May 10, 2002
Greetings one and all,
Time...it is and it goes. I've been here for almost 4 months and my departure is looming. It seems as though I came here yesterday..not in January. As for my age... I just turned 25 though it feels like I 've been here twice as long. All the same I enjoy time...so I should being a drummer. Life continues and the blood keeps pumping. I've seen some freaky things in the last few weeks and had some amazing experiences. Apart from spending my birthday with the community drumming group and dancing Atsiagbekor for the village of Dzogadze, I witnessed a special "cult" known as Korku. Besides their unique drumming and dancing styles, they are notorious for their states of possession. I don't know if any of you has seen someone possessed....I mean physically and spiritually overtaken by something....else. You never quite get used to it but you learn not to fear it. However these people could induce fear as they tend to take machetes to their stomachs, limbs and tongues. No blood comes for the genuine though. This is just one of the things they do in that state. I'll leave it at that.
One thing that happened to me I'll never forget. One Sunday at the shrine multitudes of people came, like it was a festival. A holy man from Accra was to visit with T.V. people to document the practices of the shrine. To welcome him they asked ME to sing a song. I was hesitant at first but the Hunua(priest) asked me so I couldn't refuse. So I start timidly at first with no accompaniment or drumming. Then a chorus of about 300 hundred chimes in with drumming to follow. It's a feeling you can't describe nor forget. Pure energy. The best I can do is try to create the same.
I'm in Accra again and it seems I've become a bit of a celebrity in some parts, not as Curtis but Osama. There's even an American exchange student here doing research on Ghanaian's fascination with Osama. He heard of me through someone that knows me and wants to get my thoughts and experiences. Hmmmm. I'll leave here soon for the Volta. A funeral tomorrow morning and then I'll leave for Togo for one week. It should be interesting as it's part of the migration route of Ghanaian Ewes. The more I learn of Ewe culture, history and life the more I see its complexity, history and beauty. I know Togo will have more of this, though just for one week. One place I'd like to visit is an old city called Notsie. It is from there that many Ewes escaped to Ghana from a wicked king who built a wall around the whole place. I don't know if it is still there so I'll see for myself. After Togo I'll take a day to wash my clothes and mind and leave for another planet called Tamale. It's in the Northern Region of Ghana and will be quite the shock. Since I've been here I've stayed with the Ewes. The language, food, music, lifestyle, dress....everything. I've been soaking it all up. Really, my knowledge of "Ghana" is small but of these people it is relatively large. So to go to this place with a whole different history, climate, environment, culture and life in general will be like another planet. It's exciting, invigorating and scary.
Yes I'm alive. Peace love and all that other good stuff.
curtis, poncho, curtisicus, osama, mork or any other name you may know me by
Greetings one and all,
Time...it is and it goes. I've been here for almost 4 months and my departure is looming. It seems as though I came here yesterday..not in January. As for my age... I just turned 25 though it feels like I 've been here twice as long. All the same I enjoy time...so I should being a drummer. Life continues and the blood keeps pumping. I've seen some freaky things in the last few weeks and had some amazing experiences. Apart from spending my birthday with the community drumming group and dancing Atsiagbekor for the village of Dzogadze, I witnessed a special "cult" known as Korku. Besides their unique drumming and dancing styles, they are notorious for their states of possession. I don't know if any of you has seen someone possessed....I mean physically and spiritually overtaken by something....else. You never quite get used to it but you learn not to fear it. However these people could induce fear as they tend to take machetes to their stomachs, limbs and tongues. No blood comes for the genuine though. This is just one of the things they do in that state. I'll leave it at that.
One thing that happened to me I'll never forget. One Sunday at the shrine multitudes of people came, like it was a festival. A holy man from Accra was to visit with T.V. people to document the practices of the shrine. To welcome him they asked ME to sing a song. I was hesitant at first but the Hunua(priest) asked me so I couldn't refuse. So I start timidly at first with no accompaniment or drumming. Then a chorus of about 300 hundred chimes in with drumming to follow. It's a feeling you can't describe nor forget. Pure energy. The best I can do is try to create the same.
I'm in Accra again and it seems I've become a bit of a celebrity in some parts, not as Curtis but Osama. There's even an American exchange student here doing research on Ghanaian's fascination with Osama. He heard of me through someone that knows me and wants to get my thoughts and experiences. Hmmmm. I'll leave here soon for the Volta. A funeral tomorrow morning and then I'll leave for Togo for one week. It should be interesting as it's part of the migration route of Ghanaian Ewes. The more I learn of Ewe culture, history and life the more I see its complexity, history and beauty. I know Togo will have more of this, though just for one week. One place I'd like to visit is an old city called Notsie. It is from there that many Ewes escaped to Ghana from a wicked king who built a wall around the whole place. I don't know if it is still there so I'll see for myself. After Togo I'll take a day to wash my clothes and mind and leave for another planet called Tamale. It's in the Northern Region of Ghana and will be quite the shock. Since I've been here I've stayed with the Ewes. The language, food, music, lifestyle, dress....everything. I've been soaking it all up. Really, my knowledge of "Ghana" is small but of these people it is relatively large. So to go to this place with a whole different history, climate, environment, culture and life in general will be like another planet. It's exciting, invigorating and scary.
Yes I'm alive. Peace love and all that other good stuff.
curtis, poncho, curtisicus, osama, mork or any other name you may know me by