One week left

-I have just returned from my introduction to music notation lesson with the Baptist church. I tried to keep it as brief and simplified as possible (with the assistance of a handout, of course) so I didn't lose anybody. I think that everyone essentially 'got it' but it will take some time and review for everything to really coalesce and sink in. I was still amazed at how none of them had ever had formal music training, but did everything by ear. Keyboard, guitar, vocal harmony; everything by ear and all the tunes (traditional and contemporary) that you would hear in most any Protestant church in the US.

-Susan, Wyatt, and John left this morning, so now it's just me at the palace (plus the resident family of course). I'm looking forward to making the most of these last days that I have in Tamale, and I know that I am good hands. Mariama has already made an open invitation for me to come to the restaurant any time and it "will be taken care of." I'll also have plenty of people just stopping by every once in a while to say hello (or to ask for help with income/expenditure accounts).

-Tomorrow I will be going to a wedding. The bride is the daughter of one of Susan's elders (Jehanfo). I'm sure that it will be an entertaining event and it will be really nice to actually know some of the people that are there. There's no telling what to expect.

-I had my first taste of groundnut soup (peanut soup) this week. It reminds me of the consistency of tomato soup, but tastes like, yep...peanuts. Actually it was pretty spicy, too, but really good. It came with a piece of bone-in chicken right in the soup and a rice ball on the side. It is deceivingly filling and very rich. Still, I think I will have to try some more before my departure.

-I took my horn with me on a visit we had to a preschool earlier this week. Before the event, I was asked to write the name of the instrument on a piece of paper for the assistant principal who was going to introduce me; I clearly wrote "French horn." After the kids entertained us with dancing, singing, and poetry it was my time. The principal then got up and announced that "this is Mr. Matt Peyton and today he will be singing a song in the French language." I quickly started to correct the misunderstanding, but that only led to "He is going to play a French song with his trumpet here." Oh well. I played "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" but in hindsight, maybe "Frere Jaques" would have been a better choice.