WAISTed: The West African Invitational Softball Tournament

For more photo of the WAIST Tournament see BOT (Gallery 7).

Peace Corps volunteers from around West Africa have converged on Dakar for the West African Invitational Softball Tournament, a three-day event which, for many volunteers, is a welcome departure from their isolated village life.  

WAIST is an appropriate acronym for this colorful event, both for the amount of alcohol consumed, and the partying that carries on well into the wee hours.

There are two softball divisions, competitive and social, though there should probably be a third division called I'm-too-tired-to-get-the-ball-into-the-strike-zone-but-do-you-like-my-mismatched-knees-socks-and-pirate-sword.

The event is sponsored by the US Embassy here, and includes softball teams from the Embassy, ISDakar, Dakar Academy (a boarding school which serves the children of parents doing missionary work), USAID, three Senegalese teams, and a smattering of others.

The top picture above was taken above the Club Atlantique, and shows ISD to the left, the sea to the right, and more toubabs than the pool deck has seen in the past year.  No doubt the Club profits nicely with the WAIST tournament, from the sale of Gazelle beer alone.  

Three Shorts: Huddling 'Round the Brazier, Constructing Reference Maps, & New Fossil Finds

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Three shorts for the week:

It's mid-winter in chilly Senegal, with low temperatures dipping into the low 60s.  Brrrrrrr!  During the evening, house guards keep warm by huddling around their braziers, generally used to warm tea.  See photo 1.  I've seen metal trash can lids also used to contain a small wood fire.  It's rather homey, like camping out, with the flickering of flames illuminating spots along our little street.

In class, we're transitioning into a study of ancient Egypt history and culture.  We began by creating a set of reference maps of Egypt, north Africa, and the eastern Mediterranean.  Photos 2 & 3 show Selma, Ben, Damir and Will tracing-in map boundaries projected onto poster paper from an overall projector. 

In connection with our study of Ancient Egypt, we've begin a unit on myths and mythology, opening with a reading of an edited, kid-friendly version of Gilgamesh.  As I've explained to the kids, Gilgamesh has got everything you want in a story:  hunky heroes, pretty girls, scary monsters, and lots and lots of action.  You'll find the version I'm using here.  I have cleaned it up, mind you.  

The ISD fossils keep rolling in.  Filipa found a bit of jaw (photos 4 & 5) on Friday, and Haziq found several pieces of ceramic (photo 7) in the seashells used as ground cover around the school.  The shells likely come from the Joal, a town south of here, where they are found a great abundance, often in mounds, associated with people living in the area hundreds to thousands of years ago.  Note photo 6.

An Evening of Lutte Sénégalaise

At the invitation of G., Randi and I attended lutte senegalaise, Senegalese wrestling, on Sunday afternoon.  Lutte is a very popular, and widely-followed sport here.  It is a grand spectacle, with elements similar to what we know in the States as WWF (World Wrestling Federation), the difference being that this is the real-deal, and all the apparent show is purposeful.  Note lutte and Wiki for background.

While preceded by hours of ritual preparation, the actual wrestling matches are quite brief, perhaps thirty seconds or less.  Essentially, the first one down looses.  That's it.  Winner take all.

The stadium grounds were abuzz with activity, and awash with competing rhythm, with four drumming groups performing.  Wrestling clubs, led by their star athletes, together danced to practiced choreography, postured for their cheering fans, and applied what appeared to be layers upon layers of juju, in the form of grigris, liquid potions, and fetish.  One wrestler taunted his adversary prior to a match by throwing an animal hide on the ground and whipping it, as if to say, that'll be you, buster.  Just prior to the start of a match, one wrestler followed the competition in the center ring throwing what appeared to be symbolic darts, juju bullets.  Take that you swine!

For video clips of the evening, see lutte1, lutte2

A Search For the Heart of West Africa 5

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Almamy & I returned to the Medina Fetish Market on Sunday morning.  Note my earlier related entries at Heart1 Heart2 Heart3 Heart4.  The aim is to survey the products being sold   -- what each is, and how it is used -- as a way to reveal the underlying, core beliefs associated with this region of Africa.  Here is a description of the items collected:

Photo1:  Shows some of the products at the market in bags, corresponding to photos 11-14.

Photo 2:  (top) hyaena paw, used to attract respect, as in one's home;  bottom left to right:  unspecified bird feet, promoting learning, recommended for the classroom;  cobra head, used to offer protection from attack;  peacock foot, used to ward off pickpocketing;  jackal paw, promoting intelligence and understanding;  leopard paw, used to promote loyalty.

Photo 3:  (top) used in the treatment of a specific rash;  (left pair) used specifically in the treatment of diabetes (strips from each are taken, washed, that water disposed of, then boiled in water, soaked overnight, then used to make coffee, drunk x 3/day);  (right pair) used specificaly for the treatment of a childhood disease, the symptoms being a thin frame and a swelled belly.

Photo 4:  these two sea shells and turtle shell are used as container only, and contain no magical properties as such.  Horns are also commonly used as containers.

Photo 5:  (top) appears to be a chunk of tree sap, used specifically by the marabout to attract as an incense to attract jinn;  (bottom) a porcupine stomach, is boiled and drunk to protect oneself from bad potions.

Photo 6:   incense mix, wards off jinn.

Photo 7:  (top) vultures are thought to live a long time;  this vulture died of old age, and was found lying on it side (the opposite side of the skull shows greater decay, with bones exposed);  the properties of long life are thus conveyed to one's business and financial investments;  (middle, bottom) the powder is meant to be mixed with the crocodile skull;  the vendor offered to have the two sewn-up for me in a leather pouch.

Photo 8:  (top) boil, ablution, protection from bad talk;  (bottom) cotton plant leaves, boiled, water added to coffee, drunk three times/day.

Photo 9:  (left) a grass, used to attract good fortune, can be soaked and the water used in ablution, or packaged as is;  (center) used for the treatment of sexually-transmitted disease;  (right) used specifically in the treatment of irregular menstruation.

Photo 10:  mix, A. has used, attracts good fortune, used in form of tea.

Photo 11:  this mixture of two things (10 + 17 from my notes) is a love potion, makes one attractive.

Photo 12:  (top-right) good if added to milk powder, similar properties to viagra;  (top-left) used in the treatment of breathing/cough-related issues, applied as incense;  (bottom-left) used in the treatment of River Blindness, helps one to see clearly, add to water, strain liquid, use on face;  (bottom-right) used in the treatment of injured ligaments, such as arthritis, sports-related injuries, applied directly to the surface of the afflicted area.

Photo 13:  (left) mixture of three things (2+3+6 from my notes), used to attract good fortune;  (right) used for treatment of headaches.

Photo 14:  (left) to be add to millet or tamarin, used for the treatment of sexually transmitted disease;  (top-right) a mixture of two things (1+5 from my notes), used to ward off evil; (bottom-right) used to dispel bad dreams.

These items are used in one of several ways:  packaged as is, boiled and drank as a tea, soaked or boiled and the water used in ablution, or with which to wash oneself, taken directly by mouth, or applied topically.

An English-speaking vendor explained that these products represent the natural ingredients containing the same medicinal properties as our Western medicine, simply packaged differently.  

Such vendors sold the raw materials used both by marabouts (who would inflate the price) and the individual buyer.  Consulting a marabout offered privacy and anonymity that was not possible out on the street.

He explained that an evil-doer, bent on messing with an annoying neighbor, might concoct a potion, and leave it outside their door, or a public area frequented by the hapless victim.  Such curses were characterized as a communicable disease:  whomever stumbled into it became afflicted.

Note an extended audio conversation between a vendor, A. and myself on BOT. 

Learning to Listen (Being Versus Doing)

I would like to provide my students a set of skills and concepts related to the psychology of being human.  The curriculum would include the following topics, each to be introduced, modeled, practiced and assessed on-going, in accord with a teaching for understanding framework:

The art of listening

What is listening?  What does it look like/taste like?  What are the range of distractions (internal and external) which interfere with listening?  How does the posture of the body enhance or obstruct one's state of active listening?

The internal and external:  Two worlds, two landscapes

We inhabit two worlds.  What are they?  What are the features of each?  Why live in both worlds?  What are the consequences of living more in one that the other?  We learn about the external world from school, study and experience?  How do we learn more about the internal?

Losing ourselves:  The physics of identification

What is identification?  What does it look/feel/taste like?  What are the ways in which I identify with elements of my life?  Is identification always directed outwardly?  How do I become less identified?  What are the steps?  Why should I care?

What I do today will determine what I do tomorrow:  Habit, conditioning and schemata

What is a habit?  How is it formed?  What are the habits which shape my life?  What's wrong with a habit?  How do I resist habits?  What are the implications for the processing of food?  What is a schema?  How do they operate our lives?  Why should we know about them?  A primer on observing habits? 

You are what you eat:  Forms of food & its digestion

What is food?  What does it do for us?  What are the varieties of food (gross food, air as food, the food of impressions)?  What are the consequences of changing what we eat, and how we eat it? 

Three forms of attention:  Active/focused, attracted/repulsed, meandering/wandering

What is attention?  What are different forms?  What do they look/feel/taste like?

A three-brained being:  Thinking, feeling, and moving

We have three brains which operate simultaneously:  one which thinks, one which feels, and one which moves.  What re the features of each?  Can I observe them/distinguish between them in action?

The aim here is provide a toolkit for understanding ourselves and our relations.  It is a primer on being a human being, and the foundation for the rest of the standard curriculum.  Clearly, it more than just about listening, though listening, and the observation of oneself, is a central feature.

At a time when children are increasingly plugged-in to and bombarded by digital media, a curriculum centering on the internal -- on listening, observing, the body, and habit -- is critical.

How the World Was Made: Kinders & 6ers Collaborate in Authoring Creation Stories

The sixth grade is currently transitioning between units, moving from a 6-week study of our human ancestry and the science of paleoanthropology, to Ancient Egypt and the first civilizations.  This bridge is entitled From Eve to Egypt, Eve here referring to Mitochondrial Eve, or the first modern human, estimated to be about 150,000 years old.  This mini-unit has focused on the development of agriculture, the domestication of plants and animals, permanent settlements, and the specialization of roles in an expanding population.  I found an exceptional resource for this unit, Stories from the Stone Age, a three-part series available for streaming at GUBA.

In parallel with our move toward the earliest civilizations, we've begun a major study of creation stories, myths and mythology, to include a reading of Gilgamesh, adapted from Looklex. 

Students have composed their own creation stories, based upon their personal beliefs;  we've read a selection of creation stories from around the world, looking for common themes and elements;  and, of course, they've solicited the input of our Kinders.  

See Kinder for the result of this fun collaboration.

Recognizing & Resisting Fixed Trajectories

Language reflects thought.  The personal pronoun I, given emphasis in its capitalization, implies an unchanging singularity, cause and will, as in  I pealed an orange.  Actually, it pealed the orange, spun out with a minimum of attention, as it has many, many times before.  I can imagine a form of brain damage resulting in the loss of this complex program, making the coordinated movement of pealing an orange very difficult, requiring active attention, like learning to tie your shoes. But it doesn't now;  it happens of it-self.

I pealed the orange, but what I are we referring to, particularly when I am able to observe the activity, separated, as if watching a movie on pealing oranges.   I might, with intent, peal the orange a new way, counterclockwise, as if against the moving habit, and the activity would require the active allocation of attention, and I might be a little more present.

It takes me a relatively short time to shower, five minutes perhaps.  The bar of soap glides in efficient, practiced motions.  I imagine a study of the bar's path revealing that it recurs precisely by the same course and timing everyday, over a lifetime, like a Swiss train.  

Complex behavior patterns of this type are called a schemata.  A schema is initiated when we walk into a restaurant, or into a grocery store, or turn on the shower:  it is the amalgam of behaviors and expectations associated with a context.  A schema is a complex software program, executed in response to a particular stimulus.  The schema is fired, automatically, immediately, without any need for the presence of I. 

I notice this about showering, which I think is generally true:  Just as the movement of the soap is executed according to a strict pattern, so too is the quality of mentation that accompanies the motion.  That is, I daydream, passive, drifting by association, and this quality of wandering mind is patterned, the intellectual side of the showering schema, programmed and fixed.  There is no I required.  It happens, by pattern, like executing a software routine.

Our use of language is deceiving, particularly in how we refer to ourselves, our state, using the present tense personal pronoun I.  It's not true.  We speak of a shower schema, or a restaurant schema, or a human life schema.  All are patterned, all reactive, all external.  Our trajectory is fixed.  

All of us experience moments of separation from the patterns of life, through glimmers of presence, as if something momentarily arises to the surface to feel something on the order of I-am-just-now.  Then it's gone.  

How do I increase the frequency and duration of these moments?  What might this work look like?  I take it very practically:  Am I able to walk from here to the kitchen while maintaining an unbroken sense of presence -- the setting of a small aim of attention.