It's May 13, 2024, 01:17:00 AM
Just some random notes on Senegal and Gambia, for my own remembrance and in case any of ya'll might find them interesting.......-The people here love Farakhan. Farakhan visits here every once in a while, and he's welcomed by everyone from the President and heads of government to the poorest man on the streets... they all love him. They don't see him as being a leader of some small, isolated "sect" of Islam in America. They see him as an international figure. They view him as an orthodox, universal Muslim brother.. They love him for bringing so many people to Islam in America, and they love him for teaching American's about their righteous African history. Some of them said they even cried listening to him talk when he came here.-Africa moves with it's own time. You can't insist on anything here. Like for example, it would be very difficult for someone to have a daily schedule of appointments and insist on themselves or others being on time. There's many reasons for this. The traffic is bad. People don't have their own cars, and even when you take taxi's, you take group taxi's with other people. People don't rush here, they play it cool, and even when you go somewhere or ask for something... nobody ever says, "5 minutes"... or "I'll be there in 10 minutes"... they just say... "coming soon". This can be annoying, but it also teaches you to be patient and play it cool. Also, they have problems with power going out here, and other things that can disrupt your plans throughout the day, all the little things add up...... They call it "African time".-The Rasta/Reggae culture in Gambia reminds me of the Five Percent Nation of Islam/Hip-Hop culture in America. It's kind of underground, rebellious, it's very anti-imperialism, and righteous, and hip and has it's own language and philosophy that is more about feeling it and interacting with others rather than existing in a Text. ....I want to write much more on this later.-Unlike African American black people who can at times be paranoid and suspicious, the Africans are very open and unsuspecting people. They don't interrogate and ask alot of questions of people. They want to get to know who people are, and may even want something from you, but they aren't interested so much in where you work, where you go to school, who you hang out with, what you do in private.... and so on. -Africans love music ofcourse. But many of them have beat up stereo's, and somehow it's like they all end up playing the same song over and over, no matter who's car your in or what taxi you take. It's funny, this one dude's car who was driving me upcountry had a tape player that would stop about halfway through the second song on any tape he would play... so he just came playing the same two songs over and over all day. And then, somehow I end up hearing the same songs everywhere I go. One Reggae artist named Mogon (I think) I keep hearing his track it says something like.. "The Day Will Come" and that song is banging, and somehow I keep ending up hearing Lucky Dube "Prisoner" wherever I go.-The Rasta's like to say that, "The Only Problem In Gambia Is No Problem"... but you here others say.. "the only problem in Gambia is money".. and others say... "As long as you have money Gambia is a good place". Well... there is reason for all this. When you have disparities in wealth, that contributes to what gives the country both it's good and bad qualities. Because the poor people are willing to go above and beyond to satisfy people and provide goods and services just to get a few dollars... so the people with money end up benefitting in this way.... more later... I'm upset I'm forgetting stuff, because I haven't been able to write things down or record them in my phone like I wanted to... cause I've yet to find a converter that works in the outlets here to charge my sidekick.
Quote from: Abdul-Infinite Presents...Islam In Africa... on November 20, 2007, 10:14:35 AMJust some random notes on Senegal and Gambia, for my own remembrance and in case any of ya'll might find them interesting.......-The people here love Farakhan. Farakhan visits here every once in a while, and he's welcomed by everyone from the President and heads of government to the poorest man on the streets... they all love him. They don't see him as being a leader of some small, isolated "sect" of Islam in America. They see him as an international figure. They view him as an orthodox, universal Muslim brother.. They love him for bringing so many people to Islam in America, and they love him for teaching American's about their righteous African history. Some of them said they even cried listening to him talk when he came here.-Africa moves with it's own time. You can't insist on anything here. Like for example, it would be very difficult for someone to have a daily schedule of appointments and insist on themselves or others being on time. There's many reasons for this. The traffic is bad. People don't have their own cars, and even when you take taxi's, you take group taxi's with other people. People don't rush here, they play it cool, and even when you go somewhere or ask for something... nobody ever says, "5 minutes"... or "I'll be there in 10 minutes"... they just say... "coming soon". This can be annoying, but it also teaches you to be patient and play it cool. Also, they have problems with power going out here, and other things that can disrupt your plans throughout the day, all the little things add up...... They call it "African time".-The Rasta/Reggae culture in Gambia reminds me of the Five Percent Nation of Islam/Hip-Hop culture in America. It's kind of underground, rebellious, it's very anti-imperialism, and righteous, and hip and has it's own language and philosophy that is more about feeling it and interacting with others rather than existing in a Text. ....I want to write much more on this later.-Unlike African American black people who can at times be paranoid and suspicious, the Africans are very open and unsuspecting people. They don't interrogate and ask alot of questions of people. They want to get to know who people are, and may even want something from you, but they aren't interested so much in where you work, where you go to school, who you hang out with, what you do in private.... and so on. -Africans love music ofcourse. But many of them have beat up stereo's, and somehow it's like they all end up playing the same song over and over, no matter who's car your in or what taxi you take. It's funny, this one dude's car who was driving me upcountry had a tape player that would stop about halfway through the second song on any tape he would play... so he just came playing the same two songs over and over all day. And then, somehow I end up hearing the same songs everywhere I go. One Reggae artist named Mogon (I think) I keep hearing his track it says something like.. "The Day Will Come" and that song is banging, and somehow I keep ending up hearing Lucky Dube "Prisoner" wherever I go.-The Rasta's like to say that, "The Only Problem In Gambia Is No Problem"... but you here others say.. "the only problem in Gambia is money".. and others say... "As long as you have money Gambia is a good place". Well... there is reason for all this. When you have disparities in wealth, that contributes to what gives the country both it's good and bad qualities. Because the poor people are willing to go above and beyond to satisfy people and provide goods and services just to get a few dollars... so the people with money end up benefitting in this way.... more later... I'm upset I'm forgetting stuff, because I haven't been able to write things down or record them in my phone like I wanted to... cause I've yet to find a converter that works in the outlets here to charge my sidekick.U keep saying "Africa"..that's a bit ambiguous, don't you Think..How about being specific and talking about the exact location and country and culture of your current location, rather than using Africa to generalize..Cuz you need to remember that, Africa consist of different nations, different cultures what have ou1So What may fly well in One Nation, may not even hover above any reasonable height in another states/country...Not Dissing You, Just making a few points here & There!!Hope U having a great Time!!!
Post some pics from this little adventure of yours.