Stet » Senegal

Slow on the uptake

Ria — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:58:02 +0000

The TV was on late this evening, muted and ignored, until I noticed a series of clips showing motorbikes, cars and trucks trying to drive at high speed up sand dunes before getting stuck halfway up or on the crest. The bikes’ wheels spun sand jets vertically, while the trucks slid and rolled like beached

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Stranded on Tin Can Island

Ria — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 22:35:49 +0000

Our household goods and car are enjoying their last night on Tin Can Island, a tropical paradise for 40-foot containers off the coast of Lagos.

Our goods should have arrived in Rotterdam last week, but as a result of congestion at the port, they had a bonus ten days of cocktails and afrobeat

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Clean your teeth, purify your soul

Ria — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 00:15:31 +0000

Throughout the year in Senegal, but especially during Ramadan, the traditional toothpick, the sothiou, can be seen in almost every mouth. In addition to cleaning your teeth and freshening your breath, it is also seen as a sign of piety, distracting you from the evils of smoking, keeping your mouth pure for prayer time, and

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Mbour Mblues on the Coke Coast

Ria — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:11:15 +0000

Name that tune …

Hey Jim, Jim? Where is Jim, man? Jim, I want you to tell me somethin’ I want you to spell for me New York, Jim Come on, Jim, I want you to spell New York

These days you could ask Jim how to spell Dakar, because a whole lot, whole lot

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Deep in it

Ria — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:14:30 +0000

Just heard that our stuff, including essential babyware and car, will now be leaving Dakar around the date it was supposed to arrive in the Netherlands. Apparently the delay is due to congestion in the port. The whole coast of Africa must be gridlocked if it takes two weeks to clear the way to port.

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Leaving this place

Ria — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 01:35:31 +0000

I’m not profligate with my categories (nor with my posts). So when I see that I have 22 posts in the category “Leaving this place”, I know that I’ve been leaving more than I’ve been staying these last few years.

And on a night like this, at 1:13 am, with the cold Harmattan wind whipping

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I feel like Donald Trump

Ria — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 01:30:22 +0000

My cellphone runs flat each day. The battery is fine; it wears out because I spend most of my waking hours with the phone pressed close to my ear. Callers always seem to be surrounded by fighting couples with screaming children, stuck in heavy traffic outside a mosque with a new 5000W PA from the

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Tabaski

Ria — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:48:20 +0000

Today is the most important national holiday in Senegal, Tabaski, the Wolof word for the Festival of the Sheep, known elsewhere in the Muslim world as Aïd-el-Kebir. It is a celebration of an event that is also important to Jews and Christians, that is, the sacrifice by Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic) of his eldest son.

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Whiteout

Ria — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:22:04 +0000

The reaction anticipated in my previous post was swift and effective … actually it was glossy.

I had expected a different reaction — crude spray scribble, as had been done (by the PPK sprayers?) to the “NOUVEAU PARTI” graffiti, perhaps, or a riposte in words — but this whiteout is so … thorough and professional.

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The son still rises

Ria — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:08:06 +0000

On the same day that the leader of the National Assembly, Macky Sall, was voted out of office, a rash of graffiti appeared around Dakar — just three cryptic letters: PPK.

Fortunately, one sprayer had had the time, or the couilles, to write out the meaning: Pourquoi pas Karim (why not Karim).

The Karim

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