Archive - February 25, 2018

  A Friendship Thrives, With a Sack of Rice by Nathaniel Spiller (Senegal 1970-72) © 2008, The Washington Post/ reprinted with permission • Night falls quickly in Africa. Under a half-moon and partly cloudy sky, a single kerosene lantern silhouetted the contestants against the blackened backdrop. A boom box hooked up to a car battery played traditional Serer music, accompanied by drummers on plastic barrels. Thanks to word of mouth, and probably a few of the cellphones that are increasingly common in the bush, the Keur Waly N’Diaye wrestling tournament was about to begin in earnest. On a day’s notice, several hundred people and maybe two dozen wrestlers from surrounding villages had arrived on foot or by cart and assembled in the open area between the hut-size mosque and general store. Bedecked with amulets and the occasional body paint, the young male hopefuls, all in their late teens or 20s, flexed . . .