-Woke up (and really I do sleep like a champion/Snorlax I think I was the last one up), packed, said my last goodbyes to America since I'll be gone for two months for intense training.
-Went to meet the doctor, chilled, talked to my Peace Corps group and current volunteers, ate lunch, and finally bussed the three hours into the bush - for a small training village called Jenoi.
-When we got to Jenoi, the entire village were waiting for us. DANCING. There was at least a crowd of upwards 50 people - so many kids and women in multifarious vibrant colors clapping, stomping, smiling, beaming. Net thing I know, I'm the second person pulled off the bus and pushed into the epicenter of the dance circle. We legitimately parade-danced through the village and that's when it hit me - that I was IN The Gambia.
-My eyes started to water and I had this feeling of like, my chest opening and a dropping feeling seeping down my throat and into my chest, you know, like the crying feeling but I TOLD MYSELF TO KEEP IT TOGETHER. I recognized the thought, but honestly I don't think crying is what the village wanted to see hahaha. It's when I think about things, when I recognize that everything is overwhelming at night, that I start to cry. Otherwise during the day time, it's go time, and I was so proud that I pulled myself together.
-Everyone was looking at me, ESPECIALLY the kids. I remembered a couple of phrases in Mandinka that we learned from the prior days of training and tried communicating with the kids (about a group of like 20), and they seemed to be tickled by me. I turned to my right and the sea of people herding us deeper into the village passed by me while I was being quarantined by children. One of my taller colleagues had 2 kids come straight up to him and grab onto both his fingers on either side. I'll never forget the image, it would be perfect for every Peace Corps calendar that's printing. I call him big bear now because he totally is one.
-Anyways, after I psychologically slapped some sense into myself, and trust me it's overwhelming when 20 pairs of little eyes are on you, older people are talking to you, you're literally surrounded, and have no idea what's going on but to dance/clap/stomp. I was pretty good at saying hello/how are you, what's your name, my name is Jess. I particularly stunning moment of my intellectual prowess was when I asked the kids how work was, hahaha.
-Amazingly, I got broken off from the rest of the group again - there's a pattern and I'm talking to that group of 25 kids/pre teens while the rest of the group are marching on. They eventually let me go (but followed me like paparazzi), and honestly for the next 1-1.5 hour, I was shaking the hands of village leaders and other prominent figures. Most of the time was really talking to a bunch of kids and repeating the same greetings and feeling like a celebrity. The noise was full of rejoice, yelling, dancing, smiles everywhere from the Americans and Gambians and wow, thank God someone video taped it because I NEVER IN MY LIFE will have ever expected this to happen or have the vocabulary to express the magic.
-I felt pretty bad because I can't remember any of their names since pronunciation is so hard and I don't recognize any of them (awful eye sight). This guilt is emphasized because I legit had 30+ kids chanting "Jess Jess Jess." Oh - when I was feeling particularly smart again, I would add in the fact that I was from America. Go me. After a brief meeting where we talked to the Imam (cultural leader), village leader, camp director, just everyone. We saw the men first then the women and the kids were shadowing our every move. We prayed together and were see to our rooms. I had a queue of children lined up along the porch latching onto the other side of the veranda repeating my name "Jess Jess Jess" ... so I did what I thought was adequate and got my vocabulary list out and started talking to them. Imagine the composer at an orchestra in front of the musicians. That was how I felt. I was asking/answering random things in Mandinka and it was incredible.
-Eventually I went inside to get settled, get dinner, and discovered my oatmeal exploded in my luggage. SOOO I wasn't taking any chances with African bugs/ants especially had proceeded to clean that mess up for the next two hours. Then, I had an awesome time sitting outside (it was SWELTERING inside) and cleaning, talking to the training leaders (they're like our RAs in college), writing in my journal, and enjoying the sweat.
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