The Gou

7.9.08

excerpt from journal. check out my pictures of the fourth too. 

Darkness falls heavily around me, but I sit in a safety bubble of light. The current is out again and as I write a large shadow mimics my movements to the tee. I’m back in my own house after spending 3 days at the Liberte 6 house. After coming back from Kedegou, I fell quite ill. Running stomach, fever at 103, headache, body pains. I decided I would be a little more comfortable staying in Liberte 6 where I knew there would be water and power. I mostly watched movies and slept. It was needed but I admit I felt like a complete slob.

 As for the 4^th of July, all I can say is INCREDIBLE! Kay and I took a sept place down to Mbour the Tuesday before and spent the night at Jenn’s with Chris and Alexis. That night we hung out on her roof watching a quickly arriving storm front over the ocean. She put on quite the electrical show with only a few thunder intermissions.

 The next day we all took the painful trip to Tamba Counda via spet place. It was a 12 or so hour trip on a road that could have been used to grate cheese. Luckily we were sharing the car with three other really cool Senegalese guys who were so excited that between us, we could speak English, French, wolof, Pulaar, and Sereer. We stopped for lunch who knows where and Jen and I quickly found a woman selling ceeb u jen. For a cool off desert, we bought some frozen bissap in old brake fluid bottles. At least we were recycling! The drive to Tamba was long but it was nice to see lots of green sprouting up all over from the recent rainfall. We arrived in Tamba late in the evening but were happy to find many people at the house and in transit to Kedegou. We had a mini dance party and enjoyed some hookah which of course made me think of some great friends I miss.

 The drive from Tamba to “the gou” was breathtaking. The landscape slowly melted into green mountains and beautiful hut villages in open areas. We crossed the Gambia River and saw a large group of women washing clothes and babies. Their brightly colored fabrics a dazzling contrast to the dark brown waters around their feet. As we drove, families of warthogs grazed alongside the road with a few babies running wildly, tails held high. Baboons often darted across the road baring their teeth.

 Upon arriving at “the gou” regional house, I was struck by the huge differences between it and Liberte 6. The gou house isn’t really a house at all. It is a big piece of property with lots of huts and hammocks. Trees were sprinkled throughout and grass had begun breaking through the dirt for a glimpse of the bright blue sky.

 After a small noppaloo (rest) in a hammock, a group of us decided to ride bikes down to the river for a swim. The ride was incredible. It felt so freeing riding bikes off road, over small hills, down mountains, through trees and along the river. The sky had huge clouds hanging slowly turning grey. The massive mountains in the background marked the start of Guinea. I can’t describe how happy those mountains made me feel. They made me think of backpacking and Yosemite. We arrived at the river with no one else around and had a quick conversation about getting shisto by swimming in the dirty water. We all decided it was a risk worth taking and quickly jumped in for a refreshing swim.

 The fourth ended up being a pretty amazing day. Upon awakening in the hut I was staying in, the sun was bearing down on me with stinging ferocity. I remember thinking it was going to be a hot day. I visited Mariama’s shack to get one of her amazing ndambe sandwiches then walked to the regional house. There was already a bustle of activity as people set up tents, butchered a pig, set up the bar, and carted in HUGE Senegalese speakers. The set up seemed to blur into the actual party creating the perfect merge. Great All-American music began pumping out of the speakers as people began pouring in. The day was filled with great home made food, BBQ, horseshoes, music, beer and dancing. Someone even managed to purchase some fireworks. It was the most American I’ve felt in months (and I mean that in a good way). By the afternoon clouds had rolled in helping greatly with the stinging heat. The humidity was a bit heavy but the shedding of the shirt seemed to help. After dark, the party raged on with dancing bu baax. At one point around 11pm or so, I decided to go get a fanta at the boutique down the road. The moment I stepped out of the gate an epic battle with strong winds ensued. The street was immediately filled with energy as villagers went running back to their huts pagnes flying. I closed my eyes and lifted my face towards the sky. The cold wind swirled around me and I could still see the bright flashes of lightening through my eyelids. When I returned to the party, I found a chair and carried it to a dark, quiet corner where I sat to watch the sky’s lightshow. With head reclined I stared in wonder as massive clouds were illuminated from behind. I think the trees enjoy dancing as much as Senegalese because they swayed and dipped dramatically with the wind. The flashings of light slowly intensified beginning to look less like a storm and more like a rave. I have never encountered lightening that narcissistic! It didn’t even allow the thunder or rain to take center stage. In fact, the clouds kept a pretty tight grip on the rain because not one drop escaped to the ground. As the party began to wind down, my eyes became heavy and I found myself walking to my hut. I laid down and watched the flickering shadows on the wall as reality melted into dream. A very memorable 4^th.