Yesterday I spent the majority of the afternoon skyping and emailing at l'Endroit, my internet cafe "office," which is around the corner from where I live. I treated myself to a nice lunch to congratulate myself on reaching my first weekend here. Sounds silly, but it was a bit tough adjusting this week, and little treats like that keep me going.
As I was wrapping up, the sound engineer for the evening's band was setting things up and accidentally knocked me with a cord as he was plugging things in. He apologized and we started talking - he told me about the band that would be playing, called Milim - an Afro-Caribbean jazz combo. He said there was an American saxophonist playing with them, and when I told him I also play sax, he invited me to come back and meet everybody and maybe play a little. I was nervous - first of all, my sax has been having some issues since I got here, relating to the sudden change in temperature and humidity. But the guy said the saxophonist could look at it and tell me if it needed to be fixed or not. So I thought, why not? I went home and practiced... I was afraid to go back, but I told myself that the worst that could happen would be that I sounded horrible and they never invited me back, and from now on I avoid going to l'Endroit on nights when they are playing to save face.
So I came back in the evening and met up with the sound engineer, who introduced me to the saxophonist, a singer-guitarist who was performing a solo opening act, and the band's manager. The saxophonist was really nice, looked at my horn, and confirmed that it was only having the same temperature / humidity issues that he has with his horns when he first arrives here from out of town (he lives in Dakar now). The manager was incredibly manganimous and insisted that, as a fellow musician, I was part of "the family." The sound engineer said the same thing. They suggested that I play with the guitarist / singer on a song or two, if she was ok with that. She said that would be fine, so before too long I found myself on stage playing along with her. She has an incredibly beautiful, soulful, plaintive voice, and the music she plays is very amenable to soprano sax. One of the songs I knew - "Soldade," which Cesaria Evora sings. Many of the songs had relatively simple harmonies, which made it easy to play along... a lot of rumba chords / form. There were a few songs that were a little trickier (I think these were the ones she wrote, and sang in Wolof), but I think I managed to do ok. I received very generous applause and feedback from people, and for the first time since arriving I felt truly MYSELF - it was a great feeling. When it was time for Milim to play, I stuck around and hung out with Tabou, the singer/guitarist, and a few other musicians. Damien, the saxophonist, told me he'd have me up for a tune, which he eventually did - I played on a funk number and was a little intimidated (Damien is amazing! As a saxophonist and also on harmonica - he really plays a MEAN harmonica...), but I think I held my own. It felt so liberating to just play...
Tabou wants to work with me again - she was excited at the sound of our duo. So, who knows - maybe we'll play some more concerts around town - I'll keep you posted on how things develop.
There is another Milim concert tonight, but I think I'm going to pass - concerts here don't really get going until 10pm at the earliest, and go until after 3am... I left last night at 2:30am and they were still going. Then I was all revved up and couldn't get to sleep until after 4... I would love to go again tonight, but tomorrow I have to run some errands during business hours - at the Embassy, at Sonatel (to hopefully, finally get internet access in my room!), post office, etc. But I plan to touch base today with all of the musicians I met, so they have my number (I didn't have my phone with me and don't have my number memorized yet) and we can make plans to meet / play again. If I can play on a somewhat regular basis here, I think I might be alright.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Ethiopian night
Last night I went out to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant not far from where I live - I met 3 other Fulbrighters there. One I had already met - the historian from California. He met me in his cab near my house, so that I wouldn't get lost (at night, especially, I still sometimes have trouble getting my bearings). At the restaurant, I met two others - one is a U of Chicago student with the same kind of Fulbright as mine (there are multiple kinds of Fulbrights) and the other is a former Fulbrighter, an archaeologist from U Michigan, who is visiting for a month to do some follow-up research.
The restaurant was cozy - upstairs, on a terrace / balcony - open air. Lovely music playing - I kept on hearing saxophone versions of it in my head. Maybe I'll try practicing it later... But the food, the food! Oh my God - it was SOOOOO yummy. Mm. So now I have one more incentive to lure people here to visit - you can eat some great Ethiopian food - my treat!
Right now I am treating myself to a nice lunch at the internet cafe - to celebrate making it through my first week here (well, I haven't been here a full week yet, but it's the start of my first weekend, and that's something). Maybe I'll make this a tradition. Something to look forward to, and an incentive to get stuff done during the week...
Here's Run at the Ethiopian place - posing with a Gazelle Beer label (product of Dakar),
The restaurant was cozy - upstairs, on a terrace / balcony - open air. Lovely music playing - I kept on hearing saxophone versions of it in my head. Maybe I'll try practicing it later... But the food, the food! Oh my God - it was SOOOOO yummy. Mm. So now I have one more incentive to lure people here to visit - you can eat some great Ethiopian food - my treat!
Right now I am treating myself to a nice lunch at the internet cafe - to celebrate making it through my first week here (well, I haven't been here a full week yet, but it's the start of my first weekend, and that's something). Maybe I'll make this a tradition. Something to look forward to, and an incentive to get stuff done during the week...
Here's Run at the Ethiopian place - posing with a Gazelle Beer label (product of Dakar),
and with a friendly Ethiopian from our table.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Finally, bank success
Not exactly newsworthy, but today's big project was finally getting cleared to use the Embassy bank. So now I can pay my rent and be able to afford to go out for Ethiopian food tonight.
Today hasn't been the greatest... homesickness is hitting me hard. I miss everybody so much it hurts and I'm feeling pretty lost and purposeless here (despite the fact that I do have something I'm supposed to be doing - namely, research). I am aware that this is normal, though, so don't worry - I'll be fine.
I was sad the other day downtown when I saw a guy selling caged parrots - they looked like babies, and the only consolation I had was that there were two per cage - at least they have a buddy to commiserate with. But the cages were tiny and I cannot imagine that the birds were acquired in any humane fashion, so it made me sad...
It's also sad seeing the cats here - none of them ever look old enough to be full adults - they always look like they are adolescents. And they're all super thin and generally unhealthy looking. So I was glad to see at least one well-off cat at the embassy, at least. This isn't the best place to be an animal...
So - sorry for the sad post, but that's the state of affairs for today...
Today hasn't been the greatest... homesickness is hitting me hard. I miss everybody so much it hurts and I'm feeling pretty lost and purposeless here (despite the fact that I do have something I'm supposed to be doing - namely, research). I am aware that this is normal, though, so don't worry - I'll be fine.
I was sad the other day downtown when I saw a guy selling caged parrots - they looked like babies, and the only consolation I had was that there were two per cage - at least they have a buddy to commiserate with. But the cages were tiny and I cannot imagine that the birds were acquired in any humane fashion, so it made me sad...
It's also sad seeing the cats here - none of them ever look old enough to be full adults - they always look like they are adolescents. And they're all super thin and generally unhealthy looking. So I was glad to see at least one well-off cat at the embassy, at least. This isn't the best place to be an animal...
So - sorry for the sad post, but that's the state of affairs for today...
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Yesterday Run and I attended our first US Embassy event. It was a little soiree at the ambassador's house in the fancy Alamides neighborhood. I couldn't get a complete sense of just how posh the area was because it was nighttime, but I understand it's supposed to be pretty nice. The ambassador lives in a beautiful mansion, complete with the one cat in town who is actually well-fed and loved.
I met 3 other Fulbrighters - one looks like Angelique Kidjo, one is a mom who brought her high-school-aged daughter along for the year, and the 3rd is the one I talked to the most - he's a UC Davis history PhD candidate. I recognized him from when I visited the archives in May. He has invited me to dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant tomorrow with another Fulbright girl - I'm excited to have Ethiopian food!
The party featured a "preview" concert by the Dev Philips Jazz Quartet - originally from New Orleans but now based in Portland, Oregon. They are here for the Dakar Jazz Festival which is happening this weekend. There was also a screening of a documentary film called "This is Us" - a young American filmmaker collaborated with a school teacher in a tiny village in the Senegalese countryside to give students the opportunity to make their own mini films. So each student got his/her own portable camcorder and filmed a little "day-in-the-life" kind of thing, complete with their own narration. The American filmmaker only helped a bit with the technical aspects of editing, but all filming, narration, etc. was done completely by the students. Two girls chose to make their films about early marriage - for girls who don't have the privilege of going to school, their prospects are to get married sometime between 9-12 years old (this is illegal in Senegal but not exactly easy to enforce). They start having kids around 14-15. The two girls' friends, who were 17 and 18, already had about 3 kids each, and looked old beyond their years. The problem is that big families tend not to be able to afford to send all kids to school, and unfortunately the prevailing attitude is often still that it makes more sense to send a son than a daughter. However, since a school was built in this village 10 years ago, an increasing number of girls have begun going to school, so that actually now more than half of the students are girls!
For those of you who are interested, here is the website for this film project: http://www.projectthisisus.org/
Here are a few pictures of Run enjoying the Embassy party...:
Here he is watching "This is Us":
Sorry - I haven't figured out yet how to rotate the pictures...
Here's a link to Devin Phillips' website, in case you're interested: http://devinphillips.com/
One thing I forgot to mention - I tried a new drink, not alcoholic - BAOBAB JUICE!! Seriously! It's made from the fruit of the baobab tree and is supposed to have many medicinal properties. It looks somewhat like horchata - cloudy, beige - and it has a slightly gingery flavor. I quite liked it.
Today was relatively uneventful. Walking an hour to find an ATM which worked pretty much sucked the life out of me - it was 90+ degrees outside. Then I took refuge in a supermarket ("Casino") because it was air conditioned, and took advantage of being there, with newly acquired cash, to buy some cheap Spanish box wine.
Tomorrow... dinner w/ fellow Fulbrighters, and hopefully more progress on getting access to the Embassy bank...
I met 3 other Fulbrighters - one looks like Angelique Kidjo, one is a mom who brought her high-school-aged daughter along for the year, and the 3rd is the one I talked to the most - he's a UC Davis history PhD candidate. I recognized him from when I visited the archives in May. He has invited me to dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant tomorrow with another Fulbright girl - I'm excited to have Ethiopian food!
The party featured a "preview" concert by the Dev Philips Jazz Quartet - originally from New Orleans but now based in Portland, Oregon. They are here for the Dakar Jazz Festival which is happening this weekend. There was also a screening of a documentary film called "This is Us" - a young American filmmaker collaborated with a school teacher in a tiny village in the Senegalese countryside to give students the opportunity to make their own mini films. So each student got his/her own portable camcorder and filmed a little "day-in-the-life" kind of thing, complete with their own narration. The American filmmaker only helped a bit with the technical aspects of editing, but all filming, narration, etc. was done completely by the students. Two girls chose to make their films about early marriage - for girls who don't have the privilege of going to school, their prospects are to get married sometime between 9-12 years old (this is illegal in Senegal but not exactly easy to enforce). They start having kids around 14-15. The two girls' friends, who were 17 and 18, already had about 3 kids each, and looked old beyond their years. The problem is that big families tend not to be able to afford to send all kids to school, and unfortunately the prevailing attitude is often still that it makes more sense to send a son than a daughter. However, since a school was built in this village 10 years ago, an increasing number of girls have begun going to school, so that actually now more than half of the students are girls!
For those of you who are interested, here is the website for this film project: http://www.projectthisisus.org/
Here are a few pictures of Run enjoying the Embassy party...:
Here he is watching "This is Us":
Here he's trying to sneak a pic with the Ambassador, but it didn't turn out very well...
Enjoying the open bar...
And making friends with the bartender - always a good idea...
His new music partner-in-crime, the saxophonist Dev Philips:
Here's Dev in action - the woman was singing Summertime:
Here's the Ambassador:
Sorry - I haven't figured out yet how to rotate the pictures...
Here's a link to Devin Phillips' website, in case you're interested: http://devinphillips.com/
One thing I forgot to mention - I tried a new drink, not alcoholic - BAOBAB JUICE!! Seriously! It's made from the fruit of the baobab tree and is supposed to have many medicinal properties. It looks somewhat like horchata - cloudy, beige - and it has a slightly gingery flavor. I quite liked it.
Today was relatively uneventful. Walking an hour to find an ATM which worked pretty much sucked the life out of me - it was 90+ degrees outside. Then I took refuge in a supermarket ("Casino") because it was air conditioned, and took advantage of being there, with newly acquired cash, to buy some cheap Spanish box wine.
Tomorrow... dinner w/ fellow Fulbrighters, and hopefully more progress on getting access to the Embassy bank...
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
"The Luckiest Unlucky Person in the World..."
This is my mom's pronouncement, and it couldn't be more true... I manage to get myself into all sorts of insane predicaments but usually things end up turning out ok in the end...
So, for those of you who know about my passport fiasco from the YV Argentina tour, you will laugh when you learn that until a few hours ago I thought I had already lost the precious document again. I got here yesterday morning, and by the end of the day my passport was nowhere to be seen. I discovered this when I began unpacking... I also thought that I had somehow forgotten to pack most of my relevant prescription medicines, until I remembered that they were crammed last-minute into my saxophone case. I was running out of space, people...
So, I frantically dug around - by yesterday evening I had already visited the Embassy and learned that I need to show my actual, physical passport and not a copy in order to obtain banking privileges. Since Senegal is pretty much a cash-only economy except at the super-posh end of things, the cash I had exchanged was already almost gone... I had to buy a cell phone, some snacks and some office supplies.
I had to go to bed last night, having searched literally everywhere at least three times, to no avail. I couldn't sleep - partially jet lag, but partially panic about the passport situation. This morning I looked again before going to the embassy for phase 2 of the banking paperwork, and had to show up there empty-handed. I still had other stuff to do, so it wasn't a wasted trip, but I was worried about what I was going to if I couldn't find it...
BUT, this afternoon I decided to try one last time, and somehow it decided to reappear in a place I of course had already looked at least three times... I swear there's some kind of evil gnome that misplaces these kinds of things and then sneaks them back later so I can look / feel like an idiot.
But I don't feel like as much of an idiot as I would have if I really HAD lost my passport again! HAH!
So, for those of you who know about my passport fiasco from the YV Argentina tour, you will laugh when you learn that until a few hours ago I thought I had already lost the precious document again. I got here yesterday morning, and by the end of the day my passport was nowhere to be seen. I discovered this when I began unpacking... I also thought that I had somehow forgotten to pack most of my relevant prescription medicines, until I remembered that they were crammed last-minute into my saxophone case. I was running out of space, people...
So, I frantically dug around - by yesterday evening I had already visited the Embassy and learned that I need to show my actual, physical passport and not a copy in order to obtain banking privileges. Since Senegal is pretty much a cash-only economy except at the super-posh end of things, the cash I had exchanged was already almost gone... I had to buy a cell phone, some snacks and some office supplies.
I had to go to bed last night, having searched literally everywhere at least three times, to no avail. I couldn't sleep - partially jet lag, but partially panic about the passport situation. This morning I looked again before going to the embassy for phase 2 of the banking paperwork, and had to show up there empty-handed. I still had other stuff to do, so it wasn't a wasted trip, but I was worried about what I was going to if I couldn't find it...
BUT, this afternoon I decided to try one last time, and somehow it decided to reappear in a place I of course had already looked at least three times... I swear there's some kind of evil gnome that misplaces these kinds of things and then sneaks them back later so I can look / feel like an idiot.
But I don't feel like as much of an idiot as I would have if I really HAD lost my passport again! HAH!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
First Day - more photos...
Still getting used to this thing...
The above 2 photos:
1) Run enjoying a double gin and tonic (at Detroit airport)
2) Run enjoying airline cuisine
And some more...:
3) Run keeping up with his peeps (at Detroit airport)
That's it for now... I'm going to wrap this up and go home to eat my first home-cooked Senegalese meal... unfortunately I think it's going to be fish, and for those of you who know me well, you know that's not my first choice... but when in Rome...
Here's some important info:
For those of you who (pretty please!!!) want to write me letters snail-mail style, here is my mailing address via the US Embassy - you only have to pay domestic postage since it's to a US address:
Melissa Reiser
2130 Dakar Pl.
Dulles VA 20189-2130
--Note that this is for letters only - there is really no 100% reliable way, unfortunately, to send me any packages except via FedEx or DHL. However, I have been told that you CAN send me stuff by diplomatic pouch. The rules on what you are allowed to send / not allowed to send are not entirely clear to me - but Fulbright people here have told me they have received things like cookies, Tshirts, etc this way. So, if you feel like trying this, I would suggest you just talk to the post office people about sending diplomatic pouches.
And, of course, you all have my email which is still the same.
Missing everyone...
--Melissa
The above 2 photos:
1) Run enjoying a double gin and tonic (at Detroit airport)
2) Run enjoying airline cuisine
And some more...:
3) Run keeping up with his peeps (at Detroit airport)
4) Run getting some good reading in...
5) Run singing goodbye to the US for a while... (leaving JFK at sunset)
6) Run nestled in his little seat pocket for a long flight... (he was way more comfortable than I was...)
7) Finally, time to relax - safely arrived at the Moreno family's house in Dakar...
8) After a brief nap, off to the US Embassy in a relatively "new" cab
9) We treated ourselves to a posh lunch at Cafe du Rome downtown - mmm, olives!
10) And now, ginger juice (yummy) at l'Endroit, my neighborhood internet cafe.
That's it for now... I'm going to wrap this up and go home to eat my first home-cooked Senegalese meal... unfortunately I think it's going to be fish, and for those of you who know me well, you know that's not my first choice... but when in Rome...
Here's some important info:
For those of you who (pretty please!!!) want to write me letters snail-mail style, here is my mailing address via the US Embassy - you only have to pay domestic postage since it's to a US address:
Melissa Reiser
2130 Dakar Pl.
Dulles VA 20189-2130
--Note that this is for letters only - there is really no 100% reliable way, unfortunately, to send me any packages except via FedEx or DHL. However, I have been told that you CAN send me stuff by diplomatic pouch. The rules on what you are allowed to send / not allowed to send are not entirely clear to me - but Fulbright people here have told me they have received things like cookies, Tshirts, etc this way. So, if you feel like trying this, I would suggest you just talk to the post office people about sending diplomatic pouches.
And, of course, you all have my email which is still the same.
Missing everyone...
--Melissa
First Day
I will spare all of you a long weepy first entry about how much I miss everyone and feel disoriented and homesick... blah, blah, blah. Hence, this entry will be pretty short... because that's pretty much all I'm feeling right now.
BUT, Run, on the other hand, has been having a grand old time. For those of you who don't know, my dear friends Geoff and Kia loaned me their Run (of Run DMC) doll and asked me to take pictures of him from time to time throughout my stay in Dakar. Well, this has been a partial antidote to my initial homesickness - a way to connect with my bandies, etc. So, enjoy his adventures...
BUT, Run, on the other hand, has been having a grand old time. For those of you who don't know, my dear friends Geoff and Kia loaned me their Run (of Run DMC) doll and asked me to take pictures of him from time to time throughout my stay in Dakar. Well, this has been a partial antidote to my initial homesickness - a way to connect with my bandies, etc. So, enjoy his adventures...
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