Making the Most of It

These last few days here I've been trying to to soak up every minute of left. I'm still going to the hospital each morning and absolutely love it. One thing I've always wanted to do in Africa is make really good friends with some local women. There's nothing like a sick baby to unite two people. The mothers at the hospital are generally around my age or younger and want to know all about my culture and if I would PLEASE marry their son. I always tell them "Absolutely, but first we have to get him over this pneumonia and maybe grow for another 20 years!" My responsibilities at the hospital are increasing substantially and I'm going to be sad to go.

I've only been working half days at the hospital so I can spend the afternoon enjoying the last of my time here. I've spent a lot of time with friends around gorgeous pools at some of the most beautiful resorts here. I've also done a LOT of shopping the last few days. There are a few different types of markets here. Practical markets with food, hardware, clothes and fabric, kind of like Africa's Wal-Mart. And then there are craft markets. They have tons of different vendors all selling the same gorgeous things. I love the craft markets because you can watch the men and women make what they are selling. Men sit outside their stalls carving wood all day to make beautiful animal statues, chairs, masks and other designs. Other men weave on large looms or stretch animal hides over drums they've created. Women piece together necklaces, or sew dresses and bags to display from the trees. It's a beehive of activity and everything they make is beautiful. When I worked at the UN I was able to "window" shop every day on the way to and from work, promising to return when it was time to go home. This week they have been SO happy to see me coming.

Today I went with my friend Famara to a crocodile pool (everyone here has exciting names like Famara, Modu, Abdukabbir, Fatou, and Fatmata~ I've gotten used to it but they still can't say my name so I go by Binta Jammeh.) To get to the crocodile pool, we wove through miles of dirt roads with open sewers and very old homes peppered in between ramshackle tin compounds. The crocodile pool is a sacred place for infertile women who take a dip in the pool to help them have a child. Despite its obscure location, it has become a bit of a destination place. They have a great museum depicting initiating ceremonies, masquerades, major wars that the Gambia has been involved in, instruments and masks from various tribes, different types of amulets, called jujus, that are used to protect and heal the owner or hurt his enemy, as well as a variety of agricultural and domestic tools. The instruments were my favorite because many of the instruments we use at home have their roots in Africa. Very early versions of banjos, fiddles, guitars, harps, xylophones, flutes and drums all originate here.

The actual crocodile pool was incredible. It was a very small pond with countless crocodiles. I lost count at 25 massive crocodiles, some sunbathing, many swimming around in their mosquito-infested home. I'm not good at estimating length or size, but they were HUGE. In addition, there were countless smaller beasts from tiny babies, that make it difficult to imagine they can grow to be so big, to 5-6 feet long teenagers. There's no fence or boundary between observer and reptile so it was and having a staring contest between countless animals

a little unnerving to be a few feet away and having a staring contest between countless animals that could tear you apart. You couldn't give me enough money to get in that water. I don't know how those women do it. Unfortunately, my camera has gone on strike, so I don't have any pictures and probably won't these last few days (leaving in just 3 days!) Enough writing for now, must continue exploring!

Dreams

Sometimes I catch myself watching the people and things around me like I'm in some kind of wonderful dream. I see the things around me like the opening scene of a movie where they show shot after shot of whatever beautiful and exotic place it was filmed at, where even the smallest task looks beautiful and intriguing. It catches me in the most unexpected moments: walking through a crowded market with colorful fabrics and foreign foods; seeing a child carry giant loads of water on top of her head, walking tenderly so not to get her gorgeous African dress muddy; watching mensit in circles discussing the Quran and making pot after pot of excessively sweet tea over an open fire; hearing hundreds of brightly dressed women, with babies strapped on their backs, chatting as they wait for hours on end to see a doctor; waking up to the beautiful call of a long-tailed, royal blue bird; catching the sharp aroma of dozens of flowering trees. Sometimes I catch myself observing these things as if I weren't a participant, as if I were some far away observer seeing how beautiful life is here. When I catch myself, I get a stupid, silly grin and can't help but can't help but think how incredibly fortunate I am to be able to experience this. As with everything that is good, or brings us joy, I so wish that I could
share it with everyone I know. Trying to diminish it to words or pictures is like trying to describe the ocean to someone who has never seen it. I'm trying my best to show how incredible it is here, but I'm afraid I'm failing miserably. You'll just have to come visit for yourself, and when you do, bring me along with you!

Obstacles

I have really seemed to be getting into the groove here and have loved learning about the culture, getting to know the people and am acutually starting to enjoy the pace. Everything here seems to be an obstacle, from small things like getting a hot shower to bigger things like traveling, and I enjoy the challenge. There's almost constant celebration whenever an obstacle is overcome or there is some small luxury. My friend described coming home from dinner and having power as "better than Christmas." The celebrations make all the obstacles exciting and almost fun to overcome.

One obstacle that I've been struggling with is just being sick. I've always gotten bad headaches and muscle aches when its going to rain and rainy season in Africa is no exception. Luckily, I brought some migraine medicine and that does a great job. Also, sometime around my first day here I got a parasite. I've never had a parasite and I kept contibuting it to the new foods I was trying or my malaria medicine. I know 3 other people that have been just as sick as I have, so we just laughed and said "It's Africa!" Like everyone that comes to Africa undoubtedly is isck for months on end. I've been sick for almost 2 months now with only 2-3 day reprieve every couple of weeks. It hasn't been too bad, with the exception of a dull headache due to dehydration and fatigue. Unfortunately, 3 days ago I started getting flu-like symptoms with high fever, chills, etc. I went to the pediatrician I've been volunteering for and he was furious that I hadn't told him yet and now I have a respiratory infection too! He put me on a total of 9 medications, 3 of which are antibiotics, a rehydration regime and some others. I've been sleeping for 3 days and its about to drive me crazy! I feel so lazy, that I'm losing days to be exploring Africa.

I have wonderful friends that are taking good care of me, bringing me food and checking in on me every couple of hours. I was never under the illusion that being here was going to be easy or without challenges, and I've actually never met anyone that's come to Africa without getting sick. I'm going to have a major celebration when I finally get over this little obstacle.

Banjul

Yesterday I went to Banjul, Gambia's capital for the first time. I was expecting lots of big buildings, wide roads and lots of government officials out and about on the swampy island, but I was sorely mistaken. Banjul is a small island formed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gambian river. It holds significant importance in the formation of the Gambia because in the British fight against France for the area that makes up Senegal and Gambia, the British were able to hold Banjul and the Gambian river. The British were trying to enforce abolition of slavery, while the French still were trying to use this influential river to get slaves for their colonies. The British won, but there are still several tourist sites where one can see where slaves were sold and shipped to the Americas. This gives Gambia its odd geography as a country surrounded by Senegal on all sides.

Banjul looks a lot like anywhere in the Gambia, small buildings, dirt roads and lots of people. There are a few things that make it stand out. First, there are 2 national monuments to commemorate significant dates of independence (a tall metal cone) and the coup that took place in 1994 (a very beautiful marble arch). There are a couple of large parks, which can be hard to find in other parts of the country. The nation's only tertiary hospital is located in Banjul. My good friend, Mafo, is finishing up med school and spends most of her time there, so we went for a tour of the hospital. Every ward is sponsored by a different organization (e.g. Shell) and you can easily tell which wards are well funded, and which ones are struggling. The security guide took as all over the hospital trying to find the official tour guide, but by the time we actually found him, we had already seen the whole thing and just asked the tour guide a few extra questions. At the hospital I've been volunteering at we send a lot of patients to this hospital. They had a little bit more equipment, but in general it wasn't that much different, just bigger.

We also went to the national museum, which was incredibly interesting. They had all kinds of artifacts from Miss Gambia 1985's gown to burial treasures from 10,000BC. Humanity began in Africa (the Garden of Eden is largely thought to have been in Ethiopia or Sudan), our first major civilizations were here, and it holds such a rich history that its impossible to think of all the contributions to the modern world that Africa has made. This small museum was rich with artifacts dating back to our earliest forefathers, like the club shown above, and some of the earliest iron tools that were made. I also really enjoyed reading about colonialism, the fight for independence and how political history has shaped this area. My favorite things to learn about were the masquerades that are still practiced here, in which men dress up in a variety of scary costumes, carry machetes and scare away evil spirits. Most people hide inside while these are going on. Here is a photograph of a Simba, or lion, masquerade. The museum also had a variety of incredible drums, the earliest xylophones and early guitars and banjos ("banjo" is actually an African word!)

After a short afternoon it was too hot and we had seen all the highlights in the guidebook so we headed on home. It was a great afternoon and a learned a lot! I thought I would be living on Banjul, but I'm actually living just across on the mainland. I'm so happy because there is SO much more to do and not quite so isolating, but it was a great place to visit.

Wedding Festivities

Yesterday I went to a true African wedding. My friends, Lucy and Okwin, have some friends in town that are teachers in New Mexico and have a house here as well as a family that they have "adopted." Judy and Valentine are in town to celebrate their God-daughter's wedding and graciously invited us along. I have never been to anything like it and I only stayed for the beginning of the festivities! Bento, the bride married her cousin, an arranged marriage, which is common practice in their household. The first part of the wedding, the part I attended, was held at the bride's family's compound which houses around 40 people from 3 generations: grandparents, 9 siblings, their spouses and children. The house was one long corridor of rooms with doors facing to the outside, like a motel, and a common living space, bathroom and kitchen outside. All of the rooms could easily fit inside my parent's house and the lot could probably fit into their backyard, so you can imagine how crowded the compound is everyday. Today everyone was outside in the most beautiful clothes, cooking for everyone and enjoying the festivities.

When I first got there it was about 1:00 and all the women were busy preparing food and the children were everywhere. I was introduced to countless people and we all hugged and kissed three times. Only women com to this ceremony (with the exception of just a few) and the men go to the mosque to pray and do the actual marriage. Only men are allowed in the mosque, so women have their own celebration. The women cooked lots of rice, eggplant, fried fish, and some kind of spicy gumbo-looking stuff. We all sat around and chatted and fanned ourselves while the bride got ready. When she was finally ready (about an hour and a half late) she arrived with 2 taxis blaring their horns and drummers drumming and blowing whistles.

Everyone ran to the street to greet her and get lots of pictures. There were only a few cameras (the 3 American women and the official photographer) so whoever had a camera became very popular. She was in a beautiful, colorfully embroidered gown with henna designs on her hands and feet and a lime green linen veil. The whole neighborhood was out cheering and dancing. When she finally made it in the compound they did a little ritual where she and her sister drank some water, then it was poured on her feet. A mat was laid at her feet where women opened their pocket books and poured money onto it. This is to honor the bride but it also honors the giver because it shows that she has enough money to spare. It was small money, not more than the equivalent of 20 cents to $2, but it added up to at least $15. Even the bride threw some money in! Finally they picked up the mat and danced around with the money.

After more pictures were taken with the bride and her family (I, along with the other Americans were considered part of the family). Then the drumming, singing and dancing began. There were 3 drummers that were hired and boy did they have rhythm. There was a woman's group there who sing at weddings. They didn't have very pretty singing voices but they did a great job leading the group in upbeat and festive chants and songs. My friend called them "clowns" to indicate that they were just there to provide entertainment. We formed a large circle in the compound and all the women danced these intense energy-filled dancing where they stomped and jumped and moved their arms and bodies in ways that are difficult to describe. It was an invigorating and exciting dance and they would literally push each other out of the way to dance. I don't think they minded being pushed out of the circle through, it was so hot and the most energy-sapping dances, it was almost like they were getting "tagged out of the ring" like they do in those fake wrestling matches. They danced for about 2 hours and then lunch was served.

Communal eating is common here. Everyone eats off of one plate using only the right hand, no utensils. You pick it up and use your fingers to kind of roll it into a ball and then pop it in your mouth. It's really hard to not ever use your left hand but that is used for dirtier tasks and not considered sanitary. I'm a slow eater by nature and am always still hunger after communal eating. I hadn't had anything to eat all day, it was already 6:00, and after our communal meal I was still very hungry. I decided to leave so I could get a more substantial meal and take a nap. After I left they were going to carry all of the bride's belonging through the street in a great parade to her in-laws' compound where she and husband are going to live. At that compound the festivities will repeat themselves, with a lot more drumming, singing and dancing, more eating and then more dancing and eating. This can go on for days and days.

After only 5 hours I was exhausted. I need to work on my African stamina! The whole thing was a blast and a true celebration. I'm so grateful that I was able to be a part of it!

Health Care

These last two weeks in the Gambia, I am volunteering at a local hospital in the pediatric ward. So far, I absolutely love it. I am working in the pediatric ward with children from 2 days old to 16 years. We see all kinds of ailments from hypoxia, asthma, malria, pneumonia, head trauma and many more. Malaria season is begining so we are starting to see more Health care in the Gambia is "free" in theory, it's only about 4 cents to admit a child and food, drugs and most other care are free. However, there is a shortage of food and drugs so the families end up having to spend a lot of money at privately owned pharmacies for their loved ones. Many families can't afford the medications so the kids just stay in the hospital with no treatment at all. There is also no food provided, the kitchen is out of order so families are expected to buy their own food too. Once again, which some families cannot afford.

The hospital I'm working in, Serakunda Hospital, was built by Thiland and opened about a year ago. It is beautifully built with several 2 or 3 story buildings with one ward per floor. The wards are long rooms with bed after bed. There is no privacy at all, but the families often get to be good friends. Lots of people sit and lay in the courtyard wiating for their turn to see a doctor. There are plenty of nurse's assistants and tech's but not really enough nurses and doctors. The assistants are very important because they translate for the patients. (There are 7 tribal languages and most people don't speak English unless they went to school. Education is "free"~still lots of fees that keep people out~but the average years in school is 2nd grade education, so most people don't speak English.) Many of the doctors and nurses here are Cuban and some from other countries, so they do not know the tribal languages very well.

In addition, there are very few resources to actually treat patients. We have only 1 tank of oxygen for the entire hospital, but it has been out of oxygen since I got there. There is also only 1 nebulizer for the whole hospital, but it doesn't work if there is no power, which happens about 8 hours a day. It seems like a generator could save a lot of lives but those are expensive and there is a fuel shortage here, so who knows?

One thing that is interesting is that many people go to Imams before going to the hospital. An Imam is an Islamic religious leader that looks at the ailment, writes parts of the Quaran on a sheet of paper and puts it on a little pouch that goes on a person's neck or around their arm. It costs SO much money to go to an Imam and people can spend all their money on this before they go see a doctor. Many people believe that someONE made them sick instead of someTHING. That is, perhaps their uncle is mad at them so they cursed them. We saw this quite a bit in Haiti as well, so it doesn't suprise me. But it can be frustrating because so many patients come in past the window of opportunity to treat them. They are often on their death bed when they show up and all you can do is send them home.

Despite these many obstacles, it is really neat how much the hospital does with so little. Many patients come in very sick and incredibly attentive staff miraculously, they leave healthy! At home we depend so much on technology, but people can actually get better without it! I love seeing how happy people are when they or their loved one finally gets better and can go home. I think I'm really going to enjoy my time there.

A Different Calling

Yesterday was my last day with the UN World Food Programme. I have mixed feelings about my time there, but I am so happy that I had the opportunity. I was in the programming division, that primarily focused on providing school lunches to about 500 schools nationwide (almost every school). The main problem I had with WFP is that I didn't have a clear role so it was difficult to fill my days with any kind of meaningful work. Sometimes I was asked to do a task and when it was complete my supervisor didn't want it anymore or had changed his mind. So I designed several national studies, analyzed quite a bit of data, wrote several national reports and presentations that may be used in the future, but right now are just sitting in my supervisor's e-mail box. I also expected to be much more hands on, in the field and with the schools and I wasn't given that opportunity so that was very disappointing.

On the other hand, when I was doing meaningful work that is actually being used I loved it. I designed an ad campaign of posters that are going to be posted in every school in the country. There are 6 different posters that say "Every Child Must Eat" in response to a policy that some schools have that if children can't pay a small fee for lunch than they aren't entitled to it. This is completely wrong, the WFP pays for the food and it is intened especially those who are most vulnerable. Hopefully, everyone will see my posters and feed those kids!

A second project I worked on is analyzing regional data on all of the school infrastructure that needs to be repaired or replaced. Several schools do not meet standards for toilet to child ratio, number of classrooms to children ration, do not have adequate kitchens, water supply etc. I put together a very large report (somewhere around 200 pgs) and presentations to present to donors so that some of the most desperate schools can have improved infrasturcture.

My last major project was putting together a national forum to bring together 60 of the government ministries, donors, ambassadors, aid organizations, and other stakeholders to discuss the future steps of school feeding program and some really great ideas came out of the day-long forum. The forum was on Monday and it was by far the most fun I've had and I really felt like I would start getting more responsibility in the future. On my second to last day I found about 500 2011 calenders that hadn't been distributed. I gave them all away to people at the UN and tried to give force them to take enough for the family, friends, cousins....anyone! I felt like the most popular girl at school! I really got a chance to talk to some of the most incredible people from all over the world. I even took on to a woman that begs down the street (her name is Fatou)! I was really starting to enjoy being there! However, I had already turned in my two weeks notice and it was time to leave.

I chose to have my last 2 weeks as kind of "free weeks" to do whatever I please. This morning I volunteered at the local hospital, and will continue to do so, in the pediatric ward. I'm also trying to use the afternoons to explore the country a bit more. I'm planning on exploring more markets, the capital, going to Senegal and whatever else I happen to fancy. I don't think I will take any pictures of the hospital, I just don't feel right taking pictures of sick kids. But look at any sad picture of tons of sick kids packed into too few beds and you'll get a good idea of what it looks like. Anyway, I'm really looking foward to enjoying my last few weeks here and I'll let you know how it goes!

Adventure to Makasutu

Yesterday my friends, Lucy, Oquin and I went on a pretty incredible adventure to a remote eco-tourism resort called Makasutu. We've been told that it was a must-see and it certainly was! We heard it was about a 20 minute taxi ride and that we could take a serious of 7 Dalasi (28cent) taxis. We left around noon hoping to get lunch there.

We ended up taking a taxi, a bus, had a 2 mile hike through a flooded, muddy, overcrowded market, another taxi, which missed our drop off and had to turn around, and then a 2 mile hike through the African bush and finally to the oasis of Makasutu! Our 20 minute ride turned into a 2 hour trek! When we finally got there we were so hungry and it was begining to rain. The man at the enterance showed us a variety of prices for palm wine tasting, dug-out canoe trips and tours through the forest. Unfortnately all of these were outrageously expensive, we really just wanted to eat some lunch AND it was starting to be a pretty intense storm. We told the man our sad story of being poor, hungry students who traveled for hours just for lunch, would he please just let us in for free? After 3 trips to talk to his boss, he finally agreed, pointed up the road and said it was only another 45 minute walk, we better hurry because we didn't need to be hit by lightning and, above all, watch out for the baboons!

With in the first 5 minutes of walking we found a huge exodus of baboons. We immediately started taking tons of pictures and making our interpretations of whatever baboons might sound like. Towards the end of the pack two adult males started eyeing us and bowing up like they were hungry and we looked pretty tasty. Lucy yelled "Run!!! Don't look at them! Don't yell! They can smell fear!" We were all running for our lives. We ducked under a gate and monkies jumped over it. We were screaming like wild banchees. When suddenly a Gambian man came running through the forest yelling and scared away all the baboons. The man walked with us the rest of the way to the resort, which we were incredibly grateful for. We giggled the rest of the walk about how stupid we must have looked yelling and yelling not to yell and arguing about who was more scared!

The restraunt and resort was one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever seen. Every inch was like an African Disney World for adults. There were sculptures and art everywhere with incredible architecture that complimented the vast mangrove, forest and river that surrounded it. The bar and restruaunt were around a large pool with lots of trees full of exotic birds and fresh flowers on every table. The "hotel" were little floating bungalows that could be reached by a long bridge over the mangrove or by boat. The rooms had a big porch, inside was a beautiful canopy bed with colorful silk bedspread and outdoor showers and bathrooms,(the classy kind, not the creepy kind!) We finally got some delicious lunch and continued to explore the hotel. It was amazing! If I were rich I would definitely stay there for a weekend, or maybe a night!

Our way back was much less eventful. We saw the baboons again but they were a lot nicer and we didn't make obnoxious sounds to them. We still had to walk a few miles in the rain, but it wasn't too hard and we got to see a beautiful sunset. We decided to forego the series of taxi rides and just hired one expensive taxi ride home (about $14), which still took about an hour and 45 minutes to get home! We were so exhausted when we got there but so happy to have an survived our African adventure!

Love and Marriage

One thing I've found really interesting is learning about dating and marriage customs here. There are a few things that I've been learning a lot about: polygamy and arranged marriage. Shortly before I came, I read a popular book, "The 19th Wife," about making polygamy illegal in the United States, people who still practice it, and some of the family nuiances that it creates. It was interesting to find some of my good friends here grew up with several "mothers in their home and many, many half-brothers and sisters.

By law, a man can have up to 4 wives here, but must love them equally and be able to provide for them financially. Large familie are both respected and desired here, some women have 10 or 12 kids. There is a pecking order among the wives. The first wife is the boss of the second, the second the boss of the thrid, and so on. So most women want to be the first wife because the lower on the totem pole she is, the more work she will have to do. I talked to my friend at length about his family, his mother was a first wife. He believes that it's a great system because the women are able to split the many duties that women have here, and there is always a mother around if one is traveling, gets sick or dies.

Generally, a mother picks out her sons' wives. The custom is for the new wife to move into her husband's house. She becomes a part of that family and the entire family calls here "our wife." The family can even marry a girl without the man being there. Many people go to study in the United States or Europe and its not unusal for them to return home to a spouse they didn't know about. The idea is that your family know what's best for you and will choose a spouse that will suit you and be a good match for the family. Divorce is not generally an option (although it is becoming more prominent) because women who are divorced are generally considered damaged goods and often have to move back to their parents' house with no money and little prospects.

In addition to these, Gambia also has a lot of people traveling here for sex tourism. It's incredibly common to see older white women with young Gambian men. These are generally wealthier women from the Scandanavian countries or the UK who come here for several weeks or months at a time looking for a boyfriend. Sometimes they even hprovide an apartment and send money to their boyfriend when they leave and expect them to stay in touch and be there the next time they come to visit. On rare ocassions, they even get married and take their husbands back to Europe or the States with them. It's a popular business and you can find young men looking for women on any beach or tourist scene. More and more of these men are getting "accredited" to be official tour guides and thats helping improve their salaries and their overall condition.

It's a bit scandalous that a woman my age would be unmaried, with no children, living alone AND traveling by myself. Since I arrived I have had a fictional family of a husband and a few kids. I've had a good time making up my fictional family and they often change names and occupations, but aas long as I can tell people about them I don't get a thousand questions, propositions and sad comments about what an old maid I am and how I must be disgracing my parents! Quite diffent from the strong, independent woman image so many people aim for in the States! Anyway, its been quite an education and I could really talk for hours about my various feelings about the customs here. I'll let you enjoy your long weekend instead:) Happy 4th America!

Dirt.

One thing that Gambia has a LOT of is dirt. You know when you go to the beach and sand just seems to get everywhere? No matter how careful you are about keeping your feet washed and shaking out towles, you keep finding sand in your bed and your shoes and weeks later its still in your pockets and bag. That's like the dirt here.

Major roads here are paved but everywhere else is dirt roads. Also, there are no sidewalks so anytime you walk anywhere you walk in the dirt. Its a sandy kind of red dirt that has this incredible capability of sticking and staying with you. My apartment has dirty footprints throughout constantly (tile floors). I mop every other day but I just can't seem to get it clean. (There are housekeepers that can clean my apartment everyday as a part of my rent, but they are known for sticky fingers, so I choose to clean myself.)

Its amazing, though, how the people here have embraced it. Many people here have dirt floors in their homes or even homes made of dirt. Many people with mud houses loose everything in the rainy season as their homes turn to mud. Making homes of concrete is just outrageously expensive, by these standards, so most can't afford it. In the city, you see a lot of houses made out of tin. These neighborhoods look a lot like slums that you see all over the world. However, even these houses are better than dirt homes, as they are much more durable and the people in them are richer.

Every day people get up early in the morning and sweep and "water" their dirt so it's left looking nice and clean. Every business and every home has nicely raked and swept dirt everyday. It's not just one or two people, its everybody! I haven't quite gotten to the point of embracing it, I hate getting dirt in my bed, and always having super dirty feet. But it is neat to see how people make the best of the resources that they have been provided.

A New Season Begins

Today has been a very different kind of day. It started like any Saturday, I woke up, put on my swimsuit and was headed to the pool and then to another town to go to a craft market for some shopping, when the manager at my compound told me I could not go out. I laughed and continued on my way. He ran me down and told me he was serious. The last Saturday of each month is a "cleaning day" in the Gambia. The roads are cleaned, trash is picked up, everthing is tidied. People are expected to stay at home and do the same. The only people allowed on the roads are emergency personel, doctors, ambulences, etc. Everyone else is arrested and fined. I finally got to leave at 1 o'clock but everything was so eerie. Gambia is the most densly populated country in Africa, and I live in the most densly populated area in the Gambia. There are people everywhere, all the time. Today, not a soul. It was so eerie to be the only one walking on the street, the only one sitting in the most popular restraunt in the country. The roads that generally bustle with honking taxis and trucks were completely empty. Even the animals seemed to be hiding somewhere.

The second thing that added to this eeriness was the rainy season began. The rains start in June and get worse and worse through August and taper off in October. I thought that meant that we would just get a little rain in June and July and gradually it would rain harder and harder. I was mistaken. I have never seen rain like it rained today. It started sprinkiling so I went onto a little porch area then the heavens opened up. Within 10 minutes our compound was flooded. Two palm trees broke in half due to the weight of the rain. There was no heavy wind, no thunder, no lightening. Just intense, hard, driving rain. It lasted about an hour and looks like its going to start again any minute. Every one has been preparing and talking about the rainy season and now I know why. It is dangerous to be in it. You need to plan ahead so you don't get caught in it. There are no tours and travel companies running right now, and now I see that it is just too much of a liability to be taking people out in that. I have changed my plans to return in late July instead of August. I first began thinking of doing that when I started to hear the horror stories of the rains (then some school responsibilities forced me to change plans), but I am so happy that I will not be here for the worst of the rainy season. It will certainly be an interesting couple weeks in this new weather!

No More Stimulus Overload

If you can't entertain yourself, do not, under any circumstances, move to Africa. In the US, we are constantly bombarded with media, technology, and things to keep us entertained. That is almost completely lacking here. Most people, including me, do not have televisions. If you do have a TV you get one channel. ONE!! I still can't get over that. At home, we can't find anything to watch on 700 channels. Here, if you don't like the soap opera that's on then you're out of luck. You can get satellite TV, but that is so expensive and you only get 4-8 channels. There is also no internet unless you go to an internet cafe or have it at work. I generally go to a restaurant that has wireless every night, but some people buy a little chip so that they can have wireless where ever they go. I, along with most of the country, couldn't afford it. Cell phones are interesting. Everone here has 2 or more cell phones. There are several cell phone companies but their phones can't communicate with each other unless you buy a special, more expensive phone. Also, phones only work in about 10 mile radius of where you buy it. Even though it's a small country, people need to communite farther than 10 miles often. People get around this buy just carrying lots of phones.

There are no video games, no movie theaters, very few newspapers and magazines, no big shopping malls or city parks. Most people don't have cars so they generally don't move that far from their home and work. In short, there's just not much entertainment here. There is a beach, which I love! But it's a VERY different atmosphere than the beaches that I'm used to. At home, you go to the beach to relax, lay out, read or take a stoll and take in the beauty. Not so here. The beach looks like a fitness gym that is jam packed. Every afternoon the beach is packed with people doing push-ups, sit-ups, running, cardio and other excersises I don't know the words for. One time I brough my beach towel and sat down and 3 people asked if I was hurt. I try to go to the beach every afternoon, but I always walk at a brisk pace and try to fit in a little bit.

In general, people spend most of their time just sitting around. Everywhere you look there are men and women sitting in circles and chatting for hours on end. There are men and women who sit outside their house or business all day, every day. I'm still not used to spending all day talking to someone all day, although I'm getting better at it, so I spend a lot of my time reading. Many people here cannot read, so usually their only form of entertainment is being with other people whether that's chtting, playing soccer or making music. I really enjoy that espect, I think Westerners have lost a lot of social support because we don't have enough face to face time with people around us.

Looked After

The Gambia is such a social country. Everyone here is constantly saying "Hello" and "How's your family?" As a newcomber, poeple always want to know my name, why I'm here and where I'm from. I'm always getting high fives and "American? Wow! That's incredible!" Its flattering until you realize most people want a visa, a job and a wife, and thingk you have all of those for them somewhere in your bag.

Gambia is a stmall country, but it is the most densely populated country on the continent. It seems like everyone here knows each other. If someone wants a taxi, they simply yell out the driver's name. I was at a meeting the other day and everyone was related to each other one way or another. Also, people don't claime to be 2nd or 3rd cousins, if there is any relation they just claim to be an uncle, cousin or niece. This social network and strong family bonds is a huge reason you don't see a lot of international adoptions out of Africa, everyone belongs somewhere.

I have been so blessed to find my little family in Africa. Everyone at my apartment compound looks after me vigiantly. My Spanish and Belgian neighbors are both men with children my age and they are constantly calling to make sure that I'm not going to be out too late. My malaria medicine makes me suburn easily and I'm always getting in trouble from them for not wearing a hat or stronger sunscreen. There are 4 young African men who work at the compound who are always taking me places that I don't know how to get to. There is also a med student, Mafu, whose little brother and sister-in-law are here visiting. Mafu has taken it upon herself to make sure that all three of us have an incredible stay and see as much of the Gambia as possible. She took us to see her "Gambian family" yesterday and that was so neat to see how people took her under their wing when she moved here 3 years ago. (Mafu is from Cameroon."

One thing I have learned here is flexibility is key. At home, if I make plans I 100% intend to do them and I expect that everything will go smoothly. For example, if I decide to go to the lake I expect that I will have no trouble with my car, no issue getting food or money to take, and everyone who says they will come will be there. Africa is a completely different storty. This weekend I was planning on going on a Safari, then my tour guide's phone wasn't working so I couldn't talk to him until the night before. He couldn't get a vehicle to take us and his was broken. Then the friends I was planning on going with backed out. My "family" at the apartment has taught me, its no big deal when that happens, simply do something else. I really try not to depend too heavily on any schedule or any plans because things never seem to work or go exactly as I planned and I would probably be dissapointed all the time if I had a strict schedule. I think every American should have to live in a third world country for a month and then getting Ranch dressing instead of honey mustard on their salad wouldn't seem like such a travesty. People here are still so happy and joyful just to be alive and with the people that they love. We certainly have a lot to learn from our brothers and sisters throughout the world!

How's the food?

Like true Southerns, everyone's first questions seems to be the most important one: How's the food? To be completely honest, it's fantastic! I tried to come to Africa with a completely open mind because I was thinking that I would be eating bugs and fish heads (which I actually did try) and rats and things of that sort. I have tried a few new things but everything I have tried is absolutely delicious.

Because the Gambia depends on tourism, they have tons of food and restaurants that cater to every palate. I eat lots of pizza and pasta, club sandwiches, fried chicken sandwiched (I still miss Chick-fil-A), hamburgers, Indian food and last night I had Chinese. The African food is also wonderful. They eat a ton of fish here because we are right on the ocean and these waters are largely under-fished so every fisherman catches a lot. (Dad you should give up on Smith Lake and come here!) You can eat fish and chips andy way you can dream. If there isn't fish in a dish than there are probably prawns or prawn sauce, which are ship. I have a friend at home that specializes in mercury intake, he would have a fit over how much fish is eaten here. But there is far less commercial pollution so these fish are not as dangerous to eat as fish at home.

A noticeable difference from home is that everything here is so fresh! I have some friends in Alabama who are from Africa, they never eat meat in the States because they say that it tastes wrong. It is so different here because it is killed in the morning and eaten for dinner. Nothing is ever frozen, shipped thousands of miles, or processed, like all of our food in the US. At home there is a movement to "Eat Locally." Here, you don't have a choice. The fruit is so delicious, banana, oranges, mangos etc. can be picked off trees everywhere you go. They don't use GMOs here (Genetically Modified Organisms that scientifically make our food grow faster and bigger that are herbicide and pesticide resistant etc.) so everything is smaller but is packed with a lot more flavor.

I have a small kitchen and mini-fridge, but the fridge doesn't usually work and its difficult to cook for 1 with out left-overs, so eat almost every meal out. (I do have powdered milk and cereal, long-lasting yougurt, cheese and crackers at home.) This time of year many, many restaurants are closed because there are no tourists and locals can't afford it. The restaurants that are open have super long menus but you have to pick out youtop 5 choices because they may not have the ingredients. As an extreme example, I went to an Italian restaurant the other day and they didn't have flour to make pizza! Begining in August, the restaurants and supermarkets will be closed all day due to required fasting in Ramadan. During that period people may not eat or drink while the sun is up, so all the places that sell food close down so as not to tempt anyone. People are known to get very irritable during this period and it sounds terrible. I have decided to go home in late July and am so happy that I'm going to miss Ramadan.

Food here is also very expensive if you don't eat rice every meal. The cheapest thing that I have found so far is tomato soup, which is $5-8, and I eat it almost every night for dinner. Its amazing how much policy in the US affects the rest of the world. The US subsidizes farmers to not grow food, buys corn to convert to ethanol, and buys excess crops to send to other countries. Each of these practices effects the natural economics of the food market and drives up food prices all around the world. All around teh world there has been a food crisis, not because there is not enough food, but because there is plenty of food sitting around and nobody can afford to buy it. There has been a little bit of talk about rising food prices in the United States, but that has been astronomical to so many other countries, and Gambia is certainly not excluded.

The locals eat a lot of rice. Rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's white rice usuallyu accompanied by some type of tomato or pepper sauce and of course, fish. I have a friend that grew up in a family of 11 and he said hkis family ate on less than $1 a day be eating rice and catching their own fish, squirrel or rabbit to eat with it.

I for one, am looking foward to returing home to cheap Mexican food and Jack's milk shakes! Have a great day!

Slowing Down

I find that the more I travel, and get to know different cultures and different people, the more I find that people are the same everywhere. People want a life free of financial trouble, people want their children to have a better life than themselves, people want friends and family that love them and they want a happy, peaceful and secure life. I think once you realize how similar we are, its difficult to dislike people. Once you begin to learn someone else's story their actions become much more understandable and relatable.

With that being said, a lot of what drives people and society here are the same as home. But there are a few small day to day things that make it very different.

• At home we do things big. We have big cars to buy lots of groceries, live a long way from work and have big houses to store all of our stuff. Here, things are done on a much smaller level. A lot of that is dure to the extreme poverty here, people just can't afford much, but it also has to do with the culture and circumstances. People don't have cars to take to a grocery store, so they only buy what they can carry and are going to eat for the day. People have to live close to work and within walking distance of what they need, so there are little shops and markets everywhere. You never have to go too far to get everything you need.



• From what I can tell, there is not a great mail system here. You don't get phone bills or electric bills. To keep your phone going you have to buy a little scratch off card with a code for more minutes. They are sold on every corner and in every store. You also just have to remember to go pay your electric and water bill. If you forget they cut it off. It could still be a few days before you realize that you forgot to pay your bill, because you are so used to no power or water anyway. (I've been to the electricity company twice and they didn't even have power!)



• For me, the biggest thing to get used to is the pace. If the South is considered to have a slow pace, Gambia is molasses slow. If you want to dine out, forget about fast food. Everything is cooked to order and they often have to go to the market or find a chiken to kill (no joke!) So lunch or dinner can take up to a couple of hours, even just to eat at a small casual place. You can only get internet when you are at an internet cafe, if the power goes out, you are out of luck, and the internet is still really slow, so its going to take a while to do anything anyway. (I usually take my laptop to browse the internet while I wait for dinner~problem solver!) Gambia depends a lot on tourism to drive its economy. Tourist season is November-March so many of the restaurants, hotels and other businesses are clossed. Lots of people are out of work and Gambia is moving even SLOWER than usual. I'm accustomed to being busy all the time, so slowing down has certainly been a challenge.

Anyway, those are just small day to day things that are just different from home and need some getting used to. Have a great day!

A Prayerful People

One thing that some people were scared about when I told them about Gambia is that this is a primarily Muslim country. I wasn't nearly as worried as I have several friends that are Muslim that are all wonderful people. However, often in the States we get ideas that all Muslims are extremist or blindly follow terrorist ways. A little less extreme, would be to say that women are trampled upon and have no rights at all. It may not be "patriotic" or "politically correct" to write a post about my observations about the Gambian's faith, but I think travel is an incredible way to educate yourself on a host of topics and life here revolves around their faith.

I am pleased to tell you that I am getting a completely different picture of Islam here. People are so peaceful, wonderful and happy to share their faith, but never forceful. They pray constantly, 5 times a day. And everything they do is to glorify God. They wash constantly which is a symbol of purification so they can pray to God. Even the cell phones have alarms that remind us of prayers. The mosques have loud speakers to remind them as well~like church bells. People carry their mats and pray anywhere and everywhere~on the streets outside of supermarkets, in the office, in any alley way are solitary crack or crevas you can find someone praying. When they are not kneeling they are carrying beads (it looks a lot like a rosary) and praying.

I never feel, as a woman, that I am looked down upon or have fewer rights here. (Sometimes I do regret being a woman simply because the men are much more vocal about professing their love for passerbys than women are.) Men do have more rights in things like divorce, are more likely to go to school, more likely to eat etc., but women are treated equally and are free to wear and do whatever they want. I must point out, that in many countries, Christian countries included, when families must choose which child get to go to school or eat a meal, they often favor sons because they have greater economic promise. But I must say, my office is full of Gambian women with their masters and PhDs.

Often in 3rd world countries, people's faith is amazing. They have nothing and realize that every little thing they get is from God. They have faith that what they don't have, He will provide it if He wants them to have it. I think often, in the States, we get used to relying on ourselves, thinking that our hard work or money can get us through any situation. There's just no job opportunities here, and certainly not many paying enough to pull oneself out of poverty! They look forward to heaven, because they know that life will be so much better. It's such a testimony of the Christians, as well as the Muslims here. I always thought the "Bible Belt" was the most religious place in the world-I think we've found a rival!

Animal House

One thing Gambia has plenty of are Animals! There are monkeys, lizards, crocodiles, birds, goats and on and on. There are exotic and beautiful animals like the hippos, fish and birds. Bird watchers flock to the Gambia to see the vast number of species here. For a long time I thought there were monkeys playing outside my room every morning. It turns out it's just a weird spiecies of birds! There is also a very irritating rooster that wakes me up every morning~luckily he woke me up this morning because I forgot to set my alarm!

There are also lot of farm animals everywhere. Cows roaming the streets, goats meandering through markets and chickens looking for food in restraunts. There are some garbage trucks here (I've seen one in the resort areas) but most people throw their trash in a large heap and burn it every once in a while. The animals dig through the piles finding the tastiest treats. It sounds like a great plan but the animals tend to find things that can make them sick, kill them or contaminate their milk and meat that people eat. They also leave little messes behind so you have to watch where you step. There was a public health study in Peru a few years ago that had one village put their animals in fences or cages and one village let their animals roam as usual. It was astounding how much desiese dropped when the animals weren't out, especially among young children who have a tendency to put everything in their mouths!

There are also lots of cats and dogs. They are often very mangy and sick looking and the only attention they get is being kicked or shooed when they get too close. A far cry from treating a pet like a member of the family, buying it treats and dressing it up! There are a few dogs that are pets, but very few. The Gambians tend to be scared of the cats. I've been asking why. One person told me that they are considered unlucky. Another told me that they have rabies. Who knows!?

The wild life is a constant source of entertainment for me. This morning I watched a family of monkeys gather breakfast on my way to work, a horse graze and check out a crocodile at lunch, and have been shooing a hen and her chicks while I've been writing this blog! I wouldn't call Gambia an "Animal Lover's Paradise"~ as most of the animals are mistreated. But it certainly is neat to see so much life all the time!

Daily Life in Africa

In some ways, daily life in Africa is the same as the good ole US of A. I get up every morning, head to work, eat out for lunch, and look at Facebook everyday. But a lot of things are taking some getting used to. For example, I will forevermore be infinitely more grateful for washing machines. To wash clothes here you must:

1. Get 5 buckets of water



2. Fill 4 with soap



3. Put whites in 1 and colors in another



4. Scrub every inch of an article of clothing



5. Rinse and Ring



6. Put it in the next bucket of soapy water and Repeat steps 4-5



7. Put it in a bucket with no soap and repeat steps 4-5



8. Hang to dry



9. Iron when dry

Something else I'm not yet used to is not having power. Rainy season started last week and we only get a couple of hours of power a day. There is no air conditioning, but no power means no fans, no water, no refrigerator, no lights, no internet. In short, if you have a flashlight you can read or play games (we play a lot of cards!) I didn't take a shower for 3 days simply because we didn't have water. Last night, I FINALLY got a cold shower! If you want a hot shower, you have to ask the man at the compound to turn on the hot water, but he had already left when the power came back on last night. With the power shortage, it is also becoming more difficult to find things to eat. I'm weary to eat meat if it has not been refigerated properly so I'm quickly becoming a vegetarian. It sounds terrible, but everyone here is so used to it, it doesn't seem like a problem at all. I'm worried about when the rains REALLY come and we can't sit outside anymore and we can't keep the windows open for the breeze. Everyone spends so much time outside here, I think it will be really oppressive. We'll see!

Another thing that I'm still getting used to is depending on public transport to get everywhere. I've never depended so heavily on strangers to get me to where I need to be and always needing cash to get around. There are 3 types of taxis here. Green taxis are tourist taxis and charge about 400D ($16), yellow and green taxis are town taxis that take you by yourself anywhere you want for 25-100D ($1-$4) and yellow and green taxis with a taxi sign on top are taxis with little routes and carry lots of people at a time for 7D (28 cents). If you take those taxis you may have to take several to get where you want. But I can take one to work. Its taken me a long time to tell the diffence between a town taxi and a taxi for 7D, but now I think I got it down.

In other news, I got a kitten this weekend that is absolutely wonderful! The ticket guy at the soccer game let me hold her and then told me to keep her. So I did! She looks about 1 month old and is still drinking milk, but she is very playful and sweet. Everyone loves her!

Work has gotten much better. I have lots of projects to keep me busy. Most of them are research studies and I probably cannot leave the office for liability reasons. So I'm just looking at a lot of data all day. Its not exactly what I had in mind, but I may look for other volunteer opportunities to do when I'm not working.

I'm trying to upload pictures everyday to Facebook. Feel free to check it out! Thats all. Have a wonderful day and enjoy your electricity!!

Living for the Weekend

So far the weekend has been far better than I could have expected. On Fridays the entire country gets off early for Friday prayers. While Muslims pray 5 times a day, Friday is their holy day like Sunday is Christian's day to go to a service. At the UN we get off at 1:00 or 1:30, I'm not exactly positive. You can hear loud horns and chanting through a speaker to call people to prayers. Everyone, even some Westerners dress in the most gorgeous African clothes. The rest of the week most people dress in Western clothes, so it was neat to see everyone so dressed up!

A colleague asked if I wanted to stick around after works for drinks. Most people here don't drink due to religious reasons. However, my colleague is European so I assumed he meant beer. Nope! He meant a Coke and some ice cream! How much fun! There is a "bar" which is a restraunt across the street from work, on the beach. They have a tree house where you can watch the crocodiles in the pond~luckily they only eat fish! When we finished our treats Darko, my colleague, took me home on his motorbike because I was running late for a Skype date with Alex.

Later I was going back to the beach that is only a block away and ran into some children playing outside. Instead of bringing practical things like business clothes, I brought bubbles and soccer balls. Luckily I just happened to have a bottle of bubbles with me, so we played with them until the whole bottle was gone! I talked to the children's father who sells cars from the United States. He had a Lincoln Navigator with a Washington state tag! He only gets one car at a time so its important that he sells it. Hes hoping to get one million dalisi (the local currency, $1=27D) which isn't too shabby!

Later I met some American students from Pennsylvania on the beach and they invidted me to go to a club that evening. It was a challenge to stay awake until 10:00 but I made it! (I'm starting to act SO old!!!) The club was an interesting experience. It had a pool table, couches, small tables and a large dance floor. There is a large group here from Pennsylavania and they were out in force. The club blared music so it was difficult to talk, but the power never stays on too long so we got to mingle quite a bit. The only problem is that you would be in the middle of a conversation and suddenly the music would be blaring again. I left, exhausted, at 12:30 and supposedly the Gambians didn't start coming in until about 1:30!

Today I went with my neighbor on a walk for about 3 miles down the beach to a national park called Monkey Park. There were the cutest monkeys everywhere! They are used to humans so they would come right up to us and just stare at us, presumably wanting food. We met up with some girls that I met last night and had lunch with them. I meant to go home and give my apartment a good cleaning, but to my suprise I have a maid! She came to clean up so I got to come work on my blog! In a little bit I'm going to a national soccer game and then to a game night that all the workers from other countries (expats) go to.

My one regreat that I've had so far is not bringing a friend with me. I think I would have so much more fun, be far less homesick, and be much more adventurous if I had a buddy to do things with. I'm so happy to have people to hang out with this weekend and hope that I continue to meet wonderful people!

A New Apartment

I love my new apartment. But more than that I love the community of it. It sits on the end of a dirt road, about 3 blocks from the main raod. It's a white and green compound with 9 apartments, 7 of which are occupied by the most wonderfully interesting and kind people. The compound is full of beautiful trees, flowers and exotic birds. From the 4th floor you can look over the treetops and see into the town or out to the ocean.

Last night, after my first day of work, which was quite discouraging (but is getting much better!), I hired a taxi to take my things to the apartment. First, we went through a security check. The driver did not have the appropriate documents so he had to get out and have a lengthy discussion that he in fact did own the papers, they just happened to be misplaced at the moment. While he was doing that, I saw a small church and got the mass times from the priest. When the driver finally came back he didn't know how to get to the apartments and had to stop several times to ask. All the while my luggage, which has 4 rolling wheels, was banging around in the back because he forgot to lay it down. After a long day, this incredibly long ride was so frustarating and put me into a very foul mood.

However, when I arrived, it was like coming home. I was greeted by the Spansih man I met yesterday. My bags were quickly gathered and taken to my room, with many more offers to help. I wasn't even able to get settled (I still haven't) before people were asking me to sit, relax and chat with them. They taught me a new game- something like dominoes but the tiles are in triangles- and let me win twice! They also gave me a tour of the grounds and described and gossiped about the rest of the residents. From what I gather, there are quite a few characters!

There's a Dutch woman with a Gambian man that are my next door neighbors and have been showing me the ropes. The woman is late-middle aged and likes to wear skimpy clothing and does this cat-like growl to express any and every emotion apparently. She has really taken me under her wing and told me exactly what I do, and don't need to do in the Gambia. The Gambian man and his best friend, the manager, have also been very good to me in helping me get more comfortable with living here. I wanted to talk to Alex last night, via Skype, and the manager took me to an internet cafe and waited an hour and a half in the parking lot until I was done so he could walk me home. I had NO idea he was waiting, but I certainly appreciate him not letting me walk home alone so late. Some of the other neighbors that I haven't met include: 2 Dutch girls about my age, a very serious nursing student that may be an American, a young African family with small children, a very funny elderly Belgian man. There may be others , but that is who I know all the gossip about! The residents here often socialize, meet outside every evening, make and eat meals together and tour the country with each other. It's a family!

My personal apartment has a small living room, a somewhat large bedroom with a desk, sitting area, and armoire, a very small bathroom with no shower curtain, and a very small kitchen with a mini-fridge, cupboard, sink and gas-stove that needs more gas. I really do like it, but I can already hear my brother's sarcasm on how glamorous it is living in Africa! I really needed a place that felt a little like home and to make some friends. It is so wonderful to have that.

First Day at the World Food Programme

So today I began at the World Food Programme. I was so lucky that the UN offices were just across the street from the hotel I was staying in. Getting into the UN can be a bit of a hassel. Yesterday I had to give them my passport (something I truly hate doing, as all my insticts say "Don't let anybody have that!!), sign in, wait for them to go visit my supervisor and then find someone with enough time to come get me out of the holding area. Luckily, today, they just looked at my passport and sent me right in. My supervisor was not happy of the lack of security~I guess I just don't look threatening enough.

The WFP is located on a long hall painted yellow with lots of white doors and white tile. The left of the hall is occupied by the Population Fund and we are on the right. About 10 people make up the office, along with several drivers. Everyone is very polite, but incredibly busy. The country director, programing director, and I believe, the adminitrative secratery are all leaving (retiring or being relocated to other countries, as the WFP moves people about every 4 years), so everyone is crazy getting ready for the impending chaos of new bosses etc. In all this confusion, they seemed to forget that I was coming! They have been very kind in welcoming me, but so far have just given me one document to read in the last 3 hours. They are supposed to set an office up for me, but the man who does that is out, so I am at his desk. Just trying to fill up the time. So far, I've read everything on the WFP website that has anything to do with Gambia, replied to lots of e-mails and looked at Facebook.

I believe my job will mainly consist of working with the School Feeding Programme, a national program that provides school lunches as an incentive to get kids to go to school and improve child nutrition. Gambia is one of the poorest countries in the world (I believe 122 out of 177), so improving education is vital. Education is one of the primary ways to pull a country out of poverty and reduce hunger rates. If you have money, you are more likely to eat.

Hopefully soon, they will throw me into the deep end and pile me with work and make me miss this time of idleness. Until then, I will keep dreaming of being across the street at the beach.

New Opinions

I bought a little book on Gambia before I came and I got a completely different impression of what this country would be like. First of all, the book said that this is a Muslim country. While it is true that most people here are Muslim, it is certainly not what I had in mind. I pictured women wearing long skirts, heads covered, very pious, religous group. While everyone is deeply religious they dress just like Americans! I brought lots of long skirts and tops with sleeves etc. and I couldn't have been further from what they wear here. I should have just brought my favorite sun dresses and summer clothes and I would have fit in just fine. Everyone is incredibly approachable (I was worried about talking to men in particular). But women are very empowered here, there are several wealthy business women and they seem to be treated as well as the men in their jobs, and social life.

I also planned on lots of power outages. The truth is, every once in a blue moon the power goes off for a couple of hours. It's like living in Alabama during tornado season. There is also no reason not to walk at night. My book said not to walk at night because you might fall into an open sewer. All the sewers are covered! So this book must be very outdated or maybe the author has never been here! There are people walking around at all hours of the day and night. Not just Gambians, but all nationalities and races. I feel incredibly safe here, all the time! I'm so happy about that because it would terrible living in fear for 3 months!

Last night I had dinner with some friends from my hotel. We went to a great area with lots of restraunts and live music! I would have LOVED for Alex to have been there to twirl me around a bit;) We also walked around and saw some of Gambia's most expensive hotels and took a stroll on the beach. We went by Monkey Park, but it was closed and I suppose all the monkies had gone to sleep. It was so much fun to get out and go exploring with some new friends! One of the guys was Gambian and I asked him question after question about the country and he made me feel so much better about everything!

Today I went by the WFP office and was told about my job, which I'll learn more about tomorrow. More importantly, the UN helped me find a great apartment. Its called Sea View and its in walking distance of everything I need, an African market, a supermarket, shopping centers, and an internet cafe! I've also made friends with some of my neighbors which I'm excited about. One is a Spanish man who carries a baby bird in his pocket! I think the mama bird was pretty angry about that though, she kept dive bombing him! There's also an American woman who works at the Peace Corps office that lives nearby that was helping me find a good apartment and we plan on going out sometime soon!

I made it!

This mornig I woke up to beautiful golden morning with palm trees and a sea breeze from the gorgeous green Atlantic Ocean (having trouble uploading pictures, but they're on Facebook). My trip here went well. I was surprised at how emotional I was saying goodbye yesterday. I think it was a combination of saying goodbye, nerves about going to a new country by myself and being excited that my lifelong dream is finally coming true! My parents and my boyfriend, Alex, were so nice to take me to the airport and see me off. (Saving tons of money by not leaving my car at the airport for a little over 3 months:)
I flew from Huntsville, AL, to Chicago, IL, on to Brussels, Belgium and finally to Banjul, Gambia. All flights went well except for there were a LOT of babies on the international flights. I love babies, but these were the angriest babies I have ever come across. They made sure no one got any rest. The man sitting next to me called it "surround sound." Thankfully, on the trip from Belgium to Gambia, the babies weren't quite as persistent and I got a few Z's in. I even woke myself up snoring! So embarrassing!
I was suprised to be dreadfully under dressed on that flight. The men were either dressed in very high fashion suits or designer shirts or in majestic African tunics. The women were in high heels and dresses and scarfs. One woman wore a hat that looked like she just left Prince William and Kate's wedding!
I pre-booked a resort which was supposed to pick me up from the airport. They were late so the airport manager sat with me, got me a drink, and told me all that he loved about his country. He was so nice, and every older man that passed kept on telling me that was his son. He must have had at least 5 fathers! The trip to the resort took about 45 minutes through the country and a small village. It looks a lot like many of the 3rd world countries that I've been to. Lots of compounds built with cinder blocks. Many people on the street socializing, selling things, and several people going for jogs. I asked why so many people were running and my driver told me that jogging is a favorite form of exercises! I don't think I've ever seen that in a third world country!
My resort is gorgeous and located right across the street from the UN offices. ( A very pleasant surprise!) There are very few guests here, as it is not the tourist season here because it is much too hot. The weather is a lot like a summer in Alabama~hot and very humid. All the workers here know me by name already! The guests all watched a soccer match last night on television. I'm not sure who played but the guests were NOT happy with the winner. I think it may have been Manchester United? The grounds here are absolutely beautiful, with lots of flowers, exotic birds an impeccable large swimming pool, several bars and restaurants. My room is very nice with a powerful air conditioner, hot water (it's hard to get it cool enough!), satellite television (I watched Oprah's last show last night) and a great view of the ocean.
This morning I got up early to go to church with a woman I met here. Unfortunately my malaria medicine made me very sick. I went back to bed and stayed there until early this afternoon. Then I took a walk on the beach and had drinks at the pool. The beach has very beautiful horses and very few people. Both big surprises! I'm about to go into town to check things out with a few friends I made here. Until later!

Getting Ready: The coutdown begins!

I've been looking forward to my May 27th departure date since 6th grade. 12 years!! I finally got an internship with the UN World Food Programme (British Spelling:) in the Gambia. The Gambia is a small country in West Africa that is on the Gambian river and surrounded by Senegal. I'll be staying in the capital, Banjul which is an island right on the Atlantic coast and the Gambian river~my kind of place! The WFP is working on revamping the national school meals program so I'll be helping with that.
Last week I put the pocket change I've been saving for 12 year to pay for my plane ticket. It took 3 trips to the bank to take the money because it was SO heavy! I also got my vaccinations. Luckily I only had to get a few (Polio, yellow fever, and a Hep A booster) since I've had to have lots of vaccinations for other trips. I had a site reaction to two of the vaccinations but it only lasted a few days. I sent off for my visa, got my official internship agreement form and got my first official Gambia guide book. I also signed for my diploma for my masters, which I will receive while I'm gone! Woo! Hoo! Finally done with school!
A few minor details still need to be figured out. Namely, where am I going to live? and what do I need to pack? The UN may have a guest house I can stay in but they haven't e-mailed me back. I'm planning on booking a hotel or guest house the first few days until I find someplace longer term. I'm also hoping that the official Gambia guidebook gives details on what to pack. Other than that, just spending lots of time with friends and family before my little adventure.