Journal Post 12/28

I haven't written in the past couple of days. AHHH it's happening, it's starting to stave off! I think mostly because I was just tired as hell and I should stop trying to be so hooked on routine. Let me do a quick recap...

Woke up at 5 and got ready to leave my door by 5:45 AM. I was just about ready to wait outside my compound when one of my older brothers told me that SURPRISE the gele gele was not going to stop there. Good thing I woke up early, so then I walked all the way to where the parking place was and got there at good time - 6:05 AM on the dot. I think it was easier because there were less people to greet me and still dark, so just less people in general save the ones going to pray. I was the first to get there when a gele gele rolled up - a beat up 16 passenger van and it took awhile, but sure enough it was filled up! I greeted some people, Ceedee's mom came and I love that woman so I enjoyed her presence and felt much more at ease. She was on her way to a meeting in Basse. I really want to get to know her more, on my to-do list. By 6:30 we were off! We saw the sun rise, a car on the road broke down, and were finally in Basse by 7:30-7:45 ish. Unfortunately they took another route to Basse so it dropped me off closer in the town than the transit house. I walked a good 30 minutes back to the transit house with 80 million pounds on my back because I decided to drop off some stuff in Basse in case I ever needed to spend the night. I packed some back up kitchen supplies, toiletries, and a CRAP ton of clothes. Speaking of which, I didn't want to get charged for an extra large bag so I wore 6 skirts, 3 shirts, and my big UMass hoodie and fit all my other stuff in my backpack, hahaha. I looked very frumpy but it worked! Good all the clothes I have are bigger than my frame. ALSO good thing that it's freezing in the mornings so I didn't burst into a flame walking back to the transit house.

There, I went straight to the locker room, threw everything in, stripped down my 80 layers, and finally was ready to surprise my friends!!! Beth and Elizabeth were there sleeping and I had all the intention to roll into bed with them but by the time I went back into the main room they were already awake and talking. EEK! Love them so much AND they had cookies so I had two delicious chocolate ones. Apparently everyone munched on them all the night prior... dammit. Either way, it was delicious. Elizabeth gave me money to buy breakfast sammiches for everyone so I ran as fast as I could to get all those orders while Beth got the water started for tea and coffee. We spent the entire morning catching up because Elizabeth doesn't get cellphone service at her site! Good thing she's the next town over from Basse - she can literally walk her and if she had her bike, she could get here in under thirty minutes. PLUS the road is good, so I'm thankful. She has two missionaries at her site who have been living in The Gambia for a WHILE (15 years?) and that makes me feel better. She was able to go to Christmas mass the night before and was drained because she didn't get back to the transit house until 1 AM! Beth was still feeling a bit icky from her sickness last week but she was able to get in a run and even bike to Basse. Look at these women. I haven't even breathed in the direction of running yet. Could be because I don't have sneakers... Anyways, we caught up and I couldn't stop smiling because I love them and of all the people I'm so glad it was us three ladies. I miss Elizabeth so much, it's so different not being able to talk to her. I texted her ALL the time during training village and she makes me happy. Beth is also the nicest creature ever and, ugh. I was just very content that morning.

Elizabeth wanted to go to sleep some more so she gave us money to go grocery shopping. Beth and I got all our stuff ready and headed out... unfortunately in the middle of the day. We went to the bank first, thinking that since no one really celebrates Christmas it would be open... wrong, closed. SO I was really stuck in Basse for another day because I used the last of my cash to get there! Beth wanted to rest for a bit so we made our little camp in front of the bank's doorsteps and laid down. We called a couple of people to wish them Merry Christmas to be productive :) I also had to tell my family that I would be staying the night. Luckily they understood me. After we were all rested up, we braved the markets on our own and bought everything we needed for our Christmas brunch. It was tough walking back in the heat and I was definitely drenched in sweat so as soon as we arrived, I had to change out of everything. And let me tell you. Wearing shorts and seeing my knees is so liberating. I helped Beth in the kitchen while she did all the hard work (and I ... washed lettuce so as to not mess anything up) and we feasted like champions. It was a simple salad with spaghetti and sauce. We also bought a watermelon but didn't get to it because everyone was stuffed. We chatted a bit, John (a third year who is stationed in Basse), Albert (an older, Ag/Fo volunteer who lives near by and is a frequent visitor to the Basse transit house), and Josh (my site mate/education volunteer and fellow Serehule speaker) came and it was a nice small group. Elizabeth headed home soon after and Beth and I walked her to her car park. We continued onwards to the Internet Cafe and vegged out there for awhile. We were both able to Skype back home and it was everything we could ask for <3

That night, we watched Elf and I made one of those decorative holiday stars! I went to bed exhausted and woke up the next day ready to bank and get home. Good thing when I got there... it was declared a public holiday and closed down hahahahaha. Excellent, day two of no money. Beth was a doll and lent me more. I have officially over 2000 I owe to my family for rent and random volunteers who have been helping me out. She went to the internet cafe while I walked around Basse looking at what there was. I really need a current volunteer who knows their stuff to go with me just so I know if I'm getting ripped off or not! It was good window shopping and doing inventory, though. Beth and I walked back to the transit house after that and got a bean sandwich for lunch. We rested up there, I can't remember what we did, but next thing I know I'm walking Beth back to ferry crossing to drop her off since she needed to head back to site and I went to the Internet cafe. It was good to chat with some people again but I couldn't help but feel guilty that I had to stay... again while everyone was with their families and bonding with them. It's miraculous that I bought toiletries and clothes and such with me and I thank my lucky stars that I was thinking ahead. Damn, I love when you think ahead for yourself and it helps you in the future when you need it. I walked back and decided to do something productive with my time... so I made 5 more of those festivus/holiday stars out of magazine paper and chain/garland things.

THE NEXT DAY, 12/27 AKA yesterday, I wake up and go Elf-mode on the transit house. My partner in crime, Low Chair, he does not wish to let others know of his Martha Stewart side, and I went to town decorating the main living room/hang out area. It's quite beautiful and I will be taking pictures. After that occupied all of my morning, I made a quick breakfast and went to the bank. Josh met me to walk me around and show me places to buy some key things you can't find in village... and then I had to owe him money. Just digging a deeper hole... We finally went into the bank and was met with. Crazy. Ass. Lines. I told Josh to go home and that I'll give him money the next time I see him since I didn't want him to wait with me. The good news was that my phone was charged so I got to text a bunch of random people AND the AC was just turned on. The bad news was that... I waited for an hour. Ah well. I eventually got my money, met a Mariama on the road who was nice enough to walk me to the car park. She goes to school in Kombo but was up in country because her school was on break and she wanted to surprise her friend at her wedding! We went all the way to the car park and that's when I found out... the last car to Kulari left. Awesome, hahaha. It was 1:30 by the time I was there and I thought the last car left at 3 PM. The only car going near that direction was SO far away from my site. I called my Community Rep/HM to see what I should do and he said he could arrange a donkey cart to get me from where they would drop me off but Josh said that would take me hours. Josh advised to stay and I took his advice.

Went back to the computer cafe, derped, did some things I wanted like looked at dress styles I liked and decorative ideas for the transit house, went back, showered and dinnered, and decorated some more. Josh had The Amazing Spiderman on his computer so we watched that while I crafted some more. I feel super awful that I intended to stay in Basse for 9 hours and ended up staying 3 days. I feel like this is the epitome of Peace Corps but I should just learn to go with the flow, haha. It's this damn guilt feeling and my family is so cute - they were going to cook me pumpkin and rice when I got home yesterday but I wasn't able to make it back! Ugh. I bought them a bunch of onions, green onions, and beans so hopefully our meal tonight/tomorrow will be yummy.

Today, as of right now, I'm typing at the internet cafe. In another ten minutes I'm going out to the car garage to wait for the first gele back to Kulari. I honestly cannot wait to be back, and hope nothing horrible grew in my house while I was gone, but I'll write tonight. UNTIL THEN!

Journal Entry 12/24

Soooo I think I'm tiring myself out. I think I have too rigid of a schedule and need to chill. Menstruating Jess is not a happy Jess to begin with especially when added to a new environment and trying to get the hang of everything into the mix. Usually I wake up at 8 AM wicked tired, rip myself away from bed to get ready, and go out to greet/retrieve my breakfast between 8:30-8:45 AM. I officially head out at 9:30 AM to study, greet people or brave the bush until 1 PM, come back to fetch water and wait for lunch which is at 1:30-2 PM. I eat lunch and have a quick break to myself before I go out to study again between 3/3:30-5:30 PM. I head back inside my hut to work out from 5:30-6:30 PM, shower, write/derp/study/plan until dinner comes at 8 PM, eat and brush up, then go out and sit between 8:30-9:30 PM. Sometimes I go to the mosque but I'm probably not ever going to do that again until the next blue moon, I am SO tired at night. I don't end up sleeping until 10:30/11 PM and I'm exhausted the next day. I definitely burned myself out yesterday and crashed after lunch.

I started off the day strong by making my way to my community rep's place all by myself (follow mosques/electricity lines) and greeted people all along the way. Whiiiich might have made me 40 minutes late, oops. I weighed a child who was previously malnourished to check her progress and sat around to greet people. We also checked up on the guy who was sick from yesterday and thankfully he was much better. His family was so nice and gave us bananas for visiting. I walked back home for lunch and there's this kid who hung around HM's place the entire morning who followed me back. He had the same last name as me so he must've been a younger brother or cousin of some kind to me. Anyways, he followed me/walked me home - and he's like 9 or something. I arrive home and tried to separate pounded coos for a while and failed terribly so I went inside to rest up for a bit. I did give one of my sister's and her friend a laugh because I was just so sucky at it, hah. I was completely drained and called my friend Tyler to whine because my period symptoms flared like none other that day and I was particularly whiney. No worries, it too shall pass. The boy who walked me home, unbeknownst to me, WAS STILL THERE AND DID NOT GO HOME. He hid behind the other side of my house so the front part of my compound couldn't see him. He kept on calling my name and knocking at my door and I didn't know what he wanted so I just told him to go home. (I don't invite anyone inside to keep my boundaries high to set a precedence, it's easier taking them away than reinforcing them in the future) The boy kept on lingering and said he was hungry so I told him to go eat my lunch at the front of my compound, not like some creep chilling at the side of my house. Besides, there were benches there! He kept on declining - maybe he was shy? I don't know. I asked my host brother if I could give the boy my leftovers and he said yes. When I turned around to give the kid the bowl, he disappeared. I went back in my house but heard him knocking again and then heard my mom shout at him. "BOY! What are you doing." I think he left like an hour later after that. Also my sister's friend called me to come out (normally no one calls me to come out when I go in my house, I come out and spend a bunch of time when I'm ready) and I asked her why and she said "nothing." Annoying... I would have more patience but it's definitely period time.

I spent the entire afternoon inside and went out for a hot second in the evening. I just felt really crappy that day. Tired. I have to learn to pace myself. I went to bed at 8:30 that night and slept until 6. Today, I did nothing but pamper myself and it felt pretty good despite the nagging guilt feeling. I told my family I had a headache - which was true, and my body just felt worn out but I have no idea how to say that aside from "my body is broken" and I don't know how they'd take that, haha - but sifted some coos with them for 15 minutes. I was better at that than separating it, for sure. I went to fetch water and after that, I spent the whoooole day in and went out to do some letter-writing for about an hour. I did some laundry, washed my rope bag, packed for Basse tomorrow, worked out, organized some stuff, and it was really relaxing. I went out to write a letter and talked to my uncle and my other uncle's wife and she was annoying at first but I warmed up to her after asking to see pictures of her husband (who is in France working). The kids were also particularly annoying me today because they kept on asking me what different things were called in Serehule even though I told them I was writing. I think they got it when I sternly told them I was writing a letter. Even though I didn't study all day, I managed to communicate in okay Serehule. My uncle's wife kept on telling me to take her to America and that The Gambia is not great (lots of people say that, no problem it doesn't phase me) but I insisted, in Serehule, that both are great and that she has not gone to both countries yet but I have, and I can say that both are "sweet" (as they call it here). She was persistent but so was I. I got a little sassy today, too, my 20 year old sister was telling me to pound coos and I said no because I had a headache and my younger sister emphasized what I said. The older one kept on going on and on and I just suddenly spoke in very fast English, like, three sentences and she just stopped and laughed saying she didn't understand me. I agreed and asked if English was hard and I think she got the message. Normally I don't sass back, in fact I haven't sassed anyone back, but today I was just not having it. She always asks me to do stuff and I'm like chill, I'm learning, I'll get to it I promise! She probably thinks I'm lazy because I see absolutely no one here with books (unlike training village), much less a woman writing all day. Whatevs. On a language note, I was able to say "you go to the bush first/you cook first" in Serehule and utilized some new vocab I learned. Also I have the whiniest baby ever in my compound - she's actually my 20 year old's daughter. She is cute-ish but upon the slightest ANYTHING she starts to fake cry and actually just cries over everything, haha. She eats a ton so at least she's healthy!

I rested for the entire night and felt a lot better. I think I have to adjust my daily routine and do things for myself more. Do what I want to do. This little feeling of guilt is pretty hard to come to terms with, and I'll write about that later. I'll have to study extra hard tomorrow to make up for all this lack of Serehule studying. The kids got a driver to stop in front of my house tomorrow morning at 6 AM so that's very nice of them. It would be a drag to walk all the way to the gele when it's super dark out. Christmas tomorrow!

Journal Post 12/22

Today was eventful! I woke up, got ready, went out and met a friend of my mom's who is married into the Touray family (my clan). She kept on saying I was from China so I'm going to nix the fact that my fam's from there or the fact that I was born there and straight up say I'm from the US. Too much inquiry into my background otherwise... HM and Ceedee came by sometime around 10ish but before that I was able to communicate with my family of my rent. I'll probably cook breakfast for myself, have lunch and dinner with them, have them do my laundry once a week, and I'll bring them gifts on the road every time I go to Basse which could be every other week. All just day trips! It sucks though because one of my sisters have something wrong with her eye - it LOOKS like cataracts but she's only 20 years old so I don't know... she says she needs 400 dalasi for that and I'd love to lend her some but I don't want to be known for that so early on in my service (as the money giver/lender). I'll probably pay for my rent on Wednesday for the half month that I'm here and my January rent on the first Saturday so that they have enough and it'd fall on a regular pay cycle. I was thinking of giving my family my rent and such every first Saturday anyways so this works out!

Anyways, HM and Ceedee came by to whisk me away. I finally got to talk to the carpenter and I really want two short tables with wheels. It's near impossible to get them in Kulari so I'm going to have to find wheels in Basse hopefully and bring them to the carpenter. That, or I'm going to have to wait until someone from the US ships them to me... I'm just so hellbent on finding them/adding them. The carpenter super tried to rip me off but HM was nice enough to talk the price down. It went from 600D down to 250 for a table, jeez. I'm getting my bigger table finished first, holding off for the two small ones until later when I can figure out this wheel situation, and we went to someone who makes bamboo beds. I got a quote of 200D for the bed which is a great deal! I just hope no creepy bugs will nest their way inside... I'm going to have to do frequent bug spray downs and wrap my bamboo bed in fabric. Yes I will go to extreme lengths, just let me live. Now I have to invest in the 20 meters to do that! And twine.

Next, we stopped at our final destination which was HM's place where I met Alaji, a Wolof Public Health Official from Basse (the regional big town where I go to stock up on supplies and interwebs). A bunch of people came by (most of them men, figures, men hang out with men and women hang out with women in Serehule communities), and I met HM's neighbor who asked me if I wanted to see a monkey. WAT? Even in English I had to ask him to repeat himself and I did a double take. We all went to his house to see the monkey (he is actually HM's neighbor) and sure enough it was there. His name was Buba, haha. They gave me peanuts to feed to him and Buba ripped it out of my hands. Hit it out. It was pretty cute and smart. I asked the guy - Ibraima - where Buba came from and he said the bush, lmao, of course, where else was I thinking, Petco? So I go back to HMs, chill, Alaji taught me/ran me over the immunization chart for babies (in Gambia they administer 9 vaccines for kids by the way), HM quizzed me, Ceedee was off/on teaching me Serehule, I greeted random people who passed by, and journaled in Serehule. I read it to everyone and they seemed to understand me! Musa the acting Alkaloo stopped by and we chatted for a bit. We ate benechin (fried rice with bony fish and pumpkin) and Ceedee got us COLD WATER fuck yeah! The kids are still warming up to me but it was my first day. Slowly, slowly. Later, HM bought me to a compound where two school girls lived and they understood English and Serehule! They both agreed to be my English teacher! Apparently they're really active in the community, too, during the huge TOSTAN event. I hope they're good teachers. Either way, I'm freakin' psyched to find two gems there! How awesome that they go to school everyday, and they're Serehule's which makes it an even bigger feat because as a whole the group is still super traditional/strict about letting women get schooling. Even if they aren't good teachers, I want to become friends with them and talk to them more. I wanna let them know just how awesome they are in doing what they're doing.

After that, we went to a man's house who's sick and exhibiting symptoms of malaria. HM gave him a shot and we'll go back tomorrow for follow up. I need to brush up on my "get well please" vocabulary... note to self, note to self. Apparently we saw him at the carpenter's, too, and it was so fast that he came down with some hardcore symptoms, jeez. My thoughts are with him tonight and I really do wish him a speedy recovery.

HM and one of my 29834792 my younger brothers walked me back to my home and I gained some confidence on how to get to HM's place which seems like the center of everything - including where the gele geles are which I'll need to get anywhere! I also found out the last reliable gele that travels from Basse to Kulari leaves at 3 PM - very useful information. I just have to follow the line of mosques and phone lines to get to my house, which is a nice landmark. Even HM agrees that I'm super far away and it took him months to figure out Kulari... excellent. Good thing I came during cold season when it's not that hot but still SUPER HOT in the afternoon and miserably cold in the mornings. Such extremes... reminds me of New England.

I worked out again today but with way less zeal... I'm hurting from the past couple of days. I als ogot to talk on the phone with my emotional buddy and acquired fabulous tips/advice to shape my three month challenge. I talked to another pal I met for like 5 minutes at the transit house for EVER who looks like Jesus, it's pretty sweet, but now I'm super tired so I'm turning in!

Journal Post 12/21

Welp, today marks my first time in the bush! I woke up tired as hell, cold, and dying to pee so that is always an alarm clock that I can’t ignore. I left one of my bags unzipped and freaked out because I thought mad bugs would’ve crawled into it during the night… nope, thank God. Got ready, went out to study for a bit to wait for everyone else to get ready, my host brother gave me half a bean sammich, score. A bit later, my grandma told me to wear socks and change into pants… she cares! It was so cute. I did and we went into the bush. It was me, my host brother’s wife (who’s the same height as me… rare), and my oldest sister. We greeted some people along the way and some guy… my younger uncle I think, and he complimented me on my Serehule for only being here for 2 months. Score. It was far away and windy as hell but I was able to make small conversation with the ladies. 

We got there and my younger brothers were already there working. By working I mean all the younger kids are on the ground picking up peanuts while my older brother who’s in his mid-late teens are packing all the peanuts up and waving them in the wind to get rid of the sand. They basically told me to pick up all the rest of the peanuts on the ground and that’s what I did! All these peanuts will later be shelled, pounded, and made into food. The older of the brothers kept on saying “hey” to get my attention and I told him my name was Mariama so he started calling me that, haha. I hate when people call me “hey.” JUST SAY MY NAME. I really like my sisters because they understand me and are silly/joke with me. I saw this really crazy gross squirmy centipede that was lime green with yellow legs and gross small dung beetles. My shoulder hurts fiercely and I can’t believe these women and kids do this all day for a couple of months. The boys are very sweet and tucked a metal bowl (flipped over) like a makeshift chair under my butt while I was squatting, haha, so cute. I’m still learning everyone’s names… pretty hard. 3 hours of squatting later, my shoulders officially kill but my mom comes by and feeds me a piece of a bean sandwich again and my sister gives me a piece of her panketos! This one was interesting and had some stuff in it and was salty. Good nonetheless. OK so then we came back, my family was so happy that I went into the bush, I fetched water and did some laundry. Lunch comes and it's... PUMPKIN AND FRIED FISHBALLS. Hell yes, Jesus I was fed good today. If this is what I get for going into the bush then they're doing a good job bribing me. 

After lunch, I went out to study, barely stayed awake, fetched well water again (bad tap system here...), exercised (feeling damn proud and damn sore), studied, and dinnered. I sat out for a good 40 minutes before retiring. Although I'm studying, all I'm doing is recopying notes to try and learn Serehule again! I'm trying to learn 5-10 new phrases a day but I'm really trying to look for a female teacher to take me under her wing. Tomorrow, HM, my community representative, is going to visit me so hopefully he can help me find a place to put credit on my phone, map out the way to the gele gele garage park, bring me to the Alkaloo to formally say hello, and find me a woman teacher. It's a lot but it'd help me tremendously. Oh, and go to a carpenter. It would make my life if I could get a table with wheels so it could make cleaning a hell of a lot easier. 

It's weird that across the sea, my friends and family are engulfed in the commercial Christmas spirit. I was so happy receiving a package but the gift giving hype really eluded me. I can't even put myself in those shoes anymore. I'm happy if I get through the day not sick, people understand me, I don't poop my pants, I finish my agenda, if no one dies, if my food is good, and I don't get weird bug bites. I feel like I'm appreciating the small things so much more and it's a great big lesson I'm thankful to be learning. The smallest things give me the greatest joy and they're usually not bought. Anyways, I'm going to give it until Monday/Tuesday to officially compound hop... I need to get my name out more, dammit, but I need to know what to say when I'm sitting there!

Journal Post 12/20

So. Today. I feel like I should feel more accomplished than I actually feel because I accomplished everything I wrote down on my agenda! First, I got ready and somewhere inbetween getting ready, Tyler and I thought it'd be a great idea to put all of Motley Crew into World of Warcraft race/class categories and give them special abilities/weaknesses/ and traits on a talent chart. We just RPG'd Peace Corps The Gambia, yes I understand how nerdy we are. I went out with my moms and grandma to the other Touray compounds and discovered that we have a lot of people in our clan. I also discovered that some people are pretty rich as in... tiled floors, fans, electricity, and refrigerators, WHAT? My moms left for work but my grandmother and I continued. I didn't get such a great map like I intended to because there's SO many people to greet! Slowly, slowly I guess. I'm thinking there's 3 phases: sensitization (getting my name out ther), making a map, asking questions for my baseline. I looked at my 3-month challenge agenda and pretty much balked. Guess I have to get started like five days ago. I came back, did some chores, ate lunch, went out to study for 2.5 hours, my community representative swung by to say hi, went inside to sweet and exercise, showered, dinnered, sat outside for a hot second before coming inside. I guess I'm going into the bush for tomorrow morning. My grandma told me to wear socks, haha. My brother has some friends over and they keep on trying to correct my Serehule and I'm like I knowwww I'm on it dude, slowly, slowly! I'm really trying to reclaim language because I swear I lost all that ability in Kombo and I'm really conscious of it. I basically speak in Serehule 99% of the day minus talking on the phone and all the men who want to talk to me in English but I respond in Serehule. I'm trying to learn 10 new words a day but it's really hard when my workbook isn't always right. I need to go out more in the morning, have the afternoon to myself, go back out again, come back inside, and go back out after dinner. I just have to find the perfect rhythm. Maybe I'll shoot for 9-1 greet people or 8-12 depending on my wake up time, lunch and some chores, 2-4 study outside, 4-5:30 exercise/shower, 5:30-6:30 chat outside, 6:30-8:30 free time/dinner, 8:30-9:30 outside? Tentative but it just might work!

Journal Post 12/19

Today was interesting. Woke up and just about ready when... I get a call from Sheriff the Driver who told me I had some packages they were delivering for me!!! HOOORAAYY!!! I just finished my breakfast (which I swear doesn't taste at all good unless I add 5 tablespoons of sugar) when they arrived. I got a letter from Mike and a package from Melanie. I've never been more excited in my life and I felt like a kid again awaiting my presents. Modou the Driver/past awesome carpenter was with Sheriff and actually was the first one to greet me at my door in English so I thought it was some random guy trying to lure me into an English conversation but clearly that wasn't the case. He was such a sweet heart and helped me clean up my roof which meant sticking a broom all up in my thatched wood above me and sweeping away anything that looks like it's going to collapse on me. Which also meant everything that fell down - which there was a lot of - coated all of my stuff. Modou, again being an angel, proceeded to SWEEP everything for me but I knew... the fire has been ignited. It was henceforth renamed "Ultimate Cleaning Day" and thank god my mom sent me those Clorox wipes because they were my SAVIORS. There was an unfathomable amount of dust on top of my bed and it was nasty.
I made covers for my chests using fabric I bought and scraps of that fabric for covering the chest handles so I don't break my fingers lifting them ever again. I ate lunch, finally washed my clothes which involved my grandma taking pity on me, doing most of it and my younger 20 year old sister (who already has a 2 year old baby) helping me hang it dry. I'm definitely going to pay them to do my laundry...

Anywho, I got to wash the rest of the mold off my stuff, unopened my package/read my letter/laughed alone in my hut, swept like 8 times, finished organizing my stuff, EXERCISED and hot damn I'm so out of shape, took all my clothes down and folded them, washed my feet (which feels like a true victory when you can see the bottom of it), showered, and in all honesty I checked off everything I put on my to-do list. It took me 3.5 days but I'm finally what I called "settled" (or as settled as I can get without furniture). I still need to talk to the carpenter to make me two small roll-y tables and one bigger table with wheels... but I was able to ask the prices for some items from my family and that's a mission for next week when I have money. Right now, I still am operating under less than 50D (which is little bit more than a dollar) and only have enough money to get to Basse, the regional "large town" with shops, internet cafes, and the bank. It takes 35 D to get there... let's hope for the best.
I drafted up another plan for tomorrow, dinnered, and went outside. After sitting a little and telling my moms that I was ready for tomorrow, they decided to take me on a late night adventure to the mosque for what seems like story telling time. A number of people were sitting outside/inside just listening to the loud speaker. They were translating the Koran into Serehule and reading it in Arabic. Good thing I had a lot on my mind because I sat there for 1.5 hours not understanding anything! My butt hurt. We finally arrived back but it was good exercise for tomorrow when I go into town with my grandma. I have one mom who can understand me best, then the older mom who I like a lot too, she can understand me somewhat and is definitely the more fierce of the two women. My grandma is such a nice figure who takes me under her wing. I expressed that I had no idea what I was saying but I just liked sitting with them and I also got to meet other women. Definitely in my element. A group of boys started shouting "toubab" and "Chinese" at me but I told them not to do that and to call me Mariama which I hope they understand but honestly they were just kind of annoying. I'll warm up to them slowly. I also had an awkward encounter with a guy who kept on calling me after site visit and I just ignored him because I just didn't appreciate calls at random times in the day! I told my moms that I didn't like giving out my number to men and I think they understood. I told them I wanted to make more lady friends so the folks of Kulari don't think I'm a hussy. It's such a relief that they understand. I have to juggle how I'm presented - but like I said, tomorrow really begins *my* three month challenge - getting Kulari to know me like in Jalanbereh, I plan on starting a map to the pump first, sitting in at least 5 compounds a day for 20-30 minutes, and walking around freestyle greeting people. 3000 people in Kulari (so says my paper PC gave me)... great. I'm starting my regular routine tomorrow which will consist of a mix of getting ready, greeting people/sitting in compounds, fetching water, snack, reading/studying outside, lunching inside, free time to do whatever, snack, exercise, shower, snack, free time, dinner, and sit outside with family. Every time I eat I've been getting a stomach ache and I feel like it's because my stomach's still adjusting. I think I've been eating a lot lately - including coos - and I can't gauge whether it's Aunt Flo that's changing me or my taste buds are really adjusting. Either way, working out needs to happen. I have a couple of things I need to do for my house otherwise I'm ready to make some friends and hopefully find a female English/Serehule teacher! Eeek.

 

Journal Entry 12/18

Well shit its been a full week since I last wrote! Terribly sorry but Banjul, swear in, shopping, and settling in was exhausting! Let me do a brief run through of what happened…

Woke up early, left Jalanbereh, it was a long, long trip back to Kombo/Banjul and I slept through most of it but we finally made it!

Dropped stuff off in the transit house, had a couple of sessions, went back to dinner, went out to some bars, redeemed myself from my last (weak) encounter with the native beer called Julbrew, went to the beach at night, and got rocked by the waves… scars to show.

We got our final evaluations! I scored an advanced low on language and got really sweet reviews by my Program Manager/PCVL/Program Assistant. My Program Manager congratulated me on the work well done, my PCVL said I should relax because I put a lot of pressure on myself (truth) and my Program Assistant said I was really easy to work with, yay.

I received my packaged from my mom!!! YAY So useful it was like opening the Christmas present I’ve been dying for.

Got flu shots, important later

Ended sessions forever for PST, we all rushed home to either Internet or beach. I went to the beach and braved the waves + played Frisbee in the ocean – hard shit being a PCV.

THURSDAY, woke up mad early again because my room was frigid. This counts as day two of early self wake up, wtf. Today was a 4:30 AM wake up call, damn you body.

Swear in ceremony was incredible – Motley Crew (our official group name) looked fabulous and even the PCVs who attended were saying we all looked smokin in our asoebes (AH-SO-BEES; outfits with matching fabric)! Everyone had their own style and the fabric was great. I loved wearing my dress – it came out so good! I took made selfies with everyone and had a permanent smile on my face. I sat through some long speeches but I was busy rewriting my portion of the speech anyways so I didn’t mess up. Finally, Dani (the one who read Mandinka), Becca (who read Pulaar), Malcolm (who read everything in English), and I approached the stadium for our turn at speeching. It was super fun and everyone laughed at me especially when it was my turn (I read very animatedly) because legit only two people in the audience understands Serehule and I’m this random Chinese girl talking it. Whatever it takes to make people laugh! PS I was televised on national TV… no big deal.

We all sang the Peace Corps song but we were HORRIBLE because everyone forgot the lyrics and I couldn’t help but laugh throughout it. We sounded like dying cows. I was also in the front and was bursting out laughing, oops.

Took the oath and became an official PCV!!

I ate, got rushed back to the transit house to change, and was herded into an important sudden meeting.

Went to meeting and all the PCVs already in country were sitting there! They were waiting in the room and the Country Diretor basically told us that in the first time in forever, literally unprecedented, all the oppositional political parties were peacefully demonstrating in/around Kombo. This is significant because usually they’re very divided groups. Now, they chose to come together. This meant that all travel out of Kombo was illegal for PCVs so no one could exit until at least Sunday. This meant that all the new swear ins (Motley Crew) only had a day and a half of shopping, yay. Right after the meeting, more like 45 minutes after the meeting, we all had to embark on our crazy ass shopping adventure that is 18 people going to shop together for their houses.

BUT FIRST We had to go to the bank and wait forever because a handful of us (me including) sent our checks up country and waited at least one hour to get money withdrawn the hard way and held everyone up. It’s 3:30 PM now and they are still gung ho about us getting our beds and other larger things (stoves, gas tanks, etc) for our house. WOMP.

We went to the mattress store AKA big bounce house to purchase our beds. It was very fun and such a tease because I was so tired and just wanted to sleep!

Went to buy gas tanks, burners, and other miscellaneous items which meant a LOT of waiting because, like I said, we were 18 people all shopping at once. People were going all over the place and we had to wait for them to come back to place their order/pay their money, bah. I did do some bargaining in Serehule, however, and that was exciting.

Went back to the transit house, exhausted, changed into schmancy clothes and went to our party! Our own party which we were late for since everyone was already there! It was so weird seeing Motley Crew in things other than village attire and we all looked so hot.

I had so much fun. I ate curry for the first time in ages, DJ’d and I think people enjoyed my choices. I think. I like to think that, just let me dream. I danced my BUTT off. Laughed at people, got laughed at by people. Let’s just say there was a kissing booth involved. I hollered to some songs. I ALMOST lost my wallet but didn’t, thank God! I tested out the water at the beach because a lot of people went skinny dipping but it was freezing and I went straight on board the Nope Train back to the transit house. I slept like a BABY.

Woke up the next day (Friday) and felt like I got round house kicked in the body. Like, something giant steam rolled over me. I shook it off, was fed some left over breakfast, and out the door with Tyler Bear to shop.

We got ripped off at some ritzy place, and begged to return our items. Somehow my charm worked thank God! I bought a bunch of stuff and food and hauled it back home AKA small boy’d Tyler into carrying a huge bag but still broke my own back with all the cans I friggin purchased.

Went to the beach.

Went back to buy some more stuff, officially ran out of money.

Attended the Open Mic Night and had lots of fun. I attempted to play the violin but that shit’s really hard. Maybe next time.

Returned to the transit house to study for a little – YEUP, all while buzzed, and I journaled in Serehule. I Skyped back home and fell asleep soundly.

I awoke to a phone call. Still slept great, though! A PCV named Sebastian who by the way can dance like none other, anyways he was willing to take the newbies out shopping. I mobilized myself, sent out some texts, and a rag tag team was of to Serekunda Market – one of the biggest if not the biggest in Gambia.

I had to borrow money but I bought pretty much everything and bargained in Serehule yet again from many stores. All thanks to Sebastian! It was pretty chill yet tiring but I definitely wasn’t bored at looking everything.

Went back and discovered that seven of my Motley Crew comrades were down from sickness! I think it’s from the flu shot we got earlier in the week. I took care of the two in my room since I was reminded of how nice it was for Elizabeth to look after me when I was sick. I also got a hair cut.

Meandered over to the bonfire to chill with PCVs, went back to the transit house and packed for MONDAY!

Successfully went to the beach every day I was in Kombo! I woke up relatively late but that’s okay since I had all my stuff in chests and ready to go. Watching the staff tetris pack the cars was something else – they’re so efficient! All the luggage easily was twice the height of the car.

Drove 5/6 hours up country – it was not as packed inside as I had thought but I was tired as hell and Dillon being the saint that he was just grabs my head and puts it on his shoulder even though I’m pretty sure I already dozed off on him, oops. Bless his soul.

Arrived in Kulari first, threw everything in my hut, waved goodbye to my friends, and waved hello to my new family. Right now I really like them and I really hope they like me too! I also hope it stays like this for the next two years.

Opened my trunks/luggage to discover that the two stools I purchased in Jalanbereh COMPLETELY molded over and that was pretty nasty. It got on some of my other stuff but luckily my mom sent over cleaning/chlorox wipes so that was fun.

I never have good luck with this – either my oatmeal spills or I get mold all up in my shit.

Ate dinner. Went out to chat. Somehow miraculously negotiated/told my rent to my family and expressed my gratitude for them. I translated a study consent for them which I hope they understood. I had to write it all out first, hah. I think they’re catching onto my quirks. I tried unfiltered juice and didn’t diarrhea – sweet success.

TUESDAY/ Day 1 of official unpacking: my shit was everywhere it was a disaster. Mostly organized everything into my trunks, sun dried my moldy chairs, and had a lot of shit to organize.

WEDNESDAY/Day 2 of unpacking: Much better today. Got my curtains, bed and bed net up – which means a lot for those of you who know how irrationally afraid I am of spiders and bugs, and I braved through touching the cob-webby roof to tie my bed net up. I rearranged it like 5 times, too, but it’s finally perfect! Re organized my trunks, washed my buckets with solution to be extra clean, and went on an adventure and a half to find safe pump water because there was no sun today and the boar hole is solar powered…great. And the pump that’s closest to me is broken. Extra great.

Tired as hell, falling asleep now!