Naming ceremony

Hello all,
I can't believe it's already February. The time has definitely been flying by. The weather continutes to get hotter, and probably hits 90 degrees every day...not a drop of rain has fallen since my arrival, and chances are very unlikely that it ever will while I am here. The rainy season runs from June through October. Here, the rain falls hard and in large quantities. Things get much more challenging for the locals in Brikama...most of the market vendors supposedly farm, which is predominant further upcountry to the east, and so it's harder to acquire some of the basic staples such as rice during this season given that not as many shops are open.
The Brikama Market has pretty much anything you can imagine. An all-outdoor market, the shops are sheltered by a wavy-tin layer roofing, are held up by sticks and wooden beams, and are very close together. The surroundings cater towards pedestrians much more so than cars. I think that I mentioned before that the only major paved road is the Gambian highway that runs from Banjul the capital, down to Brikama, then east out to Basse, but I'm not sure. There are a lot of shops that sell some of the same products, and I'm sure are in competition with each other for business....clothing, food, cellphones (it seems like everyone has one around here), fishline, bags of water, shoes, etc...
There was an official naming ceremony at Jobarteh kunda yesterday. It was for one of the daughters of Malamini. The festivities are a day long activity. People come from all over who know the family. Many jalis, and people from other ethnic groups as well, that I am not yet familiar with. People started arriving early in the morning, before 9 o'clock and already food preparation had begun. A group of probably 20 women were sitting around a circle next to the mango tree, peeling and cutting a huge bag of onions that would be used for the dinner, which would be sheep meat in rice (the sheep would be slaughtered that afternoon, and no, it was not a public slaughtering). The lunch was a brown rice with fish. This was the first time brown rice has been used in any meal, and it tasted wonderful, by far the best of any dish I have had...all have been good though. Pretty much, most of the day was spent hanging out under the mango tree for everyone, visiting, playing music, drinking tea. Around three o'clock, the official ceremony began. All of the griots gathered around a rectangular mat, and one got up and started talking. I really wish I could understand Mandinka, but I am still learning basic greetings. Supposedly he was saying some words of grace towards all those who have gathered, how we are here for this baby, this family, etc. He went on for about 10 minutes. The next man to get up had a bullhorn in his hand and started singing words of praise for the baby. I had a front row seat just behind the griots, it was very loud! People came up in flocks with money for the family of the baby. This would go on for about another 20 minutes, after which people got up and dispersed outside of the compound where there were musical performances by three different groups- Salaam band, a drumming group, and an eclectic group featuring mostly Cuban and Carribean tunes. At this point I was feeling fairly tired and decided to lay down in my room and listen to the music.

Off to Sanyang for some kora lessons tomorrow. I will be in touch with you all in a while.


Best wishes, Sean