Friday, November 21, 2008
Just because
I try to talk a lot on my blog, but I really do not go into too much detail. If you have any questions about The Gambia, my life here, or whatever, click on "comment" on this particular blog entry (you actually have to be on the website and not just reading in email), and ask your question. I'll answer all of the questions and post the answers here on the blog.
Random Thoughts
From 11/14/08
Only 12 days to go til Farjara for Thanksgiving. Only 17 days to go til holiday!!!
I recently discovered the joy of bike riding again. I've been riding my bike all over the Greater Brikama Area. If I ride east of my village, then I have to ride up and down hills which can get quite tiring after some time. It's good for my legs, so I try to do it a couple of times a week. My family still doesn't get that I'm just riding for fun, and they always want to know where I'm going/where I've been. I always tell them, "N ka ta training," which means "I go training." They still think I'm a total weirdo, but I'm sure that they're just thinking, "oh that crazy Fatoumata." Some people in my village actually get what I'm doing though. The other day one of the bitik owners in my village told me that he saw me training, and how wonderful training is for the body.
I've had some crazy adventures while riding my bike. Today while riding through Brikama, some random Gambian man shouted out, "hey Katie!" That was a little odd! I also get a lot of kissy faces/noises and obscene gestures from the truck drivers, so I'm just as rude right back. I've given quite a few people the finger in this country. I also sometimes get bothered by the truckers that sleep by the road outside of my house, but I find that a few choice words usually shut them up really fast. They seem to understand exactly what I am saying to them.
Today I did a little "off-roading" in search of a lodge that I saw a sign for on the side of the road. The sign said that the lodge was "400 meters" off the road, but I have no clue how far of a distance that actually is. I road down the road and ended up in a village. I then turned around, and tried a different path, and ended up in a garbage dump. There were other paths left to explore, and I plan on going back soon, and this time paying closer attention for car tracks. I really want to find this place. I mean what if it has a pool!!! That would be amazing.
I'm still losing a lot of weight, and soon I'm going to be thinner than when I was in high school. Most people aim for their high school weight; looks like I'm going for middle school. I've been really hungry lately which I guess is because I've been working out. I eat a lot of food, and nothing satisfies me any more. What I wouldn't give for some french onion dip made out of sour cream and french onion soup mix! There doesn't seem to be any sour cream in The Gambia, but I have been told that the plain yogurt here is a great substitute.
Everything here for the most part is "natural," so I'll probably come home all "healthy" and unable to eat processed foods. Even though I've already decided that I'll only buy produce from farmer's markets from now on (it's cheaper and better quality), I swear that I will of everything in my power to get my body used to an extreme amount of processed foods again! I will also join a gym.
I've found that hot sauce makes all of the nasty food my host aunt cooks magically taste good. Just sprinkle a little, or a lot in some circumstances, and the food goes from bland to bam! I also can't wait to get the box that my mom sent because there is canned chicken in it. I'm going to mix some of it up with mayo and hot sauce, and then eat it on bread. I can't wait! Right now I'm just really hoping that my package came in, and that it will be delivered on mail run. Because of Thanksgiving and the All-Volunteer Meeting this month, mail run got shortened from 6 days to 4 days. I just hope that they'll deliver my package even though I live with 2 hours of Farjara.
I'm starting to get really antsy waiting for this trip! On Wed I cleaned my entire house (okay my teeny, tiny 2-room place) and even moved furniture. I dusted, swept, and threw things away. I even cleaned my windows.
The humidly has left for the time being, and it's actually starting to kind of get cold. At night it's in the 70s, and I've been sleeping with a sheet! I even wear my long-sleeve shirt in the mornings sometimes because it's a little chilly. I heard that the temperatures will drop some more soon. Then it'll just work its way up to being really hot and raining all the time again. A new group came last week, and some of them were going on and on about how nice the Gambia is. I thought, "just you wait!"
The problems with the bats seem to have been solved. Papa Jammeh put up some chicken wire along the line where the roof and the ceiling meet. I've been trying to keep the place nice just in case I do get replaced. I doubt it, but you never know. Papa Jammeh also showed up one day to fix the screen. I could hear him shouting my name while I was cutting down the top of my morigna tree with my machete, and when I went to greet him at the door he was outside of the window. He smiled and said, "Fatou screen mang beteyatta." (Fatou your screen is not good.) He said this with his arm inside the screen. I had been meaning to get the screen replaced, but I kept forgetting to buy a new screen. Papa Jammeh once again had taken care of me.
I still cannot believe that I have been here for almost one year. November is almost over, and then December will fly by. I've got the trip and Christmas, so that will fly by as well. Jenni is staying with me after the trip til Christmas, and she is bringing her bike, so we'll be able to do a lot of things. Maybe even ride to the beach! Before I know it I will have been here one year, and then it will be time to get all of my check-ups.
In February there's WAIST (West African International Softball Tournament). I'm planning on playing on the social team, which is the worst of the three teams that PC The Gambia is sending. I've heard that all of our teams do poorly, but I'm playing on the team where people might not even be able to catch the ball. I want to play with my friends, and to be perfectly honest I just want to have fun. People have been practicing for a couple of months for the other two teams, and if I'm on vacation then I want to have fun and relax. I gave up competitive sports a long time ago because I hate all of the pressure. Some time in the Spring I'm also going to get my Fula scars done. AKA let an old woman slice into my back using a razor blade.
I've got a lot to look forward to, and things are FINALLY picking up at site! The couple of months should fly by!
Only 12 days to go til Farjara for Thanksgiving. Only 17 days to go til holiday!!!
I recently discovered the joy of bike riding again. I've been riding my bike all over the Greater Brikama Area. If I ride east of my village, then I have to ride up and down hills which can get quite tiring after some time. It's good for my legs, so I try to do it a couple of times a week. My family still doesn't get that I'm just riding for fun, and they always want to know where I'm going/where I've been. I always tell them, "N ka ta training," which means "I go training." They still think I'm a total weirdo, but I'm sure that they're just thinking, "oh that crazy Fatoumata." Some people in my village actually get what I'm doing though. The other day one of the bitik owners in my village told me that he saw me training, and how wonderful training is for the body.
I've had some crazy adventures while riding my bike. Today while riding through Brikama, some random Gambian man shouted out, "hey Katie!" That was a little odd! I also get a lot of kissy faces/noises and obscene gestures from the truck drivers, so I'm just as rude right back. I've given quite a few people the finger in this country. I also sometimes get bothered by the truckers that sleep by the road outside of my house, but I find that a few choice words usually shut them up really fast. They seem to understand exactly what I am saying to them.
Today I did a little "off-roading" in search of a lodge that I saw a sign for on the side of the road. The sign said that the lodge was "400 meters" off the road, but I have no clue how far of a distance that actually is. I road down the road and ended up in a village. I then turned around, and tried a different path, and ended up in a garbage dump. There were other paths left to explore, and I plan on going back soon, and this time paying closer attention for car tracks. I really want to find this place. I mean what if it has a pool!!! That would be amazing.
I'm still losing a lot of weight, and soon I'm going to be thinner than when I was in high school. Most people aim for their high school weight; looks like I'm going for middle school. I've been really hungry lately which I guess is because I've been working out. I eat a lot of food, and nothing satisfies me any more. What I wouldn't give for some french onion dip made out of sour cream and french onion soup mix! There doesn't seem to be any sour cream in The Gambia, but I have been told that the plain yogurt here is a great substitute.
Everything here for the most part is "natural," so I'll probably come home all "healthy" and unable to eat processed foods. Even though I've already decided that I'll only buy produce from farmer's markets from now on (it's cheaper and better quality), I swear that I will of everything in my power to get my body used to an extreme amount of processed foods again! I will also join a gym.
I've found that hot sauce makes all of the nasty food my host aunt cooks magically taste good. Just sprinkle a little, or a lot in some circumstances, and the food goes from bland to bam! I also can't wait to get the box that my mom sent because there is canned chicken in it. I'm going to mix some of it up with mayo and hot sauce, and then eat it on bread. I can't wait! Right now I'm just really hoping that my package came in, and that it will be delivered on mail run. Because of Thanksgiving and the All-Volunteer Meeting this month, mail run got shortened from 6 days to 4 days. I just hope that they'll deliver my package even though I live with 2 hours of Farjara.
I'm starting to get really antsy waiting for this trip! On Wed I cleaned my entire house (okay my teeny, tiny 2-room place) and even moved furniture. I dusted, swept, and threw things away. I even cleaned my windows.
The humidly has left for the time being, and it's actually starting to kind of get cold. At night it's in the 70s, and I've been sleeping with a sheet! I even wear my long-sleeve shirt in the mornings sometimes because it's a little chilly. I heard that the temperatures will drop some more soon. Then it'll just work its way up to being really hot and raining all the time again. A new group came last week, and some of them were going on and on about how nice the Gambia is. I thought, "just you wait!"
The problems with the bats seem to have been solved. Papa Jammeh put up some chicken wire along the line where the roof and the ceiling meet. I've been trying to keep the place nice just in case I do get replaced. I doubt it, but you never know. Papa Jammeh also showed up one day to fix the screen. I could hear him shouting my name while I was cutting down the top of my morigna tree with my machete, and when I went to greet him at the door he was outside of the window. He smiled and said, "Fatou screen mang beteyatta." (Fatou your screen is not good.) He said this with his arm inside the screen. I had been meaning to get the screen replaced, but I kept forgetting to buy a new screen. Papa Jammeh once again had taken care of me.
I still cannot believe that I have been here for almost one year. November is almost over, and then December will fly by. I've got the trip and Christmas, so that will fly by as well. Jenni is staying with me after the trip til Christmas, and she is bringing her bike, so we'll be able to do a lot of things. Maybe even ride to the beach! Before I know it I will have been here one year, and then it will be time to get all of my check-ups.
In February there's WAIST (West African International Softball Tournament). I'm planning on playing on the social team, which is the worst of the three teams that PC The Gambia is sending. I've heard that all of our teams do poorly, but I'm playing on the team where people might not even be able to catch the ball. I want to play with my friends, and to be perfectly honest I just want to have fun. People have been practicing for a couple of months for the other two teams, and if I'm on vacation then I want to have fun and relax. I gave up competitive sports a long time ago because I hate all of the pressure. Some time in the Spring I'm also going to get my Fula scars done. AKA let an old woman slice into my back using a razor blade.
I've got a lot to look forward to, and things are FINALLY picking up at site! The couple of months should fly by!
From October
10/20/2008
Lately things have been going pretty slow here at site. Romonda ended with the celebration of Korieta. My fasting was cut short with a last minute trip to see Amanda, bit I was able to make it 10 days. I was supposed to wake up every morning around 5am to eat breakfast, but I was never able to do that so I just ended up starving all day. I did however sneak small sips of water throughout the day because I was getting dizzy spells. Every evening by 7pm I was pacing by my front door waiting for the women to set up the small meal to break fast, aka "the appetizers." By 7:20pm, I was outside pacing around with the rest of the family patiently waiting until the Iman called out on the Mosque loudspeaker that it was time to eat. I do not speak Arabic so I have no idea if this part is true, but I would like to believe that he shouted "people it's time to eat!!!" every evening.
I missed the first half of Romonda because of my finger infection, so by the time I started it was just an old habit for everyone else. Every night we had a mashed bean dip with a red pepper sauce. It was actually one of the most amazing things that I've had here. I was told by other PCVs that they didn't get anything like that. We had bread to dip in the dishes as well. Next, we always ate the millet porridge. We all had ladle-type spoons, and we ate out of a large bowl. Everyone also got a cup of tea to enjoy with the meal. We also usually had one large glass of cold water that everyone shared. Sometimes if one of Papa Jammeh's older children were visiting they'd bring juice mix. They sometimes also brought chicken along which was always amazing!!!
I ate with the women every night. Once we had all we wanted, the kids would move in to finish off the dishes. I never felt bad because the kids had been eating all day. Papa Jammeh ate alone in his house, and was occasionally joined by some of his friends. The other men ate around their own food bowl nearby to us women folk. Everyone that lives in the side house did their own thing. They just ate on their porch.
After dinner all of the adults, minus me, had to pray A LOT!!! Some nights they left to pray places, other times they just took their mats to isolated places and prayed. During all of this I just laid out on the mats with all of the kids. My cousin, Binta "LaLa," age 7, liked to cuddle with me. This was okay til I remember that LaLa would be an instant candidate for ADHD medication in the USA. She wiggled and turned all over, and constantly adjusted my arms. She also liked to call me her "daano" "baby," and it became our running joke. I also had to squeeze on the mat with Sirea and Mariama, so we all pretty much slept on top of each other. At around 9:30p or so, it was time to eat dinner. The food was a lot better than it normally is. We had a lot of vegetables, and all of the food tasted much richer.
A big part of Romonda is bread. Everyone breaks fast with bread. It's just what you do. Everything went very well with the bread the first two days that I was fasting, and then I noticed that they bread sections that everyone was getting was getting smaller and smaller each night until there was no bread at all in the whole village!!! I know this because I ran from bitik to bitik in search of bread. When I finally thought to ask someone what was going on, I was told that the Fula bakers went on strike, and that we may not have bread for a while. (The Fulas are one of the ethnic groups here, and they speak Pular.)
With the price of everything going up, the price of flour did as well. I heard that a sack of flour went up to D1,000, roughly $48 US Dollars. The bakers in Brikama started making the bread smaller, but they still charged the same price to buy each individual piece of bread. The Western Region Governor got wind of this, and told the bakers to reduce the price. The bakers said no, and eventually stopped selling the bread altogether. I've got to respect them for sticking it to the gov't and standing up for themselves, but on those days I really wanted my bread!!! We went two whole days without any bread at all, and then some of the small bakeries started baking bread. There wasn't very much bread, but we were all able to get a small piece each night. I loved the bean dip so much that I just ended up eating it with my hands most days. Then finally one afternoon I saw some kids with bread and asked them where they got it. I ran to that bitik which was overflowing with bread! We finally had bread again! I bought one loaf of bread, and ran home super excited. Turns out that the gov't really threatened the bakers about something with licenses. I'm not sure what it was but it worked!!!
Lately things have been going pretty slow here at site. Romonda ended with the celebration of Korieta. My fasting was cut short with a last minute trip to see Amanda, bit I was able to make it 10 days. I was supposed to wake up every morning around 5am to eat breakfast, but I was never able to do that so I just ended up starving all day. I did however sneak small sips of water throughout the day because I was getting dizzy spells. Every evening by 7pm I was pacing by my front door waiting for the women to set up the small meal to break fast, aka "the appetizers." By 7:20pm, I was outside pacing around with the rest of the family patiently waiting until the Iman called out on the Mosque loudspeaker that it was time to eat. I do not speak Arabic so I have no idea if this part is true, but I would like to believe that he shouted "people it's time to eat!!!" every evening.
I missed the first half of Romonda because of my finger infection, so by the time I started it was just an old habit for everyone else. Every night we had a mashed bean dip with a red pepper sauce. It was actually one of the most amazing things that I've had here. I was told by other PCVs that they didn't get anything like that. We had bread to dip in the dishes as well. Next, we always ate the millet porridge. We all had ladle-type spoons, and we ate out of a large bowl. Everyone also got a cup of tea to enjoy with the meal. We also usually had one large glass of cold water that everyone shared. Sometimes if one of Papa Jammeh's older children were visiting they'd bring juice mix. They sometimes also brought chicken along which was always amazing!!!
I ate with the women every night. Once we had all we wanted, the kids would move in to finish off the dishes. I never felt bad because the kids had been eating all day. Papa Jammeh ate alone in his house, and was occasionally joined by some of his friends. The other men ate around their own food bowl nearby to us women folk. Everyone that lives in the side house did their own thing. They just ate on their porch.
After dinner all of the adults, minus me, had to pray A LOT!!! Some nights they left to pray places, other times they just took their mats to isolated places and prayed. During all of this I just laid out on the mats with all of the kids. My cousin, Binta "LaLa," age 7, liked to cuddle with me. This was okay til I remember that LaLa would be an instant candidate for ADHD medication in the USA. She wiggled and turned all over, and constantly adjusted my arms. She also liked to call me her "daano" "baby," and it became our running joke. I also had to squeeze on the mat with Sirea and Mariama, so we all pretty much slept on top of each other. At around 9:30p or so, it was time to eat dinner. The food was a lot better than it normally is. We had a lot of vegetables, and all of the food tasted much richer.
A big part of Romonda is bread. Everyone breaks fast with bread. It's just what you do. Everything went very well with the bread the first two days that I was fasting, and then I noticed that they bread sections that everyone was getting was getting smaller and smaller each night until there was no bread at all in the whole village!!! I know this because I ran from bitik to bitik in search of bread. When I finally thought to ask someone what was going on, I was told that the Fula bakers went on strike, and that we may not have bread for a while. (The Fulas are one of the ethnic groups here, and they speak Pular.)
With the price of everything going up, the price of flour did as well. I heard that a sack of flour went up to D1,000, roughly $48 US Dollars. The bakers in Brikama started making the bread smaller, but they still charged the same price to buy each individual piece of bread. The Western Region Governor got wind of this, and told the bakers to reduce the price. The bakers said no, and eventually stopped selling the bread altogether. I've got to respect them for sticking it to the gov't and standing up for themselves, but on those days I really wanted my bread!!! We went two whole days without any bread at all, and then some of the small bakeries started baking bread. There wasn't very much bread, but we were all able to get a small piece each night. I loved the bean dip so much that I just ended up eating it with my hands most days. Then finally one afternoon I saw some kids with bread and asked them where they got it. I ran to that bitik which was overflowing with bread! We finally had bread again! I bought one loaf of bread, and ran home super excited. Turns out that the gov't really threatened the bakers about something with licenses. I'm not sure what it was but it worked!!!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Sorry It's Been Forever!!!
Okay, so I haven't written anything in a while. I think that I may have written some blogs out at site, but I left that book at home so I am not sure. I'll be back down here in Farjara at the end of the month for an All-Volunteer meeting as well as Thanksgiving. Every single person in PC will be here, so it's not likely that I will be able to get on the computer very much.
Right after Thanksgiving, on Dec 1, I am leaving for my Spain/Morocco trip!!! I'm super excited, but to be perfectly honest it really hasn't hit me yet that I am going on a trip. I've heard from other volunteers that it is really nice to just get out of The Gambia for a little bit. I really do like it here, but now that it is all "normal" (whatever that means) to me, I often get annoyed. I've gotten so comfortable with my family now that sometimes I just get annoyed with them like I do my family back home. Two weeks ago I got so annoyed with my Aunt for following me around and trying to boss me around, that I just left and went to see my friend Isatou all day. I cooked and cleaned with her, and then just ate lunch with her family. Her compound is small, so it's nice to go over there sometimes. It's just Isatou, her Mom, her sister, Isatou's 3 daughters, and her sister's 3 kids. Her sister is also about to have another baby very soon so I excited!!!
December will be a wild month. I have the trip, and I am returning the day after Tobaski starts. Tobaski is basically the Muslim version of Christmas, only the they are smarter about it because they spread it out over multiple days. I think that Jenni is going to come stay with me in-between when we return and Christmas. As of now the plan is to celebrate Christmas in Farjara at the PC house. I want to make Christmas cookies, so we'll see how that turns out.
This has been a crazy month!!! The first Saturday of the month we celebrated Jenni's birthday that actually took place at the end of September. We bought fried chicken, and made potato salad, a salad with ranch dressing and croutons, watermelon, and a cake. It was AMAZING!!! I either ate too much or my stomach isn't designed to handle that sort of food any more, and sadly I threw most if it back up. At least I got to taste it!!! I'm going to pig out in Spain, and even if most of it doesn't stay down, I'll be happy to have tasted it. Anyone reading this may think that it is crazy, but if everything you ate everyday never satisfied you, then you would be happy to taste something that does. Two weeks later, I attended a girls night at another volunteers house. It was interesting, and that is all I have to say about that. On the Wednesday before Halloween, I went up to Jenni's house. I decided to hang out with Amanda that morning in Farjara, so I got off to a late start. By the time I traveled all the way up to Jenni's house it was almost evening, so I got stuck on a gele to her village that took forever!!! I guess normally the geles take the paved road, but later in the day they travel down the bush roads. I'm really not sure that the paths we drove down qualify as a road though. Sometimes the gele was pretty much "four-wheeling it" over broken rocks. At one point I was certain that the thing would flip! This was also the week of my dreaded "running stomach." (This is the polite Gambian term for diarrhea.) Let's just say that when I finally made it to Jenni's house I was very happy. I hung out with Jenni and Shayla, ate a little bit of dinner because my stomach felt so bad, and then passed out. The next morning Jenni really wanted to walk to the river, so I decided to just go. She said that it was like 9k away, but it was cool (oh by the way, it gets cold here at night now), so I figured that I could tough it out. I also was stupid and wore a sleeveless shirt and forgot to bring sunscreen. By the time we were half-way there, I was really sick and starting to burn. It was ugly. When we finally got there I had to run into the bushes, and I spent a great deal of time there throughout the day. We walked home in the late afternoon when it started to cool down. We walked down a path from the river, and ended up in someone in the village's back yard. We walked right through their kitchen, and they invited us to lunch. We declined, but it was just showed how polite Gambians are. They didn't even know us, but they still invited us into their home. We walked to the water pump, and filled up our buckets. We also splashed water all over ourselves, but we were completely dry 15 minutes into our long journey back to Jenni's village. We walked through a couple of villages, and it was funny because I'm willing to bet that it was the first time that they saw a group of toubabs walking through their teeny, tiny villages in the middle of the bush.
On Halloween, Shayla, Jenni, and I traveled to another girl's site to celebrate Halloween. Her site was full of all these old colonial abandoned buildings. The place was really cool!!! They even have an outdoor movie theater that no one uses. Most of the party took place at an old peanut factory. All of the machines where still inside, and at night it was really creepy. We camped out on the dock, which was directly on the Gambian River. It got cold at night, and a little creepy, but I was still sick, so I did not sleep too much. On Saturday we traveled to Amanda's house because the week before her host Mother had twins. One boy and one girl. On Sunday the kulio (naming ceremony) took place. The four of us got dressed up in our matching outfits from our swearing-in ceremony, and we spent the day being stared at my everyone that came to the party. The babies were really cute!!! They were only a week old, so they just sort of sat there. They were named Adama (boy) and Hawa (girl). This is a pretty common name pairing for twin babies. On Monday Shayla, Jenni, and I traveled to Farjara and just hung out. On Tuesday we decided to just stop by the US Embassy because we were too tired to go to any parties. I stayed up until about 1am here (8p est i think), and then fell asleep on the folding chair bed that I made. I woke up every hour to see how the electoral votes were going, and then at like 4am they announced that Obama won. Outside the Embassy people started honking their horns and shouting. People of the Gambia were very happy!!! It's very different to have people actually like the US President. We'll have to see what happens. I think that Obama really wants to make a lot of change, and I pray to God that he can do it. I missed seeing his speech, but I heard that it was amazing.
On Wednesday, Jenni, Shayla, and I went to my house. We spent Wed and Thurs being lazy, and pretty much reading and napping most of the time. We hadn't slept much during the past week, so we were trying to play catch-up. We also messed with Ebrima aka the "little special boy" who lives in my compound. He's four, and he just started talking two months ago. He's "afraid" of my friends that come to visit, so I chase him and threaten to take him to them, and he screams. It's actually quite funny. Then when he thinks that he is tough, he comes to my door and shouts at us. It's very entertaining. We decided to come back today, Friday, instead of Sunday, because Shayla was feeling a little sick, and we were having a problem with bats.
Right now the moon is in the process each night of getting full, so the bats are going crazy right now. Usually they just dive bomb my house, and scream a lot outside. I've gotten used to this, and it doesn't even bother me anymore when they come close to me as I am bathing. On Wed night everything was going fine until we heard some movement in my ceiling (i have a aluminum ceiling under the roof, so I'm never worried about all of the creepy things that live up there). The movement was quickly followed by the worst screaming sound that I have ever heard!!! Imagine your worst and times it by one-hundred! We could also hear it trying to walk around up there, and what sounded like it tearing up the ceiling. Then last night, there wasn't as much screaming, but the bat really sounded like it was destroying the house. This morning when I woke up I found Papa Jammeh and tried to explain what was going on to him. Actually I spoke to Mama Jammeh first, and she didn't really get what was going on. I think that she really enjoyed watching me pretend to be a bat that was attacking my house. I kept saying "tansoo" which is Mandinka for bat. Then Papa Jammeh showed up and also got a kick out of my impersonations. I have no idea how to say ceiling, so he thought that I was just talking about them dive bombing the roof. Finally Brama, a bitik owner that is some how related to me, stopped by, and helped me translate into Jola what was going on with the bats. I led Papa Jammeh over to the part of the house where the bats had knocked away the rocks to get into my ceiling, and he promised me that he would fix it. I told him that I was just more worried about the bats destroying his house.
Now I'm back in Farjara until Sunday. The newest group of PCVs arrived yesterday, so now I'm getting to be even more of an upperclassman. I can't believe that I'm getting close to one year already! I heard that the second year goes by even faster which is really scary!!! My health group came in February, but now the group comes in November with the Agfos, so in a way I am a second year already. Yikes!!! Before I know it this entire crazy adventure will be over!!! Then it's back to the real world. Dear Lord I'm not sure if I can handle it after being gone for so long!
Right after Thanksgiving, on Dec 1, I am leaving for my Spain/Morocco trip!!! I'm super excited, but to be perfectly honest it really hasn't hit me yet that I am going on a trip. I've heard from other volunteers that it is really nice to just get out of The Gambia for a little bit. I really do like it here, but now that it is all "normal" (whatever that means) to me, I often get annoyed. I've gotten so comfortable with my family now that sometimes I just get annoyed with them like I do my family back home. Two weeks ago I got so annoyed with my Aunt for following me around and trying to boss me around, that I just left and went to see my friend Isatou all day. I cooked and cleaned with her, and then just ate lunch with her family. Her compound is small, so it's nice to go over there sometimes. It's just Isatou, her Mom, her sister, Isatou's 3 daughters, and her sister's 3 kids. Her sister is also about to have another baby very soon so I excited!!!
December will be a wild month. I have the trip, and I am returning the day after Tobaski starts. Tobaski is basically the Muslim version of Christmas, only the they are smarter about it because they spread it out over multiple days. I think that Jenni is going to come stay with me in-between when we return and Christmas. As of now the plan is to celebrate Christmas in Farjara at the PC house. I want to make Christmas cookies, so we'll see how that turns out.
This has been a crazy month!!! The first Saturday of the month we celebrated Jenni's birthday that actually took place at the end of September. We bought fried chicken, and made potato salad, a salad with ranch dressing and croutons, watermelon, and a cake. It was AMAZING!!! I either ate too much or my stomach isn't designed to handle that sort of food any more, and sadly I threw most if it back up. At least I got to taste it!!! I'm going to pig out in Spain, and even if most of it doesn't stay down, I'll be happy to have tasted it. Anyone reading this may think that it is crazy, but if everything you ate everyday never satisfied you, then you would be happy to taste something that does. Two weeks later, I attended a girls night at another volunteers house. It was interesting, and that is all I have to say about that. On the Wednesday before Halloween, I went up to Jenni's house. I decided to hang out with Amanda that morning in Farjara, so I got off to a late start. By the time I traveled all the way up to Jenni's house it was almost evening, so I got stuck on a gele to her village that took forever!!! I guess normally the geles take the paved road, but later in the day they travel down the bush roads. I'm really not sure that the paths we drove down qualify as a road though. Sometimes the gele was pretty much "four-wheeling it" over broken rocks. At one point I was certain that the thing would flip! This was also the week of my dreaded "running stomach." (This is the polite Gambian term for diarrhea.) Let's just say that when I finally made it to Jenni's house I was very happy. I hung out with Jenni and Shayla, ate a little bit of dinner because my stomach felt so bad, and then passed out. The next morning Jenni really wanted to walk to the river, so I decided to just go. She said that it was like 9k away, but it was cool (oh by the way, it gets cold here at night now), so I figured that I could tough it out. I also was stupid and wore a sleeveless shirt and forgot to bring sunscreen. By the time we were half-way there, I was really sick and starting to burn. It was ugly. When we finally got there I had to run into the bushes, and I spent a great deal of time there throughout the day. We walked home in the late afternoon when it started to cool down. We walked down a path from the river, and ended up in someone in the village's back yard. We walked right through their kitchen, and they invited us to lunch. We declined, but it was just showed how polite Gambians are. They didn't even know us, but they still invited us into their home. We walked to the water pump, and filled up our buckets. We also splashed water all over ourselves, but we were completely dry 15 minutes into our long journey back to Jenni's village. We walked through a couple of villages, and it was funny because I'm willing to bet that it was the first time that they saw a group of toubabs walking through their teeny, tiny villages in the middle of the bush.
On Halloween, Shayla, Jenni, and I traveled to another girl's site to celebrate Halloween. Her site was full of all these old colonial abandoned buildings. The place was really cool!!! They even have an outdoor movie theater that no one uses. Most of the party took place at an old peanut factory. All of the machines where still inside, and at night it was really creepy. We camped out on the dock, which was directly on the Gambian River. It got cold at night, and a little creepy, but I was still sick, so I did not sleep too much. On Saturday we traveled to Amanda's house because the week before her host Mother had twins. One boy and one girl. On Sunday the kulio (naming ceremony) took place. The four of us got dressed up in our matching outfits from our swearing-in ceremony, and we spent the day being stared at my everyone that came to the party. The babies were really cute!!! They were only a week old, so they just sort of sat there. They were named Adama (boy) and Hawa (girl). This is a pretty common name pairing for twin babies. On Monday Shayla, Jenni, and I traveled to Farjara and just hung out. On Tuesday we decided to just stop by the US Embassy because we were too tired to go to any parties. I stayed up until about 1am here (8p est i think), and then fell asleep on the folding chair bed that I made. I woke up every hour to see how the electoral votes were going, and then at like 4am they announced that Obama won. Outside the Embassy people started honking their horns and shouting. People of the Gambia were very happy!!! It's very different to have people actually like the US President. We'll have to see what happens. I think that Obama really wants to make a lot of change, and I pray to God that he can do it. I missed seeing his speech, but I heard that it was amazing.
On Wednesday, Jenni, Shayla, and I went to my house. We spent Wed and Thurs being lazy, and pretty much reading and napping most of the time. We hadn't slept much during the past week, so we were trying to play catch-up. We also messed with Ebrima aka the "little special boy" who lives in my compound. He's four, and he just started talking two months ago. He's "afraid" of my friends that come to visit, so I chase him and threaten to take him to them, and he screams. It's actually quite funny. Then when he thinks that he is tough, he comes to my door and shouts at us. It's very entertaining. We decided to come back today, Friday, instead of Sunday, because Shayla was feeling a little sick, and we were having a problem with bats.
Right now the moon is in the process each night of getting full, so the bats are going crazy right now. Usually they just dive bomb my house, and scream a lot outside. I've gotten used to this, and it doesn't even bother me anymore when they come close to me as I am bathing. On Wed night everything was going fine until we heard some movement in my ceiling (i have a aluminum ceiling under the roof, so I'm never worried about all of the creepy things that live up there). The movement was quickly followed by the worst screaming sound that I have ever heard!!! Imagine your worst and times it by one-hundred! We could also hear it trying to walk around up there, and what sounded like it tearing up the ceiling. Then last night, there wasn't as much screaming, but the bat really sounded like it was destroying the house. This morning when I woke up I found Papa Jammeh and tried to explain what was going on to him. Actually I spoke to Mama Jammeh first, and she didn't really get what was going on. I think that she really enjoyed watching me pretend to be a bat that was attacking my house. I kept saying "tansoo" which is Mandinka for bat. Then Papa Jammeh showed up and also got a kick out of my impersonations. I have no idea how to say ceiling, so he thought that I was just talking about them dive bombing the roof. Finally Brama, a bitik owner that is some how related to me, stopped by, and helped me translate into Jola what was going on with the bats. I led Papa Jammeh over to the part of the house where the bats had knocked away the rocks to get into my ceiling, and he promised me that he would fix it. I told him that I was just more worried about the bats destroying his house.
Now I'm back in Farjara until Sunday. The newest group of PCVs arrived yesterday, so now I'm getting to be even more of an upperclassman. I can't believe that I'm getting close to one year already! I heard that the second year goes by even faster which is really scary!!! My health group came in February, but now the group comes in November with the Agfos, so in a way I am a second year already. Yikes!!! Before I know it this entire crazy adventure will be over!!! Then it's back to the real world. Dear Lord I'm not sure if I can handle it after being gone for so long!
Monday, October 6, 2008
I May Not Be Back On For A While...
I'm not planning on coming back down here to Farjara until Thanksgiving. I may end up coming down one day just to use the computer, but I'm not sure yet. At the end of the month we're all heading to Basse for Halloween and then staying there to have a party for election night on Nov. 4th. I'll be back down for Thanksgiving and All-Volunteer Meeting, and then it's off to Spain and Morocco.
Knowing myself I will most likely come down here once to at least check my email. Luckily I can make it here in one hour so it won't be hard for me to get here.
See you all in a while!
Knowing myself I will most likely come down here once to at least check my email. Luckily I can make it here in one hour so it won't be hard for me to get here.
See you all in a while!
The Crazy Story of My Infected Finger
From 21/9/08
So, my finger got infected. It wasn't just some little thing, it swelled up to almost three times its normal size, and it turned bright green.
It all started around the time I went to see Shayla. It felt like I had an in-grown ail, so I just sort of ignored it. By Thursday it was starting to swell, and really starting to hurt. I knew I was going to Farjara on Saturday, so there wasn't really much I could do until then. By Friday night it was starting to turn green as well. I contacted PC on Sunday, and they told me to wait until Tuesday. (That Monday was Labor Day)
On Monday we had a bar-b-cue and a softball game. I of course wanted to play. I went to the field in a skirt and my crocs. Bad combination for any sport! By this time my finger was hurting badly, but I really, really wanted to play. I got to play first base. The first inning went really well. No one scored, and I even got a nice hit when I was up to bat. Running in crocs was quite difficult though! Then came the dreaded second inning. There weren't enough gloves, so we all had to share. (I had left mine at site) During the 2nd inning I got stuck with a really bad, thin glove. Someone hit the ball short, so the pitcher threw the ball to me. It came really fast, but I knew that I had to catch it. It was one of those catches that really burns your hand! I was really happy to have actually caught the ball, when all of a sudden my finger felt pain like never before! I threw the glove off onto the ground and looked at my bright purple finger. After that I was all-time catcher for the rest of the game.
I didn't want to look like a huge baby, so I waited until I got back to the stodge to complain to Amanda about my finger. By then my finger was even bigger, and the purple section had turned bright green. Now the entire tip of my finger was bright green. It was not pretty. I found some Advil and took it right away. A little while later some of us went out to get pizza for Amanda's Birthday.
On Tuesday I woke up early and headed to the med office. The head nurse wasn't there, so the second in charge said that I had to wait another day to see her. I guess that she wasn't able to make informed decisions. She tried to get the finger to drain, and she gave me some antibiotics. This was the day that I began my wonder medical hold experience. (aka PC pays your housing fees AND gives you a food stipend!) Jenni got med hold as well for some sort of lung infection, or a "tickle in her throat," as PC called it. I came back the next day and the head nurse was shocked. She told me to keep taking the antibiotics and to continue "swooshing" (aka soak while moving finger around) my finger in water regularly.
I came back on Friday and I actually got to see a doctor. This was a big deal because PC usually doesn't spring for a doctor. Jenni got to see him as well. The head nurse had talked on Wednesday about removing the nail. This made me nervous because some people at the stodge told me that one guy had his toe nail removed and it never grew back. I did not want to have a nail less finger! I vowed if they did have to take my nail, and it never grew back, then I would buy a fake nail for the finger.
When I saw the doctor, he decided not to take the nail. It did seem like the head nurse was pushing him to take it though. He peeled off the dead skin, and cut down into the finger until it bled. This seemed to make him happy. In those moments I wanted to take a scalpel from him and cut him as well. What he was dong caused quite a bit of pain! I got med hold over the weekend, and Jenni did as well. We ended up watching Alias all weekend and using the computers at the office. We both had a blast!
On Monday my wonderful dream ended and I was taken off med hold. Jenni got med hold for at least one more day. PC moved her from the stodge to the med office to see if the mold in the stodge was the cause of her infection. I was released by the 2nd in command, but the head nurse still wanted to see me again the next day. I told her that I wasn't planning on going home since the newest group was swearing-in in a couple of days. She told me that I could just sleep at the med office with Jenni. We were supposed to stay for two nights, but a girl came in that was pretty sick, so we got kicked out after only one night.
It took about one to two weeks, but now my finger is pretty much back to normal. As I type this on the computer on 6/10, my finger is back to normal. To this day I am still not sure how it got infected, but it did. Since then I've also had an infected toe, and an infected bug bite on my leg as well. Neither turned bright green, so I guess that they were okay.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
One random crazy weekend
From 21/9/08
Okay, so I just realized that I was in Farjara for two weeks and did not update my blog once. I'm really not sure why. Maybe I spent too much time on Facebook. I did manage to get some new pictures loaded on Facebook so that's good. Let me tell you a little bit about the past month...
On August 26th I road up to Shayla's house. I got to the Brikama car park right before 7am when the cars officially start running. I ended up on a gele that I guess was trying to cheat the car park because we road around looking for passengers. Normally the gele parks in a spot and waits. Passengers pay the attendant and get a ticket. The attendant gives the driver the money and keeps some for himself. I guess these guys want to cut out the middle man. After 45 minutes of looking for passengers we finally got to leave. These guys wanted to make as much money as possible, so they just kept cramming people in that were looking for short rides. I got to know everyone around me very well! For most of the ride I had either Isatou or Mohammed sitting on my lap. These were some random little kids that I met on the gele. Their mom was tired of holding them, and at one point she really wanted to eat, so she just handed me Isatou. That's how things work in the Gambia. Then after Isatou had gone to sleep on her mom's lap, Mohammed lost his seat to an older man. I didn't want him to have to stand, so on my lap he went as well. Could you imagine actually doing something like that in America? I'd probably would have been sent to death row, Throughout the ride their mom and I took turns buying little treats along the way, and the four of us had a good time.
Cramming 30 people (yes at one point I counted) into a gele at some points wasn't even the craziest things that happened on that trip! At one point we had a pregnant lady vomiting into a bag on her way to an antenatal clinic. We also had a flat tire problem. A little over 2/3 of the way there, we got a flat. This was my first experience with a gele flat, but I heard it can take a REALLY LONG time! All the men got off the gele to "assist" and the women got off to search for the sticks that they all use to clean their teeth. I really had to pee, so I got off the gele and searched for a nice, private place to use the bathroom. No rest stops or gas stations here! After about 20 minutes everyone got the new tire on, and it was time to go. The driver made the apprentice basically hang off the back of the gele to watch the left rear tire. The poor guy almost got pelted in the face by the lug nut when it shot off the tire. He never missed a beat. He jumped right off the gele, and ran after it. The driver stopped, and we waited for the apprentice to run and catch up with the gele. They sort of fixed the tire again (with the "help" of every man on the gele). We were able to make it the 10 minutes to a tire repair place. (no lie!) There the driver and the owners fought a lot about prices. There were a lot of "F-U's" going around. I wanted to scream "F all of you!" Everyone got off the gele, but I was tired so I just stayed on it. Mohammed stayed on too. Again, red flag in America! I think he was 7, so he could actually speak English relatively well for someone his age. We talked and ate pankatoes while they fixed the tire. 20 minutes later we were off again.
When I finally made it to Soma it was 2p. My cell phone had been dead for over a day, so I could actually call Shayla to see where she was. I ended up walking to her village hoping that she would be there. Isatou and Mohammed's mom wanted to make sure that I got there safely, so she forced some teenage girl to walk with me. Once we were out of the site of "mom," I told her that I knew where I was going. I walked what normally takes 30-40 minutes in probably 20 minutes top. I was so hot, thirsty, and tired that I just wanted to get there. I got to her house and she wasn't there, but I was pretty sure that she wouldn't be because she goes on trek a lot with the area clinic. I found a charged cell phone, put my sim card in, and received a text from Shayla that she had so brilliantly sent with her lock combo. I went inside and fell asleep on the couch til she got home from work.
Jenni and Amanda came the next day. I saw Shayla off as she went to work, swept her house like a good little wife, and waited patiently for Jenni and Amanda to arrive. I read Harry Potter while it stormed outside. They finally arrived around noon. The three of us hung around until Shayla got home from work. The next day Jenni and I walked Shayla to her clinic, and got a short tour of the place. She was going on trek that day, so the clinic vehicle dropped Jenni and I off in Soma. We had to buy some veggies and other things for the dinner that we were going to cook for the trainees the next night. After we got all that we needed we headed home. We realized that we didn't buy vinegar, so we had to stop at a bitik on the way home. The bitik owner really couldn't speak the local language (really we can't either), and instead of English he spoke French. He kept trying to give us white vinegar, and neither Jenni nor I knew how to say that we needed dark vinegar. Finally Jenni pointed to the vinegar and herself and said that we didn't need that kind. She then pointed to the guy and the dark vinegar, and said that we needed one like that. The three of us laughed, and he told us that he didn't have any. We ended up buying the vinegar in Shayla's village.
On Friday we traveled to Fula Kunda to cook dinner for the trainees. Before we left we stopped at a stand to get mashed up bean sandwiches. When Jenni and I were walking back to meet Shayla and Amanda, who got eggs instead, a group of kids started toubabing us and asking for money. Out of no where Jenni just started babbling and gesturing for the kids to come over. I just started laughing! Some kids got scared and ran away. Others figured out what she was doing and started to laugh too.
We got on a gele and traveled to Fula Kunda which is about a 45 minute ride. We decided earlier that cooking them dinner would be nice, so we arranged for all of the trainees to meet there. We cooked pasta and sauce, and made an amazing salad to go along with it. Jenni even made popcorn. The whole thing was fun til it was time to go to bed. At this point we still had that cat Toby. He still wasn't house trained, so he had to sleep outside. He kept climbing the screen and getting stuck at the top of the door. It was pretty annoying and it went on most of the night. We spent the night in one of the trainees' family's guest house. We had our own private little house complete with a pit latrine. That was really nice! We slept on the floor on mats, and things started out okay once we turned off the flashlights. Soon the floor was covered with bugs, and there were mosquitoes everywhere! At one point I got up and took a shower in bug spray. All of that plus stupid Toby kept all of us from sleeping much that night.
We got up around 5:30, and went out to the road to catch a gele. We boarded one around 6:30, and off we went. We had to stop at a mosque so people could pray, then off we went. It was still really early, so we didn't have to stop at too many police checkpoints. The driver drove like we were on a video game simulator. He didn't even slow down for the giant potholes in the road, and he did not take his foot off the gas once. He just kept jerking the gele back and forth. I wasn't complaining though because we were making great time!
Normally the car goes all the way to Serekunda, but on that day we got dropped on the side of the road in Brikama. (Right down the road from my house) We walked all the way to the carpark, and that is when we realized that there were no geles there. That's when we learned that it was a "country clean-up day" or something along those lines. We all got really annoyed, okay mostly me, and we, mostly me again, set out on a mission to find a way to get us to Farjara. We ended up walking back to the road to try to find a car. It was 9:30, (we had set a land speed gele record making it to Brikama by 9am), and cars wouldn't' start running again until after 1p. I was annoyed, so I walked ahead to cool down. I found a police checkpoint and sat down there. When the others arrived a few minutes later, Toby was gone. I guess that he broke free of the box and he ran away. Jenni was tired of chasing after him, so our journey together was complete. I can't say that I missed him for even one second. After multiple horrible gele rides, washing his poop out of my clothes when I got home from Jenni's house, and just dealing with him, he will not be missed. I'm sure that he hated us as much as we all hated him. I'm almost positive that he just ran away on purpose.
It started to rain so we had to hang out under some shop pavilions. When the rain finished, we set out to find a ride. We finally got a ride with one of the country's bank cars. We were so happy. Because we were in an official car we didn't have to stop at any police checkpoints. We also got to go really fast because there were no other cars on the road. Even with the two stops we had to make to drop money off at banks, we still made it to the PC office in 20 minutes! That normally takes 1 hour. We hung out all weekend and my finger got worse and worse...
Next entry, the saga of my infected finger...
Okay, so I just realized that I was in Farjara for two weeks and did not update my blog once. I'm really not sure why. Maybe I spent too much time on Facebook. I did manage to get some new pictures loaded on Facebook so that's good. Let me tell you a little bit about the past month...
On August 26th I road up to Shayla's house. I got to the Brikama car park right before 7am when the cars officially start running. I ended up on a gele that I guess was trying to cheat the car park because we road around looking for passengers. Normally the gele parks in a spot and waits. Passengers pay the attendant and get a ticket. The attendant gives the driver the money and keeps some for himself. I guess these guys want to cut out the middle man. After 45 minutes of looking for passengers we finally got to leave. These guys wanted to make as much money as possible, so they just kept cramming people in that were looking for short rides. I got to know everyone around me very well! For most of the ride I had either Isatou or Mohammed sitting on my lap. These were some random little kids that I met on the gele. Their mom was tired of holding them, and at one point she really wanted to eat, so she just handed me Isatou. That's how things work in the Gambia. Then after Isatou had gone to sleep on her mom's lap, Mohammed lost his seat to an older man. I didn't want him to have to stand, so on my lap he went as well. Could you imagine actually doing something like that in America? I'd probably would have been sent to death row, Throughout the ride their mom and I took turns buying little treats along the way, and the four of us had a good time.
Cramming 30 people (yes at one point I counted) into a gele at some points wasn't even the craziest things that happened on that trip! At one point we had a pregnant lady vomiting into a bag on her way to an antenatal clinic. We also had a flat tire problem. A little over 2/3 of the way there, we got a flat. This was my first experience with a gele flat, but I heard it can take a REALLY LONG time! All the men got off the gele to "assist" and the women got off to search for the sticks that they all use to clean their teeth. I really had to pee, so I got off the gele and searched for a nice, private place to use the bathroom. No rest stops or gas stations here! After about 20 minutes everyone got the new tire on, and it was time to go. The driver made the apprentice basically hang off the back of the gele to watch the left rear tire. The poor guy almost got pelted in the face by the lug nut when it shot off the tire. He never missed a beat. He jumped right off the gele, and ran after it. The driver stopped, and we waited for the apprentice to run and catch up with the gele. They sort of fixed the tire again (with the "help" of every man on the gele). We were able to make it the 10 minutes to a tire repair place. (no lie!) There the driver and the owners fought a lot about prices. There were a lot of "F-U's" going around. I wanted to scream "F all of you!" Everyone got off the gele, but I was tired so I just stayed on it. Mohammed stayed on too. Again, red flag in America! I think he was 7, so he could actually speak English relatively well for someone his age. We talked and ate pankatoes while they fixed the tire. 20 minutes later we were off again.
When I finally made it to Soma it was 2p. My cell phone had been dead for over a day, so I could actually call Shayla to see where she was. I ended up walking to her village hoping that she would be there. Isatou and Mohammed's mom wanted to make sure that I got there safely, so she forced some teenage girl to walk with me. Once we were out of the site of "mom," I told her that I knew where I was going. I walked what normally takes 30-40 minutes in probably 20 minutes top. I was so hot, thirsty, and tired that I just wanted to get there. I got to her house and she wasn't there, but I was pretty sure that she wouldn't be because she goes on trek a lot with the area clinic. I found a charged cell phone, put my sim card in, and received a text from Shayla that she had so brilliantly sent with her lock combo. I went inside and fell asleep on the couch til she got home from work.
Jenni and Amanda came the next day. I saw Shayla off as she went to work, swept her house like a good little wife, and waited patiently for Jenni and Amanda to arrive. I read Harry Potter while it stormed outside. They finally arrived around noon. The three of us hung around until Shayla got home from work. The next day Jenni and I walked Shayla to her clinic, and got a short tour of the place. She was going on trek that day, so the clinic vehicle dropped Jenni and I off in Soma. We had to buy some veggies and other things for the dinner that we were going to cook for the trainees the next night. After we got all that we needed we headed home. We realized that we didn't buy vinegar, so we had to stop at a bitik on the way home. The bitik owner really couldn't speak the local language (really we can't either), and instead of English he spoke French. He kept trying to give us white vinegar, and neither Jenni nor I knew how to say that we needed dark vinegar. Finally Jenni pointed to the vinegar and herself and said that we didn't need that kind. She then pointed to the guy and the dark vinegar, and said that we needed one like that. The three of us laughed, and he told us that he didn't have any. We ended up buying the vinegar in Shayla's village.
On Friday we traveled to Fula Kunda to cook dinner for the trainees. Before we left we stopped at a stand to get mashed up bean sandwiches. When Jenni and I were walking back to meet Shayla and Amanda, who got eggs instead, a group of kids started toubabing us and asking for money. Out of no where Jenni just started babbling and gesturing for the kids to come over. I just started laughing! Some kids got scared and ran away. Others figured out what she was doing and started to laugh too.
We got on a gele and traveled to Fula Kunda which is about a 45 minute ride. We decided earlier that cooking them dinner would be nice, so we arranged for all of the trainees to meet there. We cooked pasta and sauce, and made an amazing salad to go along with it. Jenni even made popcorn. The whole thing was fun til it was time to go to bed. At this point we still had that cat Toby. He still wasn't house trained, so he had to sleep outside. He kept climbing the screen and getting stuck at the top of the door. It was pretty annoying and it went on most of the night. We spent the night in one of the trainees' family's guest house. We had our own private little house complete with a pit latrine. That was really nice! We slept on the floor on mats, and things started out okay once we turned off the flashlights. Soon the floor was covered with bugs, and there were mosquitoes everywhere! At one point I got up and took a shower in bug spray. All of that plus stupid Toby kept all of us from sleeping much that night.
We got up around 5:30, and went out to the road to catch a gele. We boarded one around 6:30, and off we went. We had to stop at a mosque so people could pray, then off we went. It was still really early, so we didn't have to stop at too many police checkpoints. The driver drove like we were on a video game simulator. He didn't even slow down for the giant potholes in the road, and he did not take his foot off the gas once. He just kept jerking the gele back and forth. I wasn't complaining though because we were making great time!
Normally the car goes all the way to Serekunda, but on that day we got dropped on the side of the road in Brikama. (Right down the road from my house) We walked all the way to the carpark, and that is when we realized that there were no geles there. That's when we learned that it was a "country clean-up day" or something along those lines. We all got really annoyed, okay mostly me, and we, mostly me again, set out on a mission to find a way to get us to Farjara. We ended up walking back to the road to try to find a car. It was 9:30, (we had set a land speed gele record making it to Brikama by 9am), and cars wouldn't' start running again until after 1p. I was annoyed, so I walked ahead to cool down. I found a police checkpoint and sat down there. When the others arrived a few minutes later, Toby was gone. I guess that he broke free of the box and he ran away. Jenni was tired of chasing after him, so our journey together was complete. I can't say that I missed him for even one second. After multiple horrible gele rides, washing his poop out of my clothes when I got home from Jenni's house, and just dealing with him, he will not be missed. I'm sure that he hated us as much as we all hated him. I'm almost positive that he just ran away on purpose.
It started to rain so we had to hang out under some shop pavilions. When the rain finished, we set out to find a ride. We finally got a ride with one of the country's bank cars. We were so happy. Because we were in an official car we didn't have to stop at any police checkpoints. We also got to go really fast because there were no other cars on the road. Even with the two stops we had to make to drop money off at banks, we still made it to the PC office in 20 minutes! That normally takes 1 hour. We hung out all weekend and my finger got worse and worse...
Next entry, the saga of my infected finger...
Saturday, September 27, 2008
It's been a while...
Okay, so last week at site I realized that I was in Farjara for two whole weeks and I never published a blog entry once while I was here. I'm not sure why either. It's not like I didn't spend 6+ hours a night on facebook.
I actually have been writing blog entries in my journal at site, so I'll leave all of that stuff for when I come again next weekend for Jenni's birthday party. Exciting topics for future blogs: visiting Shayla at her site, hanging out in Farjara for Amanda's birthday, and most exciting of all, my infected finger!!!
I didn't plan on even coming here this weekend, but some times the most exciting things happen randomly. Last Monday I went to Amanda's site to hang out and keep her company. On Thursday we decided to come down to Farjara because Jenni was coming in for an infection on her nose. (Jenni is now officially the Queen of Med Hold!!) It took Amanda and I like 1.5 hours to even get a gele out of her site. Jenni who lives almost 3 hours from Amanda actually road past us on a gele, and she only got about an one hour start on us. Then we had to ride the ferry. I've actually only done this at night, so it was fun to actually see my surroundings. We sat up on the top deck, and it sort of felt like we were on a family cruise or something. While we were rock hopping, (literally we were because it had rained and the area was flooded so we had to jump cinder block to cinder block to avoid the standing water) some guy shouted "hey gambian toubab" to me. That was pretty cool because I guess I am sort of starting to belong now. I was wearing a wrap skirt to my ankles and a t-shirt that was at least 2 sizes too big, so I really didn't look much like a tourist. I'm sure that my hair was standing up as well. It always seems to be here.
While on the ferry we met another volunteer and her parents, so we spent some time talking with them. They were getting taxis already, so they invited us to just ride from Banjul to Farjara with them. That was really nice because it saved us a lot of money and hassle! Jenni was waiting for us at the ferry so she got a ride too. Amanda and I road with "the parents." They were both really cool, and we've actually seen them many times this weekend, and they are both really nice people! Amanda and Jenni went to the office and both got med hold, so we have just been hanging out all weekend. It's been nice to just hang out with both of them. We've watched some Alias, and spent time online. My two favorite things to in Farjara!!! We're all pretty poor right now because we are saving money for our trip to Spain and Morocco in December, so we spent as little money as possible. It's actually possible to pay for majority of the trip if you spend almost no money each month. It's been interesting, but the trip will really be worth it.
We are flying out of Dakar around midnight on December 1st. We will just take a gele from the Gambia to Dakar, Senegal. It was a lot cheaper to do it this way!!! We'll spend a couple of days in Madrid, and then head down to Morocco via Easy Jet. I think that we are flying into Marrakesh, but don't quote me on that. To save money we are not checking a bag on that flight, so I am just going to wear all my clothes on the flight then change out of them once we arrive. I think that the flight is about one hour, so it shouldn't be too bad. I'm still not entirely sure what we are doing while we are there. Jenni knows some guys there that run a tour company, so I think that we are just tagging along with them. We may even get to ski!!! I may see snow for the second time (not counting living in IL as a baby) in my whole life!!! We are also planning on eating at Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and KFC (yes there is actually one there) while in Spain. We also plan on eating the street food, but at that point it'll have been almost one year since we've had familiar food. Keep your fingers crossed that they'll have fountain soda!!!
I'll post more about the trip when I actually know more about what is going on. I think that the whole thing will be a lot of fun, and I can't wait!!! I'll also post the entries that I have been writing at site next week.
Have a good week everyone, and look for me next Friday or Saturday!!!
I actually have been writing blog entries in my journal at site, so I'll leave all of that stuff for when I come again next weekend for Jenni's birthday party. Exciting topics for future blogs: visiting Shayla at her site, hanging out in Farjara for Amanda's birthday, and most exciting of all, my infected finger!!!
I didn't plan on even coming here this weekend, but some times the most exciting things happen randomly. Last Monday I went to Amanda's site to hang out and keep her company. On Thursday we decided to come down to Farjara because Jenni was coming in for an infection on her nose. (Jenni is now officially the Queen of Med Hold!!) It took Amanda and I like 1.5 hours to even get a gele out of her site. Jenni who lives almost 3 hours from Amanda actually road past us on a gele, and she only got about an one hour start on us. Then we had to ride the ferry. I've actually only done this at night, so it was fun to actually see my surroundings. We sat up on the top deck, and it sort of felt like we were on a family cruise or something. While we were rock hopping, (literally we were because it had rained and the area was flooded so we had to jump cinder block to cinder block to avoid the standing water) some guy shouted "hey gambian toubab" to me. That was pretty cool because I guess I am sort of starting to belong now. I was wearing a wrap skirt to my ankles and a t-shirt that was at least 2 sizes too big, so I really didn't look much like a tourist. I'm sure that my hair was standing up as well. It always seems to be here.
While on the ferry we met another volunteer and her parents, so we spent some time talking with them. They were getting taxis already, so they invited us to just ride from Banjul to Farjara with them. That was really nice because it saved us a lot of money and hassle! Jenni was waiting for us at the ferry so she got a ride too. Amanda and I road with "the parents." They were both really cool, and we've actually seen them many times this weekend, and they are both really nice people! Amanda and Jenni went to the office and both got med hold, so we have just been hanging out all weekend. It's been nice to just hang out with both of them. We've watched some Alias, and spent time online. My two favorite things to in Farjara!!! We're all pretty poor right now because we are saving money for our trip to Spain and Morocco in December, so we spent as little money as possible. It's actually possible to pay for majority of the trip if you spend almost no money each month. It's been interesting, but the trip will really be worth it.
We are flying out of Dakar around midnight on December 1st. We will just take a gele from the Gambia to Dakar, Senegal. It was a lot cheaper to do it this way!!! We'll spend a couple of days in Madrid, and then head down to Morocco via Easy Jet. I think that we are flying into Marrakesh, but don't quote me on that. To save money we are not checking a bag on that flight, so I am just going to wear all my clothes on the flight then change out of them once we arrive. I think that the flight is about one hour, so it shouldn't be too bad. I'm still not entirely sure what we are doing while we are there. Jenni knows some guys there that run a tour company, so I think that we are just tagging along with them. We may even get to ski!!! I may see snow for the second time (not counting living in IL as a baby) in my whole life!!! We are also planning on eating at Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and KFC (yes there is actually one there) while in Spain. We also plan on eating the street food, but at that point it'll have been almost one year since we've had familiar food. Keep your fingers crossed that they'll have fountain soda!!!
I'll post more about the trip when I actually know more about what is going on. I think that the whole thing will be a lot of fun, and I can't wait!!! I'll also post the entries that I have been writing at site next week.
Have a good week everyone, and look for me next Friday or Saturday!!!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Silly People
From Thursday, 21/8/08
The Ambassador's visit was two days ago. Actually, the Ambassador was sick, so he sent an officer from the Embassy instead. In my opinion the whole thing was a complete disaster! There was a funeral that morning, so everyone in the village had to go, so I was left to clean/set everything up. Sometimes I feel like a party planner instead of a PCV. It is nice though to have something to do. I'm never sure if I am actually supposed to go to the funerals. No one ever invites me or tells me to tag along, so I never go. We had planned a grand welcome of singing and dancing, but we are technically in mourning now, so all of that jazzy stuff was out of the question. I got everything ready, put on my outfit, and then ran around trying to make sure that everyone else was ready by 11:30; the time that we were told everyone would come. When 12p came and still our guests had not arrived, I felt like an asshole for hurrying everyone along.
The plan was for this to be a small, but by the time the Embassy group arrived close to 12:30, there were at least 20 people. More people continued to filter in as time progressed. I had the chairwoman of the women's group go first since she had to go cook lunch. Then the youth group men took turns speaking. All both groups did was basically praise the last pcv. I just sort of sat there with a fake smile, trying to hide that I was really angry. It was all, "she did this," "she was wonderful," blah, blah, blah. They also kept trying to get money for things. They thought that they were so sly, but it was so obvious. When a hour had passed, and our guests had to leave, I pretty much had to sew everyones mouths shut. After they left, no one in the village could get over that fact that two people came in two different SUVs each with a driver. Even I was a little taken back by the whole thing, but said, "hey that's America for ya!"
I guess the thing that makes me the most upset is the fact that all everyone wants here is money. I've suggested ways to make money, people agree, then later they keep bring up sponsors. I'm always told that we won't make any money selling things. I want to say, "well you'll make a lot more money then you have right now." I have however found another group that does want to do something. These men planted over 40, 000 moringa trees, and they just want help learning how to care for the trees in the dry season. These are the kind of people that I want to work with. They want to teach others about the tree, and they don't need some fancy skills center to do it. Sure it would be nice if everyone had fancy phones, TVs, and clothes, but if people are starving or dying from preventable diseases, then what good would the latest technology do anyway? That's the problem with people helping developing countries. Sure a lot of good is done here, but in the process we've also shown the people what the Western World has to offer. It would be nice if everyone in the world had the same great things, but a country can't magically shift from third world to an America overnight.
Even America was once a struggling nation. All the big companies come here offering fancy gadgets, but what they really need to do is start from the bottom up. Great, everyone has a cell phone, but right now no one can afford fuel for the few generators that are here, and the Gambian NGO that is here can't charge everyones phones. My cell phone has been dead for three days now because there hasn't been any sun to charge everyones phone. My cell phone has been dead for three days now because there hasn't been any sun to charge my solio. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if people had normal cell phones, but everyone here has to have the fancy phones with mp3 players and cameras. Those use up the battery even faster. Everyone talks of buying cars or visiting Europe, but when they can barely afford food for their family, they need to switch their proprieties.
So who really is to blame for all of this? In my opinion: everyone. Africa is the "cradle of civilization." We're taught that life began here. Rather you believe mankind evolved or "poof" we were here one day, all hard evidence supports the idea that it all started in Africa. Over time some people left Africa, and soon people began to inhabit other parts of the world. For some strange reason, the rest of the world began to flourish, while Africa stayed the same. My first group to blame, colonists. Countries from all over came to Africa, robbed her of her natural resources, and also tried to "save the savage beasts." Those who were not sent away on slave ships were left to be "colonized" and "taught the right way to live." Really all that happened was countries were created, lands were robbed of natural resources, and the people began to fight back.
Most African countries at some point gained their independence, but now they were left a complete mess. Most countries quickly became ruled by vicious dictators, and most are still that way today. At some point it was time to make amends for what the "white man" had done, so then came the foreign aid. If you saw how that money was spent it would make you sick. However, I just as equally blame Africans for all of this. Sure there wasn't much they could do when people arrived with guns, but still today continuing to take and more importantly, expect handouts is wrong. I understand that everyone wants the sort of treasures I was lucky to grow up with (and will in fact return to in less than two years), but we grew up in two different worlds. Ideally everyone should have the same things, but like I said before, it is not possible for these things to happen overnight.
People in Western Societies really just need to stop feeling bad for the people of Africa. All that has done is create a continent that is completely dependent on the world. People need to put away their checkbooks. If someone really wants to make a difference, then they need to come on over and help teach the people of Africa to be independent. Instead of watching late night TV and then sending money to some organization that promises to send kids to school, people need to sit down with the people here and explain to them that if 30 people sell the same thing, then no one is going to make any money. Sure they'll make enough to buy food for the next day, but they'll never make enough to get ahead. I've personally seen some of these organizations that advertise for money to send kids to school. They've got nice cars and computers, but I still see a lot of kids that are not in school. I'm not saying that these organizations aren't trying to do their job, but again, maybe a big pile of money is not the solution to the problems of Africa. Every day I'm asked for something, or told to go get money from some organization. I didn't come here to give away handouts, but unfortunately that's exactly what I'm expected to do. Some people see this part of the world as a lost cause. As horrible as it sounds, sometimes I almost have to agree. While everyone searches for the newest thing they must have, people are still dying every day over simple things that could easily be taken care of. Malnutrition, malaria, AIDS and many other things that have been taken care of (minus AIDS) kill people every day here. I was here two months ago when the country ran out of fuel and I saw first hand how ugly things got. I do not even want to imagine how things will get once the food shortage arrives.
The President may not be the most popular man in the world because of the things that he has said, but at least he is trying to push people to farm and feed themselves. I can look past his entourage of 10+ cars, trucks, and hummers, because if what he said at a conference recently on a national holiday. He said many things that day, but what really stuck out (and got my attention) was his request for the people of the country to work hard and take charge of their country. Sure he went on to blame Western Society, but in a way he's right. Nothing will come if the people here are not willing to take a stand and work hard for their country. Also, nothing good will ever come if people continue to thoughtlessly just send money here without actually knowing what it will be used for. Don't get me wrong, some donations are good and really do a lot of great things here. However, a large number of donations are not used properly and in turn are just wasted away on things that will do nothing to help. and soon will be disguarded when the generator runs out of fuel and no one can buy anymore.
One time I heard a story about a PCV in another country putting a video on You Tube and getting in trouble. The video showed a very brief clip of someone dumping trash on the ground and people running and fighting to collect it. The harsh reality is this is what we do everyday to the people of Africa.
The Ambassador's visit was two days ago. Actually, the Ambassador was sick, so he sent an officer from the Embassy instead. In my opinion the whole thing was a complete disaster! There was a funeral that morning, so everyone in the village had to go, so I was left to clean/set everything up. Sometimes I feel like a party planner instead of a PCV. It is nice though to have something to do. I'm never sure if I am actually supposed to go to the funerals. No one ever invites me or tells me to tag along, so I never go. We had planned a grand welcome of singing and dancing, but we are technically in mourning now, so all of that jazzy stuff was out of the question. I got everything ready, put on my outfit, and then ran around trying to make sure that everyone else was ready by 11:30; the time that we were told everyone would come. When 12p came and still our guests had not arrived, I felt like an asshole for hurrying everyone along.
The plan was for this to be a small, but by the time the Embassy group arrived close to 12:30, there were at least 20 people. More people continued to filter in as time progressed. I had the chairwoman of the women's group go first since she had to go cook lunch. Then the youth group men took turns speaking. All both groups did was basically praise the last pcv. I just sort of sat there with a fake smile, trying to hide that I was really angry. It was all, "she did this," "she was wonderful," blah, blah, blah. They also kept trying to get money for things. They thought that they were so sly, but it was so obvious. When a hour had passed, and our guests had to leave, I pretty much had to sew everyones mouths shut. After they left, no one in the village could get over that fact that two people came in two different SUVs each with a driver. Even I was a little taken back by the whole thing, but said, "hey that's America for ya!"
I guess the thing that makes me the most upset is the fact that all everyone wants here is money. I've suggested ways to make money, people agree, then later they keep bring up sponsors. I'm always told that we won't make any money selling things. I want to say, "well you'll make a lot more money then you have right now." I have however found another group that does want to do something. These men planted over 40, 000 moringa trees, and they just want help learning how to care for the trees in the dry season. These are the kind of people that I want to work with. They want to teach others about the tree, and they don't need some fancy skills center to do it. Sure it would be nice if everyone had fancy phones, TVs, and clothes, but if people are starving or dying from preventable diseases, then what good would the latest technology do anyway? That's the problem with people helping developing countries. Sure a lot of good is done here, but in the process we've also shown the people what the Western World has to offer. It would be nice if everyone in the world had the same great things, but a country can't magically shift from third world to an America overnight.
Even America was once a struggling nation. All the big companies come here offering fancy gadgets, but what they really need to do is start from the bottom up. Great, everyone has a cell phone, but right now no one can afford fuel for the few generators that are here, and the Gambian NGO that is here can't charge everyones phones. My cell phone has been dead for three days now because there hasn't been any sun to charge everyones phone. My cell phone has been dead for three days now because there hasn't been any sun to charge my solio. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if people had normal cell phones, but everyone here has to have the fancy phones with mp3 players and cameras. Those use up the battery even faster. Everyone talks of buying cars or visiting Europe, but when they can barely afford food for their family, they need to switch their proprieties.
So who really is to blame for all of this? In my opinion: everyone. Africa is the "cradle of civilization." We're taught that life began here. Rather you believe mankind evolved or "poof" we were here one day, all hard evidence supports the idea that it all started in Africa. Over time some people left Africa, and soon people began to inhabit other parts of the world. For some strange reason, the rest of the world began to flourish, while Africa stayed the same. My first group to blame, colonists. Countries from all over came to Africa, robbed her of her natural resources, and also tried to "save the savage beasts." Those who were not sent away on slave ships were left to be "colonized" and "taught the right way to live." Really all that happened was countries were created, lands were robbed of natural resources, and the people began to fight back.
Most African countries at some point gained their independence, but now they were left a complete mess. Most countries quickly became ruled by vicious dictators, and most are still that way today. At some point it was time to make amends for what the "white man" had done, so then came the foreign aid. If you saw how that money was spent it would make you sick. However, I just as equally blame Africans for all of this. Sure there wasn't much they could do when people arrived with guns, but still today continuing to take and more importantly, expect handouts is wrong. I understand that everyone wants the sort of treasures I was lucky to grow up with (and will in fact return to in less than two years), but we grew up in two different worlds. Ideally everyone should have the same things, but like I said before, it is not possible for these things to happen overnight.
People in Western Societies really just need to stop feeling bad for the people of Africa. All that has done is create a continent that is completely dependent on the world. People need to put away their checkbooks. If someone really wants to make a difference, then they need to come on over and help teach the people of Africa to be independent. Instead of watching late night TV and then sending money to some organization that promises to send kids to school, people need to sit down with the people here and explain to them that if 30 people sell the same thing, then no one is going to make any money. Sure they'll make enough to buy food for the next day, but they'll never make enough to get ahead. I've personally seen some of these organizations that advertise for money to send kids to school. They've got nice cars and computers, but I still see a lot of kids that are not in school. I'm not saying that these organizations aren't trying to do their job, but again, maybe a big pile of money is not the solution to the problems of Africa. Every day I'm asked for something, or told to go get money from some organization. I didn't come here to give away handouts, but unfortunately that's exactly what I'm expected to do. Some people see this part of the world as a lost cause. As horrible as it sounds, sometimes I almost have to agree. While everyone searches for the newest thing they must have, people are still dying every day over simple things that could easily be taken care of. Malnutrition, malaria, AIDS and many other things that have been taken care of (minus AIDS) kill people every day here. I was here two months ago when the country ran out of fuel and I saw first hand how ugly things got. I do not even want to imagine how things will get once the food shortage arrives.
The President may not be the most popular man in the world because of the things that he has said, but at least he is trying to push people to farm and feed themselves. I can look past his entourage of 10+ cars, trucks, and hummers, because if what he said at a conference recently on a national holiday. He said many things that day, but what really stuck out (and got my attention) was his request for the people of the country to work hard and take charge of their country. Sure he went on to blame Western Society, but in a way he's right. Nothing will come if the people here are not willing to take a stand and work hard for their country. Also, nothing good will ever come if people continue to thoughtlessly just send money here without actually knowing what it will be used for. Don't get me wrong, some donations are good and really do a lot of great things here. However, a large number of donations are not used properly and in turn are just wasted away on things that will do nothing to help. and soon will be disguarded when the generator runs out of fuel and no one can buy anymore.
One time I heard a story about a PCV in another country putting a video on You Tube and getting in trouble. The video showed a very brief clip of someone dumping trash on the ground and people running and fighting to collect it. The harsh reality is this is what we do everyday to the people of Africa.
Time to put on hostess hat yet again...
From Monday, 18/8/08
Okay, so when I signed up for PC, I had no idea that it would involve so much event planning. Maybe I'm the "lucky" one. Most pcvs here will never have anyone important come to their site at all. Two weeks ago like half of the PCMOs (PC medical officers) from all over Africa stopped by while they were here for a conference, and now tomorrow the US Ambassador is stopping by as well. The Ambassador is visiting various PC sites along the South Bank, and he's coming here. Oh yeah, sooo excited! Thankfully, another PCV from a site down the road is also coming here to talk to him, so that will take a lot of the pressure off me. The Ambassador went to Amanda's site last week, and she said that it really was not too bad. She said that he stops by and just talks to you. She also said that he's really laid back, and nice to talk with. I'm mostly nervous because I am waiting for PC to call and let me know what time he is coming exactly. I didn't even know that he was coming til yesterday afternoon, so the whole thing is really last minute! Oh wonderful, the PCV that I thought was going to come to my site just texted me to let me know that the Ambassador is coming to her site as well. Oh great, now I have to go after her. I'm sure that she has some great talk planned, and mine will be a complete train wreck. Okay, I just spoke to her on the phone, and she made me feel a lot better. She said that really all we have to do is sit down and talk to him. He's new, and he's really unfamiliar with PC, so he just wants to know what is going on. She said that basically she's just going to sit down with her women's group and have them do most of the talking. They'll just talk about their goals and what is going on. She heard that other villages went crazy, and really he is just there to learn about PC. So now I feel a lot better again. We also talked about how things are going at site. Every day little things are really something to be proud of.
My cell phone will probably die again soon, because it appears to be another rainy day. I also just managed to drop my solio off the roof. It seems to be okay, it's just a little wobbly now. It seems to still be able to get a charge from the sun. I checked when it stopped raining long enough for the sun to come out for 15 minutes. Thank God! If that thing broke then I would really be screwed!
Now I have to walk around and find my counterparts and explain what is going on tomorrow. I can handle a "little chat" so it all should work out fine. Current goal: find a mobile phone that is charged so I can put my sim card in it and call PC so I can figure out when people are coming exactly. Things are pretty dull most of the time, but every once in a while they get really crazy!
(Couple of hours later...)
All of my counterparts are away til the afternoon, so I'll tell them about the "Ambassador chat time" later. My cell phone is dead, so now I just have to wait for my solio to charge. Please do not rain! It's getting dark again which is never a good thing. Okay, it rocks when you want to be locked up and left alone in your house, but when you need the sun to charge your mobile it is not good! Right now there are a whole bunch of kids that want to come into my house and color. This is not a good time. Now it's raining again, so I guess the cell phone will stay dead for the time being.
Almost 2 weeks ago was when the PCMOs came to visit. This was the program that I was stressing about in a blog before. Surprisingly, the whole thing went quite well. Even about 30minutes before everyone was scheduled to arrive, things were not looking good. We had the library all set up, and the bags were there, but no one seemed to be coming, I had spent three hours the day before weeding the area, and a good two hours sweeping and collecting trash around the area that morning. When I went back home to wait for PC, only a couple of the 20+ people that I live with were at home. Right before PC came Papa Jammeh came home, so I told him what was about to go down. The visit to my house had only been added that morning as a way to stall to give the women more time to arrive at the library. Papa Jammeh realized what I was trying to say, and then ran into his house to change. Then of course Ebrima was walking around with poop all over his legs because he was sick. I really wasn't too worried about that; I thought why not let people see what it is really time to leave here. Sunto, my binkie (aunt/father's sister) grabbed Ebrima, cleaned him up, and was in her plastic chair ready to go when PC showed up. Papa Jammeh was also dressed, and it was show time.
Now I had been told to expect 25 people, but close to 40 piled out of the PC bus and various suvs. I welcomed everyone, well as much as one can welcome people when their guests are being bombarded my children that want candy and their picture taken. I let all of them parade through my house. I walked in when a woman who was a guest speaker from an infectious disease place was in there, and I got sucked into a detailed conversation about everything from how I cook to where/how I bathe. All she kept asking were "why questions." That was a real experience! The PCMOs gave me a gift bag (which I later opened and discovered that it was gull of food!). Once everyone got a look around, and people got enough pictures to satisfy themselves, it was time to go buy the bags, so I led everyone to the library. I warned them about the geles, and I told them that they would get hit! In every group there are the people too cool to listen, so a few people actually did get close to getting hit. Geles do not have the best brakes, so unless you have enough time to dart across the road in front of one, always wait til they pass. When we arrived at the junction, the village chief just happened to be there, so everyone got to meet him as well. By this time the kids had all gotten really bad, so I was trying to get rid of them. I told them to "go away" in Mandinka "Ta," and when that didn't work, I said "Penugie te" (no clue how to spell that), which means "I will beat you." Then in English I said, "scram, you know I will beat you!" (Okay I actually never have, but people always tell me to. I can't do it with the peer pressure, but one day a kid almost did get a whack with my broom if I had been able to catch him). The PC Country Director heard this and shouted, "oh she just told them she was going to beat them in Mandinka." I told him, "no that was jola." He just seemed really excited, so I wasn't worried that I threatened to beat kids in front of a whole group of PC nurses. People just laughed. While all of this was going on, one of my host mother's, Mama Jaju, got off a gele, so everyone got to meet her as well.
I was still really nervous about the library, but when we arrived there were actually women there singing and dancing! I was so happy! The women performed, everyone spoke a little, and then it was time to buy bags. The women were able to sell all of the bags minus a few of them. Everyone seemed really happy. It helped that the CD was there really pushing people to buy the bags.
After all that, I grabbed my bag, and hitched a ride with PC to Farjara. We stopped and picked up another PCV that I was going to be traveling with, and then off we went again. Olga and I grabbed a taxi in Westfield, and then headed to Banjul to catch the ferry. We traveled across the Gambia River as the sun was setting. This took about one-half hour because we were crossing at the mouth of the river from Banjul to Barra. I heard that this was actually a really great time because most people end up on ferries that get stuck sitting out in the water at some point and the whole process takes like an hour. We arrived at the other side after dark, and we fought our way off with other people and cars. The road from the ferry to the carpark is walled all the way down, so we were joking that it felt like we were in a refuge camp. We got on a gele and started driving to Amanda's village just as it started to pour. At one point we stopped and the driver escorted a girl home via running through the pouring rain. Who said that chivalry is dead? We met some people on the gele that knew where Amanda's house was, so they promised to help us get there. It was dark, and the rain was really coming down, so I really was not able to see anything. The next thing I knew everyone was telling us that we arrived at Amanda's house. This was probably the nicest gele driver ever! Because of the rain he was going to drive each person home. We jumped out into the rain, I kicked off my sandals, and we ran around trying to figure out which compound was Amanda's. Then we found Amanda and Jenni who had been waiting for us at the gele stop in the rain, and we all went into the house.
Jenni had been in Farjara all week because she was sick, so she just stopped at Amanda's house because we were all traveling to her house the next day. We all had mac&cheese for dinner. Amanda, Jenni, and I ended up staying awake most of the night just talking. The next morning we all stopped at one of Amanda's friend's houses because her daughter was getting married. We ate some breakfast, and then it was on the road again.
When Jenni, Shayla, and I were in Farjara the previous weekend to work on the computer, and collect our "living allowances," Jenni found a kitten in front of the US Embassy. It was little, and super cute, so against her better judgement she picked it up. She was able to find a home for it with another PCV, but that PCV was going on vacation to Spain, so Jenni had to watch little Tobey for the time being. The cat was also coming on the road trip. Jenny brought him in a box the day before, but the box got damaged in the rain. On the short gele ride back to Barra to catch a ride to Farfeni, the cat completely tore the box apart. Now we were forced to hold the silly thing. Jenni was made at him after the box incident, so Amanda and I volunteered to hold him. I put the cat's bottom in a plastic bag to serve as a diaper because he was not yet trained. About half-way through the trip, the kitten got all upset and kept trying to get out of the bag. I looked into the bag and it had pooped everywhere. Amanda and I wait until he was done, and then threw the bag of poop out the window. Amanda even had to wipe him with TP! We quickly got him into another plastic bag diaper, and I just looked over and smiled at the Gambian woman sitting next to me. She looked back at me like what the hell?
We made it to Jenni's house safely. We had to change geles and Olga started holding him without his diaper. We warned her, and he peed in her bag. The weekend was fun, and we all just sort of hung out. Shayla joined us a little while later. Everything went well til one girl there went on and on about how hard she works while PCVs in villages just sit around a lot. This got all of us pretty upset, and we let her have it! It didn't help that most people already feel like they don't do anything in the first place. She's now talking about joining a gym in the town where she lives, so I really do not think that we are apart of the same PC world.
When Sunday came it was time to go. This time I was traveling down the South Bank road, so it would be a long day. Olga and I traveled with Shayla to Soma. It took almost four hours to get there and it really isn't even that far! We had to ride to Farafeni, take a gele to the ferry, cross the ferry (a bridge would have been useful because it was maybe 25 yards across), and then take another gele to Soma. Then we boarded the gele for the 4-5 hour ride home. This particular gele did not have a lot of leg room, so my legs were really jammed in. Luckily they went to sleep quickly, so there wasn't much pain. By the time I was able to get out in my village, my ankles were so swollen that I had kankels! The lack of circulation and lack of water really did a number on them. I returned home, and then took a bath and went to bed as soon as I could without looking weird. I find that 9p seems somewhat okay. I guess that they just think I'm a crazy toubab that needs lots of rest sometimes.
(Many hours later...)
Right now it is about 8:30pm, and I am still waiting to talk to one more person about tomorrow. As of now, things are good to go. We lied and told the women the program started at 11am instead of 11:30 hoping that some of them would make it on time. It really is stupid to visit at that time because the women have to cook lunch and others work in the fields, but the US Embassy doesn't seem to get that. Now the Ambassador is sick, so he's sending someone else in his place. Throughout the day, the time also kept changing, but now things seem good to go. Let's hope so! I'm really glad that I've made some friends, because today I was able to look sad and beg them to come help me out. Life here is always an adventure! I also got to spend some time talking to one of my counterparts about some of the things that he would like to do. One of his sisters had a baby last week, so I also got to see the baby, Adama, as well. I did my good toubab deed, and held the baby. I always have newborn babies thrown at me. They're always so small and alien looking, and I'm always afraid that I'll hurt the baby.
Today when I went to see Kaddy, one of my counterparts, her baby, Ababukar (age 9 months) peed all over the front of my shirt. Apparently that's good luck here, so I know that things will go well tomorrow.
Okay, so when I signed up for PC, I had no idea that it would involve so much event planning. Maybe I'm the "lucky" one. Most pcvs here will never have anyone important come to their site at all. Two weeks ago like half of the PCMOs (PC medical officers) from all over Africa stopped by while they were here for a conference, and now tomorrow the US Ambassador is stopping by as well. The Ambassador is visiting various PC sites along the South Bank, and he's coming here. Oh yeah, sooo excited! Thankfully, another PCV from a site down the road is also coming here to talk to him, so that will take a lot of the pressure off me. The Ambassador went to Amanda's site last week, and she said that it really was not too bad. She said that he stops by and just talks to you. She also said that he's really laid back, and nice to talk with. I'm mostly nervous because I am waiting for PC to call and let me know what time he is coming exactly. I didn't even know that he was coming til yesterday afternoon, so the whole thing is really last minute! Oh wonderful, the PCV that I thought was going to come to my site just texted me to let me know that the Ambassador is coming to her site as well. Oh great, now I have to go after her. I'm sure that she has some great talk planned, and mine will be a complete train wreck. Okay, I just spoke to her on the phone, and she made me feel a lot better. She said that really all we have to do is sit down and talk to him. He's new, and he's really unfamiliar with PC, so he just wants to know what is going on. She said that basically she's just going to sit down with her women's group and have them do most of the talking. They'll just talk about their goals and what is going on. She heard that other villages went crazy, and really he is just there to learn about PC. So now I feel a lot better again. We also talked about how things are going at site. Every day little things are really something to be proud of.
My cell phone will probably die again soon, because it appears to be another rainy day. I also just managed to drop my solio off the roof. It seems to be okay, it's just a little wobbly now. It seems to still be able to get a charge from the sun. I checked when it stopped raining long enough for the sun to come out for 15 minutes. Thank God! If that thing broke then I would really be screwed!
Now I have to walk around and find my counterparts and explain what is going on tomorrow. I can handle a "little chat" so it all should work out fine. Current goal: find a mobile phone that is charged so I can put my sim card in it and call PC so I can figure out when people are coming exactly. Things are pretty dull most of the time, but every once in a while they get really crazy!
(Couple of hours later...)
All of my counterparts are away til the afternoon, so I'll tell them about the "Ambassador chat time" later. My cell phone is dead, so now I just have to wait for my solio to charge. Please do not rain! It's getting dark again which is never a good thing. Okay, it rocks when you want to be locked up and left alone in your house, but when you need the sun to charge your mobile it is not good! Right now there are a whole bunch of kids that want to come into my house and color. This is not a good time. Now it's raining again, so I guess the cell phone will stay dead for the time being.
Almost 2 weeks ago was when the PCMOs came to visit. This was the program that I was stressing about in a blog before. Surprisingly, the whole thing went quite well. Even about 30minutes before everyone was scheduled to arrive, things were not looking good. We had the library all set up, and the bags were there, but no one seemed to be coming, I had spent three hours the day before weeding the area, and a good two hours sweeping and collecting trash around the area that morning. When I went back home to wait for PC, only a couple of the 20+ people that I live with were at home. Right before PC came Papa Jammeh came home, so I told him what was about to go down. The visit to my house had only been added that morning as a way to stall to give the women more time to arrive at the library. Papa Jammeh realized what I was trying to say, and then ran into his house to change. Then of course Ebrima was walking around with poop all over his legs because he was sick. I really wasn't too worried about that; I thought why not let people see what it is really time to leave here. Sunto, my binkie (aunt/father's sister) grabbed Ebrima, cleaned him up, and was in her plastic chair ready to go when PC showed up. Papa Jammeh was also dressed, and it was show time.
Now I had been told to expect 25 people, but close to 40 piled out of the PC bus and various suvs. I welcomed everyone, well as much as one can welcome people when their guests are being bombarded my children that want candy and their picture taken. I let all of them parade through my house. I walked in when a woman who was a guest speaker from an infectious disease place was in there, and I got sucked into a detailed conversation about everything from how I cook to where/how I bathe. All she kept asking were "why questions." That was a real experience! The PCMOs gave me a gift bag (which I later opened and discovered that it was gull of food!). Once everyone got a look around, and people got enough pictures to satisfy themselves, it was time to go buy the bags, so I led everyone to the library. I warned them about the geles, and I told them that they would get hit! In every group there are the people too cool to listen, so a few people actually did get close to getting hit. Geles do not have the best brakes, so unless you have enough time to dart across the road in front of one, always wait til they pass. When we arrived at the junction, the village chief just happened to be there, so everyone got to meet him as well. By this time the kids had all gotten really bad, so I was trying to get rid of them. I told them to "go away" in Mandinka "Ta," and when that didn't work, I said "Penugie te" (no clue how to spell that), which means "I will beat you." Then in English I said, "scram, you know I will beat you!" (Okay I actually never have, but people always tell me to. I can't do it with the peer pressure, but one day a kid almost did get a whack with my broom if I had been able to catch him). The PC Country Director heard this and shouted, "oh she just told them she was going to beat them in Mandinka." I told him, "no that was jola." He just seemed really excited, so I wasn't worried that I threatened to beat kids in front of a whole group of PC nurses. People just laughed. While all of this was going on, one of my host mother's, Mama Jaju, got off a gele, so everyone got to meet her as well.
I was still really nervous about the library, but when we arrived there were actually women there singing and dancing! I was so happy! The women performed, everyone spoke a little, and then it was time to buy bags. The women were able to sell all of the bags minus a few of them. Everyone seemed really happy. It helped that the CD was there really pushing people to buy the bags.
After all that, I grabbed my bag, and hitched a ride with PC to Farjara. We stopped and picked up another PCV that I was going to be traveling with, and then off we went again. Olga and I grabbed a taxi in Westfield, and then headed to Banjul to catch the ferry. We traveled across the Gambia River as the sun was setting. This took about one-half hour because we were crossing at the mouth of the river from Banjul to Barra. I heard that this was actually a really great time because most people end up on ferries that get stuck sitting out in the water at some point and the whole process takes like an hour. We arrived at the other side after dark, and we fought our way off with other people and cars. The road from the ferry to the carpark is walled all the way down, so we were joking that it felt like we were in a refuge camp. We got on a gele and started driving to Amanda's village just as it started to pour. At one point we stopped and the driver escorted a girl home via running through the pouring rain. Who said that chivalry is dead? We met some people on the gele that knew where Amanda's house was, so they promised to help us get there. It was dark, and the rain was really coming down, so I really was not able to see anything. The next thing I knew everyone was telling us that we arrived at Amanda's house. This was probably the nicest gele driver ever! Because of the rain he was going to drive each person home. We jumped out into the rain, I kicked off my sandals, and we ran around trying to figure out which compound was Amanda's. Then we found Amanda and Jenni who had been waiting for us at the gele stop in the rain, and we all went into the house.
Jenni had been in Farjara all week because she was sick, so she just stopped at Amanda's house because we were all traveling to her house the next day. We all had mac&cheese for dinner. Amanda, Jenni, and I ended up staying awake most of the night just talking. The next morning we all stopped at one of Amanda's friend's houses because her daughter was getting married. We ate some breakfast, and then it was on the road again.
When Jenni, Shayla, and I were in Farjara the previous weekend to work on the computer, and collect our "living allowances," Jenni found a kitten in front of the US Embassy. It was little, and super cute, so against her better judgement she picked it up. She was able to find a home for it with another PCV, but that PCV was going on vacation to Spain, so Jenni had to watch little Tobey for the time being. The cat was also coming on the road trip. Jenny brought him in a box the day before, but the box got damaged in the rain. On the short gele ride back to Barra to catch a ride to Farfeni, the cat completely tore the box apart. Now we were forced to hold the silly thing. Jenni was made at him after the box incident, so Amanda and I volunteered to hold him. I put the cat's bottom in a plastic bag to serve as a diaper because he was not yet trained. About half-way through the trip, the kitten got all upset and kept trying to get out of the bag. I looked into the bag and it had pooped everywhere. Amanda and I wait until he was done, and then threw the bag of poop out the window. Amanda even had to wipe him with TP! We quickly got him into another plastic bag diaper, and I just looked over and smiled at the Gambian woman sitting next to me. She looked back at me like what the hell?
We made it to Jenni's house safely. We had to change geles and Olga started holding him without his diaper. We warned her, and he peed in her bag. The weekend was fun, and we all just sort of hung out. Shayla joined us a little while later. Everything went well til one girl there went on and on about how hard she works while PCVs in villages just sit around a lot. This got all of us pretty upset, and we let her have it! It didn't help that most people already feel like they don't do anything in the first place. She's now talking about joining a gym in the town where she lives, so I really do not think that we are apart of the same PC world.
When Sunday came it was time to go. This time I was traveling down the South Bank road, so it would be a long day. Olga and I traveled with Shayla to Soma. It took almost four hours to get there and it really isn't even that far! We had to ride to Farafeni, take a gele to the ferry, cross the ferry (a bridge would have been useful because it was maybe 25 yards across), and then take another gele to Soma. Then we boarded the gele for the 4-5 hour ride home. This particular gele did not have a lot of leg room, so my legs were really jammed in. Luckily they went to sleep quickly, so there wasn't much pain. By the time I was able to get out in my village, my ankles were so swollen that I had kankels! The lack of circulation and lack of water really did a number on them. I returned home, and then took a bath and went to bed as soon as I could without looking weird. I find that 9p seems somewhat okay. I guess that they just think I'm a crazy toubab that needs lots of rest sometimes.
(Many hours later...)
Right now it is about 8:30pm, and I am still waiting to talk to one more person about tomorrow. As of now, things are good to go. We lied and told the women the program started at 11am instead of 11:30 hoping that some of them would make it on time. It really is stupid to visit at that time because the women have to cook lunch and others work in the fields, but the US Embassy doesn't seem to get that. Now the Ambassador is sick, so he's sending someone else in his place. Throughout the day, the time also kept changing, but now things seem good to go. Let's hope so! I'm really glad that I've made some friends, because today I was able to look sad and beg them to come help me out. Life here is always an adventure! I also got to spend some time talking to one of my counterparts about some of the things that he would like to do. One of his sisters had a baby last week, so I also got to see the baby, Adama, as well. I did my good toubab deed, and held the baby. I always have newborn babies thrown at me. They're always so small and alien looking, and I'm always afraid that I'll hurt the baby.
Today when I went to see Kaddy, one of my counterparts, her baby, Ababukar (age 9 months) peed all over the front of my shirt. Apparently that's good luck here, so I know that things will go well tomorrow.
C'mon meeting, let's get started!!!
From Saturday 16/8/08
I haven't written any blog entries in a long time, so I decided to write one while I wait for a meeting to start. Right now it's 8p, and I'm super tired! I really just want to go to bed! This was a long, emotional week. For a good part of the week I felt unmotivated and depressed. I just felt like I wasn't getting anything done. I talked to other people, and I realized that we all feel the same way, so I guess that is just apart of the PC lifestyle. Today was a great day! All week long I've really had no cell phone because we haven't had very much sun. No sun=not being able to charge my solio=no cell phone. I couldn't believe it, but there is no where to charge cell phones in this whole village! Today I decided to ride my bike down to Steven's village to charge my phone. I couldn't call him to let him know that I was coming, so I just sorta showed up. It started raining around lunch time (aka 2:30p), so I waited for it to let up a little, and then I road home. I don't think that I have ever ridden my bike so fast before!!! I just kept turning around to look at the big wall of water that was slowly coming toward me. I made it back to my village, greeted everyone, ran to the bitik for food, and back into my house just as a huge storm hit. It was really nice because no one bothered me for almost three hours.
During the storm I actually got to talk to my mom for the first time in about one month. That was really nice. I ended up talking to her for almost one hour, and pretty much emptying my battery in the process. So much for having a cell phone. Oh well, it was really nice to talk to my mom.
For dinner I made a chicken salad sandwich. My mom sent me some canned chicken, so I made one amazing sandwich. It was the chicken, mayo, onion, paprika, tomato, black pepper, AND ranch dressing mix. I put all of this onto bread and it was amazing! MY propane tank ran out of gas a couple of weeks ago, so I've pretty much just been living off bread and butter or bread and mayo. I still get a cooked lunch from my host family, so I have plenty to eat during the day. When we get paid again next month I'll be able to get another tank and cook all of the yummy looking food that I have waiting in my house.
Right now everyone is walking to the mosque (well the men) to pray. Women are not allowed in the mosque, and must pray under a covered porch. Most women don't go. Actually to be honest with you I think some of the women just skip certain prayers. There are some women that I know that I have never seen pray once, and I spend a lot of time with them. I think that they just make up the prayers that they missed at the end of the day or something. The women that do pray all five times a day just pray at home. The men never seem to miss going to the mosque though. Even the old blind men go because they are escorted there all five times by one of the younger people. Even on days like today when it is pouring outside, everyone always goes.
Ramada starts September 2nd, and I've decided to fast with everyone else in the village. If everyone else isn't going to eat during the day, I might as well join in. Everyone in the village knows that I have decided to fast, and they are all really excited. Really it will not be that bad because we are only not allowed to eat from sunrise to sundown. Once the sun goes away it'll be chow down time! I've been told that we will rise around 5am, pig out, and then have our dinner late in the evening. The part that will be the hardest is the fact that we are not even supposed to drink any water. I usually drink a ton of water during the day. I'm going to try, but I may end up cheating a little bit on the water. Does it count if you just put the water in your mouth, and then spit it out? I asked someone about this, and they just sort of laughed. I'm serious though, so I will have to find out.
I'm getting really tired, and it's pitch black, so I'm going to stop writing. All week we had the moon getting larger as it moved across the sky slowly becoming a full moon. This is my favorite part of the month because you do not need a flashlight to see outside at night because everything is illuminated. Tonight when I take my "shower" aka dumping cup fulls of water on my body, I won't have to worry about bringing a flashlight out with me too.
Thanks for reading my blog. I'm super tired, so hopefully this meeting will not happen, or at least it will be quick and we won't fight about the same thing as last week. HA HA, it's a meeting run by men so that is exactly what will happen.
I haven't written any blog entries in a long time, so I decided to write one while I wait for a meeting to start. Right now it's 8p, and I'm super tired! I really just want to go to bed! This was a long, emotional week. For a good part of the week I felt unmotivated and depressed. I just felt like I wasn't getting anything done. I talked to other people, and I realized that we all feel the same way, so I guess that is just apart of the PC lifestyle. Today was a great day! All week long I've really had no cell phone because we haven't had very much sun. No sun=not being able to charge my solio=no cell phone. I couldn't believe it, but there is no where to charge cell phones in this whole village! Today I decided to ride my bike down to Steven's village to charge my phone. I couldn't call him to let him know that I was coming, so I just sorta showed up. It started raining around lunch time (aka 2:30p), so I waited for it to let up a little, and then I road home. I don't think that I have ever ridden my bike so fast before!!! I just kept turning around to look at the big wall of water that was slowly coming toward me. I made it back to my village, greeted everyone, ran to the bitik for food, and back into my house just as a huge storm hit. It was really nice because no one bothered me for almost three hours.
During the storm I actually got to talk to my mom for the first time in about one month. That was really nice. I ended up talking to her for almost one hour, and pretty much emptying my battery in the process. So much for having a cell phone. Oh well, it was really nice to talk to my mom.
For dinner I made a chicken salad sandwich. My mom sent me some canned chicken, so I made one amazing sandwich. It was the chicken, mayo, onion, paprika, tomato, black pepper, AND ranch dressing mix. I put all of this onto bread and it was amazing! MY propane tank ran out of gas a couple of weeks ago, so I've pretty much just been living off bread and butter or bread and mayo. I still get a cooked lunch from my host family, so I have plenty to eat during the day. When we get paid again next month I'll be able to get another tank and cook all of the yummy looking food that I have waiting in my house.
Right now everyone is walking to the mosque (well the men) to pray. Women are not allowed in the mosque, and must pray under a covered porch. Most women don't go. Actually to be honest with you I think some of the women just skip certain prayers. There are some women that I know that I have never seen pray once, and I spend a lot of time with them. I think that they just make up the prayers that they missed at the end of the day or something. The women that do pray all five times a day just pray at home. The men never seem to miss going to the mosque though. Even the old blind men go because they are escorted there all five times by one of the younger people. Even on days like today when it is pouring outside, everyone always goes.
Ramada starts September 2nd, and I've decided to fast with everyone else in the village. If everyone else isn't going to eat during the day, I might as well join in. Everyone in the village knows that I have decided to fast, and they are all really excited. Really it will not be that bad because we are only not allowed to eat from sunrise to sundown. Once the sun goes away it'll be chow down time! I've been told that we will rise around 5am, pig out, and then have our dinner late in the evening. The part that will be the hardest is the fact that we are not even supposed to drink any water. I usually drink a ton of water during the day. I'm going to try, but I may end up cheating a little bit on the water. Does it count if you just put the water in your mouth, and then spit it out? I asked someone about this, and they just sort of laughed. I'm serious though, so I will have to find out.
I'm getting really tired, and it's pitch black, so I'm going to stop writing. All week we had the moon getting larger as it moved across the sky slowly becoming a full moon. This is my favorite part of the month because you do not need a flashlight to see outside at night because everything is illuminated. Tonight when I take my "shower" aka dumping cup fulls of water on my body, I won't have to worry about bringing a flashlight out with me too.
Thanks for reading my blog. I'm super tired, so hopefully this meeting will not happen, or at least it will be quick and we won't fight about the same thing as last week. HA HA, it's a meeting run by men so that is exactly what will happen.
Friday, August 1, 2008
From 29/7/08
So today I really freaked out! I went to see Steven in Jiboro because I wanted to have a nice, relaxing day, but no luck. I went with Steven to his meeting at "Christian Children's Fund." We spoke with the chairman about neem cream and mosquito nets. The man was more excited about the fact that Steven was able to get a CD that had been stuck in the disk drive for five days out of the computer than anything that we had to say. That's why I love the Gambia!!! We road our bikes back to his house, and then we were going to head over to the village clinic to watch DVDs. (Not my village, so I'm more than happy to abuse the system.) On our way out the door, my boss, Gibril, calls to tell me that next week I have to play hostess to 15-20 PC people that are here for some sort of medical conference. I knew that something like this was coming, but I did not realize that it would be this soon! I started freaking out and actually said, "but I do not do anything at site." This was after Gibril told me that I was supposed to show them what I do in my village. We talked a little more, and then Gibril said that he would talk to the Country Dir, Mike, about the details. I was not happy!
After that Steven and I went to his clinic to watch movies. First though, I saw the nurse about my ear. My ear had been hurting all morning. It felt like I had a simple ear wax build-up, so I thought (against my better judgement) that maybe the nurses could handle it. Big mistake!!! The nurse tried to flush out my ear, but all he did was spray water all over me and the floor. I thanked him, and continued to freak out! I decided then that I should call the PC nurse about it, so I actually called her. (I was not in a proper mindset at the time) Of course she really did not think that it was a big deal, so she told me that I could come in if I wanted to, but I could also just stop by whenever I came to Farjara next. Due to my altered mental status, I decided that I did not like this answer, and I would come in. I went back to Steven's house, got ready to go, and then Steven found some ear war drops. I used that instead, and decided not to go. Poor Steven! We just went back to the clinic.
When we got back there were some tourists visiting the clinic. They were in from Holland. The four of them were very nice, but I felt that the two women had shorts on that were way too short! Anything above the knee is just wrong in a Muslim country! Steven gave them a tour, and I just started chatting with the Gambian guy who leads the tours to various villages. Why not network? At this point anyone may be able to help. I told him about my village, and the things that I'm trying to do. Then out of no where I started talking to him about all my frustrations and problems that I am having. He listened, and then told me that I have to do what makes me happy. These are my two years, and it I'm not happy, then nothing will get done. He told me to work with the people that I want to work with, and do the projects that I want to do. He made me feel so much better. Gambian therapy really works! ( I also have a Gambian man that I go to for love advice at the Karaoke bar we all like to go to when we are in Kombo.) Then we talked about PowerPoint, and how it would be important for him to learn to use it when he makes presentations to tourists to get them to go on the tours. Usually Gambian men are annoying and always try to hit on me, but he was very respectful about it. He dropped hints, but he never acted creepy or even asked for my number. He just gave me his business card and that was that. About this time Steven came back and apologized for leaving me alone with the guy. I told him not to worry. The guy was very respectful, and he really made me feel a lot better!
Around this time the staff brought out lunch for the tourists. Now I didn't want to be rude and eat their lunch, but the dish looked amazing and smelled really good! It was Gambian food, but it looked like the really good kind. (Not sure what this means, but basically it did not look like vomit or baby poo) We were invited to join them for lunch, so we stayed. We got to eat out of really nice bowls from Ikea. We had some sort of fried rice, potato, beef, carrots, and a really good seasoning. I was in heaven! The tourists were all complaining about how spicy the food was, but I loved it! The Gambians and I finished our bowls really fast, and even had seconds. They even served cold water. While the tourists drank out of their fancy bottles, I drank cup after cup of cold water that probably came from an open well. Oh freaking well, it was cold. You learn to never turn down a glass of cold water! After lunch we spoke to the tourists about the Gambia. They seemed very nice. The tour company that brought them recruits them, charges them a great deal of money, and then hits them up for donations at the end. All of the money goes to an association that gives the money to villages. The whole idea is genius.
After that, we went back to Steven's house, and the tourists left. Gibril called again, and we spoke about the upcoming program. Turns out that I only have to entertain the guests for about 30-60 minutes. This is between all of you and me, but I'm pretty sure that PC is only stopping by so the women have a chance to sell some bags. I'm going to the PC office on Friday to plan it.
After the call, Steven and I watched "Beauty and the Beast," AND "The Little Mermaid." Both classics! We had actually started watching "Beauty and the Beast" earlier at the clinic, and let me tell you the nurses loved it! Toward the end of the second movie it started to pour, so I had to wait the rain out. Normally I probably would have just stayed the night because of the rain, but I really couldn't since I was going to Farjara for a few days. It finally stopped raining about 7pm, so I went home.
The road was all muddy from the rain, so I got covered in mud! (not looking forward to cleaning everything tomorrow!) I made it home right before it got dark. When I showed up I was actually covered from head to toe in mud. I actually had some mud on my helmet. My whole family just stared at me, and they looked horrified. Gambians do not like to get dirty. I'm already strange enough to them, but riding home through mud puddles may be my top for the month! I greeted all 20 of them, and then headed to the pump for water to take a bath. I took a nice, long bath, and then felt great! I had some dinner (Easy Mac), and then my aunt, Yesi, showed up. She's been coming by in the evenings to chat. She just sort of walks in, grabs my mat, and sits.It's sort of weird, but nice at the same time. We usually "talk" close to an hour, and then she goes to bed. She's super nice, and works really hard. She's one of the lowest in terms of women, so she has a lot to do! She's a funny, little, caring lady. She speaks English so-so, so we have a random English-Mandinka conversation. To tell you the truth, I think she's just as lonely as me sometimes, and that's why she stops by.
Things are random, but if I just breathe deeply, lean on my friends (and Gambian therapists), things will be okay. It's my two years and it's up to me to be happy. I have no desire to come home, I think that it's just part of my nature to freak out about everything. It should be a really interesting 21 more months!
So today I really freaked out! I went to see Steven in Jiboro because I wanted to have a nice, relaxing day, but no luck. I went with Steven to his meeting at "Christian Children's Fund." We spoke with the chairman about neem cream and mosquito nets. The man was more excited about the fact that Steven was able to get a CD that had been stuck in the disk drive for five days out of the computer than anything that we had to say. That's why I love the Gambia!!! We road our bikes back to his house, and then we were going to head over to the village clinic to watch DVDs. (Not my village, so I'm more than happy to abuse the system.) On our way out the door, my boss, Gibril, calls to tell me that next week I have to play hostess to 15-20 PC people that are here for some sort of medical conference. I knew that something like this was coming, but I did not realize that it would be this soon! I started freaking out and actually said, "but I do not do anything at site." This was after Gibril told me that I was supposed to show them what I do in my village. We talked a little more, and then Gibril said that he would talk to the Country Dir, Mike, about the details. I was not happy!
After that Steven and I went to his clinic to watch movies. First though, I saw the nurse about my ear. My ear had been hurting all morning. It felt like I had a simple ear wax build-up, so I thought (against my better judgement) that maybe the nurses could handle it. Big mistake!!! The nurse tried to flush out my ear, but all he did was spray water all over me and the floor. I thanked him, and continued to freak out! I decided then that I should call the PC nurse about it, so I actually called her. (I was not in a proper mindset at the time) Of course she really did not think that it was a big deal, so she told me that I could come in if I wanted to, but I could also just stop by whenever I came to Farjara next. Due to my altered mental status, I decided that I did not like this answer, and I would come in. I went back to Steven's house, got ready to go, and then Steven found some ear war drops. I used that instead, and decided not to go. Poor Steven! We just went back to the clinic.
When we got back there were some tourists visiting the clinic. They were in from Holland. The four of them were very nice, but I felt that the two women had shorts on that were way too short! Anything above the knee is just wrong in a Muslim country! Steven gave them a tour, and I just started chatting with the Gambian guy who leads the tours to various villages. Why not network? At this point anyone may be able to help. I told him about my village, and the things that I'm trying to do. Then out of no where I started talking to him about all my frustrations and problems that I am having. He listened, and then told me that I have to do what makes me happy. These are my two years, and it I'm not happy, then nothing will get done. He told me to work with the people that I want to work with, and do the projects that I want to do. He made me feel so much better. Gambian therapy really works! ( I also have a Gambian man that I go to for love advice at the Karaoke bar we all like to go to when we are in Kombo.) Then we talked about PowerPoint, and how it would be important for him to learn to use it when he makes presentations to tourists to get them to go on the tours. Usually Gambian men are annoying and always try to hit on me, but he was very respectful about it. He dropped hints, but he never acted creepy or even asked for my number. He just gave me his business card and that was that. About this time Steven came back and apologized for leaving me alone with the guy. I told him not to worry. The guy was very respectful, and he really made me feel a lot better!
Around this time the staff brought out lunch for the tourists. Now I didn't want to be rude and eat their lunch, but the dish looked amazing and smelled really good! It was Gambian food, but it looked like the really good kind. (Not sure what this means, but basically it did not look like vomit or baby poo) We were invited to join them for lunch, so we stayed. We got to eat out of really nice bowls from Ikea. We had some sort of fried rice, potato, beef, carrots, and a really good seasoning. I was in heaven! The tourists were all complaining about how spicy the food was, but I loved it! The Gambians and I finished our bowls really fast, and even had seconds. They even served cold water. While the tourists drank out of their fancy bottles, I drank cup after cup of cold water that probably came from an open well. Oh freaking well, it was cold. You learn to never turn down a glass of cold water! After lunch we spoke to the tourists about the Gambia. They seemed very nice. The tour company that brought them recruits them, charges them a great deal of money, and then hits them up for donations at the end. All of the money goes to an association that gives the money to villages. The whole idea is genius.
After that, we went back to Steven's house, and the tourists left. Gibril called again, and we spoke about the upcoming program. Turns out that I only have to entertain the guests for about 30-60 minutes. This is between all of you and me, but I'm pretty sure that PC is only stopping by so the women have a chance to sell some bags. I'm going to the PC office on Friday to plan it.
After the call, Steven and I watched "Beauty and the Beast," AND "The Little Mermaid." Both classics! We had actually started watching "Beauty and the Beast" earlier at the clinic, and let me tell you the nurses loved it! Toward the end of the second movie it started to pour, so I had to wait the rain out. Normally I probably would have just stayed the night because of the rain, but I really couldn't since I was going to Farjara for a few days. It finally stopped raining about 7pm, so I went home.
The road was all muddy from the rain, so I got covered in mud! (not looking forward to cleaning everything tomorrow!) I made it home right before it got dark. When I showed up I was actually covered from head to toe in mud. I actually had some mud on my helmet. My whole family just stared at me, and they looked horrified. Gambians do not like to get dirty. I'm already strange enough to them, but riding home through mud puddles may be my top for the month! I greeted all 20 of them, and then headed to the pump for water to take a bath. I took a nice, long bath, and then felt great! I had some dinner (Easy Mac), and then my aunt, Yesi, showed up. She's been coming by in the evenings to chat. She just sort of walks in, grabs my mat, and sits.It's sort of weird, but nice at the same time. We usually "talk" close to an hour, and then she goes to bed. She's super nice, and works really hard. She's one of the lowest in terms of women, so she has a lot to do! She's a funny, little, caring lady. She speaks English so-so, so we have a random English-Mandinka conversation. To tell you the truth, I think she's just as lonely as me sometimes, and that's why she stops by.
Things are random, but if I just breathe deeply, lean on my friends (and Gambian therapists), things will be okay. It's my two years and it's up to me to be happy. I have no desire to come home, I think that it's just part of my nature to freak out about everything. It should be a really interesting 21 more months!
Deodorant, bikes, and other random things
From 27/7/08
So, my Mom sent me men's deodorant. Because I'm weird and do not want to smell bad (although none of the Gambians actually wear it). I now smell of "mountain spring" or "forest something" or whatever random name that they give to the stuff. When I first found it in one of my care packages I was sort of annoyed, then I thought "oh whatever." So now I just smell like a man. I also got this really cool water backpack system. It's a fancy pouch with a tube that I can drink right out of as I am riding my bike. The best part of the whole thing is the mini backpack that it goes into. This is the most magical bag ever!!! It looks small, but the thing actually expands pretty big. It has hidden straps everywhere, and even has a hidden net to hold onto my bike helmet. Not that I really plan on using that part much, but it's nice to know that it is an option. Honestly the thing has so many "bells and whistles" that I had to look at the card that came with it to find everything that the backpack has. There is a compartment for every little thing possible. This is by far one of the coolest things that I have ever owned!!! Sad I know, but it really is the little things that get me through each and every day.
PC finally got around to giving us our new bikes. Now I go on really long bike rides whenever I can. This is often quite hard because it rains A LOT. Also. because of the rain my clothes have not been drying on the clothes line, and my host family has been holding onto my only pants that fit for three days. They do my laundry, so I sort of have to work with their schedule. I currently have all of my undergarments hanging on a clothes line that I hung myself inside my house. Just like every other Gambian, I now have a line outside, and one inside as well. This has been a lifesaver so far during the rain season! Back to the bike... so this is a really nice bike!!! I try to ride 15K, and then turn around and head home. I like to ride on the south bank road because it's paved, and it has a lot of hills that really work my legs. There are also a lot of things to see!
Whenever I'm having a bad day I feel so much better once I'm out on my bike. I get "toubabed" a lot, but I'm usually riding by too fast to notice. The other day when I was almost home and really tired, a grown man actually shouted "toubab" at me. It's one thing when the stupid kids do it, but it's rude when it comes from an adult that knows better! (God I sound just like Steven) I looked at the man and said, "Hey mofingo, n so minte!" (hey black person give me minte/candy.) The man just started laughing, and then said something about me knowing the local language. The kids usually scream, "toubab give me minte." (This is about the only English a lot of them know) They all do this because stupid tourists actually drive by and throw candy at the kids. I guess that they think that this is cute. I would love to know how the whole thing actually started. The real problem with this is the fact that it only encourages the people to expect handouts from white people. This has been their survival tactic for years, and they do not realize that they are actually being exploited. Toubabs (hey when they behave that way, they earn the name) come through my village all of the time and act so stupid. If I were saw one of them throw candy at kids, then I'd give them a piece of my mind! Just like when you feed an alligator, the kids learn to associate people with food and free stuff. Kids will run right up to me when I'm on my bike and try to tough me or my bike. Now I just swat them away. Maybe that form of positive reinforcement will teach them to associate toubabs with violence. Or if anything they'll leave me alone when I ride by. When the kids run up to the road it is so dangerous! Cars (especially Government vehicles) drive really fast down the road, and I'm always worried that someone will get hit. I now have no problem with parents beating their kids for playing too close to the road. I also joke with people about starting an "anti-minte campaign." Every time I catch a tourist throwing candy at kids, I'm going to throw a piece of candy back at them. I of course would really never actually do this, but it would be fun!
I now have all of the furniture that I planned on purchasing for my house. Thanks to a married couple that decided to leave, I saved a lot of money!!! I'm thinking about buying a couch, but I'm not sure if I really need it. My toy chest seems to double as a couch pretty nicely. I've even started hanging things up on my walls.
I currently do not have much food because I spent most of my money at IST on junk food and beer. Once I get money again, I plan on buying groceries and making some really yummy food! I really want to buy eggs in Brikama, I just have to figure out a way to safely get them home on the gele. I can buy 36 for 80 Dal (4 dollars), so it's worth it to me. I need more protein in my diet, so eggs seem to be the easiest way to do it. I'm also running low on propane, so I'll have to deal with that too. I've been cooking my own dinner, so if anyone has any ideas for things I can easily make on a single-burner stove that does not require too many ingredients, PLEASE let me know. I want to figure out a simple way to make wraps. Also, if someone could send me some dried fruit that would rock!
I've seen some really interesting things while riding my bike. Now that it's raining everything is green, and the place is actually really beautiful! I like to ride to spot where the paved road ends, so I really have the chance to see a lot. There's always a lot of children playing football (soccer to us Americans). The other day I actually saw a dead animal carcase being eaten my vultures. That was pretty cool! Sometimes while I am riding I just look around and observe how beautiful everything really is. Then I start to think about how lucky I actually am. Really, how many people my age, or any age for that matter, can say that they have gone on a bike ride through Africa? As much as I sometimes feel lost and wonder why I'm even here (surprisingly though I never actually want to go home), I always feel lucky at the end of the day. I'm usually high on endorphins at this point so that probably plays a big factor in my whimsical thinking. I also always think about how much my friend Kyra would love to ride her bike here. (This is usually as I am swearing while biking up a huge hill!) Kyra is finally going to get married this December. I'm really sad that I'll miss her wedding, but that's life. I knew I'd miss a lot by coming here (including her wedding), but I made the decision to become a krazy world traveler. Jenni and I jokingly made a pact that we had to be in a promising relationship (aka looks like it'll lead to marriage) by New Year's of our 33rd year. We got the idea from our favorite singleton, Bridget Jones. That gives me a little over ten years.
In about two weeks it will be six months that I have been here. Part of me says "wow it's gone by so fast," and the other part says "that's really all it has been?" Only 21 months to go!!!
So, my Mom sent me men's deodorant. Because I'm weird and do not want to smell bad (although none of the Gambians actually wear it). I now smell of "mountain spring" or "forest something" or whatever random name that they give to the stuff. When I first found it in one of my care packages I was sort of annoyed, then I thought "oh whatever." So now I just smell like a man. I also got this really cool water backpack system. It's a fancy pouch with a tube that I can drink right out of as I am riding my bike. The best part of the whole thing is the mini backpack that it goes into. This is the most magical bag ever!!! It looks small, but the thing actually expands pretty big. It has hidden straps everywhere, and even has a hidden net to hold onto my bike helmet. Not that I really plan on using that part much, but it's nice to know that it is an option. Honestly the thing has so many "bells and whistles" that I had to look at the card that came with it to find everything that the backpack has. There is a compartment for every little thing possible. This is by far one of the coolest things that I have ever owned!!! Sad I know, but it really is the little things that get me through each and every day.
PC finally got around to giving us our new bikes. Now I go on really long bike rides whenever I can. This is often quite hard because it rains A LOT. Also. because of the rain my clothes have not been drying on the clothes line, and my host family has been holding onto my only pants that fit for three days. They do my laundry, so I sort of have to work with their schedule. I currently have all of my undergarments hanging on a clothes line that I hung myself inside my house. Just like every other Gambian, I now have a line outside, and one inside as well. This has been a lifesaver so far during the rain season! Back to the bike... so this is a really nice bike!!! I try to ride 15K, and then turn around and head home. I like to ride on the south bank road because it's paved, and it has a lot of hills that really work my legs. There are also a lot of things to see!
Whenever I'm having a bad day I feel so much better once I'm out on my bike. I get "toubabed" a lot, but I'm usually riding by too fast to notice. The other day when I was almost home and really tired, a grown man actually shouted "toubab" at me. It's one thing when the stupid kids do it, but it's rude when it comes from an adult that knows better! (God I sound just like Steven) I looked at the man and said, "Hey mofingo, n so minte!" (hey black person give me minte/candy.) The man just started laughing, and then said something about me knowing the local language. The kids usually scream, "toubab give me minte." (This is about the only English a lot of them know) They all do this because stupid tourists actually drive by and throw candy at the kids. I guess that they think that this is cute. I would love to know how the whole thing actually started. The real problem with this is the fact that it only encourages the people to expect handouts from white people. This has been their survival tactic for years, and they do not realize that they are actually being exploited. Toubabs (hey when they behave that way, they earn the name) come through my village all of the time and act so stupid. If I were saw one of them throw candy at kids, then I'd give them a piece of my mind! Just like when you feed an alligator, the kids learn to associate people with food and free stuff. Kids will run right up to me when I'm on my bike and try to tough me or my bike. Now I just swat them away. Maybe that form of positive reinforcement will teach them to associate toubabs with violence. Or if anything they'll leave me alone when I ride by. When the kids run up to the road it is so dangerous! Cars (especially Government vehicles) drive really fast down the road, and I'm always worried that someone will get hit. I now have no problem with parents beating their kids for playing too close to the road. I also joke with people about starting an "anti-minte campaign." Every time I catch a tourist throwing candy at kids, I'm going to throw a piece of candy back at them. I of course would really never actually do this, but it would be fun!
I now have all of the furniture that I planned on purchasing for my house. Thanks to a married couple that decided to leave, I saved a lot of money!!! I'm thinking about buying a couch, but I'm not sure if I really need it. My toy chest seems to double as a couch pretty nicely. I've even started hanging things up on my walls.
I currently do not have much food because I spent most of my money at IST on junk food and beer. Once I get money again, I plan on buying groceries and making some really yummy food! I really want to buy eggs in Brikama, I just have to figure out a way to safely get them home on the gele. I can buy 36 for 80 Dal (4 dollars), so it's worth it to me. I need more protein in my diet, so eggs seem to be the easiest way to do it. I'm also running low on propane, so I'll have to deal with that too. I've been cooking my own dinner, so if anyone has any ideas for things I can easily make on a single-burner stove that does not require too many ingredients, PLEASE let me know. I want to figure out a simple way to make wraps. Also, if someone could send me some dried fruit that would rock!
I've seen some really interesting things while riding my bike. Now that it's raining everything is green, and the place is actually really beautiful! I like to ride to spot where the paved road ends, so I really have the chance to see a lot. There's always a lot of children playing football (soccer to us Americans). The other day I actually saw a dead animal carcase being eaten my vultures. That was pretty cool! Sometimes while I am riding I just look around and observe how beautiful everything really is. Then I start to think about how lucky I actually am. Really, how many people my age, or any age for that matter, can say that they have gone on a bike ride through Africa? As much as I sometimes feel lost and wonder why I'm even here (surprisingly though I never actually want to go home), I always feel lucky at the end of the day. I'm usually high on endorphins at this point so that probably plays a big factor in my whimsical thinking. I also always think about how much my friend Kyra would love to ride her bike here. (This is usually as I am swearing while biking up a huge hill!) Kyra is finally going to get married this December. I'm really sad that I'll miss her wedding, but that's life. I knew I'd miss a lot by coming here (including her wedding), but I made the decision to become a krazy world traveler. Jenni and I jokingly made a pact that we had to be in a promising relationship (aka looks like it'll lead to marriage) by New Year's of our 33rd year. We got the idea from our favorite singleton, Bridget Jones. That gives me a little over ten years.
In about two weeks it will be six months that I have been here. Part of me says "wow it's gone by so fast," and the other part says "that's really all it has been?" Only 21 months to go!!!
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