All of January and February (and Now Some of March too)

Hello again. I decided to fill everyone in on what has been going on since I last updated. Let's start with the exciting things...



January

January was a pretty exciting month. The biggest thing to happen at my house was the kulio (naming ceremony) of the newest Jammeh, Jaama Jammeh. (Jaama means peace in wolof) Jaama was named after her touma (namesake) Mama "Jaama" Jarju. I'm still not supposed to know Mama Jarju's first name, but I figured it out when everyone told me that the baby was named after Mama Jarju. She still refuses to tell any of my friends that her name is anything other than Mama Jarju. Jaama's kulio actually took place about three weeks after her birthday because we had a death in the family, and we had to wait until we were finished mourning. Kulios in the kombo area are quite a show! I remember kulios in Kaiaf as a simple breakfast, maybe lunch, and the whole ceremony took place in the morning. This was not the case at my house. The men spent days preparing the yard, i.e. moving our giant pile of dirt for brick making into one nice pile, complete with a brick border. They also put up a rather large tent. All of the holes made by the rain rushing through the yard in the rainy season were also filled in. The place looked great! I had to spend the two days before doing my "womenly duties," i.e. helping to prepare the food. Now that I've been here for almost one year, I no longer get to weasle my way out of helping. At one point I was called over and told to help pound the rice. This is never easy for me. I blame my horrible pounding on the fact that I am at least 7 inches taller than the average Gambian woman. The pounding sticks seem to be too short for me. I don't really know, I just know that I am not very good at it, and if I am actually asked to pound, then they must really need me.

I had to pound all morning, and then in the afternoon I got to help make the pancaketoes. (kinda like donut holes) Since it was a large ceremony, and like hundreds of pancaketoes were needed, it took a lot of women and laundry pans to get the job done. Large laundry pans were set up all over the house, and two to three women sat around each pan. Large amounts of flour, baking powder, water, and essesence were added. My Aunt, Mr. B's wife, Fatou, walked around and added more water as needed, while the rest of us mixed everything together. Everything was mixed "blender style" with each of us using most of our right arm to mix. It was one of the most fun things that I've ever done! I had to work all day on various chores, and then by the evening it was time to pound again. At one point my older sister, Jainaba, arrived. She came on a gele from Brikama, and when the gele stopped in front of our house, I was amazed at the amount of things that were taken off the top. She brought, two boxes of Tyson chicken, one 50kg bag of sugar, rice, and flour, a lot of vegetables, and so many more things! I had to help carry it all into the house and I was amazed at the amount of food that she brought.

By the evening it was time to pound again, and most of my family had arrived. I found Yende (my niece born in the fall) right away and grabbed a hold of her. All the women were telling me to pound, and I was like "I can't, I have to hold the baby." They all just laughed, and I actually ended up getting away with it. The next morning we all woke up, and it was time to cook. I spent all morning cutting up fish and vegetables, and I also had to help make the boabab juice. This involved mixing with my right arm again, and squeezing the juice out of the fruit. We were all quite sticky when we finished. At some point Fatou and Agge Fatou also arrived.

I made Steven come to the kulio as well, because it is so much easier to have a friend there so you do not get stuck talking to some old lady the entire time. I'm not very good at getting out of conversations. Steven was supposed to sit with the men, but he ended up hanging out with me and all of the women. By the late afternoon, everyone was dressed up nicely. Agge Fatou was wearing a really nice party dress, and not ten minutes after Fatou had dressed Agge, she was covered in icces. I asked Fatou if she wanted me to clean Agge Fatou up, and she was pretty much like "sure." I washed Agge off, and I attempted to clean up her dress as well. I found Agge a half-hour later, and quickly learned why Fatou was that worried that Agge was covered in icees before. Agge had covered herself in the icees again. I gave up at that point.

I spent a lot of the afternoon holding Jaama while her mother, Kaddy, got dressed again and again in one of what must have been at least six outfits that she had made for the kulio. Some of the women in the room asked me why I don't have a baby. (this is always a popular question because I am 23 and should have a baby by now according to the culture) I told them that I was ready yet because I do not have a husband. Then they asked why I'm not married. I told them that I wasn't ready for a husband because I still have a lot that I want to do, and I'm not ready to clean up after a husband all day. They laughed, and told me that I clearly want to have a baby, and asked again why I don't just have one. I told them that I do really want to have a baby, but now is just not the right time for one. They backed off, and then I just got to hold the baby again. I proved about 15 minutes later why I'm not ready for a baby. Jaama filled up her diaper, and I had no clue how to change her. I gave Jaama to my sister, Jarie, and she had no clue how to change the diaper either. One of the other women present with kids stepped in and changed the diaper.

Around this time I also realized that lunch was being served. Steven had apparently gone off and found some people to eat with, so I was trapped with the baby and nothing to eat. In the past, or when I visit other people's homes, I'm always top priotry for food. At one point one of my host sisters walked up to me and asked if I had eaten. I was sure that I would get a bowl now. Instead, I was told that I better go find some food to eat. I guess that I really am apart of the family now.

The ceremony started after the five o'clock prayer. Jaama had already been to the Iman when she was born to have her head shaved and to be named. We were only holding the ceremony now because we had to wait to celebrate, so they really didn't spend a lot of time on her part of the show. Steven had to sit with the men on the mats, and I guess that someone got upset and was rude to him. Steven of course got mad too, and told the man that we were all equal and should be treated equa, etc. Another man told the first man to back off, and he let Steven sit on the mat. That man turned out to be the Iman, and when he gave his sermon he spoke all about how we are all equal. Steven inspired the speech.

Once Jaama's portion was complete, she was sent back into the house, and the real party began. We had so much food, and a DJ was even hired. Dancing went on most of the night, and my new favorite Obama song was played many times.

Two days later I learned about the death of P Diddy the kitten. I was a little annoyed that I was told over his dead body, but I've learned to handle death a lot better here. He was just to young to have been seperated from his mother, and it probably didn't help that he loved to play with the children too much. P Diddy had gotten an eye infection two days before the kulio, and I spent a lot of time flushing his eye out. He disappeared sometime during the kulio, so I guess that it was just his time.

Agge Fatou ended up staying with us for one week. She was a total handful the entire time. No one was sad to see her go home. She beat up poor Ebrima the entire time, and any other child that hit him got a severe beating from her. The crazy part is that she won't even turn two til the end of March. She is already way stronger than the other kids. I saw her body slam Ebrima one day, and the day that little Fatou hit Ebrima, Agge Fatou gave her quite the beating as well. Ebrima and I hang out a lot, and Agge would have none of it. She wanted my attention all the time, so poor Ebrima got beat a lot for that as well. One day she had running stomach in the front yard, and there were no adults to clean her up. Luckily she was smart enough to take her pants off before hand. Normally I find an adult and tell them, but I was all alone. I had to clean her up. I took her to the bathroom and then poured lots of water on her backside. Ebrima kept gesturing for me to scrub her butt, but I couldn't find any soap, so I just used lots of water and prayed that it was enough.

A new group of PCVs also swore in mid-January, so I spent some time in Farjara. Jenni's mom also arrived, so I hung out with them as well.


February

On February 7th, I officially had spent one year in country. It was pretty exciting to know that I only had a little over one year left. The big event in February was attending the softball tournament in Dakar. I traveled up to Jenni's house a couple of days early, and hung out with her and her mom before we traveled to Dakar. The car ride up there was horrible! My left knee always starts throbbing after being crammed in a small space for about two hours. The ride took about six hours, so I was a mess by the end. I played on the "c" team, so that meant that most of my team had never played softball at all. Also most of my team had hit up the "drink stand" so it was a real experience. We officially came in last place after losing every single game. I had fun, but I realized that I am too competive to play on that team next year. We stayed with a very nice family, and the whole weekend was a lot of fun.

After the softball, we all travel back to Gambia. I spent a day in Farjara, and then me, Jenni, and her mom traveled to my house to spend the week there. We traveled down to Steven's house, visited Brikama, and went to Kanali. Kanali is the president's home village, so there is a really great lodge there! The room had a real toliet, shower, a pretty comfortable bed, a fridge, an air conditioner, fan, and a TV with satelite programming. We fell in love with the TV right away! We were there over the weekend, so we got to meet the president. Jenni and I saw him standing with some women while they were pounding, so we walked over to pound too, aka meet the president. He saw us and called us over. We learned that he's been to Epcot, and he seemed interested that I could speak some Jola language. I also told him exactly where I live, and I've noticed that we usually get cookies thrown at my house now. He also arranged for us to visit the zoo. That was a great day!



March

March kicked off the beginning of wedding season. The first weekend of the month was Yesi's wedding. She moved about one hour away. Ebrima is going to stay with us until her and her new husband get settled. I had Amanda go with me to this ceremony, and thank Allah that I did. The thing started on Friday night. We had a nice meal, and Yesi was prepared to go. Her wedding was pretty low key. Some of the women went with Yesi in the middle of the night to go to her new village. Amanda and I passed out long before it was time to go. I woke up at 3am to close my door because Mr. B was shouting for me to do so. The next morning we had breakfast, and then Amanda, me, Suntu, and Fatou (Mr. B's wife) traveled to Yesi's new house. We took a car, and then had to hike about 4k from the road into Yesi's village. This was the middle of the day, so it was not very fun.

I spent most of the day sleeping, while Amanda entertained my family. Her name is Bori (just like Mr. B) so everyone started calling her "Ms. B." When I woke up from one of my naps they had even braided her hair. In the evening Mama Jarju arrived with all of Yesi's gifts. She got driven in a truck. Another reason why it's better to be a first wife. We had an amazing dinner of benechin, cow meat, and lots of vegetables. I ate a lot, and tried to avoid the internal organs because they taste so bad! That night we danced a lot, and Amanda and I kept getting pulled out into the middle of the circle to dance. We looked ridicalous, but it was fun. Jolas can dance really well, so we were really put to shame. We had to spend the night, so I ended up sharing a bed with Mama Jarju and my cousin, Mariama. Mama Jarju got the comfortable part of the bed, and the blanket and pillow. Mariama and I ended up practically spooning because of lack of space, and in an attempt to stay warm. The next morning Amanda and I hiked out of the village with my sister Hawa, and returned to Mandinaba. I had to go to Brikama to buy fabric and get an outfit made for my sister Neima's wedding the following week.

Then the next weekend, it was Neima's turn to get married. This was quite the production. A lot of food was purchased, but this time I was in Farjara working, so I didn't arrive home until the evening time, so I missed the set up. It was freezing cold that night, so I ended up sitting close to the fire pretending to help cook/hold the babies of women that were actually cooking. We had benechin for dinner, and I ate so much I was certain that I was going to be sick! After dinner, I was taken by two of the women to go collect water for Neima's bath. Along the way to the pump we passed through the dance floor, and I jammed out to one of the Obama songs. We brought the water back and set it down in the front yard. I was a little confused since most people bathe in the front yard.

I asked around after Neima's bath time, and no other PCVs had witnessed what I saw. It must be a Jola thing. Neima sat in the middle of the front yard with all of us standing/sitting around her in a circle. She wore fabric to cover up her legs. Two women washed her while Mama Jarju stood next to Neima. The rest of us sang, and danced around the circle. It sounds weird, but it was actually a lot of fun. Some of the older women even shook their butts in Neima's face which I found to be quite funny. Then the Iman gave a speech to Neima about her wifely responsibilities. A lot of take care of your husband, etc. Then some of the girls took Neima and wrapped her up in a blanket and held her for ransom. This was pretty funny. People were tossing money into the pile to get Neima back. This happens at all weddings. I read in one book and some of the groups even hid the bride in houses. Thankfully Neima was just wrapped up in a sheet. Finally someone told the girls that it had been enough time, and so began the epic "one hour to walk the 10 meters to the car." This was the worst part of the night! I stood there watching it take literally one hour to get her in the car. I felt like I was watching the third lord of the rings movie, and I found myself wanting to shout "get on the boat already!" Most of the women left that night, but I was really tired, and I just wanted to sleep in my own bed. It was after two am at this point.

The next morning I woke up late, and had breakfast with the family. Ebrima had an accident earlier in the morning, so Mama Jarju jokingly told him that he could not eat the whole day because it would end up in his pants. Ebrima imediately started screaming, and ran around. He ended up in Suntu's room, and slammed the metal door. We all laughed and started eating. When Ebrima was finished he joined us as well. I traveled to Neima's new village with Kaddy, and spent a good portion of the day sleeping. I was tired from the night before, and that's what most of the women do all day anyway. I woke up to eat each time and that was about it. By the time evening came around, I was dressed in my matching outfit (asobi) for the party. I had dinner and hung around, and around 9pm I left with some of my neighbors because I had a meeting with the youth group that night.

The previous week I traveled up to Basse with Jenni. It was so hot there, but the people are really nice. We didn't get toubabed for hasseled like we normally do, and most people just shouted "hey Peace Corps" at us. It took like 6 hours to get up there, and we had to cross on two ferries up-country. Instead of having a bridge to connect the 20 yards, there were tiny ferries. By the time Jenni and I got up there we were exhausted! We ended up staying for three days, and then we stopped at Jenni's house on the way home to stay the night. On Saturday one of the girls here had her 30th birthday party. It was toga themed, and a lot of fun! Now today I am going back home to my site.



That's some of the highlights for the past couple of months. I'll work on updating my blog more regularly from now on. I'm returning to America to visit at the end June. April is my Birthday, and it looks like there are a lot of things planned for April and May, so I will be back in America before I know it!!!