Asalaamwaalekum y'all, greetings from a rather warm Dakar, high 80s, little wind, clouds were tantalizingly threatening with rain this morning, but nothing but clear skies and sun all day. Now it's evening time and blessedly cool, the best time for doing ones laundry (especially since water pressure problems means that the taps don't work until late at night, so we stock up each night in 5 10L jugs.
Celeste and I have been up to a lot at times, trying to deliver presents and spend time with as many old friends as possible and fetching visas for Burkina and Mali (props to the lovely lady at the BF embassy who accepted us even though it was after the noon closure of office on Friday, and turned our visas and passports over in an hour...they weren't cheap, but they are multiple entry and valid for 5 years, so holler if you're looking for a traveling companion to Burkina sometime before 2016!), and at other times it feels like the time runs by so so fast even though we're not up to much. Here's a few highlights:
1. Siccck painting on tree at UCAD of Cheikh Ibrahim Fall ("Lamp Fall"), the inspiration of the Baye Fall sect of the Mouride Muslim order (see those wiki links and that of Serigne Touba for more info on the off chance that that sentence made absolutely no sense.) The writing in French says "The cult of work."
3. Daara J (now "Daara J Family," since Alhadj Mann has since split with Ndongo D and Faada Freddy (with the dreads), two of the grandfathers of Senegalese hip-hop, live in concert at Centre Culturel Francais. The guys were way cool as usual, but due to some BS rule instigated by CCF, the concert ended exactly at 23h00 -- in mid-song! Before they got to play Bop Sa Bopp! Unbelievable. Still, even that disappointment didn't ruin the fantastic music. I have a few videos too, but given current internet connection, it would take four hours to upload a 1m30 clip.
4. Lastly, these groovy Hal Pulaar guys passed by our balcony...Ajara maaaaa!
5. Tonight, Celeste and I (hopefully Fons and Tico too) are heading downtown again to the self-proclaimed "big party en plein air pour faire danser tout Dakar", the inimitable Koul Graoul dance party at the Oceanarium. Such good luck to be here for the first Saturday of the month to catch this groovy event! Kaay nu dem fecc waay! Until next time...
Celeste and I have been up to a lot at times, trying to deliver presents and spend time with as many old friends as possible and fetching visas for Burkina and Mali (props to the lovely lady at the BF embassy who accepted us even though it was after the noon closure of office on Friday, and turned our visas and passports over in an hour...they weren't cheap, but they are multiple entry and valid for 5 years, so holler if you're looking for a traveling companion to Burkina sometime before 2016!), and at other times it feels like the time runs by so so fast even though we're not up to much. Here's a few highlights:
1. Siccck painting on tree at UCAD of Cheikh Ibrahim Fall ("Lamp Fall"), the inspiration of the Baye Fall sect of the Mouride Muslim order (see those wiki links and that of Serigne Touba for more info on the off chance that that sentence made absolutely no sense.) The writing in French says "The cult of work."
2. The current sorry state of the "Gare" (train station) downtown. In 2005 when Lily D. and Katie S. and I went to Mali, our trip started with a crazy busy queue for tickets in here (and if I remember correctly, a brief but inexplicable closed interrogation of Katie.) Now, the Senegalese section of the train is closed for repairs, weeds are growing over the rails, and it seems that a family is squatting in the building. Also, road construction on the back side has transplanted the Malian Market to the streets around the Gare, still apparently going strong despite that lack of trains arriving with good from Mali. just one example of many many changes in Dakar since I last visited.
3. Daara J (now "Daara J Family," since Alhadj Mann has since split with Ndongo D and Faada Freddy (with the dreads), two of the grandfathers of Senegalese hip-hop, live in concert at Centre Culturel Francais. The guys were way cool as usual, but due to some BS rule instigated by CCF, the concert ended exactly at 23h00 -- in mid-song! Before they got to play Bop Sa Bopp! Unbelievable. Still, even that disappointment didn't ruin the fantastic music. I have a few videos too, but given current internet connection, it would take four hours to upload a 1m30 clip.
5. Tonight, Celeste and I (hopefully Fons and Tico too) are heading downtown again to the self-proclaimed "big party en plein air pour faire danser tout Dakar", the inimitable Koul Graoul dance party at the Oceanarium. Such good luck to be here for the first Saturday of the month to catch this groovy event! Kaay nu dem fecc waay! Until next time...
how's tico?
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