Goree a place where souls cried,laughed but sang during the suffering , the solitude,the fear…..songs of freedom,of redemption,songs of hope..Goree!

That’s the place the panafrican choir Afrikiyo chose to host their first anual Afrikiyo festival,and it was lovelyyyyy..the weather was on point, the different choirs were on point, they sang in french in woloff,in serere,in english, zulu but most importantly they sang from the heart.

Afrikiyo is a multicultural” happy” group of people of all ages,sizes,colors,ethinicities but they all share this love for God whether Muslim or Christian,whether Congolese or Cap Verdean..they know that the only constant thing in life is our love for the Allmighty.

Watching them support each other,giggle and smile with each other one can def’ tell that they enjoy this special gift that is singing in harmony.

Special mention to their president Evelyne Damas who’s doing an awesome job with this choir..makes me wanna join..but noo can’t sing lol:)

Prior to the concert various choirs from Senegal were invited for a week to spend some time on the Island learn more abt what it takes to be in a choir,to lead a choir..it’s clear that they take it seriously:)

Don’t get me wrong we were not facing people that aren’t living on earth,no!they dance and by dance I mean dance.We def’ got a treat when the men choir called “Choeur Pro” showed us that they could wine and dance just as much as the ladies..in moderation people lol..just enough and with class..:)

My friends Rica, her baby,her sis in law Bigue and I had enjoyed ourselves as much as the rest of the mixed public.The “spirit” was def’ in the place, if you are in the Dakar area and you can catch them , do not hesitate doooo,you won’t regret it..for sure:)

Here’s their webbie:

http://afrikiyo.ning.com/

You can also catch a video of the choir singing ,HERE

Yaye

Sorry I kinda dissapeared from this blog but I didn’t realize how many of you of you guys are still coming on this blog, since I already have www.yayemarieba.blogspot.com..sometimes I tend to blog mainly on that one..but since I see that u like this blog as well..I’ll try to keep blogging on both.

So my friend Sophie and I decided to have lunch a L’Endroit this panafrican restaurant by la VDN. I had been there one night to catch Phillipe Monteiro and his band (Cap Verdean restaurant), and it’s a total different atmosphere. At nights it turns into a warm place, loud with groups of friends come together to eat , drink, laugh and dance even bare -foot lol..

So back to my lunch with the beautiful Sophie, it was nice. We started of with appetizers, we both chose the pilli pilli shrimp dish (delicious ) I would recomend it , a bit spicy but really good.

The restaurant serves both occidental and african food, I was in the mood for occidental but after tasting Sophie’s dish I would recomend the African food, there’s a bit of Ivoirian cusine to their menu..so if you are in the mood for that ..do go there:)

Here’s their info:

SICAP, VDN 4440 VDN Amitié
Tél. : 33 824 6425

Yaye

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Yaye

Friday Slam ..Dakar..Point E!

It was abt time we had these type of events organized in Dakar, my friends and I decided to give it atry and boy was it a good time

Under the organization of Diofel  Mouanga we were treated to an evening of words, testimonies, songs and laughter

The atmospere was very welcoming, the staff at the Point E restaurant quite discreet and quick, while we opened our souls to these lyricists we enjoyed some great dibi and fries…

One of our friends Serge surprised us on stage delivering his truth, Moona a hip hop head paid homage to her dady who passed away, a young man talked for the people of the streets of dkr, aicha and stella sang their hearts out..and I took in all these talents..oh and let me not forget Aime a Gabonese acoustic singer and his beautiful voice

I shall post a video..but what a good time

Hope to see you there:)

Yaye

La verdure in Goree Island..I go there quite often and often recognized by its residents lol…but hum each time it’s just like discovering it over and over again…

That girl again…:)

Miss Dior scaring me..I was afraid she may fall a couple of times ..love the contrast of her pink sarong against the pitoresque feel of Goree

Jewelry table..the jewelry ladies were busy running after potential customers..they work hard:)

Miss Rama , Dior’s youngest sista and her lovely smile::)

One of the jewelry lady busy at work

I loved her dress …but wasn’t quick enough lol

Nice way to end this post..cute little Gorrean boy:)

Yaye

Massadia Adiatou a choreographer and dancer from Ivory Coast shared with his doubts, the sadeness over the loss of his mother, his artistic journey through his solo piece “1for 300″

After leaving the artisit groupe Kiyi Mbock he founded his own dance company called la Compagnie N’Soleh..

I didn’ t understand everything he tried to convey but I was facinated by the way his body moved, his strength, and his artistic courage to share his story , at times it felt as if he was alone and none of us were present:)

As usual I recorded a bit of the event so you guys can see it!

Friday tradionally yours with miss Ada:)

Yaye

I hadn’t been to Bandjul since I was little girl..I only have memories of running around the kitchen of my ‘badjene’ ..

As you’ve noticed on this blog I’ve been trying to travel within my country or around it and I figured why not travel  to Gambia?

So Bandjul here I was this past weekend

I travelled by bus which I don’t think I’ll do in the future because the roads are very bad, for exple on my way back we got stopped by immigration at least 3 times …and each time we had to get of the bus ect.., on the other hand the drivers didnt leave on time ect..

The cool thing is that during my journey I saw kids in rural areas walking miles and miles to get to school, each town that we passed by: from Mbour, Kaolack, Saloum I was astounished at the number of children that were walking long distances to get from school to their villages..waouh I’ll never forget that:)

Bandjul is a clean and nice little town, I visited Fadiara and Bakau as well, Gambians seem to be living under the tight control of their president..Each last saturday of the month Gambians are to clean their neighberhood so from 9AM-1PM they can’t drive their cars otherwise they’ll get arrested on those days…

I stayed with my lovely aunt, uncle and cousin Muntaga who showed me ard kindly,this weekend was also the occasion for me to catch up with my very good high school friend  Amy who now resides with her little fam’ in Gambia..She spoiled the hell out of me btw restaurants dates ect and just plain good hanging out with her beautiful children..by the way if you ever are in Bandjul try the Gaya Cafe and the Mandarin Restaurant..we enjoyed both places

Djarama sista you were an amazing host, shall be waiting for u in dkr:)

If you wanna kick it at nite as I did with my cousins try the Old School Club, quite nice , reggae tunes , mballakh ect..

On the – side, pastries suck in Bandjul sorry lol I just had to admit it

They also have a crafts store in the Senegambia area, the touristic area where you can find little restaurants, hotels, ect…

Nice trip:)

Yaye

Zaime bcp this dress…voila c’est tout:)

Yaye

The rule of the day …self acceptation..

Loving oneself despite the little imperfections we may have, being able to say ok maybe Im not totally where I want to be but Im aight where I am…

Ice cream with Henriette at Nice Cream, downtown Dakar city..

Nice way to end the weekend:)

Yaye

Dakhin…one of my fav’ dish, made w/peanut butter , rice, meat …I love it!!

So my gal Dior invited me over her family hizzy …and I ate ate..

The Ndao sistas are so much fun, music,sabar dance, laughters, fruits, juice, they spoiled me…thank you ladies:)

Choco mouse it was in the evening with the bestie Rica…convos,’ confidences’,….friendship it was:)

PS: I forgot to add that for my little pleasure of the day I made myself pancakes lol..and…with bananas..ok thats it lol

Yaye