One night during IST, I left the training center and went to my homestay in Thies. When I turned down my street, though, there were hundreds of people in the street and it looked like something bad was about to go down. The children were screaming "TOUBAB!"-the equivalent of "whitey"- at me much more than usual and they seemed really riled up. I had to walk my bike because there were so many people in the street. En route to my house, I saw this seemingly crazy guy with all kinds of trippy face paint and a really weird costume. I also heard music and drums, but it just sounded like Senegalese music that people play every day.
When I finally got home, I asked my family what was going on, but I didn't understand what they told me. One of my host sisters decided to show me what was going on, so she took me to this area that was blocked off by a huge tarp. This was where the madness was occurring. There were hundreds of people in this blocked off part of the street watching the crazily painted and costumed men dance and just be crazy. At some point, I got yelled at and told to leave because apparently it cost money to get in. Anyway, so I got money and paid them and then went back in.
The guys that were dancing were just plain scary. There were all kinds of crying children in the crowd, and I was pretty frightened myself. The painted men kept coming over my way with an apparent agenda of "let's scare the whitey." I tried to just act unaffected and tough, but I still had no idea what any of this was all about. The guy that was singing sounded like he was singing the songs that the mosque plays on it's speakers all the time. I thought that it was maybe a celebration for a particular Muslim brotherhood, (there are lots here, with people very proud of their Iman and corresponding brotherhood) but my family said it wasn't about religion and just kept asking me if I was scared. I thought to myself, "should I be?" Since I had no idea what was going on and my family couldn't explain the madness to me in a way that I understood, I was kind of freaked out. A little while after it got dark, the singing and dancing ended and everyone went home safe and sound. Random.
The next day at the training center, I showed one of my Senegalese friends the pictures and asked what the madness I had just experienced was all about. Culture? Religion? Nope. She pretty much told me that it was the travelling Senegalese circus. There is a cultural element to it, though. I guess in the past, when there were still lions in Senegal, they would bite humans and then the humans would go crazy- probably from rabies- and take kids from their parents and then make the parents pay to get them back. Anyway, that process continued and evolved into what is now the Senegalese circus. The preformers used to "steal" kids from their parents during the circus, but I guess about 20 years ago in one of the performances a kid actually got killed somehow. Anyway, now it's mellowed out slightly. The pictures are pretty cool, though.
Here's the link to the album with these pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/AmberGPatterson/IST
And here's a link to some videos I took:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D_aw_wztFo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UP2uLL2XLU&feature=related
I also posted new photos in the Fara album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/AmberGPatterson/Fara
and Tamba House album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/AmberGPatterson/TambaRegionaHouseFun
Enjoy!
When I finally got home, I asked my family what was going on, but I didn't understand what they told me. One of my host sisters decided to show me what was going on, so she took me to this area that was blocked off by a huge tarp. This was where the madness was occurring. There were hundreds of people in this blocked off part of the street watching the crazily painted and costumed men dance and just be crazy. At some point, I got yelled at and told to leave because apparently it cost money to get in. Anyway, so I got money and paid them and then went back in.
The guys that were dancing were just plain scary. There were all kinds of crying children in the crowd, and I was pretty frightened myself. The painted men kept coming over my way with an apparent agenda of "let's scare the whitey." I tried to just act unaffected and tough, but I still had no idea what any of this was all about. The guy that was singing sounded like he was singing the songs that the mosque plays on it's speakers all the time. I thought that it was maybe a celebration for a particular Muslim brotherhood, (there are lots here, with people very proud of their Iman and corresponding brotherhood) but my family said it wasn't about religion and just kept asking me if I was scared. I thought to myself, "should I be?" Since I had no idea what was going on and my family couldn't explain the madness to me in a way that I understood, I was kind of freaked out. A little while after it got dark, the singing and dancing ended and everyone went home safe and sound. Random.
The next day at the training center, I showed one of my Senegalese friends the pictures and asked what the madness I had just experienced was all about. Culture? Religion? Nope. She pretty much told me that it was the travelling Senegalese circus. There is a cultural element to it, though. I guess in the past, when there were still lions in Senegal, they would bite humans and then the humans would go crazy- probably from rabies- and take kids from their parents and then make the parents pay to get them back. Anyway, that process continued and evolved into what is now the Senegalese circus. The preformers used to "steal" kids from their parents during the circus, but I guess about 20 years ago in one of the performances a kid actually got killed somehow. Anyway, now it's mellowed out slightly. The pictures are pretty cool, though.
Here's the link to the album with these pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/AmberGPatterson/IST
And here's a link to some videos I took:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D_aw_wztFo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UP2uLL2XLU&feature=related
I also posted new photos in the Fara album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/AmberGPatterson/Fara
and Tamba House album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/AmberGPatterson/TambaRegionaHouseFun
Enjoy!
2 comments:
I miss you. please come home. F##K Africa. i can be your big progect
I think that means he needs you to come teach him how to spell? Maybe?
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