Kora Galora and the beginning of Crunch Time

Hello All, I'm back in the world of technology after what seemed like a very quick week (that ended my kora lessons!)...here's what I've been up to!

Friday, April 24
As I mentioned in the end of my last post: after my lesson I left for Dakar; I had a lovely, stress-free trip and saw some new places, so I didn’t mind paying the extra…lot…to take a taxi as opposed to a car rapide (which would have been nearly impossible with my kora). Later that evening I went back to the boarding house, where I was sharing a room with Abby for a couple nights, and took a warm, much-needed shower (luxury!).
I ate dinner with the family, which was a wonderful mutton-pea stew that I’ve only eaten in that house but which might be my favorite Senegalese meal. It rivals maffé and yassa and feels healthier (by healthier I mean it contains lots of peas)…so it’s a tough decision. That night Erin and I went to listen to some music at a little club called Pen Art. Her uncle Samba met us there so that was fun; the music was amazing, but what was the most interesting for me was observing the bizarre mix of people who came to listen. Let’s just say there were some people getting REALLY into the dancing: Senegalese dancing, some type of bellydancing, and…we’ll call it “freestyle” (aka really drunk white guy who joins the Senegalese dancers). We stayed until about 2AM and then took a taxi home.

Saturday, April 25
In the morning I walked around Dakar a little bit to check out the “shoe market” and randomly ran into one of the guys who lives in the boarding house. He wears an outfit made out of the same material of the kora case I was borrowing from SIT with little red, yellow and green Africa designs—otherwise I doubt I would have recognized him and would have ignored him like I do the rest of the men who try to say hello on the street. After walking a bit I headed to SIT to meet Edouard, the kora player I originally took lessons from/my ISP advisor, who was going to show me and Sara (the other girl doing Kora for her ISP) where the “Day of the Kora” festivities would be held. He was going to introduce us to Lamine Conté, a very famous griot, and we would be able to ask him questions for our projects. It turned out that he wasn’t at the place, though, so I just talked to Edouard about the logistics of traveling to the U.S. with my kora (which should be ready for me when I get back to Dakar!). I ate lunch at the shack and met a nice man who plays music for a living and who’s been to NYC quite a bit.
Later in the afternoon, after some research for my project, Erin and I went downtown to do some souvenir shopping. I find whenever I get into a market I immediately go into “by ma” mode: “by ma” (not sure of the spelling since it’s an oral language) is the Wolof phrase for “leave me alone,” and I use it frequently to the vicious vendors who grab and follow me while shoving their merchandise in my face. I am a very angry market shopper here, but it seems to work.
That night I went back downtown with Kenna and Bethany to go back to our burger place (where they’ve been almost daily while I’ve been at the monastery), and I got the “hamburger complet” which is a luscious juicy burger complete with a fried egg and French fries, mayonnaise, sugary ketchup and hot sauce (all together)—basically a heart attack on a bun but oh, so wonderful. Afterwards we hopped on a car rapide and I headed to the “Maison de la Culture,” where the kora day festivities were happening. To my surprise there were a bunch of other SIT students there and, even though I was an hour late, I hadn’t missed anything!
The first concert was Lamine Conté (the griot I mentioned earlier) playing with around 8 other kora players, all with their traditional koras, switching off who sang/soloed, and it was mesmerizing to hear all those koras playing at once, and very Senegalese in the performance (people would walk up to Lamine while he was playing to talk to him or to hand him something, others would come up to dance once in a while or sing a portion of the song, etc.). There were photographers everywhere and I got to take some movie clips. (One man did come up to me to make sure I knew I wasn’t allowed to film the WHOLE performance, only small parts, even though there were other cameras filming the whole thing for news stations.)
The next performance was a guitar player and a drummer; the guitar player seemed like anyone in the U.S. would expect (except he sang in Wolof) but the drummer was absolutely hilarious to me. He sat on the ground pretty far away/behind the guitarist with his half-calabash on a mat, spread his legs wide around it and drummed on the calabash while always looking up at the guitarist. He reminded me of a little kid banging on pots and pans looking up at his parents, waiting to be scolded.
The last performance was Lamine Conté again with his band, which consisted of one of the strangest mix of instruments I can imagine: the traditional kora, an electric bass, a full drumset, a large finger piano, a trombone, and a traditional African instrument called the “balafon” which resembles a xylophone made of wood with gourds hanging underneath it. The sound was, obviously, quite unique. It was really a great show; I was just disappointed the festivities only went on for two hours while Edouard had made it sound like it was a daylong festival. I’m glad I came back to Dakar because it gave me a) a break from monastic life/practicing kora, b) access to communication, c) a chance to see my friends…but I’m not sure I would have done all that traveling just to see this one concert.

Sunday, April 26
I awoke very early to meet Erin and head back to the monastery; she wanted to see the mass and visit for the afternoon so I had a travel buddy! On our way to the monastery in the taxi we picked up a woman with her daughter that the taxi driver knew. I thought, “Well that girl looks strangely familiar, and the way she’s staring at me reminds me of something…” I thought maybe she looked like a bunch of other little Senegalese girls I’d seen and I’m used to kids staring at me…but then I realized that I had met her while buying phone credit at a little store in the town and she had literally stared at me for 7 minutes straight. It was interesting, though, to see the same person twice and recognize her—maybe I’m becoming a local!
After the mass (which was disappointing compared to the other 2 or 3 I’ve been to: there was only one kora and it was rarely used, other instruments weren’t used at all, and it was a lot less music/singing in general than I’ve seen previously), Erin and I walked around Keur Moussa (the town) for a while looking for a restaurant for lunch. We found that, just because someone has a sign out that says “Restaurant” or “Lunch” or “Sandwiches” or anything to that effect, does NOT mean they will have any food. A lot of the places we went in seemed very confused as to why we were asking if they were serving lunch that day and replied, “Well, we haven’t prepared anything, but we can…” I tried to picture the same thing happening in the U.S. and I couldn’t imagine what kinds of complaints restaurants would get if they didn’t have any food—here, though, it’s completely normal.
Then Elena arrived! She’s doing her ISP in a town about 15 minutes away from mine and we still hadn’t seen each other, so she came to visit and have lunch with Erin and me. We had a great time talking and hearing what she’s been up to and it made me realize how excited I am to see everyone else’s presentations of their ISPs!
Later I got back into practicing the kora—it came back surprisingly easy for not having played in over 48 hours! In the evening I went for a nice jog on a new road and found an abandoned well and watched the sun set, but left when two birds started chasing me. Before going to bed I did more kora practicing and some background research for my project; it’s surprising to me how enjoyable doing background research seems to me, but I think it’s not only because I get a break from practicing, but also because I’m really interested in the subject! And that’s a good sign!
Oh, and I also found out I have more housemates: it’s not just my friend lizard living in the bathroom with some scary spiders, but at least 3 friend lizards and at least 4 different species of scary spiders! So we all played together a little bit before I went to bed. They don’t speak French or English so I’m not sure how well we’ll end up getting along, but for now we’re living together in peace.

Monday, April 27
In the morning I practiced some before my lesson, which apparently my teacher forgot about, so about 45 minutes into the “lesson” he showed up. I had him play a song I’ve been having trouble with so I could record it and listen to it while I’m practicing, and that turned out to be VERY helpful. The French people who were living with me left in the afternoon so I now have the house all to myself (for now)! (They ate my tomato and eggplant and drank my grapefruit juice while I was gone, but I’m not sure they knew they were mine. But I stole some of their M&M’s, so they’re forgiven. And I think I got the better deal.)
My lesson in the afternoon was much more enjoyable than the one in the morning; I’m beginning to realize that Jean Baptiste always seems to be in a much better mood in the afternoon and that there’s a pattern of me getting extremely frustrated in the morning lesson and the afternoon lesson going really well. I know in the afternoon he’s just come from his nap, so maybe I should ask him to take a nap in the morning before our lessons too?
I walked to town to grab some soap and then came back to do my laundry on the peaceful porch. Afterwards I made dinner and sat outside to watch the sun set, and then concocted some “hot chocolate” and practiced some kora. This is the first day that I wasn’t assigned anything new; I just had to work on a bunch of things that weren’t quite finished, and this was extremely comforting for me.

Tuesday, April 28
Well so much for not being assigned anything new; on this lovely day I was assigned two new pieces! Not that that’s a bad thing, I’m definitely learning a lot of music—it’s just difficult to learn everything in 2 weeks!
Along with my two lessons of the day, I went through the process of buying strings for a kora (for Edouard); I didn’t realize that every single string is a little bit different, so they’re packaged one cord to a bag and Jean Baptiste had to go through a big box of them finding the ones Edouard needed (he needed 40). It was quite the process!
I took another nice jog. There’s something so serene about running here—in the wide-open African savannah towards the giant setting sun. The horizon where I watch the sun set is lined with Acacia trees with one big palm tree stretching up like a giraffe’s neck, and a lonely baobab right beneath the sun. I can see waves around the sun’s perimeter from its heat, and when the sun is resting in the branches of the baobab I turn and run home.
Some new people moved in to my house, one a friend of a French guy I met at the convent (I think she’s Senegalese?) and a young couple who’s biking from Dakar to the capital of Mauritania. They’re from Sweden and very nice and speak English, it’s a shame they’re only here for one night!

Wednesday, April 29
In the morning something sort of strange happened. I was picking out my clothes for the day, enjoying the sunlight coming in through my window when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a hand, inches outside my window, holding what looked like a partially decomposed fruit of some sort. (Yes, just a hand, no body—though looking back, I’m sure there WAS a body, probably blocked by the curtain.) I quickly shut the curtain and was a little frightened. Soon I heard a knock at the front door. It was one of the nuns from next door.
“Good morning,” She said. “How are you? Was it you who put the onions outside your window?”
“Excuse me?” I said. “Onions? Outside?”
“Do you only speak English? [slower] Was it you who put the onions on the ground outside your window? Because that’s not good, they’re not good anymore.”
“No, it wasn’t me. I was looking for onions yesterday to cook with—“
“Well they’re not good anymore, you can’t leave them outside—“
“I didn’t put them outside! I never found onions! I don’t know who it was but it wasn’t me!”
“Are you sure it wasn’t you?”
“Yes! It wasn’t me!”
“Okay. How are you?”
Anyway yes so that’s how my morning began. We really need to get a lock for that back gate.
After leaving my morning lesson early I spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon lying in my bed sick. Just a cold, but it all decided to come in one day.
I went to my afternoon lesson feeling quite unmotivated and not in the best of spirits, but I was willing to try to make it through a lesson. The afternoon lessons are usually pretty enjoyable; I usually play the songs I’ve been working for and get tips on how to improve them/which passages I need to work on, and then a lot of times we just have a conversation about either the kora or the monastery or something like that. But on this special day, when my teacher arrived he brought with him two other men. They all sat down around me and said, “Okay, performance time!” I laughed and said oh no, it’s not a good day for that. Turns out they weren’t joking at all, and they left me alone for 10 minutes to practice the song they wanted me to play! They kept saying don’t be nervous, this guy hasn’t ever even touched a kora, he won’t know if you mess up…they didn’t understand that it wasn’t the nervousness that was keeping me from playing but the fact that I could hardly concentrate on anything other than trying to remain breathing for the duration of a whole song (okay I’m exaggerating)…but anyway I ended up playing the song, doing horribly, and then finding out that “this guy” was actually a very famous griot korist from Dakar. Great. So he played for us for a while and that was enjoyable, and then he and I walked together afterwards when I was on my way home and we had a nice conversation.
My friends Lucy and Caitlin were supposedly going to visit that evening but never showed up. I took a walk as I was feeling quite unmotivated to play anything even resembling a kora. I got offered a ride on a cart pulled by a donkey, and would have loved to take the offer but that might have defeated the purpose of a “walk.” I went to bed extra early and the mosquitoes found the tiny hole in my mosquito net. Basically it just wasn’t my day.

Thursday, April 30
In the morning I got up early to walk to town and buy some vegetables. It took me that long to figure out the “Mystery of the Vegetables”: one day, long ago, I walked to town and there were women selling vegetables on the sides of the roads, but every other time I’d been there, there were no veggie women! Where had they all gone? The secret, you ask? I pondered this for many a day, and there was one thought that crossed my mind each time this pondering occurred but I never got up the real ambition to test it…But yes. It turns out that the vegetable sellers are only there in the morning. I solved a big mystery, and finally got my veggies.
Anyway, I then had my morning lesson, where I officially agreed to perform at this Saturday’s Mass. This was a decision that took a lot of thought for me, because as most of you who know me know, I am not really one to choose to perform, especially on an instrument; there was also, though, the question of religion: would a foreign, non-religious person playing in a Mass really make sense? Would it offend anyone? We’ll see, come Saturday! I’ll be playing one song while the monks enter and one while they’re leaving (with one other monk, my teacher). By the time you read this, though, that will be old news!
After my lesson I made a weird concoction with my veggies and some whole wheat couscous I found in the cupboard (which surprisingly tasted really good by the end) and then Lucy and Caitlin called to say they were at the monastery! So I showed them around a little bit and got my monk friend Justin to take us back into the area where we’re not allowed (unless accompanied by a monk) and they just loved it here. It was so nice to have visitors and we spent a lot of the afternoon out in the sun but it was stifling! Summer really has begun!
Later I practiced some kora and went to my lesson, where Jean Baptiste and I played together outside in the beautiful garden to practice for Mass. The first song actually went really well (it’s one I played in a piano recital many years ago (Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, but here it’s called “Jésus, que ma joie demeure”) so it’s bringing back memories!) but the second one, which I’m usually better at, went pretty awfully. So, we’ll see how this goes.
Two nuns moved into my house today, one from Mauritania and one from Dakar. It’s so interesting to see who happens to pass through this monastery and stay for a couple days. It also never ceases to amaze me how different the pace of life is here in Senegal. I mention this because I felt like I didn’t do much today because Lucy and Caitlin came to visit, and when I came back from my afternoon lessons these two nuns were just coming out of their rooms. They looked at me with shock on their faces and said, “You didn’t take the rest?” I think from 1 to 3 or 4 PM here most people take a couple hours just to rest, nap, relax…I’m really not sure what goes on in that time but everyone’s always so surprised to see me doing things during those hours.
After my lesson I met with Brother Justin to watch an animated slide show he made of his mother’s burial ceremony. I was apprehensive going into it and I’m still not sure how I feel about it…though it was interesting to see pictures of how death is celebrated in Nigeria.

Friday, May 1
My last day of lessons! I think it’s time; I’m not sick of the kora and I thoroughly enjoyed every part of the lessons (even the challenges), but I think this was the perfect amount of time for an intensive study and I’m not sad to be done. I counted up my hours: the ISP asks for 120 hours total (from April 11-May 8) and this includes writing the paper; On May 1, before even starting the paper, I only have 19 hours left to meet the requirement (split between the 8 days that are left, that’s about 2:20 per day). All that practicing not only helped my kora playing but also made it so I don’t have to stress about getting hours in over this last week!
My morning lesson was cut very short because it’s a holiday (labor day) so there’s a special mass going on. It was extremely hot again so I spent a lot of the day in the shade of my room/the kitchen/dining room, practicing kora, packing and getting some ISP things organized. During my afternoon lesson I played with the kora I’ll be using tomorrow; it has a beautiful sound but it’s just so different to play on because the strings are spaced differently and my hands can barely reach the cords on the end…so hopefully I’ll be able to adjust in the few hours I’ll have to practice before mass!
In the evening Megan came to visit!!! She was on her way back to Dakar from Saint Louis and she decided to spend a night with me and go to Mass/my performance the next morning. So we cooked a lovely dinner and talked for a long time before going to bed, and it was so nice to have a visitor.

Saturday, May 2
I got up early to practice some kora before my performance. Megan and I had a nice breakfast outside before it got too hot (which, in this season, is around 8:30 AM), and then I headed to my rehearsal with Jean Baptiste. We played in the church and it went almost perfectly! I then read some before the Mass started, helped Megan set up the video camera to tape the performance, gave out “goodbye” gifts to some of the monks, and then the Mass started. I was playing with Jean Baptiste; we played while the monks entered and that song went pretty well (though I played much quieter than him, just in case!). The mass was nice, a lot of music and singing and prayer, and then I got to perform again for the exit of the monks. For some reason I just COULDN’T hit a right note!!! If I had been playing alone I’m not sure how I would have dealt with it…but Jean Baptiste just covered me and I wasn’t that worried about it because he knew I tried and just for some reason (this reminds me of my last piano recital), I knew the song by heart, but it just all disappeared. Anyway, I’m glad that’s over, it was painless and actually enjoyable and I’m glad I got the experience of playing the kora in a Senegalese mass!
I packed up and said goodbye for the last time to my monk-ey friends, and Megan and I headed back to Dakar. The traffic was awful for a lot of the time but it was a nice ride and we chatted a lot, experienced some Senegalese road rage, and ate a very weird new fruit.
And now I am back in Dakar; Megan, Erin and I went downtown to a market and caught up, it’s so amazing how much there is to tell after only a week of not seeing each other! I ate a wonderfully delicious dinner with the family at the boarding house (oh I got a different room this time, with a hot shower and it’s right next door to Abby, so that’ll be fun!) and I might go out to hear some music tonight with Erin and friends.
So that’s what I’ve been up to! Whew! And now it’s crunch time; my ISP paper is due in less than a week, next Saturday starts the presentations of people’s ISPs, and then there’s only a week until we hop onto the plane to return to good ol’ America, “greatest country in dee world!” (Speaking of Borat, I heard he’s coming out with a new movie?) So anyway I’m going to have a lot of trouble trying to do everything I want to do in Dakar before leaving AND writing my paper at the same time, but I hope to find a balance sooner rather than later.
I’ll be in touch soon!