WednesdayJune 8

I should remind readers that I am attending what is referred to as a seminar---titled: Senegal: Religion and Diversity in West Africa. As someone who teaches business, and who has classes that are increasingly diverse(sometimes 25% Muslim), I felt this was something I could learn from. I've also always been intrigued by Senegal---in my first months in DC, I had a colleague who taught computer science from here.

As I've stated previously, our two leaders are Professors at the African Studies center at Boston University--Fallou Ngom, an anthropologist with a passion for Ajami, Arabic script that is transformed to write in local languages---and Tim Longman, a political scientist who is focused on conflict management in places like Rwanda. The focus of this trip is to get down deep into why Senegal has no real religious violence, despite being 95% Sufi( a type of Sunni) Muslim.

To be brief, there are 4 Sufi brotherhoods here--the Tiganiyya, thought to be the largest, the Quadriyya, the oldest; the Layeniyya, and finally the most intriguing and fastest growing----the Mouridiyya. The Mourides were a brotherhood founded by Sheikh Amadou Bamba, uniquely charismatic figure with a history forged in resistance to colonialism. On Wednesday we actually got to meet the Caliph of the Mosque at Djourbel, Mbaye Ngirane. Amazing experience. Photo of him next. More on this trip soon as well hopefully. They have us running around without a lot of time to reflect or write here.

The family's uncle. An artist and musician....a family of teachers. My kind of people.

 

 

This is Clarice. She speaks pretty good English and lives in the upstairs apartment. She is also a character. Her husband is away working in Kaolack.

 

 

 

Ousmane again with his father.

 

 

 

Issa, our host cutting the baguettes for our Ramadan break-fast. Yep, that's where breakfast came from.

 

 

 

Warning: Picture of food. This was our dinner last night. Chicken with rice and vegetables. Also with a side of Kaani----habanero sauce.

 

This is Ousmane. He sings when he wants food. Also quite active. His mother is Ida, sister of Issa.

 

 

 

Issa and Mahmoud. Our hosts last night and again tonight. She is a character. He is a good, calm, intelligent, loving man. You can see how much he cares for her. By the way, she is his only wife.

 

 

 

Family visit; St. Louis

Last evening(Friday June  10) was scheduled to be a visit and breaking of Ramadan fast with a local Senegalese family. This was originally supposed to be an overnight stay, but our organizers had second thoughts about the amount of hassle it might be during Ramadan. It turns out our people had prepared for this and were a little disappointed this wouldn't happen. They had prepared a room and everything!
We all piled into a bus a little after 6pm....Sundown and the Ramadan fasting would end around 7:45pm. So the trusty bus and our awesome driver, Matar, start to navigate Friday rush hour in St. Louis. we get dropped off in twos, all of visiting with  our roommates. Suffice to say that personally I have been very fortunate in this department---Brandon and I seem to get along famously and do quite a bit of laughing at the daily machinations of existing in Senegal. There is a considerable bit of trepidation in the bus as each group gets dropped off. A local affiliate of WARC has provided us with a nice young woman who, along with the ever present Ablei and Marie, exits the bus, introduces us all to an enthusiastic woman of the house, and then leaves. When it is our turn, we offload, and are introduced to a bundle of energy named Issa. She is a primary school teacher who hasn't spoken English in 25 years and her demeanor is infectious. Turn out her whole family is in the teaching profession. Her husband, Mahmoud, a wonderful, kind, loving, and quiet man is a former history teacher. Her son teaches Spanish in high school which makes for great conversation. His wife, Ida, cooks the whole meal basically, and she is a master. They have two kids, a 2 year old consumption expert, sound explosion, and future ambassador named Ousmane, and a beautiful 4 year old girl, (Adnima?)She also has a sister, Clarice, who'd basically the star. She speaks wonderful English, lives in an upstairs apartment in the compound, and is a comedienne beyond compare. there is also a mother of the folks mentioned above who makes a brief appearance. the family apparently also has a creative gene because they all discuss a famous uncle, pictured with a clarinet on the wall---as well as a musical/artist brother. We are laughing from the moment of arrival. Everyone in the family needles each other good naturedly. Brandon and I feel at home pretty darn quick.

The first course is coffee, dates, and some really good local bread. The a delectable salad of cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers, olives, eggs, onions, peppers, squash. We then spend a while looking through some photographs of Issa's---working with a woman's cooperative in the area---growing vegetables through a micro-loan program. Clarice interjects from time to time----she is hungry---and says to her sister that no-one is interested in that stuff. Finally, a huge platter of chicken, rice and vegetables arrives. 
More to come here--sorry----we have a full day of lectures at the University here. I' now have received at least 3 emails from colleagues back home exhorting me to "enjoy my vacation". Hmmm.