I had the most wild week. I’m bulleting:
1/12: What started out as a normal morning evolved into an
eventful day. I was on an adventure to Basse after breakfast where I discussed
transit house renovations with two older PCVs and we brainstormed super
exciting ideas. My adventure consisted of going a back way into town to avoid
all the people, cars, and road that’s awful (terrible slant and rocks because
it’s under construction… it would be abnormal if I didn’t get like 50 rocks in
my shoe before walking into town). Albert knew a nice woman named Mamasa, Mama
for short, who took us a back way where we crossed a small stream. Halfway
there, I get a call from Elizabeth with terrible news – she fell and completely
twisted her foot and knee! Albert and I doubled back to help her but she got a
ride to the transit house so we met her there. Me and a rag tag team of PCVs
cleaned up any wounds we saw and tried to make her feel as comfortable as
possible while a missionary friend she called came to get her to drive her back
to site. Elizabeth wanted to get back to site so that she could pack since
Peace Corps would transport her to Banjul to get her checked. After Elizabeth
left with a letter I wrote for her, I waited until 2 PM to go back to Mama’s
house with Albert and we set off on the back roads again. It was hot as hell
but I was able to see the governor’s mansion, crossed a cute creek, went a new
way and succeeded in arriving before my Skype date at 3 PM but I was soaked
with sweat. I found out later on that on this day, Gambia was the hottest place
in West Africa. Awesome. I was able to Skype, bought some stuff and went back
to the house. I also decided to make everyone Valentine’s with a lollipop which
meant, yes, I started folding 100 origami hearts. I also nommed on delicious
burritos that night. It was a good day.
1/13:
I decided to get an early start to the computer lab today.
Ended up on the computer for 7 hours…getting new songs (I’ve been replaying
Beyonce’s, Drakes, and Loude’s new songs like no one’s business), updating my
blog, and responding to some people. AND I still wasn’t finished with
everything I had to do…jeez. I bought a delicious veggie filled dinner, an
apple, and headed back to the transit house to finish folding the Valentine’s.
I get a call from my language Cultural Facilitator telling me she’s pushing my
Thursday site visit date earlier so she’s seeing me on Wednesday morning. I ask
if I could get a ride to/from Basse so I could make the Camp GLOW event on
Thursday morning and she said no problem! Camp GLOW stands for Girls and Guys
Leading Our World and is a week long camp that invites a group of students and
a teacher representative from 6 schools to teach about gender
equality/health/leadership. SO I decided to stay in Basse until Wednesday in
order to take her up on that free ride offer… anything to avoid the Gambian
transportation system.
1/14:
Woke up early to try and get on a computer again.
Unfortunately something was wrong with their server or something so I went off
to buy groceries. When I came back, the computers were still down so I decided
to just leave. I acquired more supplies for my hut since I would be getting a ride back to site
the next day which means very little lugging and hauling a heavy backpack! I
exchanged all my big bills so that I can finally buy stuff in visit (Note: YOU
NEED small bills in village, very little costs more than 100D at once), watched
a bunch of Freaks and Geeks while finishing my Valentine’s project, completed
my Site Visit form which is needed every time I have a PC staff come to visit
me – this involves writing about how I’m doing, questions or concerns, safety
issues, etc. I made dinner, the wifi was ridiculously fast for once, and I
packed all before turning in early for my site visit the next day.
1/15:
Went to site bright and early! After picking up Ida and
seeing her childhood home, we headed to Kulari. I even got my cutting board that
I asked her to buy me from Kombo so I’m all set to cook for myself! We stopped
along the way because Ida and Babucar (both LCFs) wanted to purchase baobab and
it’s way cheaper up country. Ida wasn’t feeling so hot because she’s allergic
to dust, and well, URR is solely comprised of dust. When we got to my site, my
family was really excited to see me – but my hut looked like no one has been
living in it since crap always falls down from the ceiling EVERY morning. I
unpacked/repacked for Camp GLOW while Ida was asking me a bunch of questions
for Peace Corps about my work, my family, my integration, etc. She kind of
stressed me out when she said I went to Basse too much even though it was
recently the holidays and the past weekend I was there to buy site supplies and
do other things… not vegging out. It was a minor comment but it stuck with me
and I felt crappy about myself. She left to talk to my family while I finished
packing and swept. When I stepped out, they were done talking and I said my
goodbyes because we were off to Dillon and Selina’s site – Sami Koto and Sare
Alfa, respectively. I immediately texted Tyler and Elizabeth to tell them what
happened and they were like my emotional crutch, haha. We dropped Babucar off
at Selina’s site while Ida, Alaji the driver, and I continued to Dillon’s site
which is pretty far away. I didn’t say much and continued texting – the ride
was bumpy as hell! We finally arrived and I stepped outside to write to Zabeth,
Dillon’s girlfriend who is going to teach in Japan soon, while Dillon and Ida
were inside discussing his site visit. I figured I was going to try and give
her some tips about Japan before she left. About 20 minutes later, Ida emerges
and Dillon and I are left conversing. He didn’t have a great experience either
– we were both rushed even though we were so excited to spend time with our
LCFs and told everyone about it. We were able to talk to the VDC Chairman and
the head of the Women’s Group so I’m thankful for that despite it being all of
10 minutes altogether. Dillon and I ended up chatting and picking each other up
emotionally which was really nice. Thank God for Dillon. Ida comes back shortly
after and lunch was served. It was coos with this really delicious side of
beans! After we ate, we went outside and Dillon’s family is so generous – they
gifted Ida with a chicken (newly slaughtered), a huge bag of peanuts, and
peppers. His dad is the coolest guy ever, too, we spoke in Serehule, he’s one
handed, and he’s still a carpenter, fisher, farmer, etc. He does NOT let his
one arm hold him back. No one else knew Serehule, unfortunately, so I couldn’t
communicate with them. So, now with my spirits lifted, we departed. Of course
they forgot some stuff they were suppose to deliver to Dillon, fail, haha. We
stopped by Garawol to pick up Alicia and she immediately talks about work which
made me realize Ida visited Alicia’s site first – so in comparison, Dillon and
I aren’t doing the work she was expecting. Welp, this made me feel even worse
about myself because all I’ve been doing is greeting, going to my clinic to do
do jobs here and there, but mostly just a motley assortment of stuff to get to
know people better. More frantic texting ensues. When we get back to Basse, I
walked into town to buy groceries for dinner, hopped online for a bit, and
returned to the transit house. I was able to phone people to talk it out and
that helped a lot. I also was consoled by an older volunteer which helped. She
told me what I was doing was perfectly fine and not to worry about it and
supplied personal experiences, etc, which eased my mind significantly. I packed
for Camp GLOW, got a call from America, and went to bed.
1/16:
Woke up early and left with Mikaela and her visiting friend
Carly to go to the car park/bus stop. They were able to deliver my Valentine’s
to Elizabeth in Kombo to get them sorted before mail run. I consumed n entire
bean sammich before setting off and ran into Fatou, the head of the women’s
groups, and sat next to a pretty nice guy. I read a good part of the Hobbit
waiting for the bus to start (I arrived at the stop an hour before they left) and
all the security check points along the way with new music to entertain me. So
clutch. It went by pretty fast! When I arrived, I met up with Jeff – a PCV who
lives in Janjanbereh and also one of the leaders in my Marathon March – he led
me to the school where Camp GLOW was happening and it was like walking into a
Michael’s art store upon crossing through the threshold, haha. I was the only
newbie to arrive that day and I wanted to make sure that I could make it to
take notes and share with the others. Thursday was the last day of sessions
while Friday was purely the closing ceremony so I wanted to catch what I could
of their every day Camp GLOW schedule. The students were creating rice bag
diagrams of health related topics – hygiene, puberty, malaria, etc. I
introduced myself to everyone (no one spoke Serehule but everyone knew English)
and thy were all grade 10 students in the Central River Region with their
teacher representatives. I mostly sat back and observed/took notes. I went on
an adventure to fetch ice, saw Jeff’s house with Sebastian, and rode on a
bicycle fit for a 6’5 man. You can only guess HOW uncomfortable that was on my
crotch. Great. Good news: I made it there alive and back, got bananas, ice, and
rode back. Bad news: I felt like my vagina was going to fall off. When I
returned, the education volunteers were debriefing with the teachers and that
was great! I took more notes. Then, the students practiced health-themed dramas
(skits) that they would be performing at the closing ceremony and received
feedback to make it better. They were all great! Some were really hilarious.
After that, they went on a quick trip to the clinic to perform their skits in
front of the nurses. En route, I made quick friends with the female students
who I taught some Chinese to and who that I was 16, haha. I guess there’s some
advantages to looking young. When we arrived at the clinic, no one was there so
we detoured to the ferry and performed for the street vendors/passerbys. We all
walked back to the school afterward and while the students transitioned to
playing soccer, I finished my birthday art on rice bags for people! Productive.
I got a ride from Peter the driver back to Steve’s house with all my stuff
which was nice. After showering and a compliment from someone in Steve’s family
who said I was cute – I rode Nichole’s bike to dinner and didn’t hurt my crotch
this time, thank God. They had to Frankenbike it – switched the seats so I could
be comfortable, d’aw. It was a bit sketch since I’ve never been in JJB much
less rode a bike at night here but the road was nice and flat and it was a
simple ride. I met Laura and we got slightly harassed by really bold guys who I
just ignored and found a place to eat. I got a pretty pricey vegetable curry
but it was delicious. We thought we’d have a quiet dinner but the same guys who
bothered us came into the hotel restaurant with their band and it was so loud…
just for the two tourists who were there. They looked so weird and I took a
picture of them taking a picture of Gambians, haha. The little kids randomly
snuck in and began dancing – they were the stars of the show. Jeff and Peter S
eventually showed up to chill a bit. They were being gentlemen. Laura had her
eyes glued to the TV since it was a huge flat screen and it has been a while
since we saw one – I watched 5 seconds of a film and deduced it was the Chun Li
action movie from her signatures upside down copter kick and it totally was
(testimony of my omnipresent nerdiness). We chilled for a bit before Jeff biked
with me home. I had even more vegetable curry because Steve and Nichole got
extra and it was delicious! The bread was unusually good, too, and I wish I
could’ve eaten more. They didn’t know they bought that much, gr. Ah well. I got
ready for bed and we talked all the way until 3 friggin AM. It was interesting
listening to them since they’re the oldest volunteers. I told them my site
visit story and they gave me good advice. All in all it was a good time… had it
not been the fact that we stayed up until 3 AM hahaha. It was really
interesting listening to Steve and Nichole since they are the oldest group in
country and they gave me a lot of useful tips.
1/17:
Woke up, brushed, off I went to the school to catch
breakfast. Beans, bread, jam, and butter. I was starving so it was delicious
regardless. I really ought to switch my peanut butter for jam because I enjoy
it so much more. Kelsey, one of the co-directors of Camp GLOW, put me to work on
the beverage station so I was happy I had some work to do. Slowly, Motley Crew
started to arrive! I was able to share sit visit stories and apparently
everyone else had equally weird visits. As stupid as it sounds, it helped me
validate my own weird visit, hah. It was exciting seeing everyone – even some
AgFos came! I ran around socializing and working. Soon, the health Program
Manager Gibril (who’s also Serehule), Leon, and his wife Abby came! I was able
to catch up, pass on the birthday presents, complete my little coffee station
task, and watch the ceremony. The opening was filled with both long and great
speeches – Leon and Abby shared a really sweet and personal story about
themselves – how working together helped them get to where they are today. I really
enjoyed that. While I was sitting, I spotted an Agriculture related children’s
book that someone made – that inspired me to perhaps brainstorm something on my
own. Who knows, maybe I can team up with someone – I can draw okay! After the
opening, completion certificates were distributed and we paused for a short
break. All PCVs who were more involved and all the students who participated wore
asoebes! It was just like my own swear in ceremony. Lots of older volunteers
had cute designs and I snapped a bunch of pictures for my future
completes/skirts/shirts. Leon wanted to leave early to visit some other PCVs
and make it to Basse at a reasonable hour so we left right before lunch. Abby,
being the saint that she is, fed Daniela (another health PCV who was catching a
ride with Leon) and I panketos and roasted peanuts. I ate an alarming amount
but it was so delicious – AND I was starving. We rode to Daniela’s site – she
has an incredibly homey hut and her cat really liked me. The driver was Modou
who I’m really close with so it was a pleasant journey. Daniela’s dad also gave
me a piece of papaya – the season is upon us! We also stopped at another PCV
named Siera’s place and she also had a sweet home. I love seeing how people set
up their humble abode. Siera even has a hut that has rice bags lining her roof
rather than tarped across! That makes it hard for animals and insects to crawl
across. We finally finish off the visits and we are Basse bound. It occurred to
me that I’ll have my own transport to site so I asked to be dropped off in the
center of town to pick up some groceries for dinner, a whole plate (30) of
eggs, 2 apples, and 8 meters of fabric for 350D! I strolled into a store
thinking it was the one I always frequented, spoke in straight Serehule, even
got the seller’s name wrong, and got a 50 D discount! I’m definitely going
there again. I bought fabric for my bed cover. Walking back was a bit of a
hassle because of all the shit I bought, but it happened, I cooked, talked to
Daniela, Albert, and the newly arrived Kara who just came back to The Gambia
after vacation! The wifi was fast again and I could to talk America, too! It
was a very successful night.
1/18:
Woke up bright and early, packed, ate an apple, and off I
went to pick up Abby and Leon. They were so sweet – as soon as Modou and I
arrived, they sat us down and made breakfast for us- tea, a whole sandwich -
half a banana, honey, and peanut butter! The other half, which I saved, was egg
which I saved that for lunch. A plate of panketos was served next which Abby
drizzled honey over and gave us fried fishballs. ALL of this was for breakfast.
We helped them pack up and next thing we know, we’re heading toward tdhe
farthest site in country – Song Kunda – where Malcolm is! It was so far out but
the company was pleasant and that made it a quick trip. I learned more about
Leon and Abby and we bonded over being from Massachusetts. It was quite a treat
for a newbie like me to get a ride to site with the country Director and get to
know him and his wife! He also incepted me and noted how I could make a great
PCVL… hah, I’d have to stay a super long time for that. We finally arrive in
Song Kunda and Malcolm’s family is so delightful. He even had a Serehule
relative – some of his other relatives could speak it despite being a Mandinka
community. His house is very homey and spacious and his backyard was made for
an AgFo to build gardens. Too bad Malcolm’s health but he could totally do it.
I spent a considerable time chatting with his family, met his community rep who
is AWESOME and remembered I was from Kulari. We left and shot to Sami Koto
next, Dillon’s site. When we arrived, his father was friendly as always, we
chatted, he played the harmonica, and gifted Leon with a papaya. We left after
Dillon had some Leon time while I got to know Abby better and went to the
neighboring Garawol to see Alicia. We picked her up on the road and went to see
her health clinic. After that, we went back to Kulari to drop me off! My family
was very welcoming – helping me bring stuff to my door, they bought a bench for
Leon and Abby to sit on, and gave them roasted peanuts. I shared some dried
pineapples, we talked briefly, and off they went. Abby gave panketos to the
kids and Leon asked me to translate something to them, haha. They might think I
know more Serehule than I actually do but I tried my best and I think my family
understood. I spent the rest of the day cleaning, unpacking, reorganizing, gave
my family the beans I bought for them, chatted a bit after dinner, and went to
bed.
1/19:
Today was very satisfying. Woke up. Made breakfast, jump
roped, and went out to wait for Ceedee to come take me to the carpenter’s. My
table was apparently done! As I was waiting, Baharu, my host brother, rallied
his friends and put up the tarp laying around my house! YAY! No more annoying
dust falling on my bed. Great timing, too, a disgusting cockroach fell and died
on top of my outer layer bed net. I then walked to the carpenter’s with Ceedee
and greeted a bunch of people. Unfortunately when I got there, I found out that
my table wasn’t done but I put a down payment of 150 D down. We walked back and
I bought tomatoes. I exercised as soon as I returned, washed the tomatoes (so
hard to see clean water go like that… I need to devise a better cleaning
system), made scrambled eggs, getting a lot better at that, washed dishes,
cleaned my bed net/sleeping area, put on my second bed cover, now it’s one
single color and a vibrant blue, and my tutors (the Cissoko sisters) came by
with Fatou’s(present of the Woman’s Club) daughter/my Toma (A fellow Mariama). We
went out to study but I received some pretty upsetting news… their father took
them out of school to get married. They think education is only useful if
they’re in a city, not in a village. They think the girls being away from the
house and at school is bad for them. Ramata, 18, has been fighting them this
for a while Hadja, 16, is apparently promised to someone in another village.
They both don’t want to get married and want to stay in school. They both have
dreams to become nurses. This broke my freakin heart to hear and I couldn’t
believe it. I asked for their permission to talk to their father which they
allowed – and I also want my community representative, the Alkaloo, WHOEVER
with influence to talk to him. I know it’s out of my place but I would never
forgive myself if I didn’t even try to talk to their dad. The sisters are so
smart. We finished our session, my mind was so wrapped up still. That night I
also got a call from America and my family got to chat with them for a bit.
LAST but not least, I also discovered my family friend and tailor could speak
English!
