Pictures!!!

okay, i posted some random pics. I did not have any time to label, so sorry. The link will probably take you to an older album, so just click on "my photos" in the top left part of the screen (toward the middle) and look for "more pics from the gambia." Enjoy!!!

It's official... I'm a PCV!!!

Last evening, in front of the Director of PC and the US Ambassador to The Gambia, all 15 of us swore in. All of the girls wore matching outfits. I really thought that the whole thing would look really lame, but we all ended up looking really good!!! Most groups just sort of pull together any random outfit that they can find, but our group really put the time into making sure that we looked really nice. Our performance went really well. All day long we all have been told that we did a really good job, and that the whole thing was really cool. It's great because we all come out looking like stars, and really all we did was create a program for the Dir because the PC forced us to do so. The best part of the whole thing was the giant feast that followed!!! There was so much food, and we all really made pigs of ourselves. Swearing in really reminded me a lot of graduation. We had to walk up to the front and shake hands with everyone, and we even recieved a certificate with a patch and pin. As I was shaking hands with a Sec of something in The Gambia, he asked me if I played basketball. I was like um I used to, and then everyone around me started to laugh. The stage was really small, so my picture with the director probably turned out really bad because I couldn't figure out where the photographer was standing. The whole thing took place at the Ambassador's house, and let me tell you it was a really nice place!!! It was located on the beach, and everything was super nice. We all took turns using the bathroom, and it was like being back in the US for a few minutes. I felt really special when we were kicked out of the place because the Ambassador had ANOTHER event later in the evening. After that we all attended a Jul-Brew party that sort of acted as a welcome party.

Today was my big day with the PC worldwide director. I had to meet every early for the trip (which is not fun after a night of socializing). We picked up the dir, his personal asst, and the director of Africa for PC, and we were on our way. I ended up riding with the Africa Dir, and she told me all about the election. She was that McCain has it for the Republicans, and then went on to describe how things are going crazy for the Democrats. Sounds like things are really interesting back in the States. The presentation for the Dir was really supposed to be all about the Women's group and what they are doing, but it sort of turned into a appreciation thing for the girl that I am replacing. I felt really weird at first, and then they mentioned me and said that they are very excited that I am coming to live there. The director looked really uncomfortable the whole time, and it made me really think about how the little things do not bother me any more. Watching him look nervous around the random people that would scream, and just do weird, every day things, made me realize that nothing bothers me any more. Most of the time I never even remember that I am in Africa, and then I have these random moments where I am like "oh wow, I really do live in Africa." When the program was over, the director really needed to use the restroom, so he had to use my pit latrine. My host family was working on raising the wall (currently I am taller than the thing), and everyone had to be called from what they were doing so the dir could use the restroom. It was pretty funny. We took a group pic, and then it was time for the dir and his posse to move on. I thanked him for coming, and then I had a random little conversation with him that ended with him telling me "thanks for serving." It was pretty random, and I was just like thanks.
So tomorrow I move to my new home for two years!!! It felt really nice to visit today and have everyone remember me from last week and be really excited to see me. The village is really nice, and everyone there seems to be really cool. I plan on going back to GPI right now, and downloading some pictures and then coming back tonight and downloading them. Talk to my mom about getting pictures. I found out from one of the girls in my group that our moms have been talking and that my mom got some pics from her mom. I have a lot to do tonight, but I would really like to be able to put some pics up. I think that they are all pretty random, but there are some from swearing in that are pretty nice.

Swear-in is tomorrow!!!

Okay, so some how I survived my language test. I had the test on Monday, and I actually had a nervous breakdown during the test. About half-way through I literally forgot everything that I learned/memorized to say, and I just sort of sat there. My instructor kept signing for me to ask questions, but I could not remember anything to save my life. Then out of no where I just started talking about my friend Amanda and her dog Adiyata Atticus Rambo Drapcho (The two middle names where my doing... I am an awesome godmother!). I just sort of said "Ning mu teerima le ti." My instructor sort of looked at me like I was crazy, but I continued to talk all about Amanda and her stupid dog. (He's a puppy right now and all he does is bite everyone.) I felt really bad after the test, but two days later I found out that I passed, so everything worked out. I really had to learn A LOT of language for this test, because I basically failed the first two tests. In fact, all three of us in my training village did horrible on the previous tests, so we all spent the last three weeks studying Mandinka non-stop. But I totally passed, and now I get to swear-in tomorrow.

So swearing in is going to be very "interesting." The Director of the entire Peace Corps is coming to tour the country, so he will be in attendence for the swearing in. Because of this, the PC is making us put on a little dog and pony show for the Dir. All of the girls in my group had matching Gambian outfits made, and we have to put on a little song and dance show. Also, because the PC Dir heard how awesome I am, he wants to meet me personally. Okay, actually I am meeting him because he is touring the country and my village is one of the stops. The girl that I am replacing did a lot of really good things, and the PC wants to show off the site. We have swearing in in the afternoon, and then a dinner at the Ambassador's house.

Never in my life has shopping been so bad!!! Today we went shopping for items for our houses, and I've never been more annoyed in my life. First, I had to buy a propane tank and a burner for the tank. A couple of us went to the market yesterday and recieved quotes for different items, so we did some bargining, and haggling. (Everyone here in Farjara speaks English, so it wasn't too hard.) I found a place with really nice burners, and I convinced the guy to drop the price. Then today when we showed up, everyone tried to get the guy to drop more, and we basically pissed him off. In the end we lowered the price a little more, but my work yesterday got us the good price. Then I went to buy paint. At this point, things were still pretty interesting. I picked two different colors of blue paint to paint my microscopic house, along with some paint brusheds and a roller. Everyone else seemed to think that we needed to buy hammers, so I thought, why not. Then I bought some random kitchen things. My favorite buy was this really krazy hand-made broom. Just think firebolt or neimbus 3000. Next, I purchased a mattress, and I had to carry it on my head across the road, and then watch the driver attempt to stack 10+ mattresses on top of the PC bus. (Totally not street legal in the US) I also bought some fabric for my curtains, and some other random odds 'n ends. In the fabric store I made friends with the shopkeeper. I met her the day before, and then today when I came back she went on and on about how we were friends (in Mandinka). She ended up giving me her phone number, and said that we were now friends. The whole experience was a little odd, but she had really nice fabrics. It's important to have friends in the right places.

Everything here is great!!! I feel really comfortable here, and half of the time I forget that I am living in Africa. Please write me tons of letters, and don't forget about my bday on Sun!!! I will be visiting Mandinaba on Saturday to meet the Director, and then I have to take a gili-gili back here to Farjara (takes about 1 hour or so, and I only have to change cars two times.) I want to try to make another trip to the office to post again (I'll try to include swearing in) and also post the handful of pics that I have. I really didn't like Kaiaf, so I really did not take too many pics. I hope that things are going well, and look for another post soon!!!

I'm back!!!

After two whole months I am FINALLY able to use a computer again!!! I survived training village, and now I have to pass my language test tomorrow. I'm pretty nervous, but one of my teachers promised to pray for me each day. That's five times a day, so hopefully I'll get some help from above.

I just spent the past two months living in Kaiaf, and let me tell you it was a real experience. Kaiaf is located in Kiang, which is one of the poorest parts of the country, so things weren't always very nice. For the most part some of the people were nice, but a good deal of them were pretty rude. As we left the village on our last day we were still dealing with people calling us names.

All the little things that I thought would be horrible (ie pit latrines, bucket baths, going to the pump, etc.) were really not at all bad. I've really come to enjoy bathing under the stars, and i'm getting a nice set of arms from pumping and carrying water every day. Also, the pit latrine is amazing because it doesn't smell, and squating really seems more natural on the body than sitting down for long periods of time. I've also some how magically begun to loose weight on a diet of rice. I started calling it the survivor diet (after the tv show) because all I eat is rice (breakfast, lunch, AND dinner) and the pounds are just melting away.

Kaiaf wasn't that bad (wink, wink). I am super happy to be done with training village. I wasn't sure how much more I could take of being made fun of on a regular basis. On one of the last days that we were in the training village, Kaiaf recieved a donation from some guy from England. The school recieved a new computer lab, and a big screen tv. They also recieved a generator, which they imediately hooked the tv up to the second day. Instead of conserving the generator, they decided to watch football (soccer) games on tv all night. It was a very nice gester, however it was really not thought out. The guy simply dropped off computers and other items to people that have no idea how to even use them. That's the problem with Africa; they've been given too many handouts. Everyone always wants to give money but it really doesn't help the people too much. I've heard stories of village heads using the equipment dropped off by various organizations for their own personal use and then returning it to school right before the organization returns. The worst part of the whole experience was when the guy set off fire works during 7 o'clock prayer. I was walking to a site mate's compound to get some water when I saw a flash. My first thought was lightning, but it's not yet the rainy season. Then I saw/heard another and I honestly thought that we were being bombed. I finally looked up in the sky and saw the fireworks. Most of the people in the village had never even seen fireworks before, and some people were scared. I walked right past the mosque, and everyone there, as well as people in compounds, were attempting to pray over all the noise. All I could think was how rude!

So I no longer go by the name Katie Clifford; I now go by Fatoumata or Fatou. In training village I had the surname Kolley. In my new village I will have the surname Jammeh. I learned to speak Mandinka in training village, and now I will have to Jola as well. I am moving into a Jola-speaking compound in the Jola part of the village, so I guess that I'll just have to learn. All of the people under about 30 can speak English pretty well. It's not the same English that I speak back home in the United States, but it is a version of English that I can understand. I will be moving to Mandinaba next week. I spent three days there last week (Wed, Thurs, and Fri), and I should be returning permanently on Sat. I will be working with the women's group, as well as the youth group. The term "youth" in the Gambia encompasses people up to the age of about 30 or so, so basically I'm really helping out with a young men's group.

I mostly wanted to post just to let people know that I survived and that I was still in Africa. I have my final test tomorrow, so I have to study/cram Mandinka. I'm pretty nervous about the test, but I've studied a lot of phrases that I can use on the test. I am in Farjara all this week. If everything works out, then I will be swearing in on Friday. I promise to write more later this week, and go into more detail.

I hope that everyone is doing well!!! I'm super happy here, and I can't wait to actually get started working as a PCV.