Weekend: Keur Mousa

This weekend…

…watched a call to prayer from outside the Grand Mosque on the Islamic holy day (Friday)

…attended a mass at the Keur Mousa Monastery

…official start of the rainy season

… visited Lac Rose, the “pink lake”

…crazy ride through the desert sand dunes

…live music at Balajo

…danced all night at Nirvana

…morning jog and beach meditation

…experienced a Senegalese wrestling match

The juxtaposition of Islam and Christianity here is so interesting. Although the vast majority (90-95%) of the country is Islamic, both religions co-exist very peacefully. It was interesting to see both practices within the span of a weekend. Visiting the monks at the monastery was particularly thought provoking. What dedication – it takes over 10 years to be able to take one’s final vows and become a monk. Each day is spent in prayer (7 times a day), mass, fellowship, studies, and work. The monastery is almost entirely self-sufficient, at least in terms of food. It is also home to some of the world’s finest koras. A kora is a very popular African string instrument made of cow skin stretched over a large gourd called a calabash. It looks a little bit like a guitar except it has two sets of strings instead of one. The monastery has a famous workshop where koras are produced and sent all over the world. The instrument has evolved greatly since ancient times, and the monk mentioned that the monastery recently worked with an engineering school in Senegal to determine the exact tension needed on each string to create a metal lever that switches between major and minor key.

The kora and drums are used for music during mass at the monastery, which added a different flair to the service. It’s so interesting to see what instruments have evolved in different parts of Africa and around the world, in a way that is mostly dependent on the environment (particularly access to wood). 

The imagery of a black Jesus is also extremely prevalent here. The chapel that mass was held in had an entire wall depicting the birth of Christ and various events in his life, with all characters illustrated as black. And why wouldn’t it be this way? Christ is a figure of freedom, and I imagine it’s hard to reconcile a white man in this role. Christianity was originally forced on the African people, yet here they have adapted it to their own understanding. A figurehead who understands their suffering, who offers something to believe in. Hope.

I liked that the monks were also involved in scholarly (seminary) pursuits. The monk we talked to at the kora workshop said he has taken all the courses personally offered by the monastery and is now taking online courses to continue studying. Online courses at the monastery! Technology shows up in the strangest of places.

More about my weekend soon!