It's Saturday.

Hi there. Sorry for the delay – internet problems.

Penelope's coming on Monday, so my last few days have really revolved around getting things ready for when she arrives. On Thursday I went to Nungua market with Mercy and Anastina (two girls from the house). I bought a bunch of stuff and wandered around for a while. For dinner the girls and I had banku and fish. That was about it for Thursday.

On Friday I made a trip to Accra Mall to go to the supermarket to buy some things. I can't say what because it's a surprise. I can tell you that I got baked beans, that's not the surprise. On Friday night Jane, Tettey, Rita and I went to see Tony Allen's band play at Alliance Francaise. Tony Allen was the drummer in Fela Kuti's band. There was also a Guinean hip hop band. All in all, it was good. I had a sausage.

Here's some photos:

Today I pretty much stayed in my room all day. The water wasn't running and I didn't feel like going out. I was asked for money by a couple of people and said no. I had fried rice for dinner.

That's about it. Sorry for my lack of interesting things – I didn't have any animals slaughtered in front of me this week – I'm basically getting used to being back in Ghana and dealing with the different flavour of scammy hasslement.

Thanks for reading. I'm tired now.

Nigh nighs.

It's RAINING

Hello. It's 1.40am and pissing with rain here. I am about to go to bed.

I didn't do much today, but I've been on a roll of posting daily, no matter how empty my posts are. Quantity!

Penelope is coming here on Monday which I am quite excited about. I went out today and bought a mattress for her to sleep on. I got a ride with Kenten (aka Basket) to one of the mattress shops (I did a bit of shopping around) while he was on his way to pick up Tettey's kids from school. I waited around for a ride home and he rocked up with about 8 kids (not all Tettey's – some were just getting a ride) crammed into the car. So I had a car ride with children on me. Then we stopped and got the mattress and put it on the roof, so then I had a car ride with children on me and one arm out the window holding a mattress onto the roof. That's about it.

I didn't train with Kusun today because they were being a bit half-arsed and it gave me the shits.

That's all for now.

Goodnight.
Thanks for readink.

Celebrating the 142nd Post!

WOW! 142! What a number! What a story! How exciting!

Ok.

Today I got up late. Then I hung around on the balcony. Then I had a Fan Ice (frozen yoghurt). Then I wrote some music. Then I went over some of the stuff I had learned in Gambia. Then I helped Tettey write some things for a website. Then I wrote this.

I thought I had escaped being in a Muslim country for Tobaski (the big feast that's today) and having to give too much – turns out this morning the small boys and girls in the house decided they were going to make food for the holiday and needed some money. Oh well. 

At least I get food - I think it's groundnut soup and Face-the-wall (basically cassava made into a snotty dough). I am looking forward to it. I haven't eaten anything today except my frozen yoghurt. I'm actually really hungry.

What an exciting 142nd post!

Good bye.

Love from Jacob.

First day back in Ghana

Yo hodely how.

Today was my first full day back in Ghana. I am suffering from self-induced jetlag. I didn't actually cross any time zones, but ended up not having a proper sleep for over 40 hours. This was because I stayed up until 4am last night talking to people in Australia with the first convenient, reliable internet connection I had had access to for a month. Things like that are hard for us nerds to deal with.

So I woke up today at about 1pm. I got in the shower and the water ran out while I was all shampooed and soaped up. A lovely image for you. I did some yelling and the pump was turned on and all worked out ok.

I was back.

I then sat on the balcony for a while and debriefed with Jane and had some lunch – bread that I had brought from Gambia. It was in a pretty ordinary state and a bit stale, having been travelling for a couple of days, but it was a nice thought. Then, the guys from Kusun turned up around 3 and we trained until 6 or so.

Then a bunch of guys from the group (Theofo, Shaanu, Adjetey and Bibio) and I went to get some food and pour libation to give thanks for my safe travelling. I think the food was more of a motivator for their participation than the thanks, but oh well.

Then I came back here and that's about it. I'm still tired. Tomorrow is a public holiday (I think it's for Tobaski – the big Islamic feast) which means that all the Ghanaians don't go to work. For a change. Over the next few days I think I will hold off on lessons and just go over and consolidate all the stuff I learned in Gambia. I'll be training each day with Kusun, but don't think I'll try filling my head with any more new stuff just yet. I'll also try and upload some music and photos.

I'll keep you posted. Hope all is well.

Ok bye.

Back in Ghana

Hello there.

The plane didn't crash and I'm back in Ghana which is good. Extra-goodily, the internet appears to be working for now. Hoorah.

So, I went to the airport at 1am and planned to wait until my flight left at 5am. Turns out the flight time was changed and was now leaving at 6am, so I waited for 5 hours at the airport. At least the time was changed to be later, not earlier – that could have been awkward.

Anyhow, I sat in the airport like a fool for a bit, then was asked by one of the guys working there if I spoke German. He had been given a fancy phone with the language set to German and wanted it changed to English. I spent about 40 minutes fiddling around with it, trying to understand German – I had nothing better to do – but ended up giving up. The guy was happy I tried though and told me I could sit in the security office. So I did. I sat there for a couple of hours and spoke about Africa and politics and human rights – another guy waiting had been to the AU's human rights convention in Banjul so had a few interesting things to say. It was a good way to pass the time.

Then I went through the airport, got on a plane, flew, landed, got back to the guest house in Nungua and... now.

I'm really very tired.

But alive, so that's nice.

Ok. Soon.

Bye.

Some photos are up

I'm trying to upload my photos and some of them have worked. To see them, click here.

Thanks, more are coming.

Chow.
Jacob

Leaving Gambia

Hi. Tonight is my last night in Gambia – I leave Bakau for the airport at 1am and my flight leaves for Ghana at 5am. I'll be waiting at the airport for a while, but that's fine. I may get a chance to actually stop for a bit.

The last few days have been pretty hectic here. On Friday I had some more lessons and went to the Kachikally crocodile pool in Bakau. It's a tourist museum with a pool and a bunch of crocodiles. I took some photos. It was interesting enough. I then spent a heap of time running errands, trying to get things finished off before leaving. This included making some bank trips, buying some things (drums) and lots of walking. Doudou's group ended up not playing on Friday night – they have a contract with the venue now and play on Sundays and Wednesdays. No luck for me. Turns out I'd already had my last play with the group. This was disappointing but I was ok. I didn't cry much.

Instead of playing, I went to see a Guinean Ballet ensemble from Conakry at Lama Lama. They were really good. Really, really good. It wasn't boring djembe blathering stuff but a really interesting and musical mix of balafons, dun duns, bells a little bit of djembe and lots of other drums that went boom. It was good.

I went to bed pretty late on Friday, exhausted.

Then woke up this morning and had some more lessons. Today we pretty much just played through the things I had learned. Doudou didn't seem to be able to resist changing a couple of things that I had spent time memorising, but it went pretty well. I got final recordings of everything I've learned. Then some guys came and played support parts for the sabar rhythms I've been learning. They weren't that good – they were learning too – but it gave me a recording of the rhythms with the context of 5 parts rather than just me and Doudou playing. So that was good.

After the lesson, I went back to my room and packed, organised and generally busied-about. Doudou went off to Serekunda to get a stick for the Tama (Senegalese talking drum) that I had bought and I gave him money to buy some microphones for his band. Then he came back, and I tried to pack the sabar drum, wrapped in foam, into my bag. After lots of grunting and frustration, it fit and the bag closed. I also covered the djembe I have with foam and packed it.

Pretty much done.

Since then, I've walked to the bank, given out some money, burned a bunch DVDs – (bad) recordings of the band's performance and some movies for Kala – and been to visit Kala to say goodbye.

Then I came to the internet cafe and posted this.

After I've chilled out here for a bit and got my internet kick, Doudou and I will probably get some food and watch some music until I leave at 1am. I am thinking of having a little nap in there somewhere too. We'll see.

Coming to Gambia has been great (I know I need to work on my hyperbole, but great is about all I've got). The new drumming (sabar) that I've been learning has been tickling my rhythm bone quite nicely (perhaps I should work on my expression too). It's been pretty exhausting and challenging at times, but worth it.

Anyhauser, I'll let you know when I get to Ghana. I hope I'll be alive. So do you. Because you care.

Thanks for reading.
Love from Jacob

A very quickie.

Hi. I have a lesson in 4 minutes so have to be quick.

Just wanted to say hello. I have internet access so thought I'd better post. I have a bunch of photos that I've been trying to upload but no luck so far.

I'm only here for another two days and am pretty flat out and exhausted.

I'll try and post again shortly.

Bye.

Today posting on the blog here now.

Hello.

I am on the internet. On my computer. It's Thursday here. Here's what's been up.

On Tuesday, after not being mugged on Monday night (which was good), I had some more lessons. They're going well – I think I've now (Thursday) finished all the sabar stuff that I am going to learn (I think) and am trying to go over everything a lot so as to practice my technique and really memorise everything. It's going well so far. Also, Doudou has changed a few of the things that I initially learned, giving me more complex variations, so I'm working on getting them down.

Then, on Tuesday afternoon after lessons, we rushed to NewTown – Doudou's group was booked to play at a wedding there. We got there at about 5.30, waited around for a bit, then played for a couple of hours. I tried to take some video but because there were too many people dancing and the power went out, I didn't get much good footage. The playing was good though – I had one drunk guy annoying the shit out of me all night, standing next to me and trying to hit the drum and telling me to play solos. Apparently he liked my playing. So far at all the open events I've played at there is always one drunk guy being obnoxious – it must be the same everywhere. I was still surprised each time it happens here though as barely anyone drinks alcohol. The whole Islam thing.

Then, after the wedding gig, we went back to Bakau and got some food (a souvlaki-esque thing which was delicious) and watched a band play at Lama Lama. The band was the band I met on the first day I was here and played with them. At the time, I they didn't seem that good – they were slowing down and playing pretty loosely. At the performance they were actually really good. Turns out that they were distracted and losing concentration when they were playing with me – something to do with the colour of my skin.

After watching the gig, I went home. That was Tuesday.

On Wednesday, I had more lessons. After lessons, Doudou and I went into Banjul, Gambia's capital. I was going to visit the Albert market and hopefully buy some music. Turns out they didn't really have what I wanted and were charging too much, so we just spent a couple of hours walking around the market and Banjul and I took lots of photos. They're coming.

That night, the group had to play an audition at a hotel in Senegambia, so we traipsed off there after getting back from Banjul. This gig went pretty well – I was  tired as hell but was actually happy with how I played. At this gig the lights weren't working properly and it was night time so, again, no decent footage.

Today (Thursday), I had to change hotels – the place that I was in (Bakau Lodge) had a reservation booked from today and were full, so I got kicked out. The manager of the place organised for me to stay somewhere else nearby (Bakau Guest House) for the same rate, so that was fine. So, this morning Doudou, a bunch of his friends and I carried all my crap across to the new place. The owner of the new place was a bit uneasy about me bringing all the Gambians over, but I calmed him down.

The new place is really nice – a bit grottier than the other one but it is on the second floor and has a balcony overlooking the Atlantic ocean and the fish market. I will take some photos.

Once I finish writing this post I'll go have some lessons with Doudou and tonight the group plays at the Soul Mate restaurant in Bakau. Hopefully I can get some footage.

So, everything's going well. I'm busy as hell – I've been performing every night this week and having a heap of lessons – but it's good. I leave in a couple of days so I'm trying to fit as much in as I can.

I'd better go – I'm going to be late.

Cheers. Thanks for reading.

A blog post on a blog.

Hello. Welcome to this blog post on this blog, Travel Blog Solutions.

My name is Jacob and here's what I've been up to.

On Saturday I only had a lesson for one hour – Doudou got a call from the owner of the Soul Mate restaurant who wanted them to play there that evening. With the late notice, we had to cut the lessons short so as to organise his band to do the gig. That was fine. So we spent most of the day going from here to there and then back again, moving drums and stuff around. The gig was good – I played with them and faffed around. I left a bit before they finished and went to bed. I am a party animal.

On Sunday we had lessons for about three hours and Doudou got another call from Soul Mate's owner – he liked them so much the night before that he wanted them to play again. So we went through some more last minute organising and played. I played the whole time this time. That was nice. I ripped some little white solos.

Today, Monday, I went to the internet in the morning and spoke to Kanchana who was finishing off episode 4 of the Fat Gold Chain podcast (coming soon – how was that for some sneaky self-promotion? I guess this is a blog after all...). I then had a lesson for a couple of hours. The lessons are going well. I've learned all the parts of about 7 sabar rhythms. All new stuff with some tasty breaks and interesting new techniques.

In a rare moment of reflection, I'm so glad I came here to learn sabar  – I have been thinking I'd like to learn it for a while and it's great to finally do some.

So that's that thought.

After my lesson Doudou and I went into Serekunda to find some foam to wrap my djembe and sabar drums in when I travel. That was fine. I took a bunch of photos of Serekunda – they'll come sometime.

When we got back, Doudou went a bought some fish and brought it back to my place. Then he, Kala, some other guys and I cooked it (I didn't really do anything) and ate it at the place where I'm staying. It was nice.

Then, we went to see Costa (a guy who lives in Kala's compound) and his group play an audition at the Ocean Beach Resort at Cape Point. I sat in with them for a few songs. It was good. How's that for description?

It's actually hard to sit in with some of these guys – the first time I play with them, the group get distracted when they hear me play and start playing loosely. I think they're surprised that I can play at all. This is slightly frustrating, but they get over it pretty quickly

Then, after the gig finished, I came back to use the internet. The girl there (not Fatou, another Fatou – the cousin of the original internet-Fatou. Confused?) wanted to go home, so I asked her to leave the wireless on so I could sit in the bar next door and use the internet. She did so I am. I hope I don't get mugged.

Anyhow, that's it up until now. I hope that was exhilarating for you.

In case you're interested, I have made a Google map with a few of the places marked on it that are mentioned in this 'Blog'. You can see it here.

Ok. Have fun.
Love from Jacob

Oh hi there.

Hi. For a change, it's been a while.

What have I done since Monday? Hmmmmm....

I'm not sure but Friday has sure come quickly.

I know I spent a day, I think it was Tuesday, feeling like shit and generally avoiding everything – I didn't have a lesson that day and just stayed in my room. As I made clear in an earlier post, this sort of thing happens to me every now and then because I am a sensitive guy. That night Doudou's band was meant to have a gig at Lama Lama (which is where they rehearse and store their gear and where I have my lessons). I left my room to go and see this gig but found out that the owner, who told them the day before that they should play there on Tuesday night, was apparently drunk or high or something and couldn't remember booking them. This didn't seem a big deal, really, as they don't charge this venue any money to play there because they have an arrangement. Anyhow, the owner went off his nut and told them they were lying and basically told them to take all their stuff out of his storeroom and to go away. So, quite calmly and reasonably I thought, they did. I've been having my lessons at Kala's place ever since.

I think on Thursday the owner spoke to Doudou and apologised and asked them to come back – the club used the band's PA system and gear for all their music and DJs and such. From what I can tell, Doudou is being cautious and teaching the guy a lesson. Amazingly, the band has bargaining power over the venue – they are able to set their own terms. I am pretty impressed with Doudou's bandleading ability – he seemed to stay pretty cool when copping abuse from this guy and managed to turn it into a much better situation for the band.

On Wednesday and Thursday I pretty much just had lessons and ate a lot of baguettes. It's been really hot this week which hasn't really helped my concentration. Then again, I guess I am in Africa.

Today I had a couple of hours of lessons then went back to my place with Doudou who got some fish and grilled it with a honey mustardy sort of sauce. It was very nice. That was dinner.

Then I came here.

So that's pretty much it at the moment – sorry I don't have more drama for you. Also apologies for the delay between posts. Again.

I have another 8 days here in Gambia and then will be back to my patchy but convenient internet access in Ghana.

I hope all is well for you. I really do care. You are why I write this.

Ok bye.

A quickie

Hi. I'm in the internet cafe and all seems to be working ok. I'm holding my breath.

Today is Monday. Here's a quick rundown of what's been gwine on since I last posted.

Sunday:
I had a few hours of lessons with Doudou which was nice. Then I spent some time hanging around with Kala and Doudou at their respective houses – eating and drinking and being sociable. I also quickly put together Episode 3 of the Fat Gold Chain podcast – Kanchana quit in a furious rage and I was left to do it all by myself.

Not really, he had his laptop stolen. That's why I had to make the podcast. It's up, by the way. You can download it by going to fatgoldchain.com.

So, that was Sunday. The internet cafe is not open on Sundays, hence my no-post.

Monday:
Today I went to training with Doudou's group but it didn't really happen. A few of his band members had problems and couldn't make rehearsal. Tomorrow.

We then went on a mission to find the Ghanaian consulate in Gambia – the aim was to get a visa for my re-entry to Ghana, or at least try so I can get one at the airport. Initially, I had an address that I had found on 'the internet' which said that the consulate is in Serekunda. So, off we went. On the way, Doudou thought that we should check that it was where I thought so we went to visit his friend at the police station. After some to-ing, fro-ing and phonecalls, the policeman gave us a number for the consulate and said that it was in Banjul, not Serekunda. This was interesting. So we headed off for Banul instead.

To double check, Doudou asked someone else whether they knew where the Ghanaian consulate was and they said there wasn't one in Banjul – we should go and see 'Mr Akomono', a teacher at a nearby school. So we changed course again and went to visit Mr Akomono. When we got the school, Mr Akomono informed me that there was no Ghanaian consulate in Gambia – the nearest embassy is in Dakar, Senegal. He said that, for all intents and purposes, he was the Ghanaian ambassador in Gambia and that he, effectively, is the consulate. Additionally, while he can help Ghanaians with passport problems, he cannot issue tourist visas for entry to Ghana.

So, no go. It was worth doing though because now, when I get to the airport in Ghana and my original visa has expired, I can tell them that I spoke to the consulate in Gambia and couldn't get a visa there and therefore have to get one at the airport.

I hope.

After we got back, I had lunch with Kala, a lesson with Doudou and drank some Ataaya with Sulayman, a guy who works at the place at which I'm staying.

Then I came here.

Then I wrote this.

That's all for now. I'm real tired.

Bye.