Dig out your pretty clothes, cause we’re getting up with God.

The cultural train rolls on.  I am slowing paying out my Sunday of tourism in order to lend legitimacy to the idea that I am here experiencing as much as I possibly can while in Senegal. I’m a pretty horrible tourist though- typically I am more drawn to oceans of trash or things on the other side of the “you don’t see this everywhere” variety. I am repelled by the obvious.

So church. I’m kind of a sinner- especially since I usually spend my Sunday mornings running by a few mosques at sunrise and not much more in the way of religion. But there’s a monastery just east of our overcrowded peninsula that I have been wanting to check out: Keur Moussa (House of Moses). Although there are churches in Dakar and beyond, this one has a few distinguishing qualities that make it a draw to visitors. They bring a draw to their little corner of nowhere because of the Gregorian chants and kora playing that accompanies the Mass. So that’s what we went to see.

I have nothing sarcastic or compelling to say about this photograph.

Loge seating behind the nuns. Getting to church early pays off, and maybe the close proximity absolves me of a few lesser sins….

So speaking of sins, I got in trouble for trying to take stealthy video during the service (so much for a little absolution). Since I don’t get to subject you to more of my crack video skills, here’s a video from Youtube that is far superior:

The music is pretty, the service was nice.

Me scrounging around the pews for items of interest while we waited for the service to begin. What I was really hoping to find was this:

No joy, I found nothing exploding at the monastery that day.

So even if you’re not uber-religious like me, the monastery definitely provides a tranquility and aesthetic appeal that does not exist on the road through Rufisque.

Me and my pal Kathy. All told, about ten of us toubabs caravaned out for the service.

So I said that the big draw to the monastery was the music and singing- but the other big draw is their cheese. Yes, the monks have struck upon a fantastic cottage industry of producing their own goat cheese, Camembert, juices and apéritifs (Chartreuse it ain’t, but really that’s a tough act to follow).

After Mass is complete, you are rewarded for your piety by patronizing the monastery’s boutique.

Mmmm…..goat cheese. So worth it when the restaurant you go to after Mass takes two hours to serve you the worst piece of fish you have tasted in Senegal.

So my big goal in doing this post was to make it vanilla and not be too sarcastic comme d’habitude. The cheese was fantastic, and it was nice to listen to calming music and be amongst the little bit of Christianity that thrives in a predominantly Muslim country. Only about 5% of the population in Senegal is Christian, and you can usually see some differences when you interact with communities of a different faith. Hard to explain exactly, but my goal here was just to show you some photos of a different side of this country.

Don’t worry, my next blog entry is slated to be far less peaceful; it will include drumming. Lots of it.