L'ENDROIT, TAKE II (but NOT Take Five...)
My second performance at l'Endroit went well, I think.  Tabou and I rehearsed once on Friday evening and once on Saturday morning.  I was pretty wrecked on Friday after the trek to get there, so I didn't play the greatest at that rehearsal, but the next morning went much better. 

On the way back from Tabou's Saturday afternoon, Cameron (former Fulbrighter - archeologist, doing follow-up research) called following up about plans to get together that evening.  I had spent an hour the night before trying to text him back without success - I hadn't yet figured out how to turn the automatic fill-in off, and I also accidentally erased his number when I was finally ready to send my text.  My ineptitude with cell phones is embarassing.  I told Cameron that I was playing at l'Endroit so couldn't go out somewhere else, but he said they'd come to hear me instead.  So Cameron, Kate (Fulbright-Hays, studies national education policy in small villages), Nate (Fulbright - studies colonial history of Senegal / Guinea border region), Lindsey (former Fulbrighter, not sure what she is working on - she's doing follow-up research for a while here), and Maggie (Fulbrighter, from Haiti, I believe - not sure what she's working on) all came to hear me play.  Also Thomas from next door.  It was flattering and comforting to have so many people come and support me - it made me feel more like I fit in here... 

I think I played well - the rehearsals with Tabou definitely helped, although I was disappointed that we didn't end up playing Malaika, which I really like (Miriam Makeba made it famous) - Tabou said her throat was bothering her because of all the smoke.  I'm happy to report that the Milim guys invited me up to play more tunes this time than last time - last time I played one, this time I think I played 5.  I had one horrible, utterly embarassing faux pas, though - which was that Gino, the guitarist, started playing Take Five, figuring that'd be an easy one for me to sit in on, and of course I thought I knew the tune, but as soon as I started picking it out, I realized I have forgotten it...  I was trying to figure it out by ear but was sounding awful and lame trying, so I eventually apologized and said it's been a long time since I've played it and thanks anyway, but I'll sit this one out.  GOD!  TAKE FIVE, PEOPLE!!!  Humiliating.  But Gino was really sweet about it, immediately telling me about a time when he had to play it in front of a bunch of Americans at the embassy and at the B section he accidentally switched to a key a half-step off.  Anyway.  For some reason, they actually asked me back up on stage after that, and then the rest of the night went great - I know that I sounded fine on the other tunes.  I have no problem with funk stuff, or with Cuban-ish stuff, or any tunes that kindly just sit on a chord for a while.  So, I think I was able to redeem myself. 

POWER OUTAGES AT GIGS:
Remarkably, last Saturday was the first time there wasn't ONE outage the whole night!!  That's pretty incredible, actually.  Normally, the power will go out at least 3 times during a show.  What happens, though, is that everything continues as if nothing happened.  The only difference is that now you can't hear the plugged-in instruments - they stop playing and clap polyrhythms instead.  And the audience joins in and claps in various rhythms to keep the pulse and energy going, and they also sing back-up vocals.  The saxophonist just continues soloing, treating it like a long, extended break, and eventually the power comes back on and the bass and guitar fill back in.  But I have to say that the energy level while the whole club is in total darkness and everyone is participating in the performance, keeping the momentum going and moving the music forward, is incredible - so much so that when the lights come back on, I always feel this slightly palpable pang of disappointment from the audience and the musicians... 

RIDE BACK FROM TABOU'S:
(Exerpted from my illegible journal scrawl as we bumped along):  sand - rubble - furniture for sale - clothes shops - fruit stand - fans for sale - kids playing old fussball game - taximan singing along to techno song (the one the Saturday Night Live guys cruise to when they keep pulsing their heads to the beat), goats being led along by their master (enjoy your last few days, fellas), pieces of tires in the sand, the sound of an electric saw, kids laughing and dancing, a woman with a huge, heavy basket on her head, rubble, kids playing soccer in a sand "field", family watching traffic go by, Wolof radio station mentions Tabaski (the Muslim holiday coming up Wednesday), a kid walks by with a ziplop baggie on his head like a hat (?!), a kid on a horsecart, something foul-smelling (sewage?, fish?), a plant nursery, people fixing a flat tire, horns honking, Fanta billboard, a mosque, car rapides (colorful - blue, orange, lots of decorations), the sputtering of diesel engines, a giant mango tree, a Catholic cemetery, the Renaissance Statue (President Wade's pride and joy, and considered an embarassment / eye sore /  waste of money by most Senegalese residents)...

WOLOF 101 (x = "kh")
Na nga def?  = How are you
Mangi fi = I'm fine
Nyata le? ... Wanyeko.  Fi la dekk.  Serna. = How much?  That's too much.  I live here.   Lower your price.
Amuna xales, jangelekat la. = I don't have any money; I'm a student.
See you soon (a tout a l'heure):  leggy leggy
Til next time (a la prochaine):  Ba banenne