traditional worshippers to interview or observe. There are at least 5 or 6 shrines in walking distance for me to visit. I was not expecting that at all and I love that they are so accessible and that so many people want to share and teach me about them.

Time to change my perception of Time

I think the number one aspect of Ghanaian life that is the most uncomfortable and foreign to me is their perception of time. In the United States I am used to scheduling my day down to the hours, sometimes minutes and feeling accomplished at the end of the day only when I have marked all items off of my to-do list. Here in Ghana it is a bit different. They believe in a more polychronic time schedule. That is, they don't schedule their day like I'm used to, they focus more on relationships and less on to-do lists. They multi-task, they interupt, they change plans quickly, and it seems to me they let plans fall through without any mental psyche changes. They really adhere to time habitually, meaning they go with the flow and take each day as it comes. This is hard for me and it is so great that I am learning to see time this way! I think Momma Doris and her family and friends can tell it is hard for us sometimes. We like to make plans and know exactly what to expect or what is going on. Kingsley always tells me, "I think, you must relax" or he'll briefly whisper "Relax!" when I begin to get worked up about my plans for my project or my frustrations learning Twi.

I have had several interesting experiences here where I couldn't let go of my monochronic style of structuring time and the results were ... not so productive. Whereas when I allowed myself to go a little "native" and indulge in the local polychronic or Ghanaian time I was more profitable. I'll compare two of these experiences for you.

Monochronic Experience:
Preparing to come to Ghana I made plans to interview individuals, to participate and observe in dance events and to learn and teach dance in different religious and secular settings. Since I have been here I continually plan what I will do next to secure the opportunities and contacts I need to obtain these goals. I want to go meet the neighbors, introduce myself to people in town, go to the Shrine when the sign advertised the Priestess would be working. That's the way I would have handled it in America I think, but that isn't how Momma Doris, our mother and cultural broker, is teaching us things are done.

One day, walking down the main street (and only street) of Asamang a man hollered to Rebecka and I to come greet him. We greeted him and then he began telling us how he was Priest and wanted to invite us over on Sunday to see him. I thought, "Great! I'm so glad I made the initiatve to walk down town! I knew I'd meet someone who could be a potential research participant" and then he invited us to see some pictures of him and some Ghanaian political officials and reknowned Okomfo's (priests). I wanted to build rapport with my potential subject so Rebecka and I went together to see his pictures. (This -might i add - was done by way of me sliding on my buttocks down a steep slope of gravel I slipped on once I stepped off the paved road. Everyone around was chuckling. Yes, it sliced my arm and bruised me pretty good but I think the fall will catch on as a new hit dance move called, "Abruni Down." "Abruni" is what they call white people here.)

After our encounter with the priest I went home very proud. I told M. Doris about the contact I made by myself (she has made most all of our contacts thus far! and for a good reason I'll explain in my next experience.) She asked to see his contact information and number I had received from him and when she saw it she just burst up laughing! Apparently he tries to trick everyone into believing he is a priest when he is really not. He was only showing us his pictures to prove to us how "powerful" he was, when he wasn't. But we had no idea! M. Doris and the others got a kick out of our discovery, but I feel foolish. Monochronic initiative is just not the way to make real friends around here.


Polychronic Experience:
It seems the best experiences I have had here in Ghana occured when I wasn't expecting them. When I exercised patience and busied myself with building relationships and relaxing rather than planning or preparing contrived solutions to what I perceived to be problems (i.e. not having interviews set up or opportunities for dance lessons set up yet) amazing opportunities seem to fall into my lap.

For example, two Saturdays ago M. Doris called up a man she knew owned a large shring in Asamang. She invited him to the house and he came and met all three of us and M. Doris. She helped us explain what our purpose in Ghana was and why would like to visit the shrine. He was very happy to help and said he would even come pick us up personally in his car to bring us to the shrine the following Sunday around 3 pm. When 4 pm rolled around on Sunday we still had not been picked up. I was sad because I really wanted to go, it being the Awkwasidae festival that only occurs every 40-42 days to celebrate the local ancestral chiefs. But, this was a typical example of Ghanaian time, either an hour late, or a no-show. But I wanted to go check it out still so we walked to the Shrine. It didn't seem anything was going on for the longest time when we got there. We did a lot of sitting around but I enjoyed the people watching and getting comfortable in the space of the shrine. It was like a big courtyard with 4 walls and an open ceiling. Nothing seemed to happen for the longest time but eventually the priest came and greeted us with the shrine owner we had already been introduced to and eventually in the evening I got to dance with the priest. It was an amazing experience I will post in my next post. But the point of my story is that because I exercised some polychronic time, I was properly introduced prior to the event and I relaxed and waited for the action to happen, I was the witness to an amazing traditional ritual and the recipient of much knowledge that supported my research.

Thus I have found that my research will be most successful when I join the Ghanaians in their polychronic time. But I think another point made in these experiences it the importance of a good cultural broker. M. Doris is so amazing! She invites important village officials to the house to meet us and brings over many contacts for us to be introduced to so that we can build the appropriate rapport we need to ask favors of them for our research. She knows who is a safe contact, who is a worthwhile contact. She knows the traditions and the order in which things should be done. Introductions are so important here. In fact this Friday she has set up plans for us to meet with all the Village Chiefs and Elders as a gathering called a Durbur. At this gathering the chiefs will introduce us to the village and let the people know how they expect them to treat us with respect and help us and keep us safe during our stay here. A cultural broker is so important.

And one more thing. I have to admit I can't do the polychronic thing completely. I don't believe I need to go completely native in this respect. I still have a part of me that needs to have a to-do list and some structure to feel accomplished, but my solution has been to write down 11 things every night that I accomplished that day. It has been such a blessing to redefine what an accomplisment is. Napping for instance is an accomplishment that frequents my list. At home this would have been a big no-no, but here I feel it is an accomplishment because I'm taking care of myself. Polychronic time has helped me redefine success to be more realistic for myself. Who thought just even staying home all day could teach me so much!

Arrival to Ghana

Here's my first update! I arrived in Ghana on September 6th in the evening. I stayed in Accra with Rebekah and our new friend Cynthia in Accra for several days to transition and I will admit this was very very very hard, but Cynthia and her friends were so loving and delightful! We also got to visit the Accra Temple and that was something very familiar to me that helped me feel secure in this new foreign land.

Then we took a V.I.P bus to Kumasi and caught a taxi (luckily with a driver who was from our destination) to Asamang to meet Mamma Doris! and Mamma Doris is the most darling and faithful women I have ever met. We are under very good protection and care at her home.

The number one thing I feel I have had to think about and manage since I've been here is Culture Shock. This has come mostly from my inability to speak and communicate in the Twi language. It makes me very anxious to think that I could possible enter a situation where I could not communicate. My imagination is a little wild. But! I had an experience that taught me that there is another language I am very comfortable with that the Ghanaians speak that is not English and that is body language!

Having a body is a universal on this earth and I am so glad! I feel that I can easily fall in love with the Ghanaians because I can communicate through dance, movement and the body. The other night a women came to visit with her three children and I spent a good hour stretching with them. They would just mirror my movements! (They would even mimic the sighs and "ah's" that came along with my stretching, so cute!) They even taught me the song that all the little children sing as they flock around us down the street..."Dance like a butterfly, Dance like a butterfly!" haha this made doing the butterfly stretch very meaningful and connective for us.

With culture shock I would like to share one insight that has really helped me cope with the stresses of my first real international culture experience. I have to repeat in my mind the advice my mother gave me when I left. "Don't spend even one moment wishing you weren't there, it's only a short time so make it worth it!"

One of the first mornings I woke up thinking, "How can I do this? Why am I here? What was I thinking? I didn't sign up for this! Especially these emotions!" But then I decided to jump off the hamster wheel of analyzing my emotions and find something that made me happy. And many of you may not be surprised to know that working at the toilet in the guest house and finally getting it to flush was the think that did the trick. Once I got it to flush after about 20 tries I felt so HAPPY!!! IT was the best feeling to master the toilet. So now if ever I feel the effects of culture shock, I just find a toilet to flush (which can be a challenge to find and makes it an accomplishment in itself to find one). It's all about focusing on what makes you happy!

The final countdown!

WOWEE!! Boy howdy! September 5th is just around the corner!

Here's an update on my preparation since the field study prep course

• IRB.....ACCEPTED!!!! With only a few minor changes being the addition of a paragraph on my mentors qualifications and my e-mail address. Pretty Bomdiggity I'd say!
• Logged Off in the field studies office....Thanks to Sarah and Maggie for helping me pick out the style of bag pack I chose, I knew I wanted rasta colors I just needed some support...choice breeds anxiety you know :)
• Ran into Ashley and Dave and met with Andrew again, it was so nice to see them! We're going to be meeting together before we fly out and I can't wait. Their confidence in me when I spoke with them really helped me feel more excited and confident in myself. I was having some doubts but now I'm all IN it!
  
• Speaking with Andrew I got exciting news about housing and location that makes me so wicked excited!
• I'm just wicked excited.
• I can't wait to pack. I want to do that before I even go through all my college stuff I need to organize because i'm so excited!

Anyway, things left to collect and decide on are, whether to buy new shoes and which kind, which green packets I'd like to take and which video camera I should invest in. Anyway just thought I'd throw that update on this here blog.

Mostly I needed to release some of my excitement :)

"Life is what happens when you are making other plans"

The title of this post is the quote that's consistently seen in the subtitle of my blog. I have wondered since I created my blog when and where would be the best place to explain the significance behind this quote. I feel that, as I reminisce and evaluate my experience in the prep course over this Spring term, now would be a fine time to explain why I have had that quote there since the birth of this blog.

Let me give you some context. This quote was originally shared with my mother by her mother, and she in turn shared this quote with me during one of our sensitive conversations about my future plans and the accompanying anxiety following the school year's end. She shared with me what the personal significance of this quote was to her in helping her keep perspective and simmer down the drama of life. I resonate with her interpretation of this quote but would like to expound my own theory. Here is what this quote says to me:

I can plan and plan all I want, I can pursue dreams for my future and plan exciting adventures, but while this habit of manipulating my life is happening, the natural process of living and breathing always occur. Living life to its fullest doesn't mean taking every extraordinary opportunity offered, or beefing up every event to milk it into a creamy or precious keepsake experience. Living life to its fullest is recognizing the moments in between the privileged opportunities or special events that occur in one's life. To live fully is to recognize what a gift each breath truly is. To live fully is to acknowledge that your living, your actions and thoughts, during the preparatory or transitional stages of life are as vital and important as the climaxes and prominent moments.

So what does this have to do with my African Field Studies Preparation Class? Everything! This class has been full of to-do lists, planning activities, and discussions centered on "what if's" that could occur in the future. The work involved here can be frustrating and can leave one to feel as though they are waiting, waiting for the excitement to happen, for the plans to occur and the adventure to happen. But the truth is life is happening RIGHT NOW! Life right now is the preparation as well as the adventure.

It was this quote that helped me realize that and is what I believe made the class so completely enjoyable. I gobbled up the opportunity to use inquiry, I took pleasure in the creative process, and enjoyed the exploration of so many options. Certainly I am excited to go to Africa, I can't wait, but I am just as excited about the new skills and experiences I had in this class. If it wasn't for the wisdom of the women in my family tree that has been passed down to me, I don't know if I would feel as full and excited about this class or the next 6 Months as I do now. Even this moment, spinning ideas in my head, thrills me and I am grateful for it.