No Valentine's Day in Guinea - but I wore red anyway. Just a little touch of American life! Have been quite busy recently. Decided my life would be better with a motorbike so I had a friend show me the inner workings of the biggest outdoor market in Conakry and I bought a 70cc scooter. Already great fun and saves a LOT of hot walking. I have to be careful with it though, every time I slow down it seems like someone hops on the back for a ride!
Had a fascinating trip into Kindia to visit a "bush village" and learn some new Guinean rhythms. Very interesting trip. I even survived the village toilet system.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Feb 9 - Drum Project
The family visit is over, the school year is underway, and finally progress is starting on my drum notation project called SikLik. It's a newly devised notation system that is simple to read, simple to notate, but that is only useful for cyclical (repeating) rhythm patterns like one would use on in a drum ensemble. I have a group of 6 "graduate" students who are working with me on notating the traditional Guinean rhythm patterns in the SikLik notation. We're having a great time working with this and playing the drums ourselves.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Feb 3 - Family visit!
The last two weeks have been great fun - my family came to visit me in Guinea! It's been fun to watch the Guinean people respond, especially, to my parents. EVERYONE LOVES THEM! They've become "Mama et Papa" to everyone they meet. I was a touch worried about how they'd do with no electricity and no water and walking and walking - and they've been fabulous. Real troopers. I'm very proud of them. They've discovered a little coffee shop (I use the term VERY loosely) where they got cafe au lait (with sweetened condensed milk) and "omelette sandwishes." Great fun and a real blessing. My brother, James, and I are still big in the drumming!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)