Bad Boyz

Caught red handed is what happened to Dioss this morning. I went over to his gallery to talk about the exposition he had in Dakar this weekend and to check over his progress on his record keeping. While he was going inside to get his papers I overheard him tell his friend that I was going to mad at him and I totally called him out on it. He claimed that he didn't think I would be able to understand his Wolof if he said it quietly. Don't underestimate my mad Wolof skills. Anyway, he hadn't written anything down since the last time I saw him, which did upset me because if he wants to take his business to the next level like he claims he does then he has to have some system of record keeping. To mollify me Dioss and one of his friends who went with him to Dakar starting listing all their expenses for the weekend. I've mentioned before that a lot of Senegalese people have absolutely unbelievable memories and Dioss and his friend completely impressed me with what they remembered. It definitely seemed like everything and even if it wasn't, it was really close to everything. While this did make me happy, I did not withhold my displeasure and since I'm going with him to Dakar the next time it wont happen again.

Dioss' wasn't all that interesting today since we didn't do much and no one was working on any art, but I am getting to know one of Dioss' friends who is probably in at least his mid-60s, but it's impossible to tell people's ages here. This man is incredibly interesting and always asks me American history questions. He's obsessed with Abraham Lincoln and was naming off all the Union Civil War generals today. Past conversations have been about American architects and I have to admit he knows a lot more than the subject than I do!

We had eggs and salad for lunch. Perfection.

This afternoon I wanted to get some work done and since Khady and practically everyone else in my family is gone I knew that if I stayed at home Ahmed would not leave me alone so I went to a restaurant in town. I did some really good work until a big group of Senegalese men in their 20s and 30s came in and started making a ton of news. I definitely wasn't pleased and the manager of the restaurant came over and said that if I wanted to be "undisturbed" I could move to the back of the restaurant. I did so because I wanted to finish my work, but I was annoyed. All annoyance would melt away when I realized what was happening...

Let me set the scene. I was at a restaurant called Les Delices which is baby pink with green accents and has a poster of Breakfast at Tiffany's. They also sell amazing pastries. After a few minutes of peace in the back of the restaurant, music starts blaring so loudly that it startles me and I look up to see set lights, huge speakers, and cameras. Suddenly one of the guys stands up and starts rapping. I was beside myself. This guy is hard core rapping next to a table where I was just eating a puff pastry in front of a Breakfast at Tiffany's poster while the rest of his posse sits around at the various tables checking their cellphones. It was all too much for me to handle and after several minutes of staring with my mouth open and trying not to laugh I got up, paid, left, and immediately called Tamar because the story was just too good to keep to myself. Sometimes Senegal just makes me smile.