Lifestyle > Train of Thought
West African Travel Log Daily Updates For Trip 2008 (including pics)
TraceOneInfinite:
--- Quote from: The Prince on December 04, 2008, 11:40:18 AM ---damn cool pics man... and lol @ that donkey haha sucks for him
--- End quote ---
Yeah, that donkey was gettin beatin pretty badly, every few seconds he gets whipped in the back to speed up or slow down. I asked if on the way back maybe the donkey could ride and we could pull (but nobody really got the joke).
OchoCinco:
i thot u were black...trippy
Chief:
looks like a unique experience
Now_Im_Not_Banned:
G shit...Infinite doin it big. 8)
TraceOneInfinite:
My Good Friend In Africa, Idiboy "Silver".
Many of the younger boys like to have nicknames, my friends nickname is "Silver" because one of his many trades is making and selling silver. But even his regular name "Edi-boy" is actually a nickname combining his first and last name. They even told me "Edi" is a shortened Africanized version of the Muslim Prophet name "Ibrahim", which makes sense because often they shorten and Africanize Islamic names in West Africa. West African's are very different from East African Muslims. East African Muslims are very into Arab culture and have incorporated many Arab words into their daily conversation, while West African's are Muslims who don't really embrace the Arab customs that have seamlessly attached themselves to the religion. You find much more African pride amongst West African's, as opposed to East Africans who tend to prefer to emulate their Arab neighbors.
This picture was taken from the first day in Senegal. I was worried about the Senegalese airport. As soon as a tourist gets off the plane he is hassled by dozens of hustlers. But before I even got outside my friend was there waiting for me, and it put me at ease. This dude knows his way around Africa. I can let me mind be free if he's around.
Here are some pics of his families home in Gambia....
That's my friends step-father in the picture. You also see broken down taxi's in the driveway. Nearly 12-20 family members live in that small group of homes. As the family expands they build onto the house little by little. The family is struggling now, because Idiboy's brother was previously earning income as a taxi driver and mechanic but with his cars broken down for good, he is now out of work. But those taxi's were never really in good working condition, he got them like that broken down and tried to see if he could fix them to get use out of them, but has given up trying to repair them now.
You see pictures on his walls of Reggae artists, along with a picture of a famous Islamic Sufi Shiek named Ibrahim Nayass. His branch of Sufism known as Tijani is the most popular practice of Islam I found in Senegal and Gambia. Although my friend wasn't really practicing Tijani himself, his mother and some other family members were more into it. Traditional Tijani Sufi's will gather on Friday's for "wassifa" where they will form circles and call out the names of Allah in unison till the energy biulds into a euphoria that is said to bring them closer to Allah.
Another picture you may notice is actually of Muammar Quadafi. I had to ask who it was because I couldn't tell just by looking at the poster. It appears to be a younger version of Kadafi. Kadafi tried to form the African United States and unite the whole continent of Africa, so he has one favor amongst black African's for being a Pan-African, African pride symbol-figure. Although ofcourse he is very controversial in other parts of the world, but regular locals in the Gambia seem to like him.
Along with the Reggae/Rasta posters you can also see a poster of 50 Cent. What was interesting to me about this, is that sometimes they don't really even listen to the music. But they love the idea of blacks in America achieving great power and wealth. So 50 Cent's image of power and wealth is something black Africans are inspired by. Anybody from 2pac, Suge Knight, to Barack Obama, Snoop, Michael Jackson, these are all inspirational figures for them. However, some do actually get into the music, you will even see Eminem t-shirts around the city, so it's not just about them being black, but they also love hip-hop culture and admire it.
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