Two days in a row. Pretty good, I must say.

I'm proud of me. How about you?

Herro.

Last night Doudou's (my teacher here in Gambia) group played at one of the hotels in Senegambia. That was nice. I sat in with them for a few songs, blathering away with my tasty white man, country boy from Australia chops. They were pretty happy with my playing – I am having the realisation that I am actually good enough to, to a small extent, hold my own here. I also had a short period of madness/confidence where I decided that I should rate my playing a bit more highlyer and perhaps take myself more seriously as a player. I generally don't feel like I'm a real musician but am just dabbling – I have a feeling that is changing. Being here and being able to play in a way that is as good as some of the locals is good for me.

Hang on, I just realised that music is why I've travelled across the other side of the world. Maybe I do take it seriously. It was an interesting feeling, nonetheless – to think of myself as a player rather than a student. I generally see this travel as semi-academic study from which my chops benefit. But really, in Australia, I don't play as much live music as I probably could. Perhaps one day I will.

Clear? Good.

Sorry for confusing you with my rambling search for inner truth. Maybe it is interesting to you, maybe not.

Today I didn't have any lessons – Doudou and I decided to have a rest day. Instead I went to the internet cafe in the morning, which was closed. I then waited around the internet cafe for about an hour and then left to meet Doudou. I then hung around with him, sat under a tree, drank Ataya (sweet green tea) and watched some guys play draughts. We then went to Doudou's house, had some rice and fish then went somewhere else and sat and drank Ataya. A lot of people's time here is spent sitting and drinking Ataya. I've generally been a bit antsy since being here but today it was great to just hang around. I also went to the bank. I am rich now. On the way home from the bank I went to the internet cafe. Then I starting writing a blog post. Then I got stuck in a self-referential feedback loop. Then I stayed in the loop. Then, whatever.

Yesterday I bought this:

I should have known better and should be more mature, but I couldn't help myself.

Yes, it tasted terrible. I really should know by now that food very rarely tastes as good as its name is funny.

That's all for today.

Love from Jacob