Touba

Even though I visited Touba as a part of my religious retreat to Khelkom to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad, I feel it deserves a sperate post because I didn’t want it to get lost in my dense report of the Gamou. For me in my attempt to get back to Dakar Touba was both a welcomed beacon of hope that meant I was finally on my way, while also yet another setback in getting back. I am, however, very glad to have seen some of the town and the incredible Mosque. Touba is the spiritual hub for Senegal’s largest Muslim brotherhood, the Mourides. It is home to the Marabouts, who are the spiritual guides within the brotherhood whose status follows a patrilineal line of inheritance. 

Islam is everywhere in this town. Prayer beads were in nearly everyone’s hands, we walked by about 5 Koranic schools and no “normal” ones, and it was the only place thus far where I did not see any soccer fields or anyone playing. Whether that meant everyone was too preoccupied with their religious practices or that that kind of recreation is not permitted I don’t know. It was also hard to ignore the fact that everyone actually seemed to be noticeably well-off, generally and relatively speaking (presumably because of the large concentration of wealth here that is a result of the Mouride-controlled industries all over Senegal including transportation and groundnuts). In addition to being the religious capital of the Mouride brotherhood, it is also the economic epicenter.

The most remarkable manifestation of this wealth is the Grand Mosque of Touba. After having seen countless mosques around Dakar and elsewhere in the world, this huge construction was in a class all by itself. I could not compare to anything I’ve ever seen before, except for the Disney castle at the beginning of the animated films.  The majority of it, including four out of the five towers, is made from some pink marble-ish stone that was imported from Italy I think. The fifth tower (five towers, five pillars of Islam, every part of the construction of this mosque has some meaning) might easily be the tallest single structure I have seen in Senegal and can be seen throughout the city.

If the construction is impressive, the artwork may be even more so. A bunch of domes that make up the ceiling are intricately painted with striking colors and unique designs that are changed on a yearly basis by a collaboration of Moroccan and Senegalese artists.

After a full tour of the entire Mosque, which includes multiple Marabout resting places and a huge courtyard-type open space, we walked around the town a bit, seemingly yet another tactic used by my older brother to waste time because he knew it would be a while until we were finally on the road again bound for Dakar. Sure enough that was the case, and my chaotic and frustrating travel experience picked up right where it left off.

Senegal vs. Guinea

I found out about this game within a week of arriving in Dakar thanks to a chance purchase of a local sports daily paper called Stades, which has become my lifeline in terms of finding out when and where games are being played. Still, however, the amount of information available is still very frustrating coming from America, where there are numerous reliable sources (online, in print, etc.) for finding out information about matches. Here it seems to be very much up to word of mouth or chance. For instance, we only found out the time of the game when we got our tickets, which ended up being the day before because the places listed in the paper never received there share of tickets to sell. Unreliable, unpredictable, and inconvenient are three words that have come up a lot when trying navigate Dakar, especially in terms of sports, transportation and the local university, which is another story all together.

Since we didn’t know exactly how to get to the stadium we had to ask around and eventually got a bus that took us 45 minutes North were the conductor told us to get off and walk the last bit. To my surprise and delight, the stadium soon came in to view; we had made it and were still early enough to catch some of the warm-up. Even though we were about 40 minutes early, our side of the stadium was packed and we had to settle for seats up higher than I would have like. But, we were at midfield and had a great view of the action, much of which was in the stands. There was a healthy Guinean contingent that started off louder than the local Senegalese supports but gradually got silenced as the game went on. For both sides, though, every clap, fist pump or form of acknowledgement from one of the players sent the respective supporters into an episode of dancing, singing, drumming and clapping. We (seven other American students and I) were having a fantastic time along with everyone else, and the game hadn’t even begun yet.

The game took a while to get into any kind of rhythm because of the usual injuries and stoppages that I’ve become accustomed to here in Senegal. We saw the best of Guinea early when they were pressing hardest and riding whatever momentum they could get. They threatened the Senegal goal on occasion but were never able to put one away. Senegal accepted this initial surge and soon took control of the game with their superior passing, skill, and speed almost all across the field, led by three of their international stars: Mamadou Niang, Moussa Sow, and Papiss Cisse (who, like the whole Senegalese team play in Europe with the exception of one keeper who plays domestically and one who plays in the MLS).

Senegal ended up scoring three nice goals, though they could have added more, and hit the crossbar one occasion from a free kick. The first two were pretty good individual efforts from Cisse and Sow and the third was one of the nicest goals I have ever seen live. I’m debating whether to even try and describe it or not because I’m sure I will not do it justice but I will give it a shot because I’d love to try and relive it myself. It started with a mistake from the Guinea right-back, which gave Senegal the ball on the touch-line about a quarter of the way from the end-line. After some nifty footwork and close one-touch passing the ball was lifted into the air, passed with heads, chest, and a heal before it was crossed to a completely open far post where the right winger buried it on the volley into the roof of the net from about 15 yards out. Even though it was a late third goal in a 3-0 victory, the whole Senegal bench cleared and assembled in the corner for a celebration. It truly was a beautiful goal (dare I say Barcelona-esque). After the game I was in a state of euphoria, despite the somewhat daunting task of trying to find my way back home. All I could think about was Senegal vs. Cameroon in an African Cup of Nations qualifying game on March 26^th. Counting the days.

Keur Moussa and Lac Rose

The two highlights of our first group excursion outside of Dakar were Keur Moussa and Lac Rose. Dakar, like probably any African capital, is an incredibly busy place and to call the roads chaotic would in no way be an overstatement. For this reason, if you intend to leave the city, it is imperative that you leave early before Dakar becomes a frustrating gridlock for any form of transportation. We were out of the city by nine and en route to Keur Moussa. It was great to get a little break from the city and gain some perspective by seeing what lies inland of the Cap Vert peninsula.  I have yet to see what rural Senegal is like and this trip was my first taste of that. The notion that Senegal is indeed mostly desert is hard to grasp on the coast and within the city limits but you soon get a feel for it once you head East. There is plenty of land but much of it is, presumably and unfortunately, not fit for any kind of agricultural activity because of the dryness and lack of arability.

Keur Moussa was a stark contrast to the surrounding desert. They have figured out an irrigation system, which is capable of supporting all sorts of plants, most notably fruit. We got an abbreviated tour of the many acres that the monestary owns and uses and the basis for their fruit harvesting and processing program. They make everything from jelly and syrup to juice wine, all made on the premise. In addition to getting a bag of grapefruits I bought a bottle of mandarin-ginger juice and three types of preservative/jelly (orange-papaya, bisaap, and lemon-mandarine-cashew). So far everything I’ve tried from that place has been unreal and I wish there was some way to get it elsewhere, but as far as I know they only sell it at the monastery. The also have a number of goats and pigs, which I assume are there to be eaten or in the case of the goats, milked for cheese (sorry pigs, as far as I know they only produce bacon). Keur Moussa is an inspiring example of how a little ingenuity and dedication can lead to a really special, self-sustaining commune, even in a relatively inhospitable land of Senegal, environmentally speaking. Then there was the mass.

After doing my homework in the Lonely Planet travel book, I was under the impression that the Mass was to be the main feature of a visit to Keur Moussa and, while it was certainly impressive, I found what I have described above to be more noteworthy. The Mass, however, was definitely worth seeing. It was an interesting mixture of traditional and Western traditions (brought by the missionary activity that is behind this whole establishment). There were 3 old white guys and the rest were younger, African monks. The Mass featured singing that one could here in any Western church, however, it was paired with traditional African instruments such as the Djembe drum and Kora (another one of Keur Moussa’s claims to fame). It almost seemed contradictory to me because here was the result of a once oppressive missionary/colonial venture that had morphed into a collaboration of traditional African musical and spiritual expression and Western religious practice. I couldn’t help but think about the story behind this place and whether this was just a remarkable example of such collaboration or whether the history of this religious mission was a little more tainted than what one is led to believe.

On our way to stop number two we really got to see some of rural Senegal. The thing that struck me the most was the number of people not doing anything, presumably because there was nothing to do. While there was a subtle feeling of hopeless despair, most people did seem happy, and I thought that instead of pitying them maybe I should envy or perhaps try to emulate the simplicity of their lives because there is something beautiful in that.

Lac Rose (=Pink Lake) is allegedly one of the chic getaway destination for Dakar’s bourgeoisie, however when we go there I was not sure why or even how that could be the case. It is essentially a long, thin, shallow lake that has about 10 times the salinity of the ocean, so when the light is right it looks pink, apparently (you tell me). 




I thought the most valuable aspect of the trip was seeing a grassroots industry in operation. Much like a fish market, there are men who go out on boats, scrape the mud off the bottom, bring it to shore where they unload their haul into women’s buckets, who take them on to shore where the salt is somehow dried and extracted, and then bagged for distribution. Just down the road our final stop was at an isolated desert where some reckless white people were cruising around on 4x4s.

Lunch

In addition to the Chawarma and the Fataaya there are plenty of small stands that sell bread filled with some mixture of meat, onion, and egg.

 This lady was selling half-baguette-sized sandwiches stuffed with skewered and grilled beef, hard-boiled egg, onion sauce, hot sauce, and mayonnaise.

Nearly everyone of these minimalist food stands looks the same, with a stack of eggs, a bottle of hot sauce and a selection of mysterious, covered tin bowls, but you never know will be thrown together.

Fataaya

In terms of fast-food, the Chawarma receives the vast majority of attention in travel literature (like Lonely Planet) because of its prevalenc on most menus across the city. However, for the real fast-food that is eaten far more universally, especially by students, one ventures to any of the many small street-side stands selling Fataaya. The favorite lunch item among students because they cost around 500 CFA and do a pretty good job of keeping you full until dinnertime. A Fataaya, from what I have gathered through my extensive experience with this item, is a triangular piece of bread that is filled with meat and onions and then fried (these are how you can spot the Fataaya stands). Upon ordering, it is cut open and filled further with French fries, a thick yassa onion sauce, a fried egg, a little pit of ketchup and hot sauce. It is then wrapped up in newspaper, ready to be inhaled. Though there is no shortage of grease packed into this lunch, it is budget friendly (at about a $1), filling, and delicious.

This is a classic Fataaya stand, the one at the University along the main student drag, which has become our go-to lunch spot.

Ouakam (USO) vs. Casa Sport

With one professional soccer game under my belt I returned to Stade Demba Diop with a new found confidence and feeling of belonging. This game I had been looking forward to since the final whistle blew last night (HLM vs. AS Pikine). This fixture featured two of the top three in the Senegalese Ligue 1, I couldn’t find an up to date table but I’m quite sure Ouakam is at the top with third place Casa Sport (from Ziguinchor, capital of Casamance in Southern Senegal). The atmosphere was accordingly more energetic and the stadium much fuller. The game itself also had the feel of a more important, more hotly contested encounter than the previous night. The referee had is hands full, and so did the stretcher crew, who had to run onto the field every time a player went down for an extended period of time. This was a pretty common occurrence in a relatively violent match such as this one, and at one point I even counted three players on the ground writhing in pain at one time from separate plays. Despite the drama it was an interesting game.

The first goal came from a warranted penalty kick decision after a Ouakam defender missed timed his challenge on a Casa Sport striker. The shot finally took place after a long ordeal that involved the referee blowing his whistle mid-approach because the linesman had noticed the goalie slightly off his line. This led to a chaotic exchange between shooter and referee and goalie and linesman, once most members of both teams got involved I thought they would just abandon the whole idea of the penalty kick and start up play by kicking into the air or something.  After the pk was buried in the upper right hand corner, we enjoyed an explosion of celebration from the Casa supporters before play resumed again.

As was the story a night before, a lack of sharpness in passing and precision and composure anywhere near goal led to many potential chances gone begging. However, tonight I was pleased to see that the defending was, on the whole, not quite as glaring problematic and the goalkeepers seemed a little bit more reliable, though distribution was more often than not somewhat mindboggling.

Ouakam’s equalizer came about 15 minutes into the second half (a rough estimate as there is no scoreboard or anything at the stadium). After a clever break into the box, a lofted cross found a head on the far post who put it over the keeper into the opposite side-netting. That gave the game a much-needed jolt however the deciding goal never came, and both teams seemed somewhat please

HLM vs. AS Pikine

It may seem surprising, and it certainly is for me, that it took three weeks to make it to my first professional soccer game here in Senegal. I will say to my credit that it was not for lack of trying. The difficulty here is locating any kind of schedule of upcoming matches. The whole time I’ve been here I’ve been scouring the internet, able only to find recaps and write-ups about past domestic matches. Even these were hard to find as most of the attention on Senegalese websites regarding sports focuses on the larger European leagues. My only success game when I started to look through the many papers available at street side kiosks. It is all in French, obviously, so it would be safe to say that trying to get some grasp of the local soccer scene has been one area where my French has been put to use quite often, and what better reward for my translation efforts then being able to watch a game! What proved to be my major breakthrough is a weekly sports paper called Stades le quotien du sport. Unfortunately, it failed to mention an African Champions League match between one of Senegal’s best teams, Jaraaf Dakar, and Gambia’s Port Authority. I had to settle for watching this game on TV, which finished as a 1-1 draw with Jaraaf equalizing in the 88^th minute with an athletically executed bicycle kick. After watching that match I really got my act together and made sure I would not miss any more Senegalese soccer action.

The way it works in Dakar is there is there is a national stadium (Stade Leopold Sedhar Senghor) which is reserved for national contests and only the biggest wrestling matches, a smaller Stade Demba Diop, which hosts some large wrestling matches and most of the local professional games. There are also some smaller stadiums around that are used for less blockbuster wrestling events and Ligue 2 soccer games. Today was my second attempt at Demba Diop, the first being a frustrating and unsuccessful venture over the weekend.

Ali and I had a half hour to get from our class at Universite Cheikh Anta Diop to Stade Demba Diop. We made swiftly for the main avenue, grabbed a bus and made it there for part of the pregame warm-up. Our tickets cost CFA500, about $1, which, as we later found out, granted us access only the endline seating and not those sections along the touchline (which cost double). I tried to keep my expectations low going into the game because, due to the apparent lack of interest in local football, I thought just another midweek league fixture would not have the atmosphere I have fantasized about. Fortunately, upon my arrival, I was blown away. Granted the stadium was nowhere near capacity, the noise of singing and drumming paired with the teams various warm-up routines still gave me the chills and put a huge, inerasable smile on my face. This was what I’ve been waiting for, my first professional football match in Africa. Once the game got underway, the play itself was to some extent what I had anticipated, the defending was lackluster (to say the least) at times and the goalkeeping was very questionable throughout. However, there was no lack of entertainment value. The creativity and athleticism were there, yielding some exciting moments of brilliance, but there were also plenty of disappointing letdowns and unusual decision-making. That having been said, we got to see a great goal from AS Pikine, who dominated most of the game and, if it weren’t for a lack of final composure when on attack, should have been up by a larger margin at half.

That having been said it was a thrilling experience and one I’m sure I will relive many, many times while I’m here. Since the same stadium is used as a venue for almost all the leagues games in Dakar there are games almost every day. The next two evenings there are Ligue 1 games that I will be attending, so many more soccer posts are on the way!