Qur'an, Kora, Cucumber

Yesterday was the last day of Ramadan, so a group of us took a sky blue tro-tro across town into Nima for a festival. I can barely scrape at the surface of the infinitely bizarre parade of sensory data that devours anyone willing to walk down a crowded street. A man balances a giant, turquoise bag of "Heinz Baked Beanz" on his head as he walks past a barrage of people throwing candy in the air, men on horses, torsos swerving left and right. A bathtub full of tires. A rusty, dead car that has been painted over so many times that you can see overlapping layers of rust, pale yellow, bright green, aquamarine, maroon. And so many people, scraping the bottom of large, greasy pots, steam flying toward their faces. So many people dancing, grinning, pastel head scarves pinned around their beautiful, dark cheeks.

And then, after all the exhaustion, all the sweat and heavy decibels, it's so nice to come home to our little room with the colorful fabric and the open windows. It's especially wonderful to see my kora sitting on the chair, waiting for me to pick her up and jingle my fingers along the ten green strings.

A kora is an instrument made from a calabash gourd, kind of like a crossbreed between a guitar and a harp. A very patient, very shy-smiled man named Aruna makes them and gives lessons, which I have indulged in with an enthusiasm only rivaled by my desire to play with words, and it's so great for hands as fidgety as mine. I even devised a sort of makeshift notation, so the songs I'm learning won't get lost the shuffle. Most exciting and serendipitous of all, though, is the fact that Aruna's brother lives in San Francisco, so I can continue having lessons when I get back. What are the odds?

Well, right now I'm off to have lunch at Sunshine Salad Bowl in Osu, where I'll savor a plate of masala fries and real live salads (with dark green lettuce! cucumber! and balsamic vinaigrette! imagine! most of the salad here consists of shredded cabbage with mayonnaise and ketchup. you do the math.) Alsoooo, I should be going on a boat trip to a few villages this weekends, so there ought to be much more to write about in a week or so.