Five year Journal- Roots of My Soul

Hello,

I designed a journal diary to help support this Blog. A lot of people love the wallpaper I use on the blog so that is what I used for the cover.  A great way to keep track of your life with out writing long entries....

Five year Personal Journal

Have you tried to keep a diary before , but found that . 

1. You didn't have time to write a page a day.

 2. You didn't have enough to fill a page. 

Which leads to discouragement... which leads to an empty journal. With this five year journal you only have to jot down a sentence a day. Once a day you briefly reflex on your day or goals. 

The journal covers five years with each year a different shade of grey. A fun keepsake (or gift) and summary of your life over 5 years. Track your goals and see how you evolved (or not ) over five years.

Click here to order Journal Diary....

If you order the book, please email me a picture of yourself with the book. Include a short bio on your travels or where you would like to travel. I will post on the blog...the best entry will win a copy of the journal to give to a friend. Thank you for the support.

Senegal Grand National Theater

Senegal Grand National Theater

Senegal Blog

Senegal Grand Nation Theater

The 1800-seat Senegal National Grand Theater, is a  21 million Euro gift to the people of Senegal from China. It opened in April of 2011, replacing the current national theatre in Dakar, with a capacity of 1,100, that was built in 1965.

The Senegal National Grand Theater will mainly be used for singing and dancing performances, and can also work as cinema or conference hall as well. It will play an important role in satisfying the cultural needs of the Senegalese.

Built on an area of ​​about three acres, the Senegal National Grand Theater has a capacity of 1,800 seats and six floors.

Location: Carrefour Cyrnos x Boulevard de l'Arsenal

Please visit our page for Dakar Day Trips 
See the top  Seven things to do in  Dakar

Visit page for other Senegal Destinations

 

Senegals New culture and tourism minister Youssou Ndour. What can he do to promote tourism?

Senegal Blog

Vlisco the Color of West Africa

Vlisco, the True Original
The Senegal Blog

African Fashion

Since 1846 Vlisco has been designing and producing colourful fashion fabrics that form an essential part of the lively West and Central African culture. Vlisco has an innate sense of the expressive and creative strength of African consumers and, for generations, has succeeded in surprising and inspiring her passionate clientele with unique designs. As the sole authentic designer and manufacturer of such fabrics as ‘Wax Hollandais’, Vlisco is unparalleled when it comes to quality, professional skill and innovation.

African Fashion

The Vlisco strategy is aimed at enabling well-to-do African women to experience the brand in all her facets and to maintain the leading position, not only in the area of design, but also in terms of total brand orientation. Developments take place at neck-breaking speed in Africa and Vlisco aspires to inspire and gain the loyalty of younger generations as well. Innovation is therefore an essential element within the company. In keeping with this, a new collection is launched every quarter, featuring a specific theme in which international trends in a variety of areas are translated into distinctive Vlisco designs.

African Fashion

Furthermore, every quarter a new Vlisco fashion and accessories collection is launched in the four Vlisco Boutiques in Africa. The clothing lines serve largely as a source of inspiration for consumers, who often have their clothing made by a personal tailor. With a complete line of bags, shoes and jewellery, women can clothe themselves in Vlisco from head to toe.

African Fabric

The core element in Wax Print is of course the wax. Using two deep engraved copper rollers, with the mirror image of the design, the two sides of the cotton fabric are printed with a pattern of melted wax, hence the name Wax Print. The fact that the cloth is printed on both sides enables you to wear the product either side. This is the true sign of a quality wax print. Following this, the cloth is immersed in a bath of dye, often Indigo, that penetrates into the areas that are not covered with wax. After the wax as been washed off in varying stages, a negative image of the printed pattern remains on the cloth. This intricate wax printing process results in unique effects that makes the product so outstanding. In fact, not one single centimetre of fabric is identical to the other!Vlisco. The true original. Click here to visit website.

Vist our page for African Fabric and the HML fabric Market

Dakar Fashion Week and Senegalese Fashion designer Ounou SY

The Woman's Museum- Goree Island Senegal - Musee de la Femme - Henriette Bathily

The Woman's Museum

The Woman's Museum- Goree Island Senegal - Musee de la Femme 
The Senegal Blog
Looks at the role of Senegalese women in traditional,rituals, community, folk arts and modern West African culture. Through field research, interviews, collections in families, photographic reproductions, recordings and films, consultations archive the results will be published in the journals of the museum - which will set up a structure to attract the interest of nationals and foreigners on an important aspect of community life and organization of our society that revolve 

around the woman.

The Woman's Museum

The Museum of Senegalese women is being able to allows non Senegalese to enter "privacy" of Senegalese society or for research, study, work or university, simply need to learn about the other. They can then compare  the characteristics of other ethnic groups, other communities, other regions: the customs, traditions vary between groups.

Contact Information
Museum Henriette Bathily
Goree, Senegal
Tel: 00 221 33
Tuesday to Sunday : 10 to 16H H3 closed Monday

Please visit our page for Day Trips in Senegal. 

Visit  page on Goree Island Senegal

The Senegal Blog

Oumou SY - Senegalese Fashion Designer

Ounou SY - Senegalese Fashion Designer

Portrait of Oumou Sy
The Senegal Blog
Oumou Sy from Senegal belongs to the most significant personalities in the African world of fashion. The self-taught designer lives and works in Dakar. She expresses her artistic versatility in the creative textile and jewelry designs that she produces using traditional as well as modern techniques. As well as directing theater productions, designing costumes for local and foreign film productions, Haute Couture remains her favored field, where she has also made an international name for herself as a fashion designer. She founded the association Metissacana, that supports the cultural and economic exchange between the continents and in which she also produces designs for the carnival in Dakar with her students.
In the last few years, Oumou Sy presented her collections in a variety of self-directed fashion shows in Europe and Africa. She owns her own stores in Geneva and Paris. She initiated the international yearly fashion sales week SIMOD in Dakar in which designers from all over the world have the opportunity to meet each other. Read the rest of the story....

Read about Dakar Fashion Week

Please visit our page for African Fabric 

Learn French in Senegal

The Baobab Center

Learn French in Senegal

The Senegal Blog
You want to learn French..or brush up what you already know. You have tried classes at your local University or/and tapes like Rosetta Stone and Berlitz. It is not working for you? You should try immersion. Language immersion is a method of teaching a second language in which the target language for example .. French is used as the means of instruction. Unlike more traditional language courses, where the target language is simply the subject material, French language immersion uses French as a teaching tool, surrounding or "immersing" students in the French language. In-class activities, and those outside of the class, such as meals or everyday tasks, are conducted in the French language. Why Senegal...not only will you learn the French language but get to immerse yourself in an African culture and traditions.

Here are several great options to Study French in Senegal. One of the best is Baobab Center.

Baobab Center Instructors

The Baobab Center

The ACI Baobab Center provides intensive, high-quality language courses in French, Wolof, and English but also in Sereer, Pulaar, Mandinka,   Portuguese, Portuguese Creole, Spanish, and Arabic as well as other national languages upon request. Their unique approach to language training is based on 25 years of experience teaching languages in Senegal. They focus on oral/aural language skills - - the goal is to strengthen each student’s ability to speak and understand their target language. Reading and writing are included to support the development of speaking and listening skills. Their experienced instructors provide students with personalized, interactive classes ranging from individual tutorials to small groups..

Live with a Local Family
ACI language students taking more than 25 hours of language classes are eligible for a home stay with a Senegalese host family arranged by ACI. According to your profile and preferences, we will match you with a host family within walking distance from the Baobab Center.

Baobab Center Cultural Immersion

Cultural Orientation and Day Trips
The Baobab Center organizes half-day and full-day Cross-Cultural Orientation sessions specifically tailored to individual and organizational needs, providing an invaluable introduction on how to live and work harmoniously and productively in Senegal.  Some of the day trips students can take included neighboring Lac Rose, a nearby wildlife reserve, an orphanage, Goree Island and a city tour.

Please visit their home page for more information on studying French  at the  Baobab Center  in Senegal.

Other Schools that offer French lessons in Senegal:

The French Institute

Senegal Style French Language School

Baobab Center

The Senegal Blog

Senegal Music

The Senegal Blog

Senegal Music

Senegalese folk music is distinct from ancient Mande music, or its purer expression in modern Malian music, by the influence of Serer polyphony. In addition, Senegalese folk music is more uptempo and lively than the sedate, classical sounds of Malian griots.

Modern history

The first President of Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor (also a poet) was one of the primary exponents of negritude, which espoused the idea that the griot traditions of Senegal were as valid, classical and meaningful as French classical music.

1970s-1980s

I launched the careers of El Hadji Faye and Youssou N'Dour. Faye and N'Dour were Senegal's first pop stars, 

N'DourHe was soon by far the most popular performer in the country, and perhaps in all of West Africa. He introduced more traditional elements to his Senegalized Cuban music, including traditional rapping (tassou), bakou (a kind of trilling that accompanies Wolof wrestling) and instruments like the sabar.

Youssou N'Dour

While N'Dour Africanized Cuban music, another influential band, Xalam, was doing the same with American funk and jazz. Xalam toured with groups like Rolling Stones and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, finally achieving success in Senegal with 1988's Xarit.

In the latter part of the 1970s, the band Super Diamono formed, fusing mbalax rhythms and militant populism with jazz and reggae influences. Their 1982 Jigenu Ndakaru was especially the popular. By the middle of the 1980s, Super Diamono was one of the top bands in Senegal, in close and fierce competition with Super Étoile de Dakar. 

90s to the present

Into the 1990s, Thione Seck, a griot descended from those of Lat Dior, the king of Kayor, arose to solo stardome from Baobab, eventually forming his own band called Raam Daan (crawl slowly towards your goal).He is from Podor and won a scholarship to study music in Paris. After returning, he studied traditional music with his blind guitarist and family griot, Mansour Seck, and began performing with the band Daande Lenol. 

Woman

Though female performers were achieving popular breakthroughs elsewhere in West Africa, especially Mali, Senegalese women had few opportunities before the 1990s. The first international release by a woman was "Cheikh Anta Mbacke" (1989) byKiné Lam

 . 

The new century has seen the rise of Viviane Ndour, who got her first break as a backing vocalist to Youssou Ndour with Super Etoile. She is incredibly popular in Senegal and the diaspora,

Hip Hop and Rap

The biggest trend in 1990s Senegal, however, was hip hop. Traditional culture includes rapping traditions, such as the formal tassou, performed by women of the Laobe woodworking class the morning after marriages. Modern Senegalese hip hop is mostly in Wolof, alongside some English and French. Positive Black Soul is the best-known group in the country, Daara j and Gokh-Bi System too. Senegalese-French rapper MC Solaar is a very well known musician. Senegalese born Akon has risen to world fame.
The Senegal Blog