A whole new wooooooorld

 When we finally landed in Banjul, the entire group applauded. WITH GOOD REASON after such a long wait for all of us with obstacles more frequent than a horse show (for example, it took me 15 months from the start of application until now) to be in country! I exited the plane and immediately breathed in the humidity, already feeling the sheen of sweat glazing over my forehead. It was humid hot but cloudy and probably somewhere in the low 80s. The land was stretched flatly as far as I could see and the only building around me was 100 yards away, the Banjul airport. The architecture on the outside was really nice! Miraculously, NONE of our luggage got lost and the wonderful Peace Corps staff (and current volunteers) who met us were masters at over-sized luggage Tetris. Next thing we know, we have 25 current volunteers/trainees snug in a van (with AC by the way... praise the lawds) and over 1000 pounds of luggage in the other car... and set off to the Peace Corps transit house!

So here's a couple of things I noticed:

1. Flat landscape. Abundant amount of greenery (grass, trees) everywhere and termite mountains. Legit, mountains. I'm convinced I saw the Himalayas of termite mounds.
2. A generous amount of billboards displaying Gambian cellphone providers – in particular Africell.
3. A PUBLIC HEALTH BILLBOARD: “Don't take risks. Be smart. Use a *picture of a condom*”
4. Nice cars and not so nice cars. But really, some cars were really nice.
5. I saw a total of one building with Chinese characters on it (which is one more than what I was expecting) and that was really surprising. I'm pretty sure I made a bet with my mom saying that I wouldn't find any other Chinese people in The Gambia aside from PC volunteers and I'm 100% sure I won't be telling her she's right lol
6. Women with really gorgeous dresses with the most vibrant colors
7. A plethora of people staring at our PC car because there were lots of white people on it

The transit house, to put it frankly, should be on the MTV show 'Cribs'. It's a house where all The Gambia PC volunteers stay whenever they're at the capital to do business/attend meetings/etc. I have no idea what I expected but it's fantastic. AC, wifi, computers, food, fully equipped kitchen with spices and cooking stuff, bunk beds, TV with movies, booksbooksbooks, photography, crafts that people made, lockers, showers (some even with HOT WATER GOODNESS) … Nice, tiled floors and arches all around the house! It was so nice. We conversed with some current volunteers to review logistics and house rules before digging into dinner... which was some kind of tough grilled chicken, mayo-less/sauce-less coleslaw, and last but not least the most scrumptious fries EVER! I'm definitely guilty of standing in the kitchen and eating more and more. After dinner, I called a couple of people to update them of my mortal status, forced myself to stay awake past 9:30 PM, and promptly passed out.

I woke up at approximately 7:10 AM and it was such a sweet reprieve to lay out and sleep in darkness. For my first breakfast in Gambia, I had a sandwich with Nutella, banana slices, and peanut butter aaaand a cup of apple juice. AND A HARD BOILED EGG. I love eggs, it was clearly a stupendous start to my morning. After I breathed that in, I embarked on my first day of training! Saturday, October 19. We got to the Peace Corps office in less than 5 minutes by car and immediately began with introductions. The Peace Corps staff introduced themselves, the Americans introduced themselves (I even got an applause!), and we jumped right into our sessions. My group of 18 were split up and rotated between three sessions: Medical Immunizations, Site Selection Interview, and Language. First, I met with my Program Manager and Technical Assistant for the Health sector about where I would be placed. Here, I excitedly found out that the entire Peace Corps staff in The Gambia *DID NOT EVEN GET MY FILE* until 1.5 weeks ago, awwwwwwwww yeahhhhhh -_- However, the interview was really chill and the next thing I know, I'm headed downstairs for language class!

The entire day, I learned a fraction of greeting people in Mandinka and Wolof. I was also poked with some immunization shots and received an early Christmas present from the Medical office – a metric boat load of medicines and more importantly, my malaria pills! The main doctor was out but dayum did the nurse know how to give shots because I barely felt a thing. Also, lunch was rice with this delicious oily chicken curry. Anywho, I got my cellphone afterwards and it's this sweet old-school brick, sky blue Nokia phone equipped with T9, my phone number, and my bank account! ALSO today... you people are not going to believe this...

For all of you who don't know, I graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a Bachelors of Science in Public Health (and four minors in Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology, and Kinesiology and a certificate in Culture, Health, and Science) this past May. Well, the Country Director for the entire country of The Gambia pulled me aside and guess what he told me? That he ALSO attended UMass Amherst for graduate school for none other than... PUBLIC HEALTH. Even more outrageous – his son is a JUNIOR right now AT UMass Amherst studying engineering... which is RIGHT across the street from the Public Health kingdom. And THEN I found out the Country Director lives in a town 1-1.5 hours away from my old place... whaaaaaaaat. Can you believe this surreal-ness right now?! This fact alone got me SO pumped throughout the day. The world continues to surprise with how small it is.

When I finally returned to the transit house, two trainees and two current volunteers and I walked to the beach - literally a 10 minute walk away tops. It was already dark but the breeze was refreshing and I tried my first Gambian beer! Julbrew. I got lots of tips from the current volunteers that I definitely wouldn't have if I opted to stay in the transit house and touched the Atlantic Ocean. It's crazy to think that on the other side of the water is New England, Massachusetts, BOSTON - the other end of the Atlantic which I touched just before I left. Aaand then I definitely paraded around the transit house after the beach blasting Gimme More (Britney, bitch), SexyBack, and Single Ladies, and pretending to dance.

Tomorrow will be my last day at the transit house – which means last day of wifi, AC, showers, and relatively western-ish lifestyle for two months! They're shipping us three hours away to a village called Jenoi where we'll be doing intense training. Jumping out of my seat excited. We'll be getting a feel for “the real Gambia” and none of this fake Gambia stuff – ain't nobody got time for that. We'll hopefully discover what language each of us will be focusing on for the rest of our service, maybe get our bikes, and just settle down. In the meantime, I'll be writing in my nifty Hello Kitty journal that my best friend gave me (thanks girl ;)) and updating all of you in... 2 months! Call me maybe? +220 206 2922

I have no idea how to rotate this