August 2011

Putting your African Adventure to Shame: Kilimanjaro by Lionback

by phil August 22, 2011 thoughts
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I have a surprise announcement. I will be returning to Africa next week. Back to Mali? No. Mali has incredible people and otherworldly music, but there is nothing else I can conquer there. I already went to Timbuktu and I’ve climbed the Hand of Fatima like 14 times. On this trip I will be going [...]

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Music that is Making my Life Better

by phil August 9, 2011 Cote D'Ivoire
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On the coast of Cote d’Ivoire, in Abidjan, you can go to a nightclub and dance to coupé-décalé till morning. It is possibly the most frenetic dance music on earth. Get in sync with it and your definition of human movement will change forever (see Dj Arafat’s “kpangor pour bouger” or this dance video of [...]

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Do you Expect to See this in a West African City?

by phil August 4, 2011 Mali
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In what is turning into something of an informal series (see this and this), this is another post challenging perceptions of Africa. In tenth grade, one of my classes began with a round table discussion of current events. Each day, everyone in the class brought in an article to share. On one occasion, a classmate [...]

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