God I've been so tired lately. I don't know if it's my period/the red sea as I like to call it zapping my life force (not unlikely) or what but I feel like I have endemic low energy stores which gets drained after a brief walk. Anyways, I woke up and spent a lot of time laying in bed thinking about everything and really just trying to procrastinate dealing with bugs. Because really, the ladies help me do a once over of killing spiders/grasshoppers the size of a fifty-cent coin before bed every night. The damn spiders here are fast as hell too! WTF. So finally the ultimate alarm clock rang - my bladder - and I can't hit the snooze button on that. I forced myself out of bed and getting ready took a lot longer than usual because I have very limited supplies and I wasn't sure about the water they gave me since it looked super muggy even after I ran it through the filter. They said it was pump water... but I really don't know. So it's really unnerving with my looking inside the cup they gave me and the liquids all muggy. I drank maybe three gulps before saying stop stop stop. Plus, it tasted plastic. SO NOW I'm really not sure if it's the water or just the filter... woe. I took what remaining trustworthy water I had left and used that for the important stuff.
My breakfast got delivered to me as soon as I opened my door and I'm glad that my family got the message last night that I did not like sugar (SUCCESS) because they put it on the side for me to add in. They gave me this corn porridge which is delicious with a generous ladle of sugar on the side but it's really awful without any added in. I ate all the boiled peanuts they gave me last night instead. I gathered everything together and decided to go outside and chat. I was with my moms and tried doing the family tree. Amazingly enough I think I figured out a lot - way more than the first time I did my family tree, but then again my training village family tree is more like a family forest. This family is much more contained. I have some brothers in the capital/kombo, some women marrying out, some women about to be married out, but overall the family is much smaller. Everyone else was out in the bush so it was just me, my three moms, and some small kids which I really like. I was halfway finished with the family tree when Musa (the acting Alkaloo for his dad, who is very old), Wujare (Public Health Official), and HM arrived to take me everywhere. We went to the Village Development Committee sitting place where I discovered I am related to some people on the comittee! Yay. One of them even speaks french...which doesn't help me much, but cool nonetheless. I also met the chair. He had a realllllyyy large compound full of women cooking in the front/main entrance. Next, we went to the Imam's place and that was a ridiculously large compound as well. I found out he's the eldest man of all the Tourays (my surname) which makes him the clan head. I'm so, so tired by now and it's just a bunch of meetings with people talking wicked fast and it's burning me out. Mostly when I open my mouth they look at me confused like "who is this girl and why does she speak my language" and we then both proceed to look confused at each other. The women, although I had no time with them, were all very friendly. The group and I trekked through the Sahara once again to the Alkaloo's compound (Musa's home) - which is also as large as can be with outside mosquito nets, too! He very much loves Obama because on top of his main entrance is a huge poster. Anywho, we go inside to meet his wife and prior to that I mentioned that I wanted a bag of water with small drinking water packets inside (yes, bagception) because I was way too suspicious of the water coming out of my filter. He had a couple of packets inside his house and HM asked me if I wanted it... 45D later, I finally had drinking water without needing to haul it 20k away from Basse (the nearest place where I can get anything). This rocked because I was thirsty as hell. We went back to HM's place which is attached to the health clinic/meeting area and dropped him off. We gave his friend Ceedee my huge bag of water to take by motorcycle back to my place while Wujare walked me back home. Like I said, I was so thirsty by the time I got back that I just downed an entire packet, which is impressive because I don't drink that much in one sitting for those of you who ever saw me drink.
I chilled inside for a bit and thought about how I wanted to arrange my new home. After a while I went back outside and there was a lot more people there. They were all back from the bush for lunch. I read them my notes in Serehule and everyone seemed pretty tickled. A friend f my host/landlord/brother came over - his name is Ali - and he seems to know more English than anyone else in my compound thus far. When I started reading my vocab, he started pointing things around us and translating to me what they were. This went on for a bit until I asked them if they could show me the tap system. THANK THE LORDS it's only down the street and to the left. Apparently there's also another tap - a spigot system - but that was broken or maybe they just took off the knob and only give it to the public at certain times in the day. We walked back and they pointed more things out to me - some I knew and some I seriously had no clue even if it was right in front of me. I think they were telling me the different types of trees and shit, I don't even know that in English.
I found out that Baharu, my host dad, is 32 years old and still looks very young. It must be his smile. He has a very kind smile and reminds me of Baloo from Jungle Book - just super chill and easy going. He doesn't have kids yet - he just married Fatoumata like 5/6 months ago - and she's from Sabi. Baharu loves kids and is always laughing in the background while messing around with them. Anywho, we got on the topic of my 'husband' and so I went inside to get a picture. They were all pretty enthralled. Lunch was delivered right after and I was so thankful it was rice and some sauce. One of the moms, who I didn't get to show my "husband's" picture to because she was cooking, rushed up to me and was like, "Picture! Picture!" When I finished eating and brought the bowl outside (and I might have derped inside for a little), I wasn't aware that they were waiting for me to resume chatting until they asked me if I was ready. I guess I was because next thing I know, I wrote down all this vocab - like literally a full page and a half worth - but was unsure how I'd ever use it. When will I ever need to know the word for coal? Or the thing you put around a donkey when you use it to pull a cart. Or snot. And halfway through I'm like, are they really teaching me or making a fool out of me because Baharu is laughing while Ali is teaching and I think they had the best of intentions but we didn't have a ton around us. Anyways, they then said something about me having something and at first I didn't understand and neither Baharu or Ali could translate it. It turns out that my grandpa, who comes riding a bike back, actually knows English! He came by and told me they were trying to say that I have a good mind. Or memory. Lol, maybe, but I appreciate the compliment. Another guy came along and jumped in on the teaching. We had kids all around us and laughed in surprise whenever I knew something. I think they're all surprised that this random Chinese American can speak a bit of Serehule. They were REALLY tickled that I knew the word for butt. After forever, I finally said I was going inside to wash my hair which I totally wanted to... but Wujare came by again and whisked me away to meet more community figure heads.
We went this really long back way to see the school/head teacher. He was teaching me random vocab along the way and I can't tell if he's a good teacher or what. He knows English well but he talks too fast and I don't know if he's making me feel dumb when he re-emphasizes the fact that I don't know something or when he's genuinely surprised when I do know something. Or maybe this is just natural. However, I have heard many stories from Ida (my formal teacher), that the men do not like women in education or having any sort of power over them and that especially the Serehules because they are very traditional. Also, being around a lot of men can tarnish my image to the community because they will start thinking I'm there to find a husband or that I sleep around a lot or something like that. It's just really hard now because I'm meeting all these figure heads and they're, OF COURSE, men that hold these seats/positions of power but I really feel comfortable with the women and kids. I do know that I'll need to be well known and respected by the men but I really want to do some empowerment stuff with the women. I know it's not their fault, but HM being a guy is going to have a lot of male friends which is why I have this body guard of males following me around. SIGH anyways. W would sometimes say, "do you know _______really fast sentence________" and I'm like, "No," in which he's like, "You don't know?" Or, "You have to know _______really fast sentence______" No, dude, I wouldn't lie to you about something I didn't know. Then he translates. I have picked up some helpful things but if I don't write things down there's no way I'll remember it. Good thing we were always walking >_> He's a pretty fast paced guy in general and he's been helping me a lot since he lives closer to me than HM. His house has electricity, a TV, and a satellite dish! It's a pretty sizable compound, too. He has relatives that come back to live with him from Spain. W also asked if he could be considered as a teacher if I ever needed (PC will reimburse, 45 D an hour, which is some but not much). I said I would ask, but ideally I would like to get a female teacher. He'll be a back up, though.
When we finally got to the school, we found out the Head Teacher wasn't there but I got his phone/name anyways for my Peace Corps assignment (where I have to identify figureheads in the community). We walked all the way back to HM's place to meet M/acting Alkaloo and back to his compound to find the chair of the women's group...who of course wasn't there. Instead, a cohort of women were there instead, cooking. Apparently, tomorrow is a huge once a year event that an organization called TOSTAN is holding in Kulari. They have a representative in Kulari that sets it all up with the help of the community. I don't know exactly what TOSTAN is but I do know it has to do with culture and they're based in Basse, so they have to travel to get here. I got to sit with the ladies and they are so, so, so friendly and I feel just so comfortable with them but unfortunately the sun was setting and I still had more people to meet. People were reeling at the fact that I've only been learning Serehule for 4 weeks and they're so excited to teach me more. WHICH IS GREAT, but I hope they set their expectations low because I'm just working hard at my own pace. They then start to think about me learning Pulaar (another language) and Mandinka and I'm just like hoooold up, cannot do yet.
Anyways, W thinks I know kungfu and if that's what it takes for personal security then so be it. By the time we finished meeting the remaining craftsmen that I was required to find, he walked me home and it was really dark.I went to take one of the most miserable showers so far - cold and a multiplicity of bugs. I don't even know if I'm clean. It hurt to splash water on me, damn. I ate dinner (two really bony fish, coos, and watery sauce) and went outside to chat. My family that I met outside were mostly the women and children and it was very homey and comfortable. They had a fire in the middle while everyone sat around. The women who talked to me understood the few things that I said. I noticed that the three moms had very distinct personalities but they all seem very protective and caring towards me. The children are older than the kids in Jalanbereh. They don't interact with me much yet probably because I'm new and I haven't spent much time with them alone. We mostly sat in silence and watched the fire. This one kid materializes from thin air all of a sudden and says some greetings before plopping down right next to me. He's a reserved boy and I couldn't see who he was. I asked him his name and he said Musa. He asked if I forgot who he was but as soon as I heard him speak English, I remembered! Yesterday, he helped me with carrying my sleeping bags from HMs all the way to my house. Right before he left, he said he would see me tomorrow (today) and he kept his promise. He knew his English pretty well and I got to know him better - he showed me pictures of his family on his phone and told me he went to school in Kombo before his dad moved him and his mom back to Kulari... way the hell back into the bush. I liked his presence and sat in silence or talked some. I gave him my phone number because I felt like he'd be nice to know - kids are good and allies in the Gambia - and it was a nice ending to my night. BUT although that was a nice ending, my favorite part is still lying in my two layers of protection from bugs while I think about all that happened in the day.
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