So it begins

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AN - On this day, we had decided that we needed to have an early start, to get through all the necessary administration work needed before we could have access to the amenities at the university. Little did we know that early start should have started months ago when we were still in Canada. Throughout the next several days we were starting to understand the importance of the necessary communication needed between the two institutes, University of Ghana and Simon Fraser University and the communication need in their own institutions.

CHANTEL - This is a section where we could ramble on about bureaucracy and all the administrative BS that we’ve faced prior to our trip and during our first week. However, all that was expressed in our letter to SFU international and will be expressed in the write up we do for Shaheen and Judith on our pre-trip experiences dealing with SFU and planning our trip.

AN - Our day went like this: We had walked to Reuben’s office from our dormitories. It is about a 20 minutes walk; however, it took us 40 minutes, because we were lost for 25 of those minutes. We had eventually found it. Reuben spends a bit of time introducing us to his colleagues. Everyone is very nice and welcomes us. In his office we explain that we are going to visit International Office to register. Reuben advises us that we should pay our rent first, prior to visiting the International Office. We tell Reuben that prior to coming to his office we had went to Jubilee Hall to pay for our key deposit. Reuben informs us, that that is not enough. So we head back to our dormitories, in search of a bank on campus on the way. We find two banks on campus. We start to think that all the amenities on campus make things very convenient. The two banks are Barclay and Standard Bank. Both banks do not give US dollars, only Ghanaian cedis. Also, maximum withdraw from either banks a single transaction, using your Visa, is 800 000 cedis. You are able to withdraw up to three times. This is roughly 80 USD. We need a total of 600 USD to pay for our accommodations. With our limited funds, we had planned on paying the first month of rent, until we are able to get more money.

That evening we had gone to an internet café. Check mail from friends and family. Send our beloved prof a message to let her know we had arrived safely in Africa and that we haven’t even started our work for her classes.

CHANTEL - Randomly wandering around is key to knowing your surroundings in a strange environment. However, when your environment is a massive campus on several acres of land initial steps to explore tend to lead to a lot more random wandering around without any knowledge of where you are or where you are going. Legon campus is HUGE. Ironically it to also has a mountain, the highest point in Greater Accra, nothing like Burnaby mountain but still a good hike up. Reminds us both of UBC because of its vast sprawlings and small town like feel. Also it would appear that a large portion of the universities 30,000ish students stay on campus because there are massive dormitories spread all across campus like mini apartment blocks. Reuben also informed us that the staff with seniority are giving accommodation on campus as well.

AN - Toyoko comes to our room as planned and we are introduced to her other friend, Jeneke, another international student from Denmark. The four of us head over to the African Studies department in the Campus. Tonight is lights out, so we wonder how the performance will take place. We learn that the performance will be Northern Ghanaian Traditional dance. Toyoko tells me that the Northern Traditional dance is very different compared to the dance in Southern Ghana. Everything from the movements, costumes and music is different. There is also a lot of Muslim influences in the Northern Style. The performance does not start until 45 minutes after the schedule time. Toyoko leans over and explains, “African time.” The performance starts and it’s very interesting and highly entertaining. Upbeat music, paired with fast, and intricate movements. Also interesting about the performance is a single Caucasian male that is also performing. He performs in many of the dances, including a dance that is supposedly only performed by women. He is the only male in that dance and the crowd cracks up! When a performer performs pass expectations, audience members often go up on stage and place a cedi bill on the forehead of the performer as a gift and to symbolize the appreciation of the great performance. At the end of the performance the audience is invited up on stage to dance with the performance. This means the performers will literally go to audience members and drag them up on stage. Refusing is practically impossible. So the first performer comes down in invites Jeneke, she accepts. A few more audience members join Jemeke on stage, one of them being Chantel, after she too was invited. At this point I’m am sweating bullets, and praying to god that they don’t ask me. I tell Toyoko not to leave me or I will pass out. I’m hope they avoid asking me on stage if it looks like I have to guard both my bag and Chantel’s bag. I think, “Why the hell did I decided to sit in the second row!!!” Once again, I’m still sweating, and I see them approaching Toyoko and I. They approach Toyoko first and she agrees. I’m next in line and they grab my wrist and urge me to come on stage to dance. I shake my head profusely and say, “No, no, no, no!” In which they reply, by pushing out all the chairs in front of me, calling other people around round to help drag me on stage. So now I’m no stage and I’m still clutching both our bags, I attempt to learn a simple dance move, but instead I look like a woman with a twisted ankle, trying to stomp out ants with my good foot. I do this for two minutes (it feels like an hour) and then I run off stage and take my old seat.

CHANTEL - refusing to dance here is not acceptable, the dancers don’t care how stupid you look while trying to imitate their flawless dance moves on stage, whether you like it or not you’re going to have to dance at some point…and it is going to be with everyone watching.

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Comments

[marilyn]

Doing the bureaucratic dance and the lame lady jig--I love it. The tone is about right as well--aware, positioned, but not critical of difference in ways of doing things. Shows respect, from both of you. Rule one of ethnographic work involving participant observation, although they don't seem to talk about this in the qualitative methods textbooks.