Modeling Fily and Instruments to Sell

One of our cousins has a little clothing shop for men and women where she sells shoes, African tailored clothing, jewelry, bags, etc. She is wanting to make new publicity fliers for her new stock so she asked me to take pictures of some of the different styles of clothing and bags. Fily, a cousin of mine, kindly stepped forward to be the model. Fily is naturally gorgeous and though she was exhausted that day and simply being nice to do the favor, she looked great. The problem during the whole "photo shoot" was that we did not have a place to take the photos. In my opinion next to a door with a large freezer in the background was not the greatest spot. However, they said it did not matter and so we went ahead with it. The second obstacle was that Fily is fairly long and slim but the clothes were HUGE! Sometimes two or three of us girls could have fit into one skirt together. Each outfit she wore was pinned up in the back or held by her hands in her poses. We were cracking up the whole time, sweating in the heat of the afternoon and exhaustion of Ramadan fasting. Thankfully I had Yaye and Ndambo (two cousins) helping us in the room picking out bags and necklaces to go with different outfits as well as pining up Fily. It was a random, fun experience. I just thought I would share some of the pictures to show people some of the clothing styles here. 

Oh, and then after our "photo shoot" someone in the house brought in different African instruments they are selling so they asked me to take pictures for their fliers as well. Moussa and cousins Chiekh and Mamadou posed for the photos. It was a hoot!

Asmao's Birthday Party

Last month I helped with the birthday party for one of my little cousins, Asmao. She turned 10. Here is a glimpse of her party:

Birthday suit! Party hats and.....

 

dancing for hours!

 

Uncle Bakary, in the blue striped shirt, was quite consistent on the dance area with all of the older cousins AND of course Aunty Fataye, Asmao's mom.

I was cracking up at their facial expressions and silly movements.

The terrace filled up with people and MANY children throughout the evening.

Dancing circles with....

.... many dance moves to share....

... each were a little different ...

... with their own spice! It was hilarious.

Me, Cousin Adja, Sister Mamy, Cousin/Aunt Diakhabo

Preparing the dinner in the hallway corridor because the small kitchen is two stories up and ....

 ... there were MANY plates to fix!

Panda! One of the spunky house maids graciously helping us serve all of the guests. We ate tasty sandwiches and  brochettes/shishkebobs after snacks of popcorn and chips.

Birthday song and two cakes! She was surrounded by a lot of people.

One cake had her picture on it. One cake said Happy Birthday. They were absolutely delicious.