Here's my room looking out onto the courtyard and past it, the kitchen (note the fan, aka "ventilateur," which pretty much controls whether I live or die here...) -
An expanded view - you can see a little bit of my bed and my messy desk. And the curtains which Simon (host dad) kindly fixed for me today - when I first arrived and tried to close them so I could change to take a shower, the pole fell down just as I was in the process of almost, but not quite, draping myself in a towel - a great way to start Day 1!
Here's Run guarding my box of vino tinto - I haven't opened it yet. So far I've only tried the blanc (nasty) and the sangria (not bad).
This is my neighbor Thomas, from Normandy - he rooms next door to me. He is studying sociology at the university here. He's playing Jenga with Pierre (5).
Pierre, le méchant (naughty boy), knocked them all down...
Here's my mosquito net - kind of quaint, like something you'd find in a princess's room (at night you unknot it and tuck it all around your mattress and close yourself in...)
Here's Run practicing aerial menouvers for his next action film:
Yesterday I met Tabou for a rehearsal (in French, rehearsals are called "repetitions" which I think is an apt phrase). It took maybe 1 1/2 hours to get to her place, which is on the other side of the city. We gave up on cabs - they are starting to raise their rates because of the upcoming Tabaski holiday. So we took a car rapide:
from the internet cafe / music club to Dior (sp?), then a calando (a group taxi - but not a yellow cab like the regular, single-hire ones - these are unmarked, you just have to know / ask) from Dior to Casbah (Tabou almost got knocked down in the mad charge to dive into the cab - there are only a few places and a ton of people; on the second try, I dove into the front seat while she dove into the back - surivival of the fastest car divers! - catch the rest of you later, SUCKAHS!), then another from Casbah to Corniche Hamosis, and then a cab to Comico II, her place. It was a trek. We didn't start rehearsing until after 10pm. Then we ate dinner around 11:30pm, and at midnight we grabbed a cab (not easy in her neighborhood that late) to the jazz club "Face 2 Face" (pronounced "Fass du Fass") where Milim (the group we opened for last Saturday) was playing. Another great set, all in good form. Tabou wanted to continue on to "Just 4 U" (Jahs - fohr - yieu) to hear the guitarist play his second gig, which was starting at 2:30am. I regrettedly told her that I was simply not capable of another trek to another club, being the old lady that I am (she's a sprightly 22). I was falling asleep. I also had no money for cab fare or drinks if I wanted to save enough for the ride back the next day. So, we went back and crashed - I fortunately got to stay with her sister, who has a fan (Tabou hates anything cold - cold drinks, "cold" meaning ventilated rooms, etc). This morning I bucket-showered, we ate breakfast (buttered rolls and Nestcafe) and then we started rehearsing - we practiced for 2 hours or so and then she had to go tend her mother's clothing boutique and I needed to get back home to eat lunch, rest up (undoubtedly tonight will be another late one), catch up on email / blogging, and in general get ready for tonight's gig.
So, a long, wordy update...
Coming soon:
1) description of sights / sounds / smells during my rides to Tabou's and back (I wrote in my journal part of the time on the way back - it's almost completely illegible, but I'll try to tease out what I wrote!)
2) power outages at gigs
3) an invitation for Tabaski...
4) Wolof 101
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