Today we got to sleep in until around 10. (10am was the second wake up, the first was at around 4am by the Muslim chanting again.) Anyway, we had a quick breakfast of bread and some tea that must have had a lot of caffeine in it. We went to CRESP and went for our tour of Yoff.
It was probably around 86 degrees, with a humidity of about 95%, making it feel like 96%. Plus, the sun had finally broken through the clouds and was beating down upon us. So the 2 hour walk around town ended up being pretty hard, and had us yearning for air conditioning and cold showers. We then returned home for lunch, and I ate with just the mother and father of my family, while we watched the Senegal vs. Zambia World Cup qualifying match. (Senegal won the match, which puts everyone in this town in a very good mood.) After lunch, we went right back to CRESP to meet one of the Senegalese students who lives near by. Muslimatu (? Spelling…pronounced mOOse lee maa tuu) lives in a nearby town and she wanted to take us to a beach near her house. We walked out to the street and climbed in to the back of a large van which they called a bus, and we were off. This “bus” was basically a heap of metal on 4 wheels. Like most vehicles here, it probably belongs in a junkyard. As a rough estimate, maybe 5% of cars here would pass an American inspection, and most would fall far below expectations. However, it served our purpose quite well, so I can’t really complain. We hopped off while the bus was swarmed with people trying to get on, and walked about 20 minutes to get to the beach. Unlike yesterday’s beach experience, today’s beach wasn’t really a swimming beach with waves, but more like a wading beach. Today only one girl swimming, and even I just opted to relax on the beach. After relaxing for a while, we went off in search of an evening meal and activity.
Muslimatu suggested that we go “Le Blue Note”, a jazz club in her neighborhood. This sounded like a good idea to all of us, especially me. Let me explain. The “Blue Note” record label is known around the US for getting the jazz movement into full swing. Blue Note also has a very famous jazz club which has hosted pretty much every famous jazz musician to pick up an instrument. As someone who really likes listening to jazz, the thought of going to a “Blue Note” club seemed very appealing, even though I quickly realized that the label had no relation to this specific club.
We took taxis to the club because it started to rain, and when we got there we realized it was a nice pizzeria restaurant. Muslimatu was good friends with our waiter, and we all ordered pizza and other dishes. At around 2030, the live band started playing some jazz, andn we got our food around 2130. The food was pretty good; more importantly it was nice to have a fork, knife, napkin, and our own plates. By the time we finished our food, the band was really starting to play, playing all sorts of music including blues, songs by Ray Charles, and some others I didn’t recognize.
By about 22:30, the band had begun playing Latin music, even a little salsa. Suddenly, over the microphone I heard “….(something in Wolof) Ross! … Ross?!) Apparently, Muslimatu had told the lead singer in the band to call me up to the stage. Before I knew it, our waiter was pulling me out of my seat and escorting me to the stage where I stood not knowing what to do. “Dansez, dansez!” (Dance, dance!) I beckoned for the other kids to come up, because there was no way I was going to dance by myself…so everyone was already on their way up, and we danced for a couple songs. It felt like I had been thrown into a mix of Senegalese/Latin culture.
After Latin music, the band played Bob Marley songs, and by the end of the night, they were playing Hendrix songs like “Purple Haze” and even “The Wind Cries Mary”. They also played some traditional Senegalese music. At around 0:15, we realized we had been at the club for almost five hours, and decided it was time to leave. We all got in cabs and paid about three dollars to go 3 or 4 miles, which in Boston would cost probably $10. Tomorrow is the optional group trip to Goree Island, the last stop on the colonial trade before the US. However, I will be opting out because I have plenty to do including my laundry, cleaning up, relaxing etc. I figure I will definitely have time at some point to go visit a very interesting historical place. Because of this nice relaxing day, I will finally explain some of the things I have been promising to explain. Time for sleep now, its almost 2:30am here.
Still to come: explanation of the French language and its role on this trip, introduction to my family members, an insight into how I have slowly begun to adapt to this culture, explanations of many Senegalese traditions and customs. Also, common myths and misconceptions about Africa will be disproven.
