My Soundtrack

If there is one thing that I am thankful, everyday, that I brought to Senegal, it is my MP3 player. In the summer before coming here I was pretty certain that I wanted to buy one to sustain me for the 2 years in relative musical estrangement, so I did and I uploaded all of my CDs along with many from friends and family. I truly believe that this small device has, along with giving me joy and endless opportunities to sing in English while dancing around my room or while riding my bike around town, helped me keep my sanity. At times, it’s as if I’ve got my own private soundtrack. I’ve got my play list set to random so sometimes this soundtrack fits perfectly, like yesterday when I was riding through the busy market and the Orchestra Baobab was on, the African beats blended right in with what was going on in front of me. At other times though, the soundtrack doesn’t really fit, but this just makes me laugh. My surroundings don’t really change that much as you can imagine, but when I’m walking through town and a great, twangy bluegrass song comes on, I enter the bizarro bluegrass Kaolack, kind of like the twilight zone. But then at other times, songs that you wouldn’t think fit, end up fitting really well; Blind Boys of Alabama singing about getting to the church on time (in this predominantly Muslim country), or Wilson Pickett rocking out or a blues song that puts that blues grimace on your face when you hear it, you know that face. This has all made for extra entertainment, above and beyond the normal musical entertainment, and for that I am extra thankful for my MP3 player.