12-28-09 Dakar Senegal: 1928 hrs. I got here around 0700 hrs. this morning. The flight here from DC was an exercise in relaxation and patience. Plane was packed, I was at the back, center of the aisle. I paced myself with short naps, note taking and dips into the new James Ellroy book, Blood’s A Rover. As soon as I got through customs, I saw that there wasn’t a money changer anywhere. I had to some wheeling and dealing with a hustler but got a pretty good rate. I got in a fake taxi and got the hotel soon after. After some sleep, I hit the streets to see what was shaking. Immediately, I was beset upon by men asking me where I was from, what was I looking for and telling me all the things they could do for me while I was here. They don’t know that this has been my reality for weeks now and the rap is always the same. I am always polite, I tell them thanks but I am not in need of anything. Some of these guys walked with me for several blocks. The conversations were seemingly endless. It’s a drag because they make it hard to just take things in because you are constantly answering questions. I go s far with them and then I explain that I am done with talking and I really have to get on my way. This is when things got interesting. At least twice, I was told that I was not being polite by asking to be left alone. There are a lot of people here who speak English very well I was able to discuss things. I was able to ask why having a problem with getting hustled almost every moment while being outside my room was being impolite. They both admitted I was right and then started in again about their store they wanted to take me to, etc. The conversation came around again a few blocks later as I now had two men talking to me endlessly and this time, one of the men said I was racist for not wanting to get hustled. I started laughing and told the guy he had to be kidding and then he started laughing and admitted that he knew I wasn’t racist and that he was just trying to get me into his shop. I get it and I told him that. Then I asked him and the other guy as well to put themselves in my place and described what it’s like to get asked twenty questions every block and they both admitted that they wouldn’t like it. The whole thing was great because the entire time, we’re all laughing very loudly and having a good time. That’s the thing, you can’t get angry at any of this, as annoying as it can be. It’s just the street and how it is.
So far, I am liking Senegal very much. The people are beautiful. Many of the men are tall and built like athletes and the women look amazing. The streets are full of noise, commerce and people. I walked in it for hours today and will return to it tomorrow. I talked to several people, as I said, the conversation only starts to get you into a store but nonetheless, the people thus far have been extremely friendly to me. I heard some good music coming out of some stalls and will return to them tomorrow and see if I can procure some local sounds.
I will be here for a few days and then I will go to Mali for the Desert Au Festival
http://www.festival-au-desert.org/. I went to it this year and wanted to go again. From there, I go to Dublin and start the tour.
The week in Los Angeles went by very quickly. I enjoyed access to my records, ate some great home cooked meals and got to do two live radio shows. It is also good to be back out here in the world and on the move. As good as it was to be back for a moment, I found myself missing the hustle of this kind of travel and so it’s almost a relief to be back out here.
Tour starts soon and this is the last dispatch for 2009. I hope your year was good. I thought mine was ok, I think my achievement level was average and have to do better next year. Doing Sons Of Anarchy was good and getting the two books out was good but I know I have to push it harder next year and I will try my best. Until then, see you on the road and thanks for reading this. Henry