The Azonto

In a few different blog posts from my most recent trip to Ghana, I mentioned the Azonto dance a few times but never actually explained what it is or how you do it.

A few of us from YCI who were on project together in February and March decided to hit the streets of Accra and start asking random people if they would be willing to teach us some Azonto dance steps.

Check out our YouTube video "How to Azonto - A Lesson for Obruni's"

Click here for the video link. Enjoy :)

For the love of salsa

Shake your skeleton, shake what your mama gave ya. Whatever you want to call it, I love to dance!

Since arriving in Accra, I have been learning and improving upon my Azonto dance moves. The Azonto is the latest dance craze in Ghana and I have been hitting the streets and local bars to learn the hottest moves. I especially love Azonto dancing because the accompanying music is utterly amazing. Where ever you happen to be in Accra, you will hear the same songs on constant replay, yet somehow, they never grow old!

As much as I love improving my Azonto dance moves, I will forever be a sucker to salsa dancing and Latin music and it makes me so happy that I can find a salsa community anywhere I travel to. I'm not sure how or even when my love of salsa dancing started but I appreciate that I can continue learning the moves in Accra. Every Wednesday night I have a free lesson at Coconut Grove Regency Hotel which is followed by 2 hours of dancing where you get whisked around the pool side dance floor by Ghanaian men who know their salsa moves. As long as you remember your basic salsa steps (1-2-3, 5-6-7) and find yourself with a partner who knows what he is doing, two hours can seem like 10 minutes!

Salsa at Coconut Grove has become very popular and it's now known as a place for the some of the best salsa dancers in Accra to showcase their moves. If you find yourself slightly intimidated by the stellar moves of Ghanaian salsa dancers, you can always pull up a chair next to the pool side and watch as partners twirl each other around, secretly wishing you had the same talent, or even half of it!

Things I've learned

As I sit and write my midterm report for YCI, I can't help but think how my time here is just flying by. June has come and gone, yet it still seems like I just arrived in Zanzibar last week! Writing my midterm has made me reflect a lot over the past 3 months (as well as my time in Ghana) and I do feel as though I have accomplished a lot with work and in my personal life.

I have finally finished the first complete draft of the ZANGOC strategic plan which I feel is a weight lifted off my shoulders! Also, I have been expanding my circle of friends and dancing a lot which, as always, keeps me happy (and sane!) However, I must admit that I am finding myself missing Toronto these days, only because it's summer time and I miss playing baseball,cycling (without fear of dying!) and relaxing in the park with friends and cold beer!

At the half way point I want to reflect on some things I've learned since being on this continent for nearly 8 months now, minus the 6 weeks in February/March that I was freezing in Toronto!

1. It is impossible to keep your feet clean
2. Life is a strategic plan; you must have a vision, mission, values and goals!
3. I have a lot of trust in people
4. Sleeping under a bednet doesn't mean you won't be attacked by mosquitoes all night long
5. Mosquitoes exist for no other reason than to torment people
6. Thieves are cunning, sneaky and very quick
7. Germans are awesome and make great friends (and are everywhere...in large quantities!)
8. There are no road rules, except for honking 
9. Pedestrians DO NOT have the "right of way"
10. There is no limit on the number of people you can cram into a taxi (so far I've reached 8 people in a taxi in Koforidua and 5 people in a bajaji in Dar es Salaam)
11. Street food is always a good choice
12. Bargaining is great and really should be introduced into the Western world
13. The "muzungu" or "obruni" or whatever you want to call a foreigner is often left in the dark
14. Apparently the muzungu or obruni knows all...which is NOT true!
15. Smiles and laughter say a thousand words
16. It really is OK to strike a conversation with strangers on the daladala, trotro, mutatu, subway, bus or whatever mode of public transportation you use to get to work (ditch the ipod and give it a try!)
17. Hitch-hiking is not frowned upon and no one suspects the driver will attack you
18. Soccer really does run the world
19. Funerals are a huge party, and very fun
20. Celine Dion and Shania Twain are still popular here...and will forever be popular here 
21. Males START and FINISH the dance floor (much appreciated by me!)
22. You are always recognized and definitely stand out (get used to it!)
23. It's ok to talk to strangers, people just want to ask you questions
24. Stepping out of your comfort zone is a MUST
25. Hospitality really is an amazing quality
26. In order to get the right answers, you must ask the right question...sometimes this is a long process!
27. African "massages" ... don't let them fool you (aka: long bus rides on very bumpy roads)
28. When a policeman asks for a "Friendly" what he's really asking for is a bribe 
29. There is nothing more beautiful than the perfect sunset over the Indian Ocean
30.  TBD!

5 people + the driver in a Bajaji in Dar

Sunset in Nungwi, North Zanzibar

Forodhani Night Market, Stone Town

Steph and I dancing at a funeral in Koforidua, Ghana

Soccer stadium in Kumasi, Ghana

Dancing with some school kids in Koforidua, Ghana

I think this list will have to be ongoing as I am still here for another 3 and a half months! Please feel free to add anything you've learned while traveling/working overseas.

You do the Hokey Pokey...

...and you turn yourself around, that's what it's all about!

Yes, I did the hokey pokey yesterday with an after school youth group and it was so much fun! I had all the kids dancing around me and learning how to say their body parts in English!

The after school group is called "New Vision Class" and was started in 2007 with only 10 youth participants. The aim of the group is simply to practice their English through various methods other than text book learning. I think is a fabulous idea, considering I've been trying to learn French for years now from a text book and it clearly hasn't help me all that much!

"New Vision Class" has now expanded it's participants to over 30 youth who meet every evening from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. Due to the increase in class size, "New Vision Class" had to split into 2 different groups, section A and section B. Last night I went to the class with colleagues from ZASO,one of ZANGOC's member organizations. ZASO attends the "New Vision Class" every Wednesday evening in attempt to bring a different style of learning for the youth. Last night the lesson took the form of a debate and I and got to listen to the youth practice their English while speaking on the subject "Getting married and having a family is better than not." The debate was between speakers representing section A (supporting argument) and speakers representing section B (opposing argument).

1st speaker from the Supporting Team

1st speaker from the Opposing Team

My role in the debate was "Dr. Grammar" which basically meant that I had to listen carefully to what they were saying and take note of incorrect sentence structure, miss use of words, etc. After the debate was over I pointed out some of the mistakes I heard and wrote the proper sentence structure on the board. Overall, I was very impressed with the level of English amongst all the speakers. Some of the mistakes I was able to pick up on where: the use of the past tense and the use of slang words.

"Dr. Grammar!"

A lot of the speakers were really confident in presenting their opinions and projecting their voice. While others were still nervous and either talked very quickly or very quietly which meant that sometimes I couldn't understand what their main points were. In the end the Opposing Team won by only 2 points, judging was based on clarity of points, presentation style, confidence and their use of the English language.

After the results were presented I did my second part of the evening and taught the students the "hokey pokey!" I started off by explaining that it was more of a dance with English words as opposed to a game which I think got their attention, especially after I started dancing in front of them...everyone likes to see the "muzungu" dance! First I got a small group of participants together at the front of the class and had them tell me how to say "arm" "foot" "leg" "hip" (etc) in English, as well as "left" and "right"...all key words to know when you do the hokey pokey! After a few rounds inside we all moved outside into the school court yard and sang and danced the hokey pokey and it was such a fun time!

You put your right hand in...

You put your left hand in...

All the little girls were really into it and wouldn't leave my side, when it was time to finish they didn't want to stop! It's funny how some aspects of children and youth transend borders! For instance, all the young girls were up dancing with me and the older kids kind of stood back and watched, even though I know they really wanted to jump in and hokey pokey with me! Maybe next time I'll get them dancing.

Since my ZASO colleagues attend this class every Wednesday, I told them I would love to come back and help to bring some fresh learning material. I will have to dig back into my primary school days to remember what teaching aids helped me learn English. If anyone has any suggestions for more English song or dances that I can use, please let me know!

Me with some of the Section A Class

Me with some of the Section B Class

"Put your left foot in!" From left to right: Ali (from ZASO), me, Mohammed (Section A teacher), Matthias (ZASO volunteer from Germany)