On our way back to Europe - there are koras waiting to be finished and a workshop to run. No images? Click here - Our new website - September Workshop Confirmed - I love this photo by Nic Kane of our regular and now advanced student Gergely, in Mas de Jammes in the Aveyron, France where we hold our group workshops. I hope he doesn't blush too much at being our 'pin-up' for this newsletter. It sums up the place; green, shady, relaxing and yet a place for concentration and learning. See below for more details. SEPTEMBER WORKSHOP - FRANCE The only workshop we have been able to hold this year is 23rd - 30th September and are delighted that it can go ahead. Arrivals are on Wednesday the 23rd and we start with supper that evening. The workshop begins the next morning. There is a short group session but most of the tuition is individual, simply because of the nature of learning to play. People often pair up to support each other, but everyone learns differently and there is scope for everyone to learn and progress. Details are here on our lovely new website. It is held in a beautiful rural location at Mas De Jammes and there is both shared accommodation and private still available, ON OUR WAY TO EUROPE ONCE MOREFor so many people all over the world, life this year has been at best strange and at worst a true disaster. I hope you all fall into the former category. Fortunately as the travel restrictions began we were coming towards the end of our season here, and we had the freedom to be able to stay. It was a good decision that has kept us sane....hmmm....yes I know you're thinking it, so there's no need to actually say it! In between lots of gardening, fixing and improving things at our own house, Adam has been able to play more kora than ever before. I (oh joy!) was able to work on the new website and our accountant was shocked to get everything on his virtual desk by the end of May - a full six months earlier than he expected. There are always at least two sides to everything, even pandemics. So after what will be a ten month stay, it is now becoming easier to travel. After a few messages and emails batting backwards and forwards about whether we needed a really expensive and very inconvenient CoVid test to fly (we don't) we are finally heading back to the European lands of cheese, creme patisserie and good biscuits. Adam's choice is top quality beef-burgers, followed by another top-quality beef-burger! 'What about the Marmite?' I hear you cry but bizarrely we only crave it when in Kafountine. Even in France it sits dejected in the cupboard and can only dream of being appreciated like its counterparts in Senegal. We had a good stock thanks to the generosity of friends and guests but we did eventually run out about six weeks ago. It was naturally quite stressful leading up to the actual last scrape but as you can tell, we have survived. It is amazing how tough you can be when you need to be. So, on the 15th this month we fly back to Europe from Dakar and presuming flooding or renewed restrictions don't stop us, we will be back in France completing kora orders and preparing for the September workshop. We have always flown in to and out of Banjul in The Gambia which is our closest international airport, but that border has been closed since mid March and will probably remain closed until the beginning of November. So this time it's a 4x4 journey across a (hopefully) partially flooded causeway to Ziguinchor, a flight to Dakar and a direct flight on to Marseille. Our car is in Barcelona and some kora materials are in the UK and Germany, but we're on it! Some kora customers have been patiently waiting since October - or at least they appear patient, they may be gnashing their teeth at night and crying into their pillows but thankfully we don't hear about it. We're very pleased to be flying with Air Senegal who have been great at answering emails - in English - and whose flights have been the more reasonably priced ones. Once their full schedule is back they are adding direct flights between London Stansted and Dakar so any UK-based bods who fancying visiting the city slickers way up north, before coming to us country bumpkins in the deep south will soon find that option much more affordable. Over the years, we have increased the length of our stays here in Kafountine to 6 months. We were already contemplating making it more like 8 months but that meant no longer doing the May workshop, which felt like quite a major step. This year it was all taken out of our hands and so now reducing the French workshops to just one in September seems perfectly simple. The UK one in the summer is becoming more popular so we will develop that instead. We will only have a relatively brief stay in Europe this year as we will aim to be back in Kafountine late October as we have guests arriving in November. Some people are unsure about booking for this winter because of CoVid and we can only suggest that anyone who is vulnerable or nervous about travelling leaves it for another year. We ourselves feel very confident flying and living here, but everyone needs to make decisions that work for them. We will be absolutely delighted to see you if you do come, and look forward to seeing you another time if not. There is lots of general information on our site and we're very happy to answer questions. Ah! That's why it is called |