Thursday, 18 February 2010

New Year celebrations with fishermen in Porto Novo













It was the first weekend in the New Year and we went walking towards the sea in Porto Novo. We walked towards the place where we heard music and saw people dancing under a huge canopy.


As soon as we got there we were offered seats and asked to join in the fun. There were men dancing in the centre and women dancing at the edges. Michael asked permission to take photos and they agreed but in exchange they asked him to join in with the dancing.



Well, I was very surprised when he did join in. There were smiles all around and high fives everywhere. Michael danced the local dance and that got a lot of laughs for two reasons, one that he joined in and for his energy but the second because he had such difficulty getting the movement.


In the course of this dancing we found out that it is one family of fishermen who are celebrating the New Year. We were introduced to the elders and leaders in the family and offered trips around the lagoon, of course at a cost. It was good to be able to join in the fun with this huge family although it was just for a short while.



Michael complained about aching legs for days after that, a reminder of the muscles he did not know he had!

2 comments:

Vishvala said...

Hello from Pune. long time since I read your blog, all very interesting and those photos are just great. Good job Michael. See you are both becoming very Ghanaian in your attire...
When does project Grace start?
Lots of love vish

Kiran said...

Vish, glad you caught with some of the things we have been up to. Project Grace, (unfortunately, there is Grace Project in Ho as well!)has already started with all the behind the scenes work. Actual building work will be in a couple of months time.
Regards to Himanshu.
Love,
Kiran