tamale is hot!

tamale is really hot! our seven hour bus ride dropped us in what feels like a completely different country; northern ghana is sooo much different than the south. the north is much more desert like; the languages here are different; the dress, dance, music, food, and architecture are all different. yesterday afternoon we attended the last day of a week long festival celebrated by the dagomba people to honor the birth of mohammad. all of the kings from the northern region traveled to the central mosque in tamale to greet the high priest. the kings came on horses and over 10,000 citizens filled the streets to welcome them. when a king arrived, people would fire gun shots into the air to show their appreciation for them. ghanaians don't have fireworks, but they do have guns and they just as loud and exciting. lots of music and dancing accompanied the festival and when a king or an elder would dance, people would honor them by pressing money against their head. sometimes the money would stay and the dancer would keep it or else it would fall to the ground and children would hover beneath to collect it.

we are currently staying in hostels and have been having lectures in the mornings on northern culture and economy. today we learned about the role of the kings and the chiefs in the north. this afternoon we are visiting a shea butter farm.

alright i need to run, hope all is well!