Melissa's Dakar Blog

I'm rewriting the captions underneath since it's hard to read them in the photos:

"C'mon, bahtendah... wheeze...hach... Just one more whiskey for the road, will ya?"

swig - gulp

"Heey, sugar, how 'bout a date?" (driver goes, "Wha?")

(driver goes, "no thanks, lady!") / (car goes "vroom!") / "Sigh..."

"mrwehzzz"

"zzzzzzz"

Casey's Olympic Debut

(note that she's smoking and doing a handstand at the same time!)

Casey: "Next... hach...cough..."

Orange cat: "2 pounds of turkey, please"

Signs: "Fresh grass! Keeps you regular! On sale!"

"Mouse sandwich special, $4.99; super-size, $8.99"

"Fish bone special, 2 for 99 cents!"

"Pastrami sandwich, $8.99"

"Fresh smoked lox! For Passover breakfast!" (dumb - no bagels during passover)

"Illegal catnip! SALE! See Manager"

"Today only: Day-old tuna on rye, $5"

"Olive loaf, $2/lb"

"Fuck You, muthafuckahs!"

"This is what I think of birthdays."

"the fuck is this?"

"What? You're going out of town? Alright... Hugher strike, ... BEGIN!"

"kiss my ass!"

padlock / key / diarrhea / cat food / too fat

"Do I look like I eat birthday cake?"

The thing above the water fountain is supposed to be a happy-smell pheromone plug-in. You can't really read that in the caption, which says,

"Welcome to Casey's cushy little luxury-condo retirement home, complete with personal heater, happy pheromone plug-in, heated bed (aka the "bialy") and running water fountain."

The day after visiting with Fou Malade, I went with my friend Zal out to Kër Ndiaye Lo and then Bamebelor. We went to visit Balla and his friend Cheikhuna to discuss some preliminary ideas concerning a burgeoning project (which will remain vague for now... ) I don't want to jinx anything and things are only in the brainstorming / conversation stage, so I don't want to explain too much about it. But, the vague version is - we are discussing ways to make the lives of musicians and future musicians here in Senegal a little easier. Cheikhuna is Balla's long-time colleague (both have worked for ENDA on cultural outreach projects, along with my other friend Serge - see http://www.enda.sn/) and a fellow baye fall (he may not sport Balla's dreads but in the end being a baye fall has less to do with that and everything to do with serving others). So after a short visit chez Balla we bush-bused over to Bambelor and Cheikhuna showed us around his youth cultural center, called Nioko Bokk ("you're welcome"). In some ways it's similar to Fou Malade's youth center - offering cultural programs to village kids, etc.

Like Fou Malade and G-Hip Hop, Cheikhuna built Nioko Bokk from scratch with his own hands. It's a beautiful haven with a tranquil courtyard with artwork all along the walls, painted by local kids (not so much the urban grafitti style of G-Hip Hop, but something more in tune with the village vibe of Bambelor). The courtyard is filled with mango and grapefruit trees (it's mango season and we all sampled some while we were brainstorming together). Unfortunately, I won't be here for the grapefruits, which won't be ready until September or October. Too bad... I LOVE grapefruits, and fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice, and I lamented that a grapefruit tree would alas never make it back home in Wisconsin. Oh well.

After a long discussion of project ideas over a huge platter of mafe (rice served with a peanut sauce-based stew - REALLY good but REALLY filling...) and then a dessert of juicy mangos and cafe Touba (a coffee with some interesting spices in it - it's considered a cure-all here but I just like the flavor of it - it's kind of like a coffee version of chai, maybe), we were introduced to some young rappers who have a more melodic approach than many other rappers I've heard here. They perform with an acoustic guitar and play traditional melodies along with their raps. They wanted me to play with them and Cheikhuna had insisted that I bring my sax so I sat in with them on a few tunes they were rehearsing. It was fun - I've never played with a rap group before and it actually worked really well! They really have a unique sound that combines slightly rough-edged rap with a smoother, sweeter melodic counterpoint.

So, here are a few photos from Bambelor:

The entrance to Cheikhuna's youth cultural center, Nioko Bokk.

Some of the wall art around the Nioko Bokk center.

Nioko Bokk's motto: "Les arts au service du social" (The arts for social service)

From left to right: Balla Ndiaye, Cheikhuna Ba, and Zal Top.

Balla, "The Thinker"

Cheikhuna serving us some refreshing orangeade, in what, upon closer inspection, I noticed were "Arizona Dude Ranch" cups. Don't ask me where he came across those...

An upcoming concert and fashion show at Nioko Bokk, featuring music by the young rappers we met, Baby Rap. Kaay Xool is the name of the event, which means "Come Look."