After a couple of weeks in Dubreka, I'm beginning to get a little of the hang of this life. Oh, compared with 99.9% of Africans, I have a lavish, lovely, extravagant lifestyle - but that's another topic. I do have a lovely 3-bedroom home (comes with my job) with water tower, generator, air conditioner, TV, gated fence etc. Unfortunately, I do not have electricity, running water, or internet. Somehow I'm so "AMERICAN" that these limitations are a real struggle! I do realize that millions of Africans do OK living without these "necessities" but it's really hard to do a job, to get ahead, or to even do more than just survive in conditions like this. Most of the time I do just fine. Sometimes it still gets to me though.
The school year finally got started and I'm teaching a "graduate" class in "How to Be a University Professor of Music." I have 7 students and was given a request by the Director that I prepare these students to possibly be hired for the following year. That's certainly a challenge! We meet M/W/F afternoons and it's been quite interesting to see what they are capable of doing.
I also finally got started with a group of students to help with the SikLik notation project that I've been working on. I didn't know what to expect from students coming from a culture that does not use music notation. They start learning to "read music" when they get to the University. And then here I come with a new form of notation... That's actually been quite fun to work on. We use a circular design and bottle caps to notate the cyclical patterns of the Guinean traditional rhythms.
My family is coming to visit! I look forward to their arrival. I've been saving extra water and tanks of gas so they don't have to sit in the dark! (Still no internet - had to come into Conakry to get access.)
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