Today posting on the blog here now.

Hello.

I am on the internet. On my computer. It's Thursday here. Here's what's been up.

On Tuesday, after not being mugged on Monday night (which was good), I had some more lessons. They're going well – I think I've now (Thursday) finished all the sabar stuff that I am going to learn (I think) and am trying to go over everything a lot so as to practice my technique and really memorise everything. It's going well so far. Also, Doudou has changed a few of the things that I initially learned, giving me more complex variations, so I'm working on getting them down.

Then, on Tuesday afternoon after lessons, we rushed to NewTown – Doudou's group was booked to play at a wedding there. We got there at about 5.30, waited around for a bit, then played for a couple of hours. I tried to take some video but because there were too many people dancing and the power went out, I didn't get much good footage. The playing was good though – I had one drunk guy annoying the shit out of me all night, standing next to me and trying to hit the drum and telling me to play solos. Apparently he liked my playing. So far at all the open events I've played at there is always one drunk guy being obnoxious – it must be the same everywhere. I was still surprised each time it happens here though as barely anyone drinks alcohol. The whole Islam thing.

Then, after the wedding gig, we went back to Bakau and got some food (a souvlaki-esque thing which was delicious) and watched a band play at Lama Lama. The band was the band I met on the first day I was here and played with them. At the time, I they didn't seem that good – they were slowing down and playing pretty loosely. At the performance they were actually really good. Turns out that they were distracted and losing concentration when they were playing with me – something to do with the colour of my skin.

After watching the gig, I went home. That was Tuesday.

On Wednesday, I had more lessons. After lessons, Doudou and I went into Banjul, Gambia's capital. I was going to visit the Albert market and hopefully buy some music. Turns out they didn't really have what I wanted and were charging too much, so we just spent a couple of hours walking around the market and Banjul and I took lots of photos. They're coming.

That night, the group had to play an audition at a hotel in Senegambia, so we traipsed off there after getting back from Banjul. This gig went pretty well – I was  tired as hell but was actually happy with how I played. At this gig the lights weren't working properly and it was night time so, again, no decent footage.

Today (Thursday), I had to change hotels – the place that I was in (Bakau Lodge) had a reservation booked from today and were full, so I got kicked out. The manager of the place organised for me to stay somewhere else nearby (Bakau Guest House) for the same rate, so that was fine. So, this morning Doudou, a bunch of his friends and I carried all my crap across to the new place. The owner of the new place was a bit uneasy about me bringing all the Gambians over, but I calmed him down.

The new place is really nice – a bit grottier than the other one but it is on the second floor and has a balcony overlooking the Atlantic ocean and the fish market. I will take some photos.

Once I finish writing this post I'll go have some lessons with Doudou and tonight the group plays at the Soul Mate restaurant in Bakau. Hopefully I can get some footage.

So, everything's going well. I'm busy as hell – I've been performing every night this week and having a heap of lessons – but it's good. I leave in a couple of days so I'm trying to fit as much in as I can.

I'd better go – I'm going to be late.

Cheers. Thanks for reading.