Dagara Music Center
/While the Kobine festival was an amazing experience, I was very happy to be back at the Dagara Music Center. My daily routine started again with 6 hours of lessons day. Most days would start at 7:00 am, with breakfast around 7:30. After eating for about an hour it was time to play some gyil. Lessons would start at 8:30 and go to about 12, with a small break around 10. At 12 I would eat and take a nap, but not always in that order. I'd then have free time right through 4pm, when evening lessons would start. These lessons would go for about three hours, and then it was time for dinner! After dinner I'd either get a beer at mango tree spot or venture down to Evelyn's new spot called Freezonia! By 10:00pm it was off to bed to rest up for the next day.
The DMC started as a home. From a home it became a school, that is now a center for the community at large. Now the DMC isn't just a center, but has become home to people across the world. For nine months I was proud to call the DMC my home, and now I will share that home with everyone.
The first thing you see when you come into the center is the dance floor! In addition to a dance floor, this is also where the local women will dry corn or millet in the scorching sun. Next to the dance floor is the DMC store that sells a little of everything! Next to the store is a small dormitory for students, and where most of the xylophones are kept. Next to the dormitory is the gazebo. Morning lessons are taught here to avoid the sun. During the day people take naps and relax in and around the gazebo. At night the gazebo becomes the dinning hall and a place for hanging out. Behind the gazebo is the main home where the family lives and relaxes. For the 9 months I was in Ghana, five nights of the week the whole family would gather in the living and watch Kumkum Bhagya. Kumkum Bhagya is an Indian soap opera that was overdubbed in Twi. I'm convinced that this show will be played in Ghana for the rest of my life.