It's been a while...

So, I just realized that it has been an EXTREMELY long time since I've posted.  1.5 years to be exact.  Well I am still here in the Gambia.  I'm half-way done with my third year now, and time is just flying by!

There's a new training group coming on the 6th of January, and talking to all of them, and answering their questions, reminds me of what I was going through three years ago.  What to bring?  Will there be toilet paper?  Will I even survive?  Well I'm happy to say three years later that I am still here. 

Here's a little bit about what has been going on for me in the past year...

In January I decided to stay.  I wasn't ready to go home yet, and I just had this feeling that I should stay.  I ended up becoming the volunteer leader for health, and that has pretty much taken up most of my time the rest of this year.  I've been working on site development for the new group, helping to organize training, working with other volunteers, attending well over my fair share of meetings, and other "exciting" stuff. 

I went home to America in July, which was awesome!  I got to hang out with my family, and see a lot of friends (including my RPCV friends!!!)  That was crazy!  Seeing them drive was mind blowing enough for me.  haha.  I also went on a family vacation, and met people that I am related to that I have never met before. 

This past Christmas was a little weird.  This year I not only had to go through the motions of missing my family, but I also missed my PC family, aka, my group.  We had established our own little Christmas traditions, and it was really weird not to have them this year!  Christmas ended up being fun though, but it was a lot different.  There was a volunteer pancake breakfast, and I ended up with the important tasks of slicing fruit, frying bacon, and most important of all, cracking each and every egg to separate the rotten eggs.  Let's just say that there were a few bright green eggs! In the afternoon I went over to our AO's house, and made Christmas cookies, and hung out.  Then for dinner I had my staple for restaurant dining in the Gambia, a cheese sandwich and a pint of Julbrew!

Right now I am considering what to do when my time runs out in May.  Graduate school should be at the top of my list, but honestly I am just not sure that is what I want to do.  The foreign service exam is being offered here in the Gambia next month, so I am thinking about taking that just to see what it is like.  And I'm also looking up jobs.  I'll live anywhere expect good ole Fort Myers!!!

In the past year, my compound, Jammeh Kunda, has had three babies born.  (Binta- September 26, 2010; Mariama- November 20, 2010; and Mohammed- December 30, 2010)  I'm kinda a little auntie now I guess.  Mariama always makes me smile, because like her older sister, Aje (my favorite baby when I moved in who will be four in March) she isn't afraid of me just because I am a toubab.  In fact, whenever I return home, she's always one of the first to welcome me.  All of the other kids have grown up a lot.  Lala and Mariama are in grade 2, Maribe is in grade 3 (and can read!), and everyone else is doing well as well.  All of the kids, minus the babies, are in school now, so weekday mornings are a blessing to everyone!  The closer I get to leaving, the more sad I feel that I will no longer be living with everyone in Jammeh Kunda.  I mean they pretty much took me in, and made me apart of their family.  The hardest part of leaving the Gambia will be leaving them I think.  I've seen all of them make so many big strides.  Binta finished Senior Secondary School, taught school herself for one year, and now is enrolled in the teachers' college.  One of my other host sisters made the difficult choice to end a difficult marriage, move home, and start over yet again with her two girls.  I miss out on a lot of time in village now because I am the volunteer leader, but whenever I am home there's always something exciting. 

In the next couple of months I'll be busy with training, and then before I know it, it'll be time to head home.  I'll try to keep up more the next few months! 

Happy New Year Everyone!