Journal Post 10/22

The last couple of days have been a blur. My colleagues and I were all so anxious to find out which village we'd be placed in for our two-month home stay in addition to the official language we're charged to master for the next 27 months. Master is a strong word... perhaps survival language is better? Anywho, I was assigned to the Serehule group with two other women and we comprise the smallest group of all and our teacher is a kick ass, no shit taking, feminist, activist, intelligent Gambian woman named Ida. LOVE HER. Anyways, the Serehule language (which I've never even LOOKED at over the summer, not even a glance), is definitely one of the minority language in the Gambia. The Serehules are an interesting bunch since they are the richest ethnic group in Gambia. Apparently all the tall/big buildings in the capital are owned by Serehules and they know how to save. They're located in the eastern most region in the Gambia but even though they're so far in the bush, they have bitiks (shops) that are two stories, electricity, internet, everything. Apparently Serehules travel all over the world for business and they send their money back to their families which is why they are "richer".

Anyways, we trained some more and by that I mean we learned how to shower, poop, pee, skirt tie, everything... the Gambian way. Can't go strolling into Gambia doing things the US way, that ain't right. Inbetween I got to play some Frisbee, do some interpretive dancing, and other silly things with some kids and they even remembered my name! I guess once a friend always a friend. I also had a pleasant conversation (limited, but pleasant) under the stars and in the dark with the night security guard and he taught me how to count in Mandinka. Great, a language I will not be using -_- I picked it up, though, and asked him stuff in Mandinka that I knew. How are you? What's your name? What's your surname? Where are you from? How is your family? How is your dad? Then he told me his dad was dead, shit, didn't mean to open that can of worms. We continued to learn how to count and then I taught my friends. All in all, a pretty successful couple of days.