My fieldwork experiences in Egypt and Ghana

• My experiences as participant-observer in Ghana and Egypt. Patience is often required!
  • Settings in Egypt
    • Qur'anic recitation
    • Ziyara days (weekly)
    • special festivals like Mawlid al-Nabi
    • saint mawlids[1] (annual saint festivals)
    • Visiting shaykhs at their homes, for discussions
    • Visiting Sufi orders
  • Settings in Ghana
    • Funerals
    • Churches[2]
    • Gospel concerts and festivals[3]
    • Tijani Sufi festivals and rituals
    • Shrine festivals
    • Village visits
    • Lessons (partly outfield)
  • Activities
    • Conversations
    • Asking questions informally
    • Meals
    • Cataloging cassette collection
    • Observing and recording performances: Rituals (regular, more constrained) and festivals (occasional, more free)
    • Participating in performances
    • Having music lessons
    • Learning language
  • Statuses
    • The ethnomusicologist-researcher, student
    • Fictive kinship ("adopted" somehow)
    • Muhibb (sincere interest)
    • Initiate
  • Field notes.
    • Sample, with subsequent coding