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.