On the People that I Don't Get to See Again

The anticipation of returning to friends and places that I haven't seen in three and a half years is ballooning fast for me, but the more I think about it, the more I think about my friend Moussa, a true friend, the likes of which are as rare in Dakar as anywhere else in the world. He died of malaria this past October. 

I had some footage from hanging out with him in 2007 when Joe Fresh and I traveled to Senegal together. In retrospect it's of course precious few clips of him, but for those that knew him we're lucky for the glimpses it gives us: hanging with friends, spoiling his niece Maam Daba, standing up for Mermoz when the developers came to build over a public space (Joe tells me it's been razed since), and being on the Ile de Madeleine off the coast of Dakar, one of his favorite places to be, by his own admission.

There's a lot more to say about him but not right here. I am posting the video below since many of you reading will have either known him or heard me talk about him. 

On a Proposed Trajectory

Hello folks, please allow me to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming of "The New Moroccan Adventures of Celeste and Tiffany" for my own ramblings.
It was-- jeez, I dunno Celeste, maybe nine months ago that we started talking about this journey? Celeste asked me if I wanted go on an around-the-world-in-80-days trip with her. After four years of disciplined book-learning and freezing winters, she was understandably ready to blow this taco stand called North America. When she asked me, I immediately imagined the long list of E.T.s, A.D.s, S.N.s, and so forth who, naturally, must have been invited before me but who, for some reason, had to decline. It was one of the best older-brother moments of my life to hear that Celeste in fact asked me first. The trip itself got whittled down by reasonable temporal and fiduciary constraints to "just West Africa," although when I look at the six-week, 1,500 mi/2,400 km (albeit half by plane) dogleg through four countries, in middle of the rainy season, it feels pretty substantial. All the moreso for Celeste with her head start in Maroc!
Here's an outline of what we have in store (though flexibility will undoubtedly be of the essence):

• June 22, 23: Arrive in Dakar, where we'll stay with stay with this guy, my good friend Abubakar, the most hardworking barber in all of Dakar, more on him later fo' sho'. We'll live up the nightlife dakarois, see old friends, hit the beach, nab some visas and plane tix for Mali and Burkina and generally live it up.
• July 3: Fly to Bamako, meet some interesting members of the coalition on community forest rights that I worked for until last week, nab another visa.
• July 6: Head to Djenne (potentially by pirogue?), home to the world's largets mud structure and an old friend I met when passing through here in 2005 who has since started a tourist lodge there.
• July 9: Bandiagara-bound, via a stopover in the eponymous town, where we'll hike along the great escarpment and get a glimpse of Dogon-country
• July 15: Cross into Burkina Faso, to Nouna in the northern Boucle de Mahoun region (in'ch'allah, and contingent on road conditions) via San, Mali. Outside Nouna is a small village called St. Jean, which is the site of a model- village-type development intervention sponsored by a small NGO. We connected with them through WWOOF. We'll spend about a week living here and volunteering labor with a reforestation project they have going on.
• July 24: Leave for Bobo Dioulasso, spend a couple of days here and try and check out La Mare aux Hippopotames.
• July 26: Travel south into Ghana at Hamale, and make our way to Mole National Park for what I hear to be excellent up close wild animals and, perhaps more important for some, an excellent variety of insects.
• July 31: Make tracks down the middle of Ghana, probably overnighting in Kumasi, to get to Accra in time to eat at this rad rooftop sushi joint Monsoon and catch a hiplife act and chillax until we leave on the eve of Aug. 4.

Rather substantial, n'est-ce pas? But half the fun [w/c?] will be seeing how the ideal conforms to reality. Stay tuned, gentle people.
yours,
lb

Yes Fes!

We have spent two days in Fes so far. 


Upon arriving I braced myself to be hassled with offers of taxi rides, things to buy, and the slightly more ridiculous massage or marriage offers. But I was pleasantly surprised to find these offers pretty weak and easily let go and not too over bearing with a little laugh.

Tiffany and I had a really lovely dinner at Cafe Clock. This resto is situated among the winding streets of Fes in the medina but is something of an oasis of calm from the consistent bustle of people, donkeys, horses, cats, and goat heads for sale! I almost walked right into a donkey; it was clearly just as scared as I was with its head rolled back in a bray. The horses and donkeys used to cart heavy items around the medina are so well behaved and clearly well weathered by their every day routes.

Cafe Clock has three different floors and the waiters must get quite a work out from running up and down the narrow steps. We met a man named Ibrahim who worked for the Red Cross. He took us to dinner at Cafe Clock, insisting that we try the camel burger. I must admit it was really good. But after a day of kefta and camel meat I am taking a bit of a break from carnivorous habits.

Ibrahim shared with us about his work in the Red Cross. We also asked him about the bombiong in Marrakech a month or so ago. Mainly his point was that looking around at the majority of people in Morocco you see, clearly, they would not have the desire nor the means to set up such an attack. I have never believed that bombing attacks , like the Marrakech one, are representative of an entire country. It is clear that these angry calls to attention, or however we describe them, should be accepted as individual acts. That being said, coming into a place from an outside lens, the background knowledge I have recieved in the United States would suggest that this place is rather on edge. Possibly on edge with some violent influence from majority groups. 

However, all this is to say that last night I went to a concert of Saida Fikra. The emotion she invoked among the whole audience, most visibly among all the men, was beautifully empowering. Her songs of struggle for peace and coping with pain seemed to resonate throughout. It was beautiful. From all this, we see how the majority strives for peace for more beauty in the world and in our relations among other humans. It is most times the few in power or with enough power that make these hurtful gestures that mar innate movement towards peace. 

This is just a sliver of everything I am trying to make sense of. Take what you wish from it. Thank you for open ears. 

meat by the roadside

As-Salam Alaikum!


We have made it to Fes! 
We left the blue doors and sheltering mountains for the bustling religious capital of Fes. I tried to upload some photos but it did not quite work.


I had meat for the first time since I am not sure when. Our bus stopped on the roadside where some kefta_ ground meat cooked into a brochette_ was being cooked. The smell was too tempting to ignore. And it was delicious. 


In the streets I cannot walk more than a few steps without being called at to eat at someones resto or some sort. Not quite sure why they wre so interested in me. haha.


On a hike yesterday in Chefchaouen Tiffany and I stumbled through what appeared to be several donkeys territory. Always a bit surprised at the hiccuping braying around every corner.  


After a full day on the bus I think some tea is in order. 
à bientot tout le monde!

beautiful blue

Hello there all! 

Just figured out how to work this keyboard well enough to write a few sentences.

Tiffany and I traveled all day on the first of June and made it to Chefchouen yesterday! 

The city is covered in all hues of blue and the markets sell the brightest pigments of indigo and bright pinks and golds. There is a bit of hassling, but as to be expected. 

Tiffany and I are off to see a waterfall and a mosque tucked into the mountains. The city is found at the center of a ring of mountains, the likes of Anderson and Tinkers. 

More on all this later with some photos hopefully. 

big love.

well, here goes!

Well, alrighty, here goes a first attempt at some written expression.

Sitting on my bed with T-beau curled up, meaning actually taking up a good two-thirds of the bed, I am waiting for Sarah to come by for a little "see ya laters". I keep on saying I am nervous, but I think in reality I only feel like I need to be. Somewhere along the lines in the next several weeks there will be a few good complications with all the planning, and I think with accepting that, I am one step closer to dealing with it.

I am already missing y'all something awful, as to be expected.

A few words about this lil blog space. Luke and I wanted to create a space where we could, not only send out a few greetings from afar, but also decompress from all the experiences. Sorry in advance for any stream-of-conscious ramblings, but it's all a part of figuring things out.
One thing I have been thinking a lot about lately is taking photos. I try to be cautious of what it means to be  capturing moments of someone else's life. I hope the images I share present fairly balanced and real lenses into other worlds.

so here's a first shot at some poetry, it's meant to be read aloud, even on your lonesome.

I am one for big ideas
expanding in the room 'till they
burst the walls and previous limitations are
scared away, deterred from
further oppressing.

I am one for the intangible, immense goals:
naive they call me, hope is unfounded
in reality.

well, what then is this reality, void of ungrounded inspiration?
from where will these tiny rootlets stretch their aspiring molecules
to achieve some form of greatness.

greatness immeasurable by scholars,
uncategorizeable by awards,
unknowable to those that cannot see with their heart or touch with their spirit.

this hope for greatness,
this greatness itself is
a shared light within each singular creature,

each movement towards another expands within, urging warmth among strangers,

and here we are.