Rainforest and the Ashanti

Well, we did a canopy walk this AM...my daughter was thrilled. I was not so much. Too early, too little coffee, too friggin' high in the canopy on a little bitty rope bridge. I sucked it up and did it. Madeline was intrepid. It was really beautiful--we could hear the monkeys and learned a lot about the rainforest.

We are driving a lot this week, going around the country and are very blessed to have Musaa as our driver and guide. He not only understands the roads, he knows all the best places and answers all of our random questions.

We travelled on (some unpaved roads) to Kumasi, the heart of the Ashanti tribe, a very proud and ancient people. Learned more about Adinkra symbols and Kente cloth and will be doing a textile workshop with an Ashanti artist later this week. In addition to the powerful language that the textiles convey, I was really taken with the Ashanti's identification with the porcupine as a symbol of strength and power, and the unapologetic marriage of symbol and ritual. More to learn, but it was another full day. We are staying at a fabulous hotel and will travel a long distance farther north tomorrow to visit the women potters of Sirigu, who have formed a collective called SWOPA (Sirigu Womens Organization for Pottery and Art). WE will be staying in one of the houses that the women make and paint out of clay. Not sure they have internet that far north, but will post again soon. Time for bed!