I've now been here for almost a week, though as I said in my last blog, feels like I've never been away. Takoradi really does feel like home! I'm now in a busy daily routine of learning Ghanaian music and teaching music theory (true cultural exchange!), and feel like I've achieved quite a lot already!

My drumming with Podzo has been fantastic, and after my lessons ( 2 - 4pm every afternoon) I have been invited to stay on and rehearse with his dance group (for a further 2 hours), which feels quite an honour! So I've had a few blisters and sore hands, but is all part of the course! His group are very patient with me and are always constructive, with lots of support and smiles for the obruni! I've now learnt three complete pieces, and am starting to learn the master drum part for each one, which is the most important and complex, but I'm getting there! Podzo is arranging a final performance on Saturday where I will play with his group everything I have learnt, where he wants to present me with a certificate of achievement! (Ghanaians are very keen on formalities!). He's become a good friend, and he's helped me buy some bells and other percussion instruments around town, and invited me round to his family compound on Sunday to eat Fufu with them. He has a very strong vision of what he wants to achieve with his street children, and I hope he realises it. His first aim is to make enough money to send some of them to school, which makes you realise how poor they are.

I've been spending every morning at Mansek, teaching Grade 5 theory to the ever-keen music teachers, and leading orchestra rehearsals. Yesterday, we played with the Mansek orchestra at the service for the ordination of a new bishop for Ghana. It was an eclectic mix, including Vivaldi, Shubert... and Sloop John B! As usual, it was very Ghanaian, with orchestra members turning up during the performance, but I was very proud of them nonetheless. On Friday, we will go away to a beach resort in Takoradi for a teachers training day that I will lead, and will be a good chance to socialise and catch up with each other.

I've also been learning more Ghanaian parade tunes with my good friends Kokobush. Tomorrow evening I'm going to a rehearsal with his band in New Takoradi, where we will rehearse and then record all the tunes he has taught me. The hope is that when I get back to England I will be able to teach both the drumming and parade music to groups I am involved with, I am looking forward to it! I find Ghanaian music very liberating and exciting and above all - fun, and I hope I can pass this enjoyment to others.

So, as you can see I've been pretty busy! I've been sleeping lots and getting up early (along with the cockerels and goats outside my room, who starting making noise at sunrise) and making the most of each day. I am going to conclude my trip with a few days at Green Turtle Lodge which I'm really looking forward to, and maybe a surf at Busua Beach too. So I'm not sure I will write another blog till I get home. In the meantime, I've uploaded a few photos. Enjoy!

Cheers!

James