First few days in Senegal...

Well, I've been in Senegal for four days now, and already I've seen so much. I apologize for the infrequent postings; for the month of August, at least, my internet access is pretty restricted. Right now I'm in a swelteringly hot little "cyber" in the neighborhood (Alphousseyni says, "This cyber is too hot.....and it is bad heat: the kind of heat that is from people.") and the connection is pretty slow, so I'm not going to be able to get online very often. I do have one modern amenity, however: a Senegalese cell phone! If you feel like giving me a call, my number is +011 221 236 56 87 and you can find pretty cheap international phone cards at speedypin.com (I think that it's around $5 for 40 minutes).
Anyhow, Senegal is amazing. I'm living in a district called Pekine, which is on the outskirts of Dakar. My neighborhood is called Pekine Ginaw-Rail, which means "Pekine Past the Train Tracks," and it is a really colorful community full of very kind, hospitable people. The fact of the matter is that Pekine is a slum--it is the most overcrowded district in the entire country--and the living accomodations here have taken some...getting used to. I dodge horse-drawn carts driven at maniacal speeds through the streets...there are more horses than cars here, actually. One becomes acclimated pretty quickly, though, and I am very comfortable. Alphousseyni and his family have been extremely kind to me and go to great, even sometimes embarassing lengths to make me feel at home; I really can't express how humbled and grateful I feel for the generousity of this family.
On Sunday, I went to a festival in the neighborhood that Alphousseyni organized. He played with his band, and the festivities lasted late into the evening. Yesterday, I saw a naming ceremony, which is one of the most important life-cycle rituals here. Alphousseyni played kora at this ceremony as well, and two boys sat on either side of him and just beat the hell out of his kora as he played! I had never heard anything like it before: it was awesome, really propulsive rhythms at a disorientingly loud volume. I loved it. The music at both events was awesome, and I wish I had more than five minutes left at this cyber to describe the experience in detail...I will try to write my posts ahead of time in the future, but I haven't had much down time since I've been here.
Ok, hope you're all doing well...all I can say is enjoy your hot showers!