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!