The Big Movie : Hilariousness & a Type of Confusion

Hilariousness:
Our ringleader in the city slum, Mohammed, was put to the task of finding and dressing 2-3 school children on a Sunday while we were shooting with the lead actress, Asana. At an interim between scenes with her, Mohammed tells us to hurry and shoot with the kids. Because of his tone of urgency I reluctantly said okay.

David entered the room where he keeps the equipment and was totally surprised when more than 25 three year olds dressed for school started crying! David and I had to hide behind a corner with the camera because they were afraid of us (common at their age). Finally the kids calmed down, after given candy, on a bench. Of course the bench topples and they all start crying again!

Type of Confusion: Asana disappeared after shooting with the kids and we thought the mafia man took her only to realize later she fell asleep while waiting for us.

The Big Movie : Utter Fear and Hilariousness

Utter Fear;
Upon arrival to the city slum we had to get permission to shoot. Similar to the customs at the village we had to go around to different elders and opinion leaders to present our identity and cause. Everyone accepted until we got to the "mafia man." Like out of a movie he threatened to impound the camera if we didn't comply with him so we did what he said.

The first time we met him was next to a bus at the main station for exporting goods abroad (his job-area and terrain). When he didn't offer us shade I knew something was up. He said we were rude for not greeting him at his house and that we would need to come back in an hour. An hour later he is nowhere to be found. The next morning we go to his house and back to the station. We had to wait outside a fast food place more than an hour for him to let us in. Then after talking at him and his goons he said he had to go to a baby naming and we needed to come again.

At this point we had wasted quite a bit of shooting time waiting for his permission and everyone knew it. We were told to forget him. But how? When one is surrounded by people in a market, who surely work for him? Finally, divided and confused, we run into an NGO worker and fluent English speaker. He explains that this man is just a "youth leader" in a certain area and we can "forget" him. The camera will not be imploded and we have rights and this man just wants money.

So we start shooting. We didn't trust anyone anymore for leading us to this trap.

Hilariousness;
As we are starting to prepare the first shot in the Slum some men call David & Abdulai over to ask them what the hell they think they are doing. I decided I would watch from a distance, and as the crowd and voices grew I was scared and took out my fear on the kids getting too close to the camera I was guarding. It ended and I frantically asked David what happened. He said there was one guy who was really angry and the others were yelling at him. In the end they said "we should do a really good job."

The Big Movie

Dec 10 - Jan 9

It was planned, researched, re-planned, interrupted, refreshed, then finally - it happened. There was a lot going on. Abdulai was in recovery, I was in re-entry, and new people on the scene; Nash Imoru, a friend (and Kari's BF) living in Tamale as a teacher for the deaf, and David Kavanaugh, a friend from learning film. They both appeared like magic as the clock almost stopped ticking and wound it up.

We had a wild ride of utter fear, hilariousness, generosity/ bribes, role confusion, mis-communication of all kinds, theft, fire, hunger/ thirst, depression, alienation, jubilation, realization, and companionship. Too bad we didn't shoot it but then we'd have another list. I'll try to share some highlighted examples.

Organic Mangos & Integrated Tamale Fruit Company

They like me. I like them. They are my new parents. I am making a seasonal technique video for them and they are making me a volunteer in Ghana that gets to eat and sleep without worrying about how that would work otherwise. But I still stay in the village. It's hard to edit without electricity so I move around a lot. On motorcycles if I want to.
www.itfcorganic.com/

Hooray for The USA

I Love obama. Like a Super Hero.

By the way I am in the USA temporarily...
and I have witnessed the sudden transformation of the nation.

America is now Cool.

Except for the gay marriage ban. Not Cool.

Just wait, Super-Obama is in the white house.
(Knock on wood x3)

Miss Scarlet with the rope in the Dining Room

I got 157 pieces of candy. My sister got less but evened it out a little with a game of poker. My sister and I drove a few blocks to a better neighborhood and went around as guests of Clue. One lady told us we looked like midgets. It was great to celebrate my favorite holiday.

Way to Go.

So after being sent to the USA and "early terminating" peace corps, my good friend and counterpart, abdulai, rode a motorcycle and ran into a sheep that "jumped out" in front of him driving along without a helmut on. He almost died.

PRO-Choice

So peace corps has a rule against riding motorcycles. This makes sense in the city where there is pavement and crazy drivers. But how about the bush? A lorry is just as dangerous when it's filled and stacked to the seams with people, animals and cargo. I am pro-choice in this matter of how you want to risk your life best. Just wear a helmet and watch out for the stupidity of sheep ...

Mobile Movie Making Bike Ride

We - 6 volunteers & sometimes Abdulai - biked around the District to 5 villages for 6 days. Each village made quick "educational" videos about HIV/AIDS & then at night we showed them on a big sheet with a projector and amplifier. Most began with an introduction by the respected Chief & Elders whose faces look great on the big screen & People loved it. Then students or youth would do short dramas... a few even had more than 7 scenes. Quick scenes. Then we shot people trying to put condoms on wooden penises correctly. Always fun.

We had some strange technical problems but got through most of them. Why will my camera not export audio properly? Doesn't make sense. I got feverish toward the end too but I just need sleep I think.

Cheap Flights!

www.asaptickets.com

thanks jojo

we went to KAYAAYO

We have seen it to believe it. We lived it for a small time. It's a microcosm of the north squished into several blocks of wooden shaks with small passageways. Girls, small and tall, sleeping 16 to a small room. The community is called Sodom and Gomorrah. Today it's not but perhaps yesterday it was.

The girls told us they are happy to be making money for themselves and not just their parents. But the families are not so happy when the daughters get pregnant and the men disappear and not knowing really who to Blame.

Economically speaking, which it what it is all about, I heard it's the highest source of income the north has. I think it is call for Revolution. Peace, love, and rock and roll? perhaps I am being optimistic...

A YEAR

Today (or yesterday depending who you ask) I have been in Ghana for a year. Not sure I've stayed in one country this long. Though I certainly move around the country. But this is my first time back in Accra, the big huge city we flew into. It didn't look so big then. But now this is like Europe or the USA. Except still no movie theater. Someone needs to change that. I should write letters. They could make lots of money. Lots. But I celebrated with a strawberry smoothie and real whipped cream. MMM.

RAMADAN

I am fasting with my people. They appreciate it plus I'll cross it off the roayl to do list. But it's kinda normal-ish. It's harder when it's sunny and I am thirsty. But no water no food until sun down at 6:15pm. Then most people get up at 4am and have a meal but I prefer to sleep. We were at a workshop in Kumasi for a week which made it easier since we weren't moving.

New Danish Collaborators

http://www.artrebels.com

Youth Forum 2008

I Bee Busy

and still living in the lands of some milk and honey.
Though not going to have it in the day time... it's Ramadan. And I am trying, starting now.

Too busy to write. oops.

Will's Women

From a Nice & Old Film Camera

I like feet.

One of my favorite singing women.

No chopping the candy.


This was dry season. Now it's green.

I spy with my little eyes
a Super 8 camera & radio Walkman.

Poo Like A Lady

Art by Susan Belle
(we know each other.)

-I want to paint this in my village to encourage sanitation. I think it's a super piece of poo.

Vienetta

Today was actually lucky. I found this treat in the store. I asked the price and they said it was expired. I exclaimed. I begged and pleaded. They laughed and said I would get sick. They could see it in my eyes, I was deadly serious and not leaving without it. Finally the big boss lady said ok and this little piggy ran all the way home. It was a little freezer burned and I shared it with one person and it was sublime. Flavor Brownie. I need not say more. I am speechless.

*Action*

So here we are. It's about August. We want to shoot October-November. We need money honey. I am writing a Pepfar proposal for the making and showing. But the big money- the one for the film stuff- it's not enough... sooo... I was thinking to set up something where people can buy DVDs of the short.. and there's gotta be another way of raising it too. So let's think it up. Get up to speed aaaaand aaaaaction.

http://kayayoo.blogspot.com/

KAYAYO SHORT Part 1 & 2

The F word.

Feature Film?

They watched the short one and said it should be longer. So, if I am applying for a grant and why not make it real? Seriously, celluloid. If I can get some help. I'm working on the details. But we better hurry up. Trying to get this shot and edited a little by December so we can go to the Burkina Faso Film Fest in February. And take a side trip to see their circus.

We just finished subtitling! I am impressed with our 22 minute cut. I thought it'd be much longer.
There is no translation for Naa. It's just a response to everything.

The Curse on The Generator

e were editing every night at a friends Video Show. Feeling seriously productive for a change... when... someone cursed the generator. Why? No one knows but the curse has been confirmed by an elder who didn't want to get involved in the Why. The word is that this Generator must be traded since it will never-work-here-again. But even after the trade they don't want to use it here. What will we do? It makes me question it all...

But guess what - I got a text message while at the art show. "Thank god we got a generator. When are you coming?"

Update: They have a new generator. Video shows are back on to every ones elated cries- and they have competition. Which is why the generator was cursed. The curser has started his own video show. It's only a matter of time before he can get enough chickens to make another curse...

Deaf Dreams of Art

June 28-July 6

Some may recall the day I heard that I wasn't going to be an art-teacher-of-the-deaf as my job in Peace Corps. It was a sad day.

The past two weeks I pretended I was one. I also taped a whole lot. I must must edit.

I just returned from the annual Art Show- this year at Cape Coast School for the Deaf. Every PC Art Teacher brings 2 students (of which there are 6 -all at Deaf Schools at present.) Cape Coast is one of my new favorite places with its decrepit old buildings and littered beautiful ocean.

Kari, my good friend teaching near me at Savelugu School for the Deaf unfortunately fell ill so I took her students down down this country- (though I intended to go to make The Video anyhow). Before leaving I spent a bunch of days with her students so they wouldn't freak out when traveling with a stranger who doesn't know sign language - and I taught the 2 lucky ones to "Dance A Painting," from which I made a small video.

To understand the video you must also realize that the talented students here are being taught to do drumming in dancing for 2 hours every afternoon by a professional from the Tamale Cultural Dance Troupe (Kari & Nash set this up). It's quite exciting - they are getting good and will some day come to a Theater Near You...

Seriously. I will edit.
Featuring 12 Deaf kids between ages 12-19, Six Peace Corps V. teachers, an Art Show with work from each school, The Ocean, SilkScreening T-Shirts &anything else you happen to be wearing, a lot of Meals where everyone got Fat, Blind Kids Singing and playing Soccer, Batiking, Kakum Canopy Walk where one girl is very scared, and Fireworks in the Rain.

Right now I am preparing my return to Voggu & my divorce from my two pseudo kids. I'll visit them. Maybe even teach a little.

For the Love of Cheese

I have started making cheese. Starting with fresh and soft we have attempted Mozzerella and Bondon. Lactic Cheese will be ready in the morning. Apparently good on crepes.

I got a kit. Thank you papa! It has two cultures for soft + hard cheeses and rennet tablets. Plus the needed cheesecloth. A friend going to France will pick up more Rennet... and we can multiply the Cultures ourselves.

So far I've confined my laboratory to the controlled environment of the Peace Corps Tamale Sub-office where there is a refrigerator, stainless steel and other enthusiasts.

In fact my imagination has created a future cheese cave, herd of goats, cows, and everyone as a cheese maker, including the Ghanaian guards. Endless supply. We'll have people of all sorts from far and wide trying to get there hands on a wedge of our unique recipes that we will create once we master the art. If you're lucky we will export.

So I've started graphing and making signs. I am detailing the subtleties of what makes each cheese it's own. Heating and cooling at different rates to varying degrees, pressing with certain amounts of weights, shaping to tasty sizes...

This week I am experimenting at home. Next Chapter- cheese made in warm temperatures...

"a cheese may disappoint. it may be dull, it may be naive, it may be over-sophisticated. yet it remains cheese, milk's leap toward immortality."-clifton fadiman (motivational excerpt from my cheesemaking textbook)

Barak-O

I heard it on BBC in the morning...and I felt somethin.
I'll vote from here & Excited to Be.
Do I smell tasty BarakO cookies in the future?
You add the sugar and I'll add the butter. We'll both beat.
Let's Bake and share.
Close your eyes and take the biggest bite...

Traveling Circus

So I had an epiphany the other day. Everything became clear and I was floating. As my cloud landed I realized it wasn't a dream. We can do this. It doesn't have to be my whole life future... instead of girls and boys traveling south for work how bout they join the circus?

We'll spread messages of young girls caught in the ropes... boys caught up with the girls and everyone caught up with the money for their farm or their bowls... and the sad donkey that works so hard (Alidu just got one and I am elated). Monkeys and Clowns who are dirty and clean house and build sanitation facilities that they can't figure out the reason for...

and elephants. (one can hope)
Mole National Park isn't actually that far...

Festival au Desert (Mali)

JAN 8,9,10th 2009
You should visit... This is a good time... Buy your plane ticket now...

HISTORY
Created in Jannuary 2001, the "festival au désert" is held every year in Essakane, two hours from Timbouctou in Mali.

This Festival seeks its origin in the big traditional Touareg festivities, as Takoubelt in Kidal and Temakannit in Tombouctou, which represented for long time a place for decision making and exchange of information among the different communities. At the beginning, there were songs and touareg dances, poetries, camel rides, games, etc.

Today, the Festival is opened to the external world and welcomes artists from other Malian regions, other African countries, but also from Europe and from the whole world.

During three days, around 30 artistic groups are invited from all around the world to present their art.

Due to the attention of the media and to the huge logistic effort that it is mobilizing, the Festival is now included among the Big Modern Festivals, though it maintains its traditional cultural aspects.

MAIN
http://www.festival-au-desert.org/
LISTEN
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/episodes/2007/07/03/segments/81493
ARTICLE
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/07/malifestival200707

Is it a Hurricane? No, it's just "the Rain."

So it has rained a few times now. Today being one - and it's not just rain that comes, it's wind- and plenty of it. There is lightening and thunder too but wow that wind - it's like a hurricane! A part of my roof has actually blown off, a small part and not in my bedroom so it's ok - and it's supposedly getting fixed tomorrow.

I got a cold because I was still sleeping outside but that wind! It just about knocked me off the bed - well, the makeshift bed as mine had bed bugs (may-be scabies) - man, it was awful - but I got rid of them by pouring boiling water over my bed, washing the creases, leaving it in the sun, washing the sheets with treated stuff, and spraying the house with strong repellent. The procedure was rough and involved plenty of bites, sleeping on a row of chairs with a towel sheet- and cursing. But now how I appreciate my lovely bed and soft sheets! It makes me think about the wonders of whipped cream.

In-Service-Training

April 21-26

This was about a week of flashback to training but we all got to bring our counterparts so that was fun. We should have/could have had this at the beach but for some reason our organizer is tired of having it there!

We ate enough protein to last the year I think. Got to go swimming and stay in a fancy hotel room with fancy tile floors that feel nice under the feet. I jumped on the bed and did flips too (so I could get hungry then just for fun). I lost my beloved change purse I have had since I was 12 and admired the stylish front desk woman's short tie.

It was a great bonding experience with Abdulai and I think he got a lot out of it all. Not just swimming in a pool which he had never done and playing Marco Polo (he kept saying Michael Polo). Or seeing me drink beer, which in my village of muslims who don't drink I never let on that I did...

We interviewed him and he said that he thinks we were all put in the right communities and he is happy with his Peace Corps Volunteer- compared to the rest. Ok - so I asked him the question but I think it's true. And it's true for me too! We shared experiences and ideas. I got paler from all the sitting inside. We got a lot of papers on proposals we could write... and the small print.

The Rain is Coming, The Rain is Coming

Yea! I have a newly built Net for my veranda to keep all those nasty little bugs that would have eaten me away. Since I live in a corn field...

I will make a local fridge to make local cheese... and I will eat more vegatables.

Buddy Abdulai says I will die because no one will visit me or be able to do anything because everyone will be at farm. Haha. Can't wait! Some school kids will still be in school sometimes and I will finally Paint. Oh and I will buy a hoe for 2 bucks so I can try to farm though Abdulai again says I will die. It's just a jokey expression, don't fret.

Under Pressure

Today I was woken up on my veranda bed (it's so hot) and was suddenly asked to do something special for a visitor and Guinea Worm Soccer game for the afternoon. It was super - we put our little drama together, made costumes quickly, rehearsed and boom.

I was told I was horror & that I should never wash my face cause it was beautiful. I wore clown makeup with a few painted Guinea Worm wiggling on my face and had my hair in pigtails with pink clothed dangly arms & a polka dotted headband. I sat on My Buddy Abdulai's shoulders with a drawn cyclops on a sheet wrapped round us. We were the Monster Guinea Worm. A gun couldn't kill us but a filter could. Defeated I was carried off hanging upside down from a stick by the warriors.

This same morning found us finally on the first day of making the Guinea Worm video drama. Superstar is Alidu who is directing and it made him hungry! It takes longer than he thought... We are racing the rains cause they are coming.

Peas & Carrots

There are two families within the large Dagomba tribe here in my Northern Region. I call them Peas and Carrots. There is hardly a difference between them except there are more Peas and "naturally" they support opposite political parties.

My Buddy Abdulai is a Carrot and Superstar Alidu is a Pea. Hmmm... The plot thickens.

Something happened about a month ago when I met a certain man called Prince from Voggu here at a funeral who now works as an advisor to the President.

I knew some of his legend and that he was powerful and had built the health center (where bats live now), put up the electrical wires (nothing running yet), and my house. Naturally I thought maybe he could do more.

What I didn't know was that he is a controversial character. He's a carrot. He was a carrot in power when the pea Paramount Chief (of all Dagombas) was Murdered 4 years ago (power changes from Pea/Carrot after a chief's death). The crime is still unsolved.

This largely small incident woke me up to the reality of my insignificant significance. I will leave it at that. I will be going on a trip for the elections here later this year... yes.

Witches & Wizards Camp

I had the opportunity to go to one of the three in Ghana, all located in the Northern Region. It's a place where people who are decided to be witches are sent. It is believed they may be cured by the Fetish Priest. But even so the're likely not given a warm welcome home. I did some taping, some interviews. When asked why they are there they say Hate. It's a prison with invisible bars.

I asked Abdulai about witches. He said there was one in Voggu who killed his bestest friend. He had to leave the village for 3 months to get over it. He told me the story though he said I would have to see it to believe it.

Basically there are certain people in the village who "know" about witches. One of those people declared a meeting with all the women in the village and said that one person there was planning to kill a young man (at this point Abdulai said is this scaring you? - I said no) and if that person went through with it that they would be caught. That night Abdulais buddy got a headache, but they thought it just couldn't be him and that couldn't be a sign. But it was and then a few hours later he was dead. Totally dead.

So the next day all the women were called again and the man declared that the woman was not present. He went to her house and went into her sisters room - that is where she hid the juju, (living in the same house as the boy - his Aunt) there was a thing that he found in that room that no one else could have noticed. It was a strange looking thing with hair and human blood in it. There was also a tooth and a woven piece of rope like for catching a fish. The woman was sacked to Dalun, a fairly nearby village that has a body of water and a fetish priest. It is said that if the witch tries to kill again the water will kill her.

Bolgatanga "Live Art" Project

This was a neat 3 week workshop that just ended which is why I have been sooo busy. I mostly taught kids how to use the video camera for the documentary the Lotus Collective is producing - they will come back in a year to show it to the communities.. yea.

What we did was largely based on Augusto Boal's ideas (founder of Theater of the Oppressed) using his book Games for Actors & Non-Actors. (Late birthday gift anyone?)

Picture Slideshow
www.flickr.com/photos/camusartink/show/

Lotus Collective
www.lotoscollective.org.uk/

Celebrity

I read an article in Newsweek (we get those kinda weekly) by a recently turned Celebrity and I felt I could relate a lot to what she was saying. I walk around and people call my name, if I stop and talk they are happy. My closest friends are somewhat harassed and people think I give them nice things. There is a (language) barrier between most of us. Everyone knows my business or wants to know.

Watch HIV/ AIDS Video for Competition, 10 minutes

Old Photo

Radio Reception

Local Bed

My Room (Messy)

Baobab

My House

Kari On Swing

Cyclops (ingest to get Guinea Worm)

Attack of the Killer Cyclops & The Dance of the Filters

The big question is will me & the Super Star clash, compliment, or contribute to each others idea for the drama we are going to make.

My idea is a bit wild ok, & his an educational comedy, which would fit into the middle of mine... but will he go for it?

Abdulai is working on a set of illustrations to help explain my idea but he is having trouble with the final frame that includes a human worm made up of children walking on their hands with their legs supported by the next person's body. He says he can't draw it because he has never seen it.

The Monster Cyclops is easier because it's just one person on another shoulders with a cyclops costume on (the little devil that causes Guinea Worm if ingested and found in the Local Dam where people get water and can only be defeated by cloth filters). The Warriors will also be drawn with sticks on their shoulders carrying small children with filter skirts on doing simple yet stunning acrobatics.

Super Star

His name is Alidu but I call him Super Star cause that's what he is. He does it all; from manually fixing water pumps, to saving orphans, to mobilizing the community for ____ reason, to fighting guinea worm, to acting and being on the radio for discussion on philosophy, to Warrior (10 years ago his left eye was shot out in the civil war), to wearing cool sunglasses all the time, to wanting to learn English cause he hasn't been to school, to being the one strangers come to when traveling by. And of course he got me here. The joke being is he my father or am I his third wife?

Non Government Organizations

They sound good. They mean well, but I can't talk about them cause I don't know them well enough. We've only just met. We're trying, been on a few dates, he even came over to meet the family but I'm not sure they liked him. Speaking of if you want to get in the Shea Butter buisness let m know. (it comes in bars like soap but goes on smooth.) Serious Inquiries Only.

Abdulai

Abdulai-bla (small who resembles his father)

is my favorite and best friend here, living just close. It's really great. We talk about whatever is on our minds. He helps me remember things I said once, we argue (he is right a lot I will admit), he even shows me how to cook & makes fun of how I cook fish - with the meat actually white, not fried solid.

He draws well from his head, paints houses & cements floors, learned carpentry for 3 years, & fixes radios. He has a sense for shooting video too.

I invited him to a nearby village's youth association meeting I was invited to- made up of a group of creative & motivated & excited people hoping to "fill the gap" in the places they live empowering themselves. Know what you want before someone tells you. Yeah.

The Youth Clans

Visit me regularly - the 20 some's who speak English and look for things to do, the older school kids who act cool, the younger school kids who cause trouble and are obnoxious, the 6-10 crowd who plays on my acrobatic bar, and those under 6 who are hilarious because they are silly and have parties across the road parading & dancing & drumming.

Happy Stomach

Food is scarce, yet people are eating- including me. If there are not enough vitamins & minerals your stomach gets big and sticks out.

I get lazy when it comes to food, luckily if I'm hungry people will feed me - tizert (pounded millet)with okra or baobab leaf stew. Once I encountered BushRat stew, a local delicacy, but the taste is um, quite, yes -a bit gamey.

I try to stay stocked with eggs & laughing cow. Everything has to be bought at market or the Big Town. Tomatoes too but that's harder cause they get squashed and go bad. There's tomato paste in small tins which I just learned to open - rub the tin fiercely on a stone until the lip just peels away! Clean & pretty.

But the price of a can will also buy me local chop - my favorite being sold in the AM between 7-9ish (Rice & Beans- it's just rice in the afternoon). If I happen to have woken up energized and fetching water I will often stop and get some in a bag then eat it for lunch and dinner with additions.

Sometimes I have hot smooth porridge from a neighbor made with millet, ginger and other nice things. Sometimes I save that for dinner too. It is good with local peanuts which I can get by walking around since people are cracking them all day. Another yummy treat is KuliKuli- a large ring shaped crunchy snack made of pounded & fried peanut- each costing a penny and good with tea.

Though people cannot drink tea without bread which is very funny to me since I drink tea almost daily, whether it being morning chai with local honey & milk, afternoon lukewarm tea cooked by the local sun with sugar, or night tea- an herbal blend or mint if my stomach aches with Ghardia which comes and goes. Look it up. But don't worry, I take antibiotics- sometimes.

Total Dissolution

This is to all you Power Yogas out there (meaning Naomi) - we got this tape at a Thrift store for a $1 (there, not here). I transferred it to audio because it happens to be one of the best classes out there (I spent a month going to local free trials) so this week I have been stretching with the sun going down & sometimes BBC or the soccer match would accompany me- though I am not sure Tony would agree that's a power yoga move.

Guniea Worm Photos

TIME MAGAZINE ONLINE
www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1707059,00.html
by my talented (closest in distance) Peace Corps Buddy

25

Appropriate Old Picture from Ceremony Day

Tomorrow Is My Birthday - I will be A Quarter

Now is the time to write me that letter or email you always wanted or send me that Gatorade powder, mac & cheese powder (you can skip the noodles), duct tape, tea, fun, good paint/ brushes, dv tapes, 16mm short ends, 35mm film, or if you are feeling adventurous pizza and ice cream.

I am actually attempting to make ice cream right now, condensed & powdered milk, sugar & cocoa. We'll see...

Tomorrow My plans are dressing like a present, a Wedding, African Cup of Nations game & much much more.

Fire Fire Everywhere

Like a parade, like a dance, like setting everything on fire. It is a holiday to remember the dead and an old story of a chief's small son who got lost so the village went to search for him with torches. They found him by a big tree so in the reenactment the torches are flown through the air onto the live (therefore indestructible) tree. It can be quite dangerous but I had a boom mic bodyguard and I got to witness 5 villages of them over two nights and taped them all from different angles. I somehow do not have my battery charger with me so editing later.

The Sea Ride

The Lorry (trotro) I take between Tamale and my village goes on a road that looks as I would imagine the ground of the sea. It is wavy, bumpy, carpeted with red dirt, holey, and I get sea sick. There are holes in the bottom and to start it they pinch wires. I took a picture got it developed and hung it up.

Swing!

Me and my new partner in crime built it. We chopped three tall trees, stuck two deep in the ground and the other across - some rope and a broken desk chair later a glorious swing! It is the beginning, the beginning of an acrobatic playground. I have high hopes, a trapeze? Parallel bars? Balance beams? I think so.

The Famous Village

When I tell people in Tamale where I live many exclaim - oh! Something happened there once. I have heard different stories, the government came with a tank to break up some kind of civil dispute but the people attacked them and the troops fled and left the tank, the government gave them a bus that they didn't want so they set it on fire, and a horse ran up a baobab tree and left hoof prints that are still there.

I asked a trusted fellow from my village to explain, he did and it was long and complicated involving chiefs and tribes, and indeed some kind of civil war where more than 40 important people got shot about 10 years ago. Mr. Superstar Alidu, the guy I work with often and is a superstar cause he is awesome had one of his eyes shot out in the war and will give me a detailed account at a later time. And that tree fell down a couple years ago.