When we made it back to Ouaga it felt comforting, familiar. Not only had we made good friends with Ria, a British woman who spends much of her time working with village women in Burkina, but also the drummer guys and friendly waiter from Zaka, an outdoor venue/restaurant with great music and awesome people!
- Learning to drum properly on the djembes!
Pap Noel, an eccentric expat, also tended to spend a lot of time there making little trinkets and who-knows-what…this made Zaka that much better. The man is a fantastically quirky mystery (be my friend too?). When went to Zaka to check out the food that had temptingly wafted under our noses the time we’d been before and all of the guys there were so sad that we were leaving, they insisted they give us a going away concert! I was also tempted by the offering of a drum lesson from one of the performers, Seydou. And after seeing his drum skills, his wild ability, live-on-stage, I was happy to take him up on that offer. Yes…I was finally gonna get to play African drums in Africa!
KT and I had spent most of that next day shopping round Ouaga. They had an especially cool artist market where the artists all have a space to make (and sell) goods that go mostly to the shops around town. Was cool to meet and buy from the artists and creators directly and to get a glimpse into their processes. After a bit more shopping we both grabbed a quick street-sandwich (bread and a whole lotta butter!) some drinks and Zaka and prepared for our drum lesson! Seydou was great…K and I were rockin it out with his call for rhythms, fills and sweet beats. We got pretty into it…perhaps myself, a little more…cause by the end of the lesson I was sold. I wanted to be a stereotype, college-aged westerner, carting home an African drum. Who can say, full-size djembe on a plane??! Seydou had even carved and put together the djembe drum himself (or at least put it together…who really knows) which seemed like an extra cool feature for a souvenir I’d actually put to use….rad! Soo…I now have a djembe.
That night we returned to Zaka for our concert…I felt bad that there were only a couple of other people there but the guys all seemed to be having fun and loved it when we finally got up there and danced. I’m always thankful I don’t have to watch myself. The music was rocking (man can these guys DRUM…incredible) and although tired, we had a great time. We got back around midnight, packed the stuff strewn around the room into our respective bags (+ drum) and set the alarm for 3am. It was sad to leave our friends…everyone in Burkina had been so genuine and kind…it was definitely one of our favorite places. It’s funny how the poorer people are, the more open and giving they are.
RaD Bike Adventure 