A cappella in Ghana

So first of all, for anyone keeping track at home... it's 2:30 AM as I write this. The bullfrogs in the swamp in my backyard have been going nuts for the last hour and I find myself oddly awake. I figure now is as good a time as any to update the blog since I haven't in a few days.

For the first time since getting to Ghana, I stayed home for the entire weekend. While it's been fun traveling and exploring, it was also nice to just stay in and relax for a bit. It also meant I got to spend some more time with the local kids and go to church with Madam Olivia too.

The highlight of the weekend, though, was definitely the a cappella performance I went to on Saturday. The program was hosted by some political candidates as it was meant to promote peace during the upcoming election (their Presidential election is on December 7th). The event was called Peace A Cappella and featured 4 or 5 different a cappella groups, including the one that Sir Richard, NAP's creative arts teacher, sings tenor for. 

At first, I was imagining a cappella groups like the ones I've become used to at Dartmouth. I was wrong. All the groups that performed were quintets consisting of one bass, one baritone, two tenors, and a lead and very choral. All the singers were incredible. It seemed that every group's bass could sing impossibly low and every group's tenor could comfortably sing higher some girls that I know. There was one guy in Sir Richard's group that especially impressed me. He was out there belting high C's and D's like they were nothing. (For those of my friends who aren't music nerds... I'm sorry. Just bear with me on this one.) It was also really cool seeing their form of beatboxing. Since the groups were so small, they couldn't afford to have one person beatboxing the entire time, but the entire group would sometimes transition from the more choral singing into a kind of melodic percussive groove, each person making a different sound or noise. It was different from anything I'd ever heard, but really fun and cool nonetheless.

Seeing this a cappella performance definitely made me miss the Cords and really excited to sing again in the winter. I can't wait. Speaking of the Cords, good luck to the four freshmen at their pinwale show this Saturday!

At this point, I suppose I should try to get to sleep again. Week 4 at NAP starts in 5 short hours!