Today was a great day. I found a cafe in Koumbia with good coffee, good food, and some very fun and thoughtful interlocutors. One of the most wide ranging discussions I’ve had on this trip.

After lunch I took off to visit a Jakhanké village I’d been told of in the region.

After about 2.5 weeks down on the coast/ in cities dealing with my health, I am finally getting back to the original intention of the trip: hanging out with (and speaking) Jaxanké. It was a short but sandy ride today, almost due north of Koumbia, to a village called Jahka Madina.

It frankly exceeded expectations. One thing that is key is that upon rolling up to town, I very quickly found a guy who understood my trip, and what I’m trying to do, who became my guide, host, friend. After hanging out for a bit under a mango tree with a handful of people and explaining myself for the first time, this fellow, Lamine Sylla, took me around the village to greet various families, the village chief, and all the important old men. It was really fun. Everyone was really stoked to meet me, and when it came time to leave each compound the old men would bust into an extended prayer, imploring Allah to protect me on the road from injury and bandits and any number of other imaginative misfortunes.

Madina Jahka is a very pleasant and beautiful village. In classic Jahkanké fashion the compounds are all pretty close together, with only limited agricultural space between, which will get squeezed out as more structures are built. This is strongly contrasted with the surrounding pulaar villages in which each compound includes fencing which encircles much of the family’s fields as well. This difference in village layout is pretty consistent throughout Senegal and Guinea.

Also typical of a Jaxanké village, there are many multi story, tiled houses here, with balconies, and elaborate courtyards sporting gazebos. This is indicative of how many Jaxanké families have family members in France, who fund the construction of elaborate houses back in Guinea.

After these greetings, Sylla brought me back to his compound, where the women had prepared a hut for me. I’d never even noticed when he told someone to prepare a guest room. About to eat dinner, looks great

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